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Priorities and procrastination
Nov. 6th, 2010 10:30 amSo, no one showed up to the first morning write-in for NaNoWriMo, and that makes me sad. The morning write-ins have always been my personal favorite. They have a sense of purpose and magic about them, truth perhaps... the revelation that writing is more important than sleeping in on a Saturday.
I was going to make a kick-your-but-into-gear kind of post on the forum, but instead I decided to cut and paste it here where I think less people will feel attacked. I'm not attacking. I just want people to live their dreams.
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Now, I'm not a morning person by any means. But, let's face it-- we all lead very busy lives, and most of us complain, say, and believe, "I don't have any time to do the things I want to do." This is patently not true. We have the time, if we make it, but usually we prefer to use that time for something else, like sleeping or watching television, or other forms of "relaxation."
Now, before you get mad, listen: I am not a type A personality whatsoever, and I do my fair share of procrastination just like everyone else. Sometimes more, I think. But there are a lot of things we do under the guise of "deserved relaxation" that do little more than turn off our brains temporarily. Not even off, really-- more like lower their operative wavelengths so that the activity slows down enough to distract us from the world. That's not relaxation, that's a form of drug abuse.
In the long run, watching television/playing video games/sleeping in when you know you want to write a novel, or spend time with your family, or paint a picture, or need to write a thesis... that's only going to stress you out more. Because once you do use your time for something unrewarding and unhelpful, you will stress yourself out later because you "don't have time" to do those other more important things.
And hey, if they're more important, why didn't you make time for them first?
If we go to bed a little bit earlier, and wake up a little bit earlier, our lives can be drastically different. Morning is the time when most of us have nothing scheduled besides getting ready for work, or some kind of exercise. But those who exercise in the morning already know the secret to success: complete tasks that are a priority BEFORE all others.
I'm not asking you to put NaNoWriMo before all your other priorities. I'm not asking you to sacrifice your sleep or never watch your favorite tv show or to rearrange your whole schedule so that you can write a novel. I'm just saying that as humans, we are very creative and inventive, and we can come up with many interesting ways to justify not doing the things that would make us truly happy. We can paint ourselves as victims, we can exacerbate and exaggerate, and we can keep saying "yes" to every impulse that feels good in the moment and not in the long run.
Or we can remember our priorities, swallow a little bit of discomfort, and find true satisfaction in accomplishing our goals, every step of the (often very long) way.
Just sayin'.
This is an interesting article on procrastination that really threw the curtains back on some personal shortcomings of mine. And no, I don't feel bad. Now I just have a better idea of how to overcome them.
I was going to make a kick-your-but-into-gear kind of post on the forum, but instead I decided to cut and paste it here where I think less people will feel attacked. I'm not attacking. I just want people to live their dreams.
-----
Now, I'm not a morning person by any means. But, let's face it-- we all lead very busy lives, and most of us complain, say, and believe, "I don't have any time to do the things I want to do." This is patently not true. We have the time, if we make it, but usually we prefer to use that time for something else, like sleeping or watching television, or other forms of "relaxation."
Now, before you get mad, listen: I am not a type A personality whatsoever, and I do my fair share of procrastination just like everyone else. Sometimes more, I think. But there are a lot of things we do under the guise of "deserved relaxation" that do little more than turn off our brains temporarily. Not even off, really-- more like lower their operative wavelengths so that the activity slows down enough to distract us from the world. That's not relaxation, that's a form of drug abuse.
In the long run, watching television/playing video games/sleeping in when you know you want to write a novel, or spend time with your family, or paint a picture, or need to write a thesis... that's only going to stress you out more. Because once you do use your time for something unrewarding and unhelpful, you will stress yourself out later because you "don't have time" to do those other more important things.
And hey, if they're more important, why didn't you make time for them first?
If we go to bed a little bit earlier, and wake up a little bit earlier, our lives can be drastically different. Morning is the time when most of us have nothing scheduled besides getting ready for work, or some kind of exercise. But those who exercise in the morning already know the secret to success: complete tasks that are a priority BEFORE all others.
I'm not asking you to put NaNoWriMo before all your other priorities. I'm not asking you to sacrifice your sleep or never watch your favorite tv show or to rearrange your whole schedule so that you can write a novel. I'm just saying that as humans, we are very creative and inventive, and we can come up with many interesting ways to justify not doing the things that would make us truly happy. We can paint ourselves as victims, we can exacerbate and exaggerate, and we can keep saying "yes" to every impulse that feels good in the moment and not in the long run.
Or we can remember our priorities, swallow a little bit of discomfort, and find true satisfaction in accomplishing our goals, every step of the (often very long) way.
Just sayin'.
This is an interesting article on procrastination that really threw the curtains back on some personal shortcomings of mine. And no, I don't feel bad. Now I just have a better idea of how to overcome them.
