I sometimes procrastinate and I have often wondered why. Procrastinating keeps me from getting things done, yet I hate it when I fail to get things done. Yet I still sometimes procrastinate. I bark at myself for my procrastinating and I usually deserve it.
In few years ago, it occurred that the main reason I procrastinate is fear. I fear that I haven’t thought things true well enough to begin the project and this is sometimes true. Or I fear that I might not execute well and that is sometimes true. Or I fear that others might not like what I am about to do, which is sometimes true. But none of these are good reasons to fail to get the thing done. My personal battle cry is “Go to the Fear!” Identify the most reprehensible home repair project and get to work! Or pick up the file I least want to work on in my work as a lawyer. Or pick up the phone and make that call that I dread.
“Go to the Fear!” has a Stoic equivalent: “The Obstacle is the Way.”
When I’m at my best, I’m going to the fear. I’m using the “obstacle” as my beacon for tell me where to go. What’s the worst thing that can happen? You might fail, but then you will have gained knowledge in your failure and it’s better to learn the outcome sooner than later. And many times you won’t fail.
So always go to the fear!
I call it learn by destroying. Do your best but think about everything beforehand. Lay out a plan, destroy some stuff in the process and you’re on a roll. Fear is also our worst enemy; Like president Roosevelt said: We have nothing to fear but fear itself. It’s debilitating if you let it run your life. I thought that was a great phrase during the great depression.
For what it’s worth, the heat can kick your ass on any outside project. If overexposed you can enter a state of panic. Nothing worse than heat exhaustion, it will shut your system down and take weeks to come out of it. It’s probably your bodies central nervous system taking over, your brain has its priorities and keeping your temp regulated and heart pumping among a million other things can really take a toll on our petty little thought patterns. Today’s heat index is 104, don’t do anything outdoors. That will also procrastinate your project. lol