What
better way to procrastinate on writing a cover letter than to blog on why we
procrastinate? Nicholas Lore reminds his readers that life is a series of
projects in his book Now What? The Young
Person’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career (of which my only complaint
is that the book is too thorough for a Type K but a definite must have for
quarter life crisis).
Neil A. Fiore’s The Now Habit, perhaps my favorite book on time management, re-frames procrastination as a defense mechanism that attempts to preserve “our sense of worth and independence”, a claim that contradicts the common assumption that procrastination is a symptom of a lack of self-discipline. Fiore distills the three major culprits that sabotage our creativity: “the terror of being overwhelmed, the fear of failure, and the fear of not finishing”. As the “what if’s” start to infiltrate our best aspirations, the imagined worst-case scenarios can lead to paralysis. But instead of using affirmations, visualizations, NLP, EFT, or other techniques that attempt to minimize, repress or ignore those fears, Fiore acknowledge the value of fear and offers some techniques that materializes that energy into an action plan.
Karate Chop! Fear of Being
Overwhelmed
Fiore
provides a few universal reminders to ease the start of any project:
1. It’s natural to feel anxiety at the
beginning of any project.
2. Give yourself enough fudge time and
start early so that you remove the pressure of doing the project correctly the
first time.
3. Turn off that critical voice! Give
yourself the freedom to create something god-awful at first.
4.Don’t look at the skyscraper without
noticing the blueprint. In other words, imagining the ideal end product can
backfire unless you see it as the outcomes of a series of steps.
The Reverse Calendar tool advises the reader to
work from the final deadline and work backwards, setting sub-deadlines to
divide the project into manageable chunks. This process reveals the necessary
steps that need to be taken, that may have otherwise remained invisible at
first glance. Instead of ignoring the fear, this tool diffuses the initial
anxiety into a practical plan. Try this!
Scheduling baby steps (i.e. open
book on Monday and read one page) will allow you to gain familiarity with the
project and disassociate it with fear. Hey! This project is now beginning to
seem doable.
Karate Chop! Fear of Failure
What
if I don’t get the job, the grade that I want, or [insert gut-wrenching
scenario here]? These are very real possibilities that attempting to suppress
can prove detrimental to creativity. Most of us are conditioned to use these
negative consequences as a way to motivate ourselves into action in the hopes
that we can wrangle the best performance out of us.
But sitting
and thinking through the fears for a bit longer can bring them to a slight
simmer.
Fiore
challenges his readers to ask themselves:
What would I do if the worst really happened?
How would I lessen the pain and get on with as much happiness as
possible if the worst did occur?
What alternatives would I have?
What can I do now to lessen the probability of this dreaded event
occurring?
Is there anything I can do now to increase my chances of achieving
my goal?
Asking
these questions allows you to not only generate a plan B, but also access
information that can strengthen plan A. Removing the element of worry allows
you to create in stress-free environment. This uninhibited mindset is the
miracle space that geniuses tap into making their craft seem effortless. While working
on a project Fiore reminds the reader that “Trying to control things so they go
just as you imagine them takes enormous energy, keeps you blind to what could
go wrong, keeps you from planning for a strategic retreat, and drains you of
the energy necessary for bouncing back.” Once you make your fear a concrete
obstacle, you can devise a tangible plan to overcome it and frees your focus on
giving your best effort.
Karate Chop! Fear of Not
Finishing
Fiore
prescribes “persistent starting” as
the third antidote for this third type of fear. Resistance towards the end of
the project may emerge because your hard work is almost ready for evaluation.
By far the most important piece of advise from this book comes from its warning
to not allow external conditions dictate your sense of self-worth. Instead, it
advises to carry a rock solid understanding that you are more than your
accomplishments, relationships, vocations, possessions, obsessions and most
certainly the outcome of this one project.
Congratulate yourself on how far you’ve come and keep starting the project
over and over again until you finish it. When you’ve reached a particularly
sticky situation, Fiore advises to “come up with a partial situation” and stay
with it for an additional five minutes before you drop it. By “never ending down” you make it easier
for your future self to pick up the project again. Here’s another revelation
from the book- you might feel resistance to finish your project because you’re
afraid that its success will demand more work from you. Fiore reminds the
reader to keep this project separate and know that you have control over how
much work you can take on.
The
overall message from this book is clear- we are not naturally lazy and that in
the case that we catch ourselves procrastinating, to scrutinize the fear. This
process can provide feedback to the gaps of information we need to tend to.
Here’s a great poster that I stole from Bre Pettis’ blog, a super cool
entrepreneur and artist who wants to put a 3d printer on your desktop. Written
in collaboration with Kio Stark, the Cult of Done Manifesto came into being in
20 minutes.
Poster Credit: Joshua Rothas
