Every single day, my to-do list is a reminder of all theotherprojects I havent started.
The passion projects that I just dont have time to do.
And when I do have time?
That familiar friendfearcomes knocking at my door.
This post originally appeared on theCrew blog.
I wish Id had the courage to live a life true to myself.
Every single day we choose how we spend what few hours we have.
Its purposefully putting aside important work knowing there will be negative consequences in the future.
We arent just being forgetful, or complacent.
Were purposefully hurting ourselves by focusing on short-term pleasure at the cost of the long-term.
Almost all studies agree that procrastination leads to to higher rates of depression, anxiety, and poorer well-being.
In our professional lives, it can have dire consequences.
And missing deadlines for no good reason, is really no good reason.
Breaking this down,motivationis the drive or preference for a course of action, or what economists callutility.
Seems basic, right?
We weigh the potential value against the effort involved.
But what happens when our view of the potential value of what were doing gets skewed?
But for procrastinators, that vision is blurry.
Add this all up and were in a poor place to make decisions from the get go.
Present you: 1.
Future you: 0.
The world we live in is motivationally toxic.
Were being herded towards a place of consumption over and over.
And consumption trumps creation.
The survival of your business depends on people returning, time and time again.
So its no wonder that companies are scrapping it out to become sticky.
They need your attention and they know how to get it.
This is nothing new.
Simply put, Akrasia is being weak-willedunable to see long-term value and giving in to instant gratification.
Like binge watching TV instead of reading a book or working on a project youve meant to.
Or ordering takeout instead of cooking yourself a healthy meal.
Its why the ability to delay gratification is such a huge predictor of future success.
Success takes hard work.
Long hours of concentration with no promise of reward.
Its that hump of just start that is so hard to get over.
Yet once we do, momentum takes over.
Are there ways to combat procrastination, or even see it coming and adjust course?
We often forget about the smaller aspectsthe little parts that go missed when we re thinking about starting.
But they wont stop there.
You feel as though you just cannot stop until youre done.
So why not switch your own process from small losses to small gains?
Look around you right now.
How many things are within reaching distance that could potentially distract you?
As my father used to say out of sight, out of mind.
Set up systems and processes in place where the goal isnt to create perfection, but just to create.
They were technically done.
In my mind, they just werentperfectyet.
Its a common impediment to work.
We fear the unknown and instead of going in blindly, spend more time planning.
This crisis isnt limited to just the artistic endeavors of children.
Instead of the excitement of experimentation, we feel self-doubt and fear.
The end goal, that perfect image of what we want to create is suffocating.
But practice is another word for preparation.
Im not talking about being prepared.
Preparation isnt the same as ready.
Ready is an emotional choice, the decision to put something into the world…
The paradox is obvious: the more important the idea, the less we can be ready.
And so we fret that the world, or our market, isnt ready for the leap…
Everywhere we turn, the doors appear to be closed, not open.
Getting over theparalyzation of perfectgives you the chance to try.
To explore without the limitations of how you defined something in your own mind.
The fear of starting is often so much less than the pain of actually working.
Yet, our brains can fool us into thinking the opposite is true.
And once weve engrained those beliefs its hard to break out of them.
But the greatest achievements dont happen without starting.
If we want tocreate more than we consume, we need to build those habits every single day.
Start and then restart.
Let go of your fear and reconnect with the future vision you want so badly.
Image byMangsaab(Shutterstock).
