You are absolutely correct that the most effective way to figure out what works is to use the scientific approach—design an experiment to test the hypothesis, test, assess the results, and go from there.
In this case, the hypothesis I bet on is:
You will identify a specific set of physical behaviors (muscle tension changes, viscera sensations, etc.) that accompany the thought
These behaviors are preceded by some mental representation (however brief) of some expected result—such as being yelled at for not finishing the task, or some other social status-impacting event that could come about as a result of failing to complete it successfully or failing to complete it at all
Identifying and changing the thought process that led to creating and caching the expected outcome, will result in the cached thought going away, and possibly taking the somatic marker with it, or at least diminishing it in intensity. If the somatic marker remains or is replaced by a new one, there will be a new cached thought that goes with it.
There are exceptions to this pattern; some somatic markers are straight-up conditioning (i.e., there’s no cached predictive thought in play—the marker is directly tied to the initial thought), and some are rooted in what I call “holes in the soul”—a compulsion to fulfill an emotional need that’s not being otherwise met. But most chronic procrastination in my experience follows the “main sequence” I’ve outlined above.
I used to waste a LOT of time helping people get over the “effort” they perceived associated with doing things… only to find out that it was 99% anosognosia—misdirected explanations of the pain.
If we don’t feel pushed to do something in the first place, then we don’t usually experience the time spent as being effortful. So nowadays, I get results a lot faster by focusing on eliminating a handful of feelings associated with NOT doing the task, than the seemingly infinite number of new complaints people can generate about DOING the task.
In this case, the hypothesis I bet on is:
You will identify a specific set of physical behaviors (muscle tension changes, viscera sensations, etc.) that accompany the thought
These behaviors are preceded by some mental representation (however brief) of some expected result—such as being yelled at for not finishing the task, or some other social status-impacting event that could come about as a result of failing to complete it successfully or failing to complete it at all
Identifying and changing the thought process that led to creating and caching the expected outcome, will result in the cached thought going away, and possibly taking the somatic marker with it, or at least diminishing it in intensity. If the somatic marker remains or is replaced by a new one, there will be a new cached thought that goes with it.
There are exceptions to this pattern; some somatic markers are straight-up conditioning (i.e., there’s no cached predictive thought in play—the marker is directly tied to the initial thought), and some are rooted in what I call “holes in the soul”—a compulsion to fulfill an emotional need that’s not being otherwise met. But most chronic procrastination in my experience follows the “main sequence” I’ve outlined above.
I used to waste a LOT of time helping people get over the “effort” they perceived associated with doing things… only to find out that it was 99% anosognosia—misdirected explanations of the pain.
If we don’t feel pushed to do something in the first place, then we don’t usually experience the time spent as being effortful. So nowadays, I get results a lot faster by focusing on eliminating a handful of feelings associated with NOT doing the task, than the seemingly infinite number of new complaints people can generate about DOING the task.