Grab a Stopwatch

If you have resistance to completing a task, it’s useful to recognize what the resistance is.

For me, a few of my most common objections are “oh, that’ll be boring” or “I’m nervous about what so-and-so will say” or “that’ll take too long”. 

But if you can notice the justifications you tend to come up with, then you can do something about it.

For example: to address the 3rd justification above, I’ve started keeping a log of “How Long Things Take” where I record the time required for recurring tasks.  I've learned that it takes 8 minutes to back up my hard drive, 9 minutes to prep a spaghetti squash for the oven, and 28 minutes to cut my hair.  Now, I postpone these tasks less often (because I know exactly how long they will take). And more importantly, instead of exerting energy debating whether or not to take it on, I spend the energy looking for ways to improve my time!

See if you can spot the things you have resistance to doing.  What’s your typical justification?  What can you do to address it?  And how might you reframe that conversation with yourself, into one that is positive, constructive and perhaps even fun?