I know just the thing

I’m glad I can make a living by writing. I don’t want to write right now either. I really don’t. That’s pretty much how I feel most of the time. I often want to start something that I know will take a lot of time or work, but I’m rarely in the right frame of mind to do so. I get a lot done when I start something. This makes me go back to the “internet,” which is full of dopamine, where I get distracted by algorithms until it’s 5 o’clock and say, “Oh well, I’ll make the most of the day tomorrow.”

You showed up. All of us have been there. You should be doing a “Thing,” but you can’t get started for some reason. Making a website could be The Thing. The Thing could be a piece of coding you’ve been putting off for a while. The Thing can be as easy as picking up the phone. No matter what it is, you just can’t start.

I understand. So, over time, I’ve come up with ways to make myself deal with the problem. Here are some ways that I and a few of my coworkers get things going even when we don’t want to. Or, how to get yourself to start doing something when you don’t feel like it. Mark it on your calendar so you don’t forget to go.

I’m pretty good at making myself believe that I have a lot of time to do things. When I’m in this mood, I try to relax, but by the end of the day, I always wonder where the day went. So, I began to make plans ahead of time. After breakfast on workdays, I check my schedule, my email, and my list of things to do. After putting each activity on my calendar, I decide how I’ll use my free time to get things done that need to be done.

This gets two things done. First of all, it makes me realise that I need to treat my time as a resource that I need to manage. Second, when I add things to my calendar, I’ll get alerts on my computer and phone throughout the day, which will help me remember the goal I set for myself. It’s crazy how that little nudge can keep me going.

Think about a bank account that puts $86,400 into your account every morning. It doesn’t save any money from one day to the next. Every night, the bank takes out any money from your account that you haven’t used. What would you do? Sure, take out all the money? Everyone has a bank like this, and it’s called time. It gives you 86,400 seconds every morning. Every night, it takes away the value of anything you didn’t use for something worthwhile. There is no balance to carry over. It is against the law to overdraft. It makes a new account for you every day. It burns what was left over from the day every night. If you don’t use the money you get each day, you’ll lose it. “Tomorrow” doesn’t win anything. You must put money away today and live off of it. Spend it on your happiness, health, and well-being. Time is running out. Use today to its fullest. This is just what works for me; you don’t have to do it exactly as shown above to get the same results.