Using a timer for "radioactive" tasks
There are "push" and "pull" tasks. Most of the people are starters but
not finishers because often pulls turn into push, so they give up the
effort when it stops being easy, and move on to some other fresh thing.
I want to finish stuff, so dealing with this push-pull thing (and noticing when the change happens) is an important matter to me.
Something I've been using lately has been setting a countdown timer for nasty tasks. But recently I had a realization about the way I used it that to me felt like turning a sock the other way round.
At first, I obliged myself to do 30 or 60 mins of the thing that I hate. The reasoning behind is that, that way, I guarantee at least that amount of advance every day, in a field that is not gratifying but that I feel necessary to pursue.
The first questioning of that method came because of the natural division of certain tasks; if a boring "frog" I have to swallow takes me 21 or 25 minutes, it doesn't make sense to stick around after the task is done, only to feel "disciplined".
So then it came to me: how about if the countdown timer is not a minimum but a maximum?
The image I envision for those tasks is a radioactive chamber. You enter there with protective gear, and an eye always on the clock because you cannot stay there for longer than a certain period without suffering health consequences.
This change in the way of seeing things puts the actor above the action. I think this has important consequences regarding respect for oneself. I guess we all suffer that kind of tasks, those that drain you like the big baddie at the end of a videogame level, you can see the energy bar going down pa pa pa...
But no matter how disgusting the task is, like this you can always tell yourself: well, in half an hour tops it will be over for today. In fact, setting a countdown like this challenges yourself to be smart to get the thing done as efficiently as possible to get out of there quickly.
This technique must be used strategically, but the funny thing about it is that, although it's a self imposed limitation, it provides me with a great feeling of abundance and comfort.
I want to finish stuff, so dealing with this push-pull thing (and noticing when the change happens) is an important matter to me.
Something I've been using lately has been setting a countdown timer for nasty tasks. But recently I had a realization about the way I used it that to me felt like turning a sock the other way round.
At first, I obliged myself to do 30 or 60 mins of the thing that I hate. The reasoning behind is that, that way, I guarantee at least that amount of advance every day, in a field that is not gratifying but that I feel necessary to pursue.
The first questioning of that method came because of the natural division of certain tasks; if a boring "frog" I have to swallow takes me 21 or 25 minutes, it doesn't make sense to stick around after the task is done, only to feel "disciplined".
So then it came to me: how about if the countdown timer is not a minimum but a maximum?
The image I envision for those tasks is a radioactive chamber. You enter there with protective gear, and an eye always on the clock because you cannot stay there for longer than a certain period without suffering health consequences.
This change in the way of seeing things puts the actor above the action. I think this has important consequences regarding respect for oneself. I guess we all suffer that kind of tasks, those that drain you like the big baddie at the end of a videogame level, you can see the energy bar going down pa pa pa...
But no matter how disgusting the task is, like this you can always tell yourself: well, in half an hour tops it will be over for today. In fact, setting a countdown like this challenges yourself to be smart to get the thing done as efficiently as possible to get out of there quickly.
This technique must be used strategically, but the funny thing about it is that, although it's a self imposed limitation, it provides me with a great feeling of abundance and comfort.
