Hello friend,
Have you ever been in a condition where you witness too many things coming your way, and you feel unprepared? A similar thing happened to me during the last week of February, eventually pulling me into a rut.
For some strange reason, this went on for weeks, and I found myself in a vicious cycle of procrastination. When I reflect back, it all starts to make sense as I aspired to do a ton of things- completing courses, finishing side projects, writing articles, continuing my LinkedIn post streak, delivering speaking gigs, all of this with a full-time job and a family I ought(& love) to spend time with <3
From the outwards, having too many things to do looks all shiny and impressive, but everything comes at a cost. Sometimes, the cost is way too much to bear. For instance, having the liberty to make choices for your next task becomes daunting when you know there's always something unfinished on your list. This is popularly referred to as "decision paralysis."
"In many cases, even if a decision is made, decision paralysis exhausts the decision-maker so much, that he or she doesn’t have any energy left to carry out the action itself." ~ Procrastination.com
On the flip side, If we start redefining our work by saying, "I GET to do this.." instead of "I have to do this.." it changes the whole game. Now, you have switched your gears into looking at your work through the lens of gratefulness. You get to do this because you're privileged.
It's so easy for you and me to forget to appreciate the everyday opportunities and circumstances life throws at us. Reminding ourselves to be thankful for the work at hand, often works like a charm :)
But, that's not the only trick that helped me get out of the rut. I found some great insights about my procrastination behaviour in a book I've been reading recently- Atomic Habits.
James states that- "The human brain is the prediction machine. It is continuously analyzing your internal and external environment for hints of where rewards are located."
Our behaviour and our habits (both good and bad) are formed based on this information known as cues. The cue triggers our brain to initiate a behaviour. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward.
So whenever we are in an uncomfortable state of emotion, let's say I'm stuck with a bug, my mind tries to identify all those behaviours from the past that led to relief from this uncomfortable state. It doesn't take my mind much time to find that- scrolling on social media diverts my attention, ultimately relieving the frustration I have with finishing my work. Within seconds of getting stuck on a task, I find my hands scrolling through my LinkedIn feed.
👀I wonder if you too are reading this while scrolling media, or in the middle of some task, you were trying to complete?
It happens at such a subconscious level that It's hard to take notice of such behaviour. I hope we all succeed in observing our bad habits, the associated cues and replacing them with the good ones. This brings me to the
✍Quote of the month
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." -Carl Jung.
Finally, How are you, my friend?
If you read till here, you're clearly an incredible person. Thank you for being part of my newsletter (and life) all these months.
Now, I'd love to know what is happening in your life.
What are you thinking a lot about these days? What have you learnt in the first quarter of 2022? What brought you immense joy recently?
Please share with me. Let this newsletter be a conversation. I will read and respond to every email.
Until next time, take care and stay safe, dear friend! 💚
Like what you read? Why not support me🤗 by subscribing and telling it to your friends?
You’re awesome!! Thank you for reading it till here =)
Make sure to report it as not spam, so that I can keep filling your inbox with goodness! :)
Find me on Instagram to have a peek into my fun😎 life and LinkedIn for professional👨💻 life!