Remember Pavlov's dog. Any pet owner knows that animals easily fall into routines and patterns of behavior. Just as your dog or cat recognizes the sound of the cabinet door opening that holds their food and rushes to you in eager anticipation, Pavlov noticed that a dog, used to hearing a bell prior to being fed, would start to salivate just at the sound of the bell alone. This is called "classical conditioning." When I was young, my father would play Marvin Gaye's album What's Goin' On every Sunday while we were cleaning the house. To this day, when I hear those familiar songs I get a compulsion to start dusting. You probably have noticed some songs always make you think of summer. Some scents always remind you of your Aunt Millie. It's the same principle.
Make this conditioning work in your favor by creating an environment that energizes you when you have to buckle down and tackle a project that is going to take some effort to achieve. Involve all your senses and think in terms of creating a ritual. Writers do this all the time, using specific writing instruments, sitting in a certain place, arranging the desk a particular way, and maybe drinking a specific beverage when they sit down to write. With the cues set in place consistently, the mind begins to associate the setting with the activity and slides with increasing ease into a productive mode.
The key is consistency combined with inherent appeal of the environmental associations. The more pleasant the setting, the more likely you will even start to look forward to the activity. Think about the sounds, scents, and feel of your environment. Use the same attention to invite yourself to show up to a task that you would use if you were preparing to greet the love of your life. How delicious can you make the experience for yourself? Isn't thinking about creating a delicious experience far more appealing than thinking about how to become more disciplined?
Think in terms of shifting energy. This is probably the most overlooked and most powerful technique you can use. Cleaning a closet is nearly a silver bullet when it comes to jump starting one's productivity. The thought of cleaning a garage, doing your taxes, or organizing your office may be overwhelming. Don't worry about that. Simply focus on one place in the environment where you notice the energy is stagnant and shift it.
Article comments
1 - Kathy
Excellent article!! This is most motivational piece I've ever read, so thanks!
2 - Laura
Glad to be of service Kathy! Feel free to kick around the rest of my articles here as well as at my blog for more on this and many other personal development topics.
Happy surfing!
L
3 - christiana
wonderful article!
4 - Margaret Horn
Well-written. I'm tired of reading blogs with grammatical errors (excuse my sentence fragment) and stylistic problems. Some of the article seemed mere rhetoric; in other words, you were comparing apples to apples. However, what you're suggesting is kind of a mind gymnastics (shift the way you're thinking), and perhaps that works for some readers. I certainly don't want a six-figure income. I guess I'm the artsy-fartsy type. I'm also chronically ill, which is one of the reasons I never get anything done. I would be interested in seeing an article on how to be productive when ill! I liked that you referred to Twyla Tharp. (Margaretsstrangeworld.net)