Just about anyone who has ever put off a troublesome task is familiar with one of my "secrets of adulthood": Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination.
When there's some chore you just don't want to tackle, every other chore seems alluring. As a friend told me, "My apartment is never cleaner than when I have a writing assignment due."
In Roy Baumeister and John Tierney's fascinating book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, they suggest the "nothing alternative" to this problem. That is, if you want to get yourself to do something, make the alternative to that task to do nothing.
This rule was inspired by the habits of writer Raymond Chandler. Chandler set aside at least four hours each day for writing; he didn't force himself to write, but he didn't let himself do anything else. He wouldn't let himself read, write letters, write checks -- nothing. He summed up: "Two very simple rules: a.) You don't have to write. b.) You can't do anything else. The rest comes of itself."
When I read this, I realized that I'd been following this rule without giving it a name. When I want to do the difficult work of original writing, I often work outside my apartment, in a library a few blocks away. This gets me away from the temptations of the Internet, and it also forces me to accept the "nothing alternative." I say to myself, "I'll stay here for two hours," and then I'm stuck. If I'm not writing, I'm just sitting there. Sure, sometimes I jump up and go look for a book in the stacks, but that doesn't take long. I end up writing just to pass the time. At home, by contrast, there's no end to the useful tasks that I can find to occupy myself.
So if you often find yourself procrastinating by working, try making yourself do nothing.
How about you? Do you procrastinate by working -- by cleaning, organizing, answering emails, cruising the Internet doing "research," making plans or the like? Has the "do nothing" alternative worked for you?
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* My friend Laura Vanderkam told me about the blog Wandering Scientist, and I've really enjoyed reading it.
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Wray Herbert: The Physiology of Willpower: Where Does Discipline Come From?
Procrastination | Psychology Today
1. To increase my annual bonus by firing someworker(s)?;
2. To increase my annual bonus by taking away someworker(s) benefits?;
3. To take the golden parachute and let somone else take charge?.
When I weighed all the choices I noted:
1. I couldn't fire relatives. All the workers were relatives.
2. I couldn't take benefits away from my own family.
3. The only other worker already retired.
4. I didn't have a golden parachute.
Some of the greatest people in the world have been procrastinators. If Presidents, Kings, and others in charge had not been procrastinators we would have had many more wars and many more deaths. The human chromosome pool would be smaller than it is now.
Even the Almighty left the rain turned on for more than 40 days. He gave us the example to be Blessed, Baruch we should also be actively procrastinating. Peace, Shalom, Salaam.
I am facing a deadline on a paper that I have barely outlined but today is the day! I will do nothing or I will work on the paper.
Enjoyable read.