Facing Up to the Task You've Sidestepped for Weeks

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Friday, 27 September 2024

Written by Leo Babauta

Facing Up to the Task You've Sidestepped for Weeks

Let’s imagine that there’s a big task you’ve been avoiding for weeks (or maybe a bunch of them!) … it just becomes this ball of dread that you don’t want to think about, but that you feel really bad that you’ve been putting off.

Sound familiar? Everyone has something like this, whether it’s a big work project, taxes or budgeting, a difficult email, a creative project, or just some regular tasks you don’t want to deal with.

So let’s assume you’d really like to do this task … how do you turn towards it?

I’m going to give you a practice you can take on, turning towards one difficult task at a time, until your whole life starts to flow.

Here’s the practice:

Notice that you’re avoiding the task. It might be something you keep kicking to the next day. Or an email that’s been sitting in your inbox. Maybe there are a lot of them … but pick one and notice that you’re avoiding it. Set an intention to turn towards it, just a little, as a practice.
Pause for a moment and sit with the task. You don’t have to do the task yet. Just think about the task for a few moments and feel the feelings that come up. Maybe dread, feeling bad about yourself, judgment, fear. You don’t have to think too much about the feelings, just let yourself feel them for a few moments. Breathe.
Take a break if you need to. Get up and walk around. Drink some water, stretch, do a little movement, dance, whatever you like. Then try step 2 again.
Remind yourself of why this is important. Why do you care about this? Is there an important outcome that will come from doing this? Something that matters to you?
Try the smallest step. With a big reason, take a small action. Tiny. Can you open it and read the first sentence? Can you write a few words? Just do that and breathe.
Celebrate yourself. It’s a start! You’ve turned towards the task! It might seem silly or unworthy of celebrating, but even turning towards something in a small way like this is a huge victory. Acknowledge yourself, and do a little dance.

Then keep practicing! Turn towards the task again, after a little break. Then again.

Take on another task you’ve been avoiding.

Then another.

Soon these tiny steps, tiny turning towards, will unblock a large part of your life. Then nothing can stop you.

May your life become unlocked.

Credit

Zen Habits is about finding simplicity and mindfulness in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness. My name is Leo Babauta. I live in Davis, California with my wife and six kids, where I eat vegan food, write, run, and read. Source