Procrastination: Fighting the Resistance Monster

The more I resist, the bigger the resistance monster grows . Unknowingly to me, every spell of resistance feeds the monster with the right nutrients to dominate my life and continue to tighten its grip.

Then work is piling up, the checklist continues to grow.

When will it ever stop??

The funny thing is, procrastination only comes when you are doing those things that really add value to your life. The motivation you get from watching those YouTube videos on lasts a day or maybe a few days at most if it was a really impactful video.

Then it fizzles out ….

I have read quite a few productivity books with systems, tools and techniques on how to get things done. Now I'm haunted more with the knowledge that I know what to do to get myself out of this cycle .

But I do not want to do it.

That is probably one of the worst feelings you can have.

Its difficult because I had never made any efforts to train that muscle and that is the root of the problem.

Because I have never trained that muscle it cannot stand up to the sudden weight I place on it.

Like trying to do 100kg bicep curl on your first day at the gym. You have to be pretty special to achieve that.

Same goes for our goals and the search for the ultimate productivity pill.

We have to start small, with the 1kg task.

I once read the book atomic habits by James Clear which I definitely suggest you read . The insights I gained from that book are still constantly brewing in my mind and I keep diving deeper and deeper into it even after having read it a while ago. And every day I understand the concept more and more.

Taking even the smallest step towards the bigger goal is how we actually make progress. Everyday our daily focus should never be the goal. That's hefty.

Our daily focus should be to take one small step towards it. No matter how small. However that's only possible if you break down your goal into smaller steps. And yes, IT IS AN UPHILL BATTLE!!!

Contrary to popular belief, it is the feeling of progress that creates and drives motivation. Motivation does not come until you start.

If you look at my daily to do list. It has always been,

Make new music or

Create new piece of art.

And those tasks never get done, but everyday new ideas come in to populate that list. Then I start feeling down, thinking of how much of a failure I am.

The goal is 100kg, 200kg, can even be 100000kg. Yes set your sights on achieving a massive goal definitely but break down your goals into small achievable tasks daily, weekly or even monthly. There always has to be balance. It's the same reason, we start with training wheels.

All that matters is that you are making progress.

After writing this, I'm going to break down my checklist .

Rather than make new music.

I can say

Setup my Daw

Get sounds

Record Piano

Create drum beat

For you It can be something like that. Start with a 1kg task.