One of the things that the state of being in a rut can bring (along side that sense
of being overwhelmed and mentally exhausted) is a shortage of sufficient daily
productivity. When we are feeling stuck and the burden of negative forces in our
lives gets heavy, tackling the (more abundant) less pleasurable chores and tasks
might feel extremely difficult and as a result, begin to pile up on the to-do-list.
When that happens, what do you imagine happens to the weight on our shoulders?
It increases with each added, incomplete task that we recognize. When we are already
overwhelmed, the weight of a load of dishes seems to weigh a lot more than one used to.
So the state we are in actually drives the behavior that can push us deeper into that state,
which is often the case when in any negative state of mind.
You may have seen this behavior. Perhaps you know people in your life whose reaction to
focusing on their large amount of dept may be to find a false sense of relief in shopping,
or focusing on the extra body weight they are carrying is seemingly buffered by eating
unhealthy comfort food or an alcoholic thinks they’re escaping troubles that alcohol has
caused in their world, by drinking more alcohol.
On paper it doesn’t look logical yet it is a common trap. You may have heard that focusing
on your problem, moves you toward your problem. Emotions can easily hide logic when
we are in a compromised state of mind. Our minds under the influence of our constant
negative thoughts, can take us to the wrong place and give us the wrong answers.
Our minds can be tricky and we can trick (rationalize) our own selves. I think sometimes
when we have something we think we need to do but dread it (maybe we fear failure or
there are huge ‘unknowns’, etc.) for whatever reason, we line up a host of small things in
front of it that we decide we must do first, almost to buy time or establish an indefinite
procrastination excuse.
You need to be aware of the mechanism in your mind that might begin to drive you further
into the same negative state you are already suffering so that you understand there will be
some counteraction that needs to take place.
Sometimes we underestimate the value of getting a small task out of the way. We may think
that only large, complicated projects can boost our self-esteem but any small feat can bring
us a feeling of satisfaction. 10 small unrelated achievements can be easier to do than one
large complex task but equally give that same feeling of accomplishment in the end.
Think about the things that are throbbing like a sore thumb on your to-do-list (or
procrastination list if you prefer). Don’t think of them all at once though. As soon as the first
one enters your mind, stop (the first one that pops into your mind is likely the most active
one taunting you in the back of your mind). Write it down, highlight it, draw a boarder
around it. Imagine it done and gone. Decide that this one task absolutely needs to be
done.
You may be interested in this article: CLUTTER WEIGHS YOU DOWN WHEN YOU’RE IN A RUT
Think of only this task until completion before moving on to others. Others will try to come
but refocus and think about this one like it is the only one on your list. What would it take to
get this one done? Write those steps down quickly and don’t hover over any one of those
steps allowing yourself to go through the circular thinking about why it hasn’t gotten done,
how much you dread some part of that process, how tired you are and so on, no emotions
allowed right now, step one – BOOM, step two – BOOM and keep moving.
You’re not trying to conquer the mountain, you’re trying to gain some footing so that you
can build momentum and completing small tasks can get the wheels turning. Visualize a
car stuck in the mud, You don’t just push it straight out, you make small pushes, rocking
it back and forth until enough momentum builds up to finally set it free.
I will admit that I have used this process to tackle things like; 1) pick up the phone 2) dial
it 3) wait for someone to answer…you can probably guess the rest. What I am saying is,
I fully understand the ability of our minds, under certain circumstances, to twist the
perception of difficulty level of subsequent streams of actions. That is why breaking it
down into the individual steps is necessary. It is much less likely that your mind will be
able to perceive each action as difficult on its own.
When we feel overwhelmed it is easy to dream of the moment we can stop doing things
and just curl up and do nothing but we need to remember that life is about doing things.
Everyone can find that comfortable flow where what we are doing in life feels good and
is rewarding, fruitful and purposeful.
When we slow down and become unproductive over time, simply getting up and doing
three dishes feels like tackling a mountain.
By doing things, we’re not earning value, we all have value. By accomplishing things in
life we are using the value we already possess and that’s what we’re meant to do, the
same as a pepper plant is driven to bring forth peppers. This is what makes us feel good
about our lives.
Being in a rut can make time feel different. It seems there is not time to do anything.
The truth is, the more you do the more you have time to do. I believe this it a principal
and it is very real. Time of course has restrictions but it is highly susceptible to
perception.
As you start to complete all of those things that you’ve been putting off and you get
used to doing each small task over time, you’ll find it almost takes no time out of your
day and you can start to add the other things you used to put off because of your back
logged to-do list.