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Getting stuff done and stop smoking!

Funny how we have some basic patterns that are hard-wired in your brain.
When I think “Tidy my room?”, I know it’s something I HAVE to do.
But somehow I am NOT doing it.

So it’s a mess and girls do notice, whatever they say.

My productivity has been going down lately, and I always feel that everything except getting important stuff done is what I am actually doing.
“I have to eat something”
“See that TV show”
“Call a friend”
I’ll do “that” or “this”, later. Especially if “this” or “that” is important.

For someone like me, who’s all about reprogramming himself to achieve a better self, that’s very harsh to realize.

I said let’s get this done. I cleaned my mess, put myself in a state of can-do-will-do attitude.
Perfect room.
For 2 weeks.
Same thing for the cigarette, stopped for for a few weeks/days/hours. And started back. Because it is just “a cigarette”.

Readinf Mark Forster book, I learnt several tricks, that I am already applying and that have been working for a week.

What if I could switch my patterns?
Procrastinate the cigarette and just do some cleaning little by little?

The reptilian brain (our primitive brain with basic needs) craves immediate nicotine and considers a huge amount of boring work as a threat.

So what did I do?

-Every time I feel a cigarette, I just procrastinate it. I tell my brain, you’ll get it in 5 minutes. I do that until the need is gone. And surprizingly, that works! (for a week though)
-Every time I want to clean, I just say “I am not going to clean the whole house… I just go and see the trash bin. ” then “I am not going to clean the whole house… I just take the garbage out. “
And the reptilian brain is fooled.

Don’t think it works?
You’d be amazed.

Here’s something about getting stuff done.

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