Of Pavlov's dogs and "doing it"

I am a procrastinator. It is hard for me to deny it. I procrastinate for many reasons, but they usually boil down to:

1) not in the mood
2) no sense of urgency
3) lack of information

no sense of urgency: filing taxes on time, making a reservation, etc are all things I fail miserably at. The simple reason is that I just don't see the point. My world is not suddenly going to end if I delay it. I need to work on recognizing that the world has its own timetable that does not always coincide with mine. It also has arbitrary rules that, quite frankly, I see no point in - they exist solely for the point of existing (in my mind) and hence have no relevance to me. Need to be less arrogant and more in tune with the world around me - which is not a trivial thing for me to do.

lack of information: this is simply another form of perfectionism, trying to make the perfect decision or doing a job perfectly, so I keep waiting until everything falls into place. It is pretty self defeating. I am getting better in some areas (writing documents comes to mind), where I just do it and then wait for feedback to correct whatever I did. This approach is summarized by a number of motivational speakers and writers as: “Ready! Fire! Aim!” You will advance faster if you adjust based on feedback rather than trying to get it right the first time.

not in the mood: what a killer this one is. I should exercise, but I am too tired. I should write something, but I am not inspired. I keep waiting for that epiphany and it never comes. Sometimes small spurts of energy course through the veins and I start something, but then run out of steam (actually part of the problem is also that I constantly flit from one thing to another – staying focussed for any extended period of time is quite hard – which is one reason I find work so tediously monotonous and unfulfilling).

The oft quoted solution is "Just do it."

In Dan Kennedy's book "No B.S. Business Success" he wrote that you can't wait until you are motivated, until you are in the mood. You just do it. As he said, if you are going to write, then write. Set aside some time for writing and write whether you want ot or not, whether you are inspired or not.

No doubt good advice, just how to feel motivated to apply it?

Last night I was reading an article in a writer’s journal (sorry, don't remember the name of the magazine - I bought 3 woodworking, 2 writing and 1 business magazine last night) and one article was on how not to sabotage your writing career. Most of the time these articles are pretty standard filled with the same advice and platitudes that boil down to "Just do it."

The author had an interesting insight on the "I'm not in the mood" excuse: every time we put off doing something (in this case writing) because we are not in the mood or inspired, then we are conditioning ourselves, like Pavlov did with his dogs, to doing nothing. Each time we put off doing something because we are not in the mood, we reinforce not doing anything because we are not in the mood.

An interesting insight that resonated with an old procrastinator like myself. The message is no different from what I have heard and read many times before, but the expression of it echoed within me.

I shall have to see if I can put that into practice … tomorrow :-)