Obvious truth #1: We think about the things we like to do, and those things make us feel happy. As a result, we do those things whenever we can.
Obvious truth #2: We try not to think about the things we don’t like to do. Those things make us feel frustrated, stressed, bored–anything but happy. As a result, we avoid doing those things whenever we can.
I’m going to teach you how to use these two obvious truths to overcome procrastination. This mental technique works better than any other technique I’ve ever tried. I am actually amazed at how effective it is, because it seems so simple (it is), and so easy to do (it is).
When a technique for overcoming a nigh universal problem is easy and simple, and is based on an “obvious truth,” the technique is bullshit most of the time; otherwise the universal problem wouldn’t exist.
This is not “most of the time”: this works, and it’s not wide spread because even though it’s easy, it’s also counter-intuitive.
Without further adieu…
(Before these steps begin, you’ll need a task that you want to motivate yourself to do. I’m going to choose cleaning a messy office.)
Step 1: Take a look around at the clutter and mess in the office. Hold the image of the dirty room in your mind.
Step 2: Close your eyes. Now imagine the room is perfectly clean, like a cleaning crew came through organizing every paper and polishing every surface. Don’t try to imagine how it got that way, just see the picture of the clean room in your mind.
Step 3: Keep your eyes closed. Now, feel good about the clean room. Imagining that amazingly clean room, you feel great about how clean and tidy it is.
Step 4: Still with your eyes closed, ask yourself: why do I have this good feeling? Maybe the room looks brighter, or you know where everything is. You feel more creative, or more free to move around and think without all the grime and clutter around you. Take a long moment, and really absorb how good the clean office makes you feel. It feels comforting like a snugly pillow or comforter. Mmmm…
Before going on to Step 5, it’s important that you have really completed the previous steps. If you skimp, it won’t work!
Step 5: Keep the image in your mind of the sparkling clean office and the snugly, positive feeling you have about it, before you finally open your eyes and see what the messy office really looks like. Don’t do anything yet: just look around.
It’s like you can see right through the clutter to the perfectly clean office underneath it all. As you look around your mind will offer suggestions about how you could make the real office more like the perfect office in your mind. Throw those papers away, move that cup to the kitchen, arrange the couch cushions properly. All these ideas will come to you effortlessly as you look around, but don’t do anything just yet. Let the pressure build up.
Soon, you will be forcing yourself not to clean your office; finally you give in to your overwhelming desire to clean!
Our brain’s motivation works in a very simple way: we imagine the things we want, they make us feel good, and that good feeling propels us to go after the thing we want. Nothing magic there.
It also works the opposite way: imaging things that make us feel bad pushes us to avoid those things.
So when you’re faced with checking your favorite forum just once more, or slogging through a term paper, your brain sets you up to fail.
The hack works because you’ve harnessed the fundamental nature of the brain to actually want what you used to just want to want.
(Thanks PJ!)
Be sure to let me know IF YOU EVER NEED A PICTURE OF A MESSY OFFICE.
BUt I really liked your article. I will print it out and leave it on top of a pile.
mark
.-= mark mason´s last blog ..This is worth checking out, especially if you have a following =-.
Cute. I used to be a “controlled chaos” type of guy, but as I’ve aged, clutter bugs me more and more. I get out of sorts when the couch looks sloppy now, and my desk is pretty much clean (or close to it) all the time. I also have a fairly large office (about 20′ by 15′), which I arranged so I’m looking away from the wall, into the sitting area and the windows. It helps convey that “open” or “free” feeling I’ve come to like. Each to his own 8)
Thanks for pointing out this technique, it sounds like it might work. I have been reading ‘Your Brain at Work’ lately and it logically connects with the ‘Toward vs Away’ states that book covers..
Tiny complaint: this article and the youtube video reverse the terms for ‘pull vs push’ motivation. Might want to clean that up!
I’ll take a look, thanks!
It really does work, you should try it on something trivial just to get the feeling for it. It’ll only take a minute or three. You’ll be impressed, or I’ll give you a full refund 8)
I read your post on the Steve Pavlina forums asking for this technique today and now I came across this post via Hacker News (http://news.ycombinator.com/).
Small world apparently :)
I don’t see you attributing the technique to the author of this article: http://www.health360.info/?p=325
or is that on purpose?
Hey Neils — yes, I originally heard of this through PJ, and although I was linked again recently via health360, the norms of citation require I credit PJ, but not the intermediate blogger. I didn’t even read the other author’s post, I just wanted the video, which I linked to in my own work. I think I’m good 8)
I like this principle; that of mental creation, followed by physical execution. Similar principle is taught in the 7 Habits by Stephen Covey.
Nice post Pete! Always good to remember and harness the power of the mind.
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Unfortunately, this doesn’t work with everything. Some things are difficult to imagine, while other things take so long to accomplish, it’s almost impossible to maintain an optimistic view of your goal.
By far the biggest issue with this technique are the real problems you might have to face when trying to achieve your goal. Not everything is as simple as cleaning your room.
Nothing is perfect… but I will suggest that if you have a task that takes a long time to split it into subtasks and use this on each subtask. There are different techniques for non-visual accomplishments, but that’s for a future post.
Thank you.
You’re welcome.
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I swear I’ll get to imagining this a soon as I can.
Pete,
Great piece, brought back to mind some guided imagery sessions I’d taken years ago. Put it right to use on current problem. Thanks.
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Great post. I think that simplicity in goal setting implies harnessing the power of the concept of “one.” It’s a deceptively simple idea, based on the wise observation of old that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Regardless of whether the thousand mile journey is an academic degree, a professional promotion, or an improved family relationship, it all begins with what you will do today to take one step.
That’s been my hard won experience, for sure: take the first step and worry about the rest of the journey as it happens. Maybe not perfect advice for everyone, but for me and people like me (my readers), it’s what needs to happen for sure!
As soon as I got a really, really clear image in mind mind and started feeling really, really, really good and positive about it I fell through a seam in the space/time continuum and got eaten by a dinosaur.
This happened to be last week, and it totally sucked.