I thought this article would be of great interest to those of you who, like myself, find excuses to put off doing things I do not enjoy doing.

Do you ever feel like you’re just not getting things done in your day? If you’re spending your evenings beating yourself up over what you failed to accomplish during the daylight hours, you’re not alone. According to recent statistics, 88% of people spend at least an hour of the day procrastinating, if not more.

If this statistic bothers you, it’s time to take action. But how can you tackle avoidance once and for all so you can get done what you need to? You can start by taking these four concrete steps:

What Are You Doing Now?

If you’re not doing what you’re supposed to, you’re doing something else. What has your attention? Why? What makes this action preferable? Generally, whatever you’re doing is what you’ve wanted to do all along. So what is it?

What Do You Like About the Current Action?

By answering this question, you’re already digging deeper into your needs and emotions. What is it about the current thing you’re doing which makes it so appealing? This answer might take a little bit of thought. For example, several famous writers have joked about starting to clean the house on a deadline.

You wouldn’t think folding laundry is preferable to prepare a book for publication. Or is it? Maybe something is appealing about laundry. Laundry might beat writing when you get to the editing step that involves hearing criticism from someone else about your work. When you look at it that way, bringing order from chaos sounds much better than dealing with an exacting critique.

So, How Can You Get the Same Benefit?

Now that you know what you like about your current activity, is there some way to apply this to what you’re doing now? In the previous example, if the appeal has to do with making things neat and orderly, maybe the writer can consider working through the editor’s comments and dealing with them as making the words on the page tidy. Can the same satisfaction be derived from the page? As you can see, this might take some creative thinking.

Do the Thing…and Enjoy the Benefits

Now put it all into practice. Go back to the task you were avoiding and apply the same principles to your work, so you feel like you’re getting the same payoff. How does it feel? It might take a little practice, with some adjusting until you get the desired effect, but you will come to find enjoyment in the things you used to dread over time. Whatever the case, make sure to celebrate your success because you just did something unique. You just rewired your brain to find enjoyment in something you never knew you could!

Until next time, stay safe, and keep the faith.