How Can I learn To Overcome Negative Emotions To Finish Important Tasks?

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In our day-to-day life, we complete the tasks we enjoy the most, neglecting the ones we do not enjoy which are actually important. It is a pattern of behaviour familiar to all of us and this is something that we have done many times. Putting off dealing with important tasks can be very frustrating at the end. Reasons for procrastinating are to get immediate happiness, not thinking of the long term outcome and thus, you find yourself caught in an adverse cycle of negative emotions! The longer you delay to complete it, the worse you feel. The repercussions for yourself are immense.

To be able to understand how to overcome this ‘mental barrier’ in completing important tasks it is helpful to understand the common key causes.

Key causes:

• Perception of the task

If you like the task, for instance, performing yoga, the more inclined you are to do it. However, if you dislike it you will create excuses and reasons for why you cannot do it. Excuses like insufficient time or ‘I am not feeling well’.

• Fear of something while completing the task.

If you are asked to make a telephone call to the tax official but are scared of its effects like ‘what if the tax official speaks rudely’ and so on, you will find reasons for not calling and not really trying.

• Lack of knowledge to complete the task

Equally, if you are asked to write a letter to your child’s school but really do not know how to do this or what to write, you will find excuses not to do.

• Lack of focus and or time planning

Too often for those tasks where we feel either of the three reasons above, we will find insufficient time or somehow manage not to prioritise them. Dealing with financial matters is a prime example.

Key considerations

There are many useful methods you can try to help overcome the unwillingness (germinated from your negative emotions) which you experience on completing certain important tasks. They are simple and effective but do work!

• Try to maintain a positive intent

– Be aware of the tasks that invoke negative emotions.

– Try to maintain a positive mindset about these tasks and ignore the negative thoughts that fill your mind. Replace these with positive ones. Thus for example, before you start thinking about doing a task you always tend to procrastinate at – for example yoga, try to focus on how you feel after you have performed your meditation. The sense of physical and mental well-being! This will help inspire you and change your mindset about performing yoga!

– At the end of the day, conduct a reality check. Stop listening to your mind full of obstacles which by default focusses on the things you had not achieved and instead evaluate what you have already accomplished.

• Feel the benefits of achieving a task

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– Remind yourself how wonderful it feels when you have completed the task – the emotional relief and the sense of accomplishment!

– Equally, remind yourself of the consequences of delaying the task. This includes how you FEEL as a consequence of not having completed it! The stress, the nagging worry and the general feeling of unease and unhappiness!

Try this experiment:

Solution 1:

For the disliking tasks simply attempt to start them once; you will realize that it was not that boring after all!

Solution 2:

Liked or disliked – we know, we are the ones who have to do it, so why not do it in good time?

Solution 3:

Make the disinteresting tasks interesting. For example, set yourself interesting challenges – if for instances you have to clean the house, do something different – put some music on, creating a fun atmosphere. Or think about how the place will look once it is clean – look for positives in the task.

You will realize that the result or quality of the task done with interest is better than that of the task done with boredom

Solution 4:

Task by itself is not interesting or disinteresting. It’s our notion or belief that makes us feel so. Break it and see the results!

Solution 5:

Learn how to do a task by observing people around you. Nothing is impossible to do. You will realize that eventually, the tasks that you dislike in fact are responsible for your growth and development!

Solution 6:

Remain sincere to your tasks and do not let things around you distract you from your purpose.