Hang Up Your Robe
You most likely have something that you know you need to do, but it either doesn’t seem fun, it looks overwhelming, or you just don’t want to use your time on it. We tell ourselves, “Tomorrow I’ll do it” or “I just need the motivation.” Truth is, if we keep waiting on motivation, it will never come. We often need to create our own motivation to get the job started.
Often the first step is hanging up our robe.
Imagine looking at a room that is full of clutter, laundry piled high on the bed, boxes in the corner that need to be sorted, and so many things covering the dresser top you can’t even see it. You can look at that room and know that you need to clean it because you need a place to sleep, but the task seems too big and overwhelming that you end up just sleeping on top of the laundry. But, if you start with hanging up your robe, one small little step, you are headed in the right direction.
This can be for other tasks that you keep procrastinating on because they look too big or overwhelming. Start small. Break the large job down into small tasks and take them one step at a time.
Crazy as it sounds, we can apply Newton’s First Law of Motion to this. An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
Or, stated in regards to procrastination and motivation: We will continue to not start the task unless we enact a force upon ourselves to get going. And once we get going, we need to keep things out of our way that will keep us from finishing the task.
In this example, hanging up the robe is the small force that gets us going. Once we hang up the robe, we turn to the room and tackle the dresser, once that is done we focus on the laundry, and then the boxes in the corner, and so on. To keep ourselves going, we need to remove those forces that would stop us. Turn off notifications on your phone, keep a snack and drink close by so you can refuel on the go, play your favorite music to keep your body moving, and set a timer so you can’t stop for a break until it goes off.
Finding motivation can be elusive, and procrastination can be a hard thing to overcome. But, small, intentional steps can break a large task down into something more doable and creating our motivation can be the first step to getting the job done.
Challenges/Points:
Often motivation is something we need to create for ourselves.
Breaking a large task into small ones can help it feel less overwhelming.
If we keep waiting for motivation to show up, procrastination will win.
Questions:
What is that large job on your to-do list that you keep putting off?
What is that task that would be equivalent to hanging up your robe?
What are things that you need to remove from your path so that you, as the object, can “remain in motion” until the job is done?
To talk more about this or something else on your mind text the number 494949 to chat with our team or visit RemedyLIVE.com/chat anytime, day or night.
Did someone send you this post, and you want to subscribe to our free self care guide? Text CARE to 494949 to receive daily posts.
