Interesting A simple mind hack that helps beat procrastination By SHYAL BEARDSLEY 62 hacker bits
Imagine yourself starting, not finishing. Cleaning the flat, working out, reaching inbox zero: these are all worthy goals, yet sometimes getting stuck in the infernal hackersnews ∞ reddit loop seems so much more... relaxing. Let’s begin by delving into the physiology of procrastination: “[procrastination is] a battle of the limbic system, the unconscious zone that includes the pleasure center, and the prefrontal cortex, the internal planner. When the limbic system dominates, which is pretty often, the result is putting off until tomorrow what could, and should, be done today.” Source: scienceabc.com So how can we trick our limbic system to not “dominate”? The answer resides in how we picture the task. When we picture a task, we often imagine completing the task, if such a thing is even possible, and are also aware of task inter-relatedness. Therein lies the problem. This is what Neil Fiore has to say about it in his book: The Now Habit. “The task before you is to walk a solid board that is thirty feet long, four inches thick, and one foot wide. You have all the physical, mental, and emotional abilities necessary to perform this task. You can carefully place one foot in front of the other, or you can dance, skip, or leap across the board. You can do it. No problem.” This is how non-procrastinators visualise a task. However, Situation B is how procrastinators visualise the same task. “Now imagine that the task is just the same, to walk a board thirty feet long and one foot wide, and you have the same abilities; only now the board is suspended between two buildings 100 feet above the pavement. Look across to the other end of the board and contemplate beginning your assignment. What do you feel? What are you thinking about? What are you saying to yourself?” The task is more or less the same; however the mental representation is entirely different. Imagine yourself starting, not finishing What is the first, smallest, shortest, and least effortful task you can perform to get started? Say you need to clean your flat: then it could be to: take 1 plate and put it in the sink. That simple act has now set you in motion. In other words: the prefrontal cortex has won. Why does this work? It works because your limbic system is now experiencing the previously terrifying task, but is no longer feeling terrified by it. This enables you to build new, fresh memories of what was previously uncomfortable to the point of procrastination, but now feels perfectly fine and safe. tldr: imagine yourself starting, not finishing. • Reprinted with permission of the original author. First appeared at shyal.com/blog. hacker bits 63