How I Use Emotion Management To Cope With Procrastination
Most of us have had to struggle with either abandoning bad habits or beginning new productive ones. In the former, we become accustomed to an extent that our senses are numbed. Yet how habits creep into our lives still puzzles us. It's often at the wee hours when things have fallen apart, do we realize our predicaments.
To be honest I am a big victim of procrastination. None of my grandeur plans have ever, as much as halfway, been achieved on time.
Just yesterday I cheated on my meal (I have been on a keto diet for some time). The last time I cheated before that, was three days ago. I have been wanting to write this article since I joined medium mid last month, only this week have I really gotten onto it.
It’s not like I am not interested in shading some pounds off and getting that amazing beach body or even finishing my articles. It's just that, sometimes I feel a strong urge to satisfy my current cravings against my higher conscious, which in turn jeopardize my long-term plans.
Emotion management
Have you ever heard of surgeons or firefighters who procrastinate on their tasks? Never, this is because the cost of procrastinating on their activities is usually very high. The problem with the bulk of us is, even though putting off work at the moment might have dire consequences shortly, we consciously choose to start doing them at the spur of the moment near their deadlines.
Usually, the task at hand competes with other more interesting activities that make engaging in the desired task painful. Ideally, this shouldn’t be the case since the opportunity cost (the loss of other alternatives when one alternative is chosen) at that moment is high. Nevertheless, we proceed with watching Netflix instead of writing or playing video games rather than hitting the gym.
If you pay close attention, you will realize that this becomes a matter of regulating our feelings. The task we are putting off is making us feel bad at the moment — maybe we are uncertain about its reception by the public, perhaps it’s boring or even confusing — and to get a temporary comfort, we resort to entertainment. So how do we take care of these unpredictable and irrational urges? The answer is emotion management. A glance at Google's definition reveals.
Emotion management is the ability to be aware of and constructively handle both positive and challenging emotions.
You can’t solve what you are not aware of, at its onset. In this sense, it has an element of mindfulness. Whenever you are confronted with negative feelings while performing intended tasks, take a moment to observe and notice without reacting. Try to deduce, why is it that you are feeling that way. Then remind yourself of the importance of your work and the consequences of not accomplishing it in time. Remember you are trying to recreate the last-minute urgency but in a calm manner.
This might look like an easy undergoing, but far from it, it requires a lot of hard work and practice in essence for it to be impactful.
Just Do It
My own experience has been a mix of challenges. Quite often, I have had an emotional roller-coaster while writing or researching. There are those times in the morning when I get into a flow. In psychology, flow is a state of mind when a person becomes fully immersed in an activity. I must admit a shot of an espresso combined with the good atmosphere (I enjoy writing in coffee shops) does help with that. This moment normally lasts for about forty minutes on average.
Next comes the uphill battles with thoughts. It could range from arbitrary things like what will I have for lunch that day to more somber ones like why haven’t I settled down yet, everyone else in my circle seems to be happily married, is there something wrong with me? These inner voices can be downright destructive to the point of depression. And before I know it, I will be looking for something to get my head of it — in the past, this is where I bid farewell to whatever I was doing until next time.
So how do I use emotion management? Whenever I am bothered with my inner critic who leaves me feeling low. I first acknowledge my experience. Then I move away from my workstation. A five minutes stroll does help a lot. You could breathe in and out or do some push-ups if that works for you. The idea is not to completely take you away from the work but at the same time to offer you enough time and space to recover from this negative emotion. This shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes and no, you can’t watch Netflix, sorry!
Then I remind myself of the importance of my task and of the consequences of not accomplishing them on time. This helps a lot in bringing back the urgency of the task at hand. Normally, at this point, I can delve back at my work. I could work straight back for like half an hour before the emergency of the second wave of negative emotion. I repeat until my objective is attained. It’s a work in progress I must admit, but a worthwhile one.
