Taking 5-15 minutes now to remove just one small bit of stickiness in your daily life can help prevent experiencing larger kinds of “stuckness”: feeling blocked, overwhelmed, or unsure how to begin.
Here’s one way to do it: let go of something on your to-do list. I don’t mean go find some task that you can complete in 5-15 minutes and cross it off the list (though of course, that’s good too if you feel like doing that right now). What I mean is to let go of the task — to release it from your list and from your attention.
You can:
- consciously choose not to do it
- consciously decide to delay doing it
- consciously decide to change your standards about doing it
Consciously Choose Not to do Something
Unless you frequently revisit your action lists with reflective awareness about the significance each task has for you, chances are good that some of them no longer represent tasks you really choose to do. Procrastination sometimes works as a strategy to avoid tasks we don’t like when the deadline passes or the task loses its meaning weeks or months later. But procrastination often involves some degree of guilt or self-criticism, which eventually only increases other kinds of stickiness.
It’s far better to truthfully ask and answer yourself — am I really committed to undertaking this task? Does it support my goals and values? If the answer is no, release it from your to-do list. If this means sending an email to withdraw from a commitment, go ahead and do that now, as gracefully as possible. Fully release the task from your mind, clearing space for those that matter more to you.
Consciously Decide to Delay Doing It
Sometimes stickiness shows up as feeling pulled between conflicting priorities, or using one task to procrastinate on another: I really need to grade 40 essays, but I also have to deep-clean my house. Consciously deciding to delay a task (as in, changing “deep-clean the house” to “deep clean the house after Dec 15”) helps you get clear on what your true priorities are and relieves anxiety since you know you will get to the task in its appropriate time.
When you’ve time-delayed a task, release it from your main to-do list so you won’t see it until the appropriate date. Move it to a “hold” or “someday” list, make a note on your calendar, whatever works so that you can put it out of your mind until the time you’ve set.
Consciously Decide to Change Your Standards About Doing Something
Maybe your reluctance around a task (that sinking feeling when you see it on your list which then causes you to put it off a little longer) comes from the way you think you have to do it. Do you really need to deep-clean the house, or would a quick round of mopping and dusting suffice? Do you have to write 3 brilliant pages today, or would just writing 3 rough draft pages help you move forward on a project?
Spell out your standards in your to-do list and make them as easy as possible. You want to be able to look at your list and think “ah, I can do that one.”
Try It Now
Releasing a task from your to-do list should clear a little bit of pressure, guilt, anxiety, or dullness from your mind. Just a few minutes spent thinking about the items on your list rather than just madly trying to rush through them can clear more space for creativity and happiness.
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