Your alarm goes off early in the morning. You planned to get up at 5 a.m. today and exercise. But it’s cold outside, your blankets are warm, and you just don’t feel like getting out of bed yet. So you hit the snooze button.
You have a presentation to prepare. It’s due tomorrow. You promised yourself that you would finish it this afternoon. But, the topic isn’t very interesting. You’ve still got time to work on it later tonight. You’re not in the mood right now – so you decide to check your social media accounts instead.
When You Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything
One of the most common excuses you might give for not doing something you need to do is, “I don’t feel like doing anything,” or, “I’m not in the mood.” You accept “not feeling like it” as a justifiable reason for not taking action.
You tell yourself, “I just need to get motivated first.”
Here’s the truth: You can do things even when you don’t feel like it. Your mood does not limit your physical ability to complete a task. That‘s just something you’re telling yourself to justify putting things off.
According to Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl, author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, “We may spend a lifetime acting like a 3-year-old and rationalizing it to ourselves the whole time. ‘I don’t feel like it. I need to feel better in order to act. First, I need to feel better.’ No, you don’t. In fact, your feelings will follow your behaviors. Progress on that task will improve your mood.”
How to Get Things Done
Ok, so it makes sense that you are physically capable of doing something – even if you’re not in the mood to do it. The question is “HOW to get things done when you don’t feel like doing anything?”
Here are 5 powerful strategies for getting things done – regardless of how you feel about doing them.
1. Recognize That Your Mood Does Not Have to Match the Task
Sometimes you have negative thoughts about a specific task or even about your life in general. If repeated often enough, those thoughts can lead to a low mood. You don’t feel like doing much. You put tasks off because you think you’ll feel more like doing them later. That never happens. Unfinished tasks pile up. You feel overwhelmed, which leads to you feeling even less like doing anything.
Conventional wisdom would tell you that these feelings need to be fixed first before you can act. Instead, try reminding yourself that your feelings aren’t preventing you from taking action. You don’t need to “feel” like doing something to get it done.
Motivation has a place. It can give you a feel-good boost to get yourself started on a project that you find meaningful. But it’s not enough. Like all feelings, motivation is temporary. It can come and go.
You might start out excited about a new project, but then you hit obstacles. You make mistakes. Things get tough. If you’re only relying on the feeling of motivation, you’re likely to give up.
By all means, do whatever you can to feel motivated, but also accept the fact that there’s no motivational speaker in the world that’s going to get you excited about going to the dentist or filing your taxes. Remind yourself that your mood does not have to match the task. You can feel bored and still do your taxes.
2. Stressing About Avoiding a Task Feels Worse Than Just Doing It
According to the writer David Cain, “The moment you start acting on something, you are at the beginning of the end of the anxiety associated with that thing. Many or most procrastinators are pessimists, habitually overestimating the difficulty of what they are avoiding. They think doing it is the hard part. But not doing it is much harder.”
Avoiding your responsibilities creates stressors in your life. Deadlines get missed, the stress builds up, and soon, you are not able to function properly. You can reduce your stress by completing the tasks you’ve been putting off. Try telling yourself, “The work involved is less painful than the stress of avoiding this.”
Once you begin taking action, you will feel a sense of relief that you are being proactive. As you make progress, good feelings increase. Stress-related to avoidance feels terrible. Let the knowledge that you’ll feel better after you get this job completed fuel your motivation to just get started.
3. Experiment With Small Actions
You do not have to complete an entire task in one sitting. Aspirations like that can cause you to feel overwhelmed. Tell yourself, “I can stand working on this for 10 minutes.” Breaking a project up into shorter work sessions, no matter how small, is still going to result in progress for you.
Set a timer for 10 minutes and work on a task you’ve been putting off. Set your feelings aside for those 10 minutes. After the time is up, acknowledge that yes, in fact, you were able to take the action – even while feeling bored, tired, annoyed, or any uncomfortable emotion you experienced. You still did it. Repeat this process. Soon you’ll realize that you might as well finish the task now that you’ve gotten started.
4. Notice How Your Mood Improves After You Take Action
Positive moods usually come after you’ve taken positive actions. As you make progress, you may begin to feel optimistic. Once you finish, you may feel satisfaction and more confidence in your ability to get things done. Even if you never feel better while you’re working, you will at least experience a sense of relief that this task you’ve been dreading is finally over.
For long term projects or habits, the more progress you make, the more likely you are to feel motivated to continue. But remember, even if you don’t feel motivated or inspired, feeling good is not a prerequisite to taking action.
5. Intentionally Expand Your Ability to Tolerate Discomfort
This one is for those of you who are serious about pursuing your goals. Every worthwhile endeavor is going to involve work that’s unfamiliar, difficult, or just plain boring. Thinking about tackling these projects will make you feel uncomfortable. You’re not going to “feel” like doing them. You won’t be in the mood. Challenge yourself to actively embrace these tasks anyway. See them as opportunities to strengthen your ability to tolerate uncomfortable feelings and get the job done anyway.
When you’ve completed an unpleasant task, celebrate that tiny wins and acknowledge your feelings of accomplishment. You’ve not only completed the task, but you’ve also strengthened your mental muscles needed to get things done – regardless of your temporary feelings.
Gregg Krech, the author of The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology, tells us, “Use your time wisely. It is a gift and it is only temporary… The biggest risk you can take is to do nothing at all, when you know there’s something you need to do.”
Conclusion: Take Action Now! No Motivation Required.
Let go of the misconception that you have to be “in the mood” to work on a task. This is a leading cause of procrastination. Instead of asking yourself. “What do I feel like doing?” Start asking yourself “What needs to be done?” or “What’s important for me to do?” Often, your attitude and your opinions about the task can change after you take action.
You can complete a task even if you don’t feel like doing it – that is how to get things done. The 5 strategies we’ve outlined can help make this easier for you.
- Recognize That Your Mood Does Not Have to Match the Task
- Stressing About Avoiding a Task Feels Worse Than Just Doing It
- Experiment With Small Actions
- Notice How Your Mood Improves After You Take Action
- Intentionally Expand Your Ability to Tolerate Discomfort
Taking action can be difficult when you don’t have clear goals or if you lack the skills necessary to complete a task. Check out our Resources page for more help with setting goals and building your skills.
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