I don’t know how much of it was me just wanting the technique to work, and if the effectiveness of the technique will wear off with time (as has often been the fate with my previous anti-procrastination techniques), but if it does work consistently… this will so change my life. I will be eternally in your debt if it will.
If anybody here has any kinds of problems with procrastination, go watch that video right now. I mean that.
A note of caution: that technique will only work if you aren’t under any pressure to perform the task. If you try to use it on something like doing your taxes because you’re freaking out at how little time you have left, it’s probably not going to work, because you’ll have conflicting somatic markers activated. In other words, you won’t be able to pass the “mmmm” test in the steps.
Most chronic procrastination takes the form of pressuring yourself to do something and thereby engaging somatic markers for “life-threatening situation”—making it damn near impossible to do anything useful in a systematic, sustainable, or rational way. So, you’ll need to use other techniques to switch off those markers if you’re going to use this technique for something like that.
In other words, the technique in that video is NOT an anti-procrastination technique per se, and it’s better that you don’t try to use it as one. It’s a demonstration of the link between somatic markers and motivation, and I specifically chose desk-cleaning as the target activity because most people are not under an urgent deadline or major pressure to clean their desk.
Now, as long as you pass the “mmmm” test for an activity, the method will work and it will work every time. The only way it will stop working is if you stop checking for the somatic marker and try to just push through without passing the “mmm” test. It’s just that for “under pressure” activities this may be difficult or impossible unless you first disengage the threat response. (It’s hard to do a relaxed “mmmm” or “ahhh” when you’re freaking out.)
Alright, thanks for the warning. Actually, I just finished reading “Why Can’t I Change”, and I see what you’re talking about. You’re sure you want everybody to sign up with their e-mail addy before downloading it? It made me feel like everybody should read it and made me want to share the link as widely as possible, but the sign-up requirement will considerably reduce the amount of people who’ll bother giving it a look...
A note of caution: that technique will only work if you aren’t under any pressure to perform the task. If you try to use it on something like doing your taxes because you’re freaking out at how little time you have left, it’s probably not going to work, because you’ll have conflicting somatic markers activated. In other words, you won’t be able to pass the “mmmm” test in the steps.
Most chronic procrastination takes the form of pressuring yourself to do something and thereby engaging somatic markers for “life-threatening situation”—making it damn near impossible to do anything useful in a systematic, sustainable, or rational way. So, you’ll need to use other techniques to switch off those markers if you’re going to use this technique for something like that.
In other words, the technique in that video is NOT an anti-procrastination technique per se, and it’s better that you don’t try to use it as one. It’s a demonstration of the link between somatic markers and motivation, and I specifically chose desk-cleaning as the target activity because most people are not under an urgent deadline or major pressure to clean their desk.
Now, as long as you pass the “mmmm” test for an activity, the method will work and it will work every time. The only way it will stop working is if you stop checking for the somatic marker and try to just push through without passing the “mmm” test. It’s just that for “under pressure” activities this may be difficult or impossible unless you first disengage the threat response. (It’s hard to do a relaxed “mmmm” or “ahhh” when you’re freaking out.)
Alright, thanks for the warning. Actually, I just finished reading “Why Can’t I Change”, and I see what you’re talking about. You’re sure you want everybody to sign up with their e-mail addy before downloading it? It made me feel like everybody should read it and made me want to share the link as widely as possible, but the sign-up requirement will considerably reduce the amount of people who’ll bother giving it a look...