Some days, you don’t wanna do sh-t. Well, maybe you don’t have that problem, but I sure do. And because that’s how my brain works, odds are good I’m going to have one of those days on a day I must not give in. Like, you know…today.
I have a book coming out Monday. I have home responsibilities. I have college–I need to take an algebra test today (mostly open), tomorrow (plans all day), Monday (plans all day), or Tuesday (work.) I can’t just shove a hat on and go do it unshowered either–I need to study. Give me an hour to brush up and write the allowed “cheat sheet” and I’ll probably get an A. Send me in now and it’ll probably be a C.
Problem is, the Fuckit is strong in this one today. Call it stress, call it laziness, I don’t care, but today I dunwanna do NOTHING.
When I was younger, I might have just given up right here. Thrown up my hands, declared myself helpless, and screwed myself up for the next five days or more because my brain didn’t want to cooperate. Sat on the couch all day eating cereal and watching Bruce Lee movies and called it all I could do.
Sadly, I know better now.†I’m 43. I’ve learned a few tricks.
One–short to-do list. I have a ton of stuff to do with Captain’s Boy coming out Monday, but I can’t look at all that, or I’m sure to crawl UNDER my couch and watch movies from there. My list right now is:
750words (do it every day or I lose my flamingo! AKA the reason I’m writing a blog post right now, ’cause I gotta write something.)
shower
study
test
Two–rewards. When I get my 750words, I get a piece of chocolate. When I shower, I get to dress up in my favorite not-suitable-for-work clothes. When I study and write my cheat sheet, I’ll steal a piece of the kid’s chocolate, as anyone knows stolen chocolate tastes better. After I take the test, I get to go to lunch with a high-school friend I see once a year if I’m lucky. (Okay, it’s not quite a reward as I’ll be meeting her whether I take the test or not, but it’s incentive to get my butt moving, because limiting my gab-time in order to take the test after does not appeal AT ALL.)
Three–frequent but limited opportunities to screw around. I’m kind of short in those opportunities this morning, but once I’m done with the test and I’ve repopulated my to-do list, I’ll use the timer on my desk for fifteen minutes of screw-off time every hour or so.
I’m pretty sure I’ll get the short list done. I might even get a mood-lift from that, and get another short list done. If I don’t, though, I’ll have achieved the must do this todays, and that’s better than hiding under my couch lusting after Bruce Lee all day, right?
Will I lose out on the productivity I could have had with a more no-nonsense approach? Maybe. But then, there’s no guarantee (in fact, it’s pretty damn unlikely) that I would have won the battle in a “I don’t care if you don’t care get the f–k to work” war, so I’ll almost certainly get more done taking the kind-to-myself route.
It doesn’t actually help to beat myself with a stick. I gotta live in this body.
†I say “sadly” because it’s been a while since I found time for a Bruce Lee marathon.
Ugh, I had one of those days yesterday and had nothing that needed to be done, so I did nothing. That’s my downfall. If I don’t need to do something, then I easily procrastinate.
Sometimes we need those down days! I envy you your brain’s cooperativeness in making it a day you had nothing you HAD to do. The busier I need to be, the more likely my brain is to go on strike.