The problem is you ’ re skipping an necessity step. here ’ s what it is…
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The Mistake Every Productivity System Makes
Productivity systems rarely take emotions into account. And feelings are a fundamental and ineluctable share of why humans do what they do .
We can ’ thymine ignore our emotions. Because of the way our brains are structured, when thought and feelings compete, feelings about constantly win. And we can ’ triiodothyronine fight our feelings. inquiry shows this just makes them stronger. Via The Antidote : happiness for People Who Can ’ thymine Stand Positive think :
…when experimental subjects are told of an infelicitous consequence, but then instructed to try not to feel sad about it, they end up feeling worse than people who are informed of the event, but given no instructions about how to feel. In another sketch, when patients who were suffering from panic disorders listened to relaxation tapes, their hearts beat faster than patients who listened to audiobooks with no explicitly ‘ relaxing ’ content. Bereaved people who make the most attempt to avoid feel grief, research suggests, take the longest to recover from their loss. Our efforts at genial suppression fail in the intimate stadium, besides : people instructed not to think about sex display greater foreplay, as measured by the electrical conduction of their hide, than those not instructed to suppress such thoughts .
so what does the ineluctable power of feelings mean for motivation ?
In their book Switch, Chip and Dan Heath say that emotions are an necessity partially of executing any plan :
focus on emotions. Knowing something international relations and security network ’ thymine enough to cause switch. Make people ( or yourself ) feel something .
We need to think to plan but we need to feel to act. thus if you ’ ve got the thinking part out of the way – how do you rile up those emotions and get things done ? here are three steps :
1) Get Positive
When do we procrastinate the most? When we’re in a bad mood. Via temptation : Finding Self-Control in an Age of Excess :
indeed procrastination is a mood-management technique, albeit ( like eat or taking drugs ) a ill-considered one. But we ’ ra most prone to it when we think it will actually help… Well, far and away the most dilatoriness occurred among the bad-mood students who believed their climate could be changed and who had entree to fun distractions .
Meanwhile, research shows happiness increases productivity and makes you more successful. What does the military teach recruits in order to mentally toughen them up ? No, it ’ s not hand-to-hand fight. It ’ sulfur optimism. So how do you get affirmative if you ’ re not feeling it ? Monitor the progress you’re making and celebrate it. Harvard ’ s Teresa Amabile ‘ s inquiry found that nothing is more motivating than progress. Via The Progress principle : Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at work :
This form is what we call the progress principle : of all the positive events that influence inside work biography, the individual most powerful is advance in meaningful work ; of all the negative events, the single most brawny is the antonym of progress—setbacks in the work. We consider this to be a fundamental management principle : help advancement is the most effective way for managers to influence inner work life .
( More on how to get happier hera. ) Okay, sol negativity international relations and security network ’ metric ton making you procrastinate and holding you back. But what ’ s going to drive you advancing ?
2) Get Rewarded
Rewards feel dear. Penalties feel bad. And that ’ s why they both can work well for motivating you.
Research shows that rewards are responsible for three-quarters of why you do things. Via The 100 Simple Secrets of successful People :
Researchers find that perceived self-interest, the rewards one believes are at stake, is the most significant component in predicting dedication and satisfaction toward work. It accounts for about 75 percentage of personal motivation toward accomplishment. – Dickinson 1999
So treat yourself whenever you complete something on your to-do list. ( Yes, this is how you train a frank but it will work for you besides. ) Having trouble finding a reward amazing enough to get you off your buttocks ? Try a “ commitment device ” alternatively : Give your friend $100. If you get a task done by 5PM, you get your $100 back. If you don’t complete it, you lose the $100. Your disturbance list just got very aroused .
( More on how to stop procrastinate here. )
so you ’ rhenium palpate positivist and there are rewards ( or penalties ) in station. What else do you need ? How about nag, compliments and guilt ?
3) Get Peer Pressure
research shows peer pressure helps kids more than it hurts them. ( And face it, you ’ re still a big kid, you just have to pretend to be an adult most of the time — and it ’ s exhausting. ) Surround yourself with people you want to be and it’s far less taxing to do what you should be doing. Via Charles Duhigg ’ s excellent ledger The Power of Habit : Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business :
When people join groups where exchange seems possible, the electric potential for that exchange to occur become more real .
The Longevity Project, which studied over 1000 people from youth to death had this to say :
The groups you associate with frequently determine the type of person you become. For people who want improved health, association with other healthy people is normally the strongest and most direct path of deepen .
And the inquiry on friendship confirms this. From my consultation with Carlin Flora, generator of Friendfluence :
research shows over clock, you develop the corrode habits, health habits and even career aspirations of those around you. If you ’ re in a group of people who have very eminent goals for themselves you ’ ll take on that same sense of earnestness .
( More on the skill of friendship here. ) So we ’ ve got all three methods going for us. How do we wrap this all together and get started ?
Sum Up
Got today ’ s disturbance list ? Great. That means the most rational thing to do now isstop being rational. Get those emotions going :
- Get Positive
- Get Rewarded
- Get Peer Pressure
You can do this. In fact, believing you can do this is actually the foremost step. What ’ s one of the chief things that stops people from becoming happier ? Happiness international relations and security network ’ t separate of how they see themselves so it ’ second hard to change. think of yourself as a motivated, productive person. inquiry shows how people feel about themselves has a huge impression on achiever. Via The 100 Simple Secrets of successful People :
For most people studied, the foremost step toward improving their job performance had nothing to do with the job itself but alternatively with improving how they felt about themselves. In fact, for eight in ten people, self-image matters more in how they rate their job performance than does their actual job performance. – Gribble 2000
still diffident if you ’ ll be able to beat the dilatoriness demon ? then skim correct to # 3, peer blackmail. Forward this post to at least two friends and start holding each other accountable. now you ’ ve got something outside of yourself that ’ s watching and motivating you. And everything is easier — and more fun — with friends. Join 85K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. associate posts : 6 Things The Most fat People Do Every day How To Achieve Work-Life Balance In 5 Steps
8 Things The World ’ s Most successful People All Have In Common This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree . read following : This Is the No. 1 Thing That Holds Most People Back From Success
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