I’ve observed one thing attention-grabbing about duties individuals keep away from. The issues we procrastinate on are sometimes the identical issues that matter most for our long-term success. It’s as if we’re wired to sabotage ourselves.
This isn’t a brand new remark, in fact. Individuals have been procrastinating for the reason that daybreak of time. What’s attention-grabbing is why we do it, and extra importantly, how we would hack our brains to cease.
Right here’s a thought experiment: Think about your future self, possibly 10 years from now. Now think about that future you could possibly ship a message again in time concerning the process you’re at present avoiding. What would they are saying?
It’s a easy query, but it surely cuts to the guts of why we procrastinate. Our brains are actually dangerous at connecting our current selves with our future selves. When neuroscientists have a look at mind scans, they discover that we take into consideration our future selves in the identical manner we take into consideration strangers.
This disconnect results in what economists name “temporal discounting.” We worth fast rewards excess of future ones, even when the longer term rewards are objectively higher. It’s why we select to look at one other episode on Netflix as an alternative of engaged on that aspect undertaking that would change our profession.
However right here’s the attention-grabbing half: we are able to hack this method. By actively imagining our future selves and connecting with them emotionally, we are able to bridge this psychological hole.
Right here’s a easy hack to attempt:
- Spend 5 minutes writing a letter out of your future self to your current self. Make it as vivid as attainable. What does your life appear to be? What have you ever achieved? Most significantly, what would this future you say concerning the process you’re at present avoiding?
- Now, write a response out of your current self again to your future self. Ask questions. Specific your fears. Be sincere about why you’re procrastinating.
- Change again to your future self and reply once more. Hold this dialogue going for so long as it’s productive.
This train would possibly really feel a bit bizarre at first. That’s okay. The purpose isn’t to foretell the longer term precisely. It’s to create an emotional connection along with your future self.
One factor that turns into clear if you do that train is the compounding impact of small actions over time. Your future self is aware of one thing that’s simple to overlook within the day-to-day grind: these small duties you’re avoiding now can have monumental penalties down the road.
That is true in nearly each area. In programming, it is likely to be refactoring that messy piece of code now versus coping with an enormous ball of mud later. In enterprise, it may very well be having that troublesome dialog with a co-founder now versus letting resentment construct up over years. In private life, it is likely to be going for a run at this time versus coping with well being points a decade from now.
The duties we procrastinate on are sometimes those that don’t have fast payoffs however have enormous long-term implications. By connecting with our future selves, we are able to deliver these long-term penalties into the current and inspire ourselves to behave.
There’s an analogy right here to startups. Good founders are obsessive about the longer term. They’re at all times considering a number of strikes forward, imagining what their firm might grow to be. In a way, they’re in fixed dialogue with their firm’s “future self.”
We will apply the identical precept to our private lives. Deal with your self like a startup. Your current self is the founder, and your future self is the profitable firm you’re attempting to construct. What does that future appear to be? What small actions can you are taking now to make it a actuality?
This method modifications how we take into consideration productiveness. It’s not about cramming extra duties into every day. It’s about figuring out the small variety of actions that may have the most important long-term impression and really doing them.
Generally, the most efficient factor you are able to do is to take a stroll and suppose deeply about the place you need to be in 10 years. Different instances, it’s forcing your self to take a seat down and do this one process you’ve been avoiding for weeks.
Right here’s a problem: For the following week, begin every day with a five-minute dialog along with your future self. Ask them what’s crucial factor you could possibly do at this time. Then do it.
You is likely to be stunned at how this small hack can change your conduct. It’s not about willpower or self-discipline. It’s about altering your perspective and bringing the longer term into the current.
Ultimately, one of the simplest ways to foretell the longer term is to create it. And one of the simplest ways to create it’s to start out with the small actions you’re avoiding proper now. Your future self will thanks.
