Blog of Susmit.

Most of us hit a wall with certain tasks. We mean to start, and we don't. This post covers why that happens and a simple technique that can help you start. Why we procrastinate Procrastination isn't always about laziness or incompetence. It can be a response to stress. Some tasks make us anxious, and putting them off gives the mind temporary relief. Seeing it that way makes it easier to stop blaming yourself. It's a way of avoiding something that feels stressful. What makes tasks stressful Tasks that feel negative, boring, or complicated can trigger that stress. If you can name what's making a task feel bad, you can deal with that directly, instead of just pushing yourself harder. The 5-second rule When you feel the urge to put something off, count down from 5 and start right away. The idea is that the countdown gets you moving before you have time to overthink and talk yourself out of it. Try it with a call you've been avoiding, a piece of writing, or a workout. Wh...

 Many people want to change but struggle to act. Understanding how habits work, and paying attention to how tasks make you feel, can help. This post explains the habit loop and how to use it. Start by noticing how you feel Mindfulness here means being aware of how a task makes you feel. That tells you which situations make you most productive. Once you notice your emotions and reactions, you can adjust your habits to get better results. The habit loop Charles Duhigg's habit loop describes how habits form and how they can change. It has three parts: cue, routine, and reward. Cue. A cue is anything that triggers a habit. It can be a place, a time of day, other people, your emotional state, or something you just did. Waking up in the morning, for example, can cue you to head straight for the coffee maker. Routine. The routine is what you do right after the cue. It's the habit itself, and it often runs in a half-automatic way. In the coffee example, the routine is making the coffee...