There will basically always be a good reason to postpone your work. But you have to realise that the timing will never be better and the resistance you feel will never disappear. It will be your constant companion, so you better start liking that guy!
I found that a lot of people wait for stuff to happen before they feel challenged to do something they want to do. They want to be in a better state. They want to be more motivated. Or maybe less tired.
There will always be something you can put in front of your todo list just to justify your non-action. There will always be something more appealing, something more fun and something more entertaining. You have to come to realise that in order to get something done, you just have to sit down and do it. It sounds so simple, but it actually is quite a tough challenge for your willpower. And just like everybody else I had quite some issues with that too.
Changing habits is tough and the act of changing them itself is a physical and emotional challenge to your willpower. You have to become mentally strong in order to put through the initial resistance that you will feel. But I can guarantee you, the intense resistance you feel is just a temporary feeling that will pass by once you sit down and expose yourself to the work that is calling for action. So how to you push through this very resistance that presents itself in front of you?
Simple.
You just do it anyways (lol).
But here are some tips that might help you:
1. Determine the reason behind your actions:
Make yourself conscious why you want to do that very action. What is the bigger purpose behind it? What is your goal? What will it give you when you do it? Is this the real reason behind your decision to do it? Or is there maybe a less superficial benefit hidden somewhere too? What is the big picture? Answer these questions honestly and in great detail and you will find that whenever you have a GOOD reason to do something and you are clear about it, the initial resistance that you will have to face when getting into doing something, will decrease.
2. Find a routine that supports you:
Plan in advance. Check your schedules and create time frames where you can work without distractions. Then stick to them! When you work all day in your day-job and then you come home exhausted and too tired to do anything creative, maybe it works better for you to use the fresh energy you have in the morning to get something done. Maybe it works better for you to wake up some hours earlier, get over the physical effects that this change will cause you, and get busy. As long as you make it a routines that supports you, you are good to go. Habits are powerful and you can use them in your favour too!
3. Remove distractions as far as possible:
Remove distractions. This is a big one. There will always be interruptions and you have to limit them to the minimum. There will be phone calls, email, Facebook, Skype, etc. Get rid of all that. When you are in your productive mode, be also in your productive state. And you can enter this state the best by limiting external distractions. Get rid of them all!
(But don’t get rid of your cat just because she fights for attention when you try to write about distraction!)
Quick recap: The initial resistance you feel when doing something of importance is NORMAL. Get used to it. But the good part about it, it will fade away once you commit to the work that has to be done and some kind of peaceful joy takes its place! Inspiration follows the people who sit down and work. Somehow your “creative muse” just appears when she sees you getting busy. It is like a personal gift because she sees that you are serious about what you are doing and you will do it with or without your help. When she sees your commitment, she gets involved and then the magic happens!
