As hard as I try to follow great advice to push through the tough times in my work, I still find myself periodically stalled by difficult tasks. I get in a psychological situation where I can't get myself to do the task at hand, yet I won't let myself do anything else instead. So nothing gets done. It will end when I finally force my ass to stay in the chair and just do it, and it usually ends up less painful than I anticipated. In fact, the process of dreading the task is usually worse than actually doing it.
I have various tricks to get myself to just do it. Sometimes I think of a treat that I will give myself when I finish. Or Awesome Technician and I will make a bet over who will finish what we're doing first, or issue a Twix Challenge. Sometimes it works to set a timer and decide that I can't work on anything else for a certain amount of time. Or I disable my internet for a while. These tricks have variable success.
The thing is, I always feel so good when I finally finish the thing and relieve the log jam. It's always awesome to get back to the work I'd rather do and feel like I've made progress. Why can't I just get over it and take care of these things before my anxiety expands to make a log jam? How do you get over the inertia? How do you get yourself to work on something that feels so hard?
7 comments:
I've only got two tactics I use to get over the inertia. The more rational one is to break the difficult task up into little tasks that are easy. This way I can make incremental progress and build momentum.
The less rational tactic, and therefore the one I resort to most often, is to procrastinate until the deadline is just around the corner. At that point, sheer panic takes over and kicks my butt into gear. Obviously, this one can seriously backfire....
OK, EGF, I think we're the same person... that's part off why I'm stuck now as well... and you're so right. It's always more painful to dread the task than to just get it done and it does feel great to be productive. I wish I had other tips to share... yours seem pretty good already. I think one weakness I currently have is sitting down at my desk to "catch up" as soon as I get to lab. If I spend half an hour just getting things up and running for the day before I sit down I already feel a lot better... but it sounds like more of your to dos involve being at a desk, so then I'm not so sure. Does musical motivation help?
I was just about to say that we might be sharing the same brain. I've had a hard time getting started on lab stuff, too. The stuff I'm working on right now is hard and just not fun. Maybe we can try to motivate each other?
Exactly the same situation I am in. The thesis writing job was supposed to start 5 days back... :(
Dissertation coach is helping though. Thanks for that. And good luck for your work.
Happens to me as well, and while I sometimes use the tactics Mad Hatter suggested, I still feel stuck more often than I'd like...
I agree. I have felt the same way you do on several occasions. I have to keep strict tabs on my motivation and work accomplishments or I end up drifting for a while. I love the work while I am doin git, but if I get out of the habit it is hard to get back into it. I have a time management tool I use to keep track of actual hours worked on the tasks I need to be doing. I try and give myself special rewards when I accomplish things that are hard for me. And I found that talking to people really helps. Letting them know when you are not as productive as you would like and they help to encourage you on. It's almost like going to the gym. You are more likely to go if you have a partner to go with you. In my case, it's a bit of a (friendly) competition, but that is what works for me.
Mad Hatter, breaking things down into smaller tasks always helps, but sometimes it's hard to even do that.
Jenn, music helps me in the lab, but I need quiet when I'm doing data analysis/reading/writing. Most of my lab work is done, so I'm spending increasing proportions of time at my desk.
Mel & Amanda, I definitely think it helps to have accountability. so yes we should motivate each other!
Shazia, I'm glad the coach is helping. Good luck with your writing!
Amelie, me too.
It helps to know that other people struggle with the same things. It reminds me that struggles with motivation don't make me a Bad Scientist.
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