{"id":546,"date":"2015-05-14T23:53:53","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T06:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/?p=546"},"modified":"2016-06-03T14:13:32","modified_gmt":"2016-06-03T20:43:32","slug":"how-not-to-piss-your-willpower-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/how-not-to-piss-your-willpower-away\/","title":{"rendered":"How Not to Piss Your Willpower Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you procrastinating right now? If so, stop reading this and go do whatever you need to. Yes now. You can always read this later.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Back again, or failed to resist the urge to hit the \u201cread more\u201d button? What do you do when your willpower well is depleted? I know this state too well because I\u2019m prone to head-shattering migraines. I spent years learning how to mitigate the pain, but spending all day trying not to be in pain completely drains my mental resources.<\/p>\n

Even after I\u2019ve taken all the pills, drunk tons of water, eaten, stretched, put on blue-blocking glasses to relieve eye-strain, gone for a walk, had a bath, and\/or taken a nap. Even after I\u2019ve beaten my migraine, it\u2019s no more than a pyrrhic victory because now I\u2019m too burnt out to do anything with the next few pain-free hours.<\/p>\n

At this point I\u2019m like some kind of expert on decision fatigue, or \u201cspoon theory,\u201d or whatever you like to call it. It\u2019s all about treating your willpower like a muscle, exercising it using similar rules: do a little at first and gradually build, and let it rest as needed. Here are a few things I\u2019ve learned. I might be repeating things I\u2019ve covered in prior posts, but I need the reminder right now so\u2026<\/p>\n

Stop Being Picky<\/h4>\n

You wouldn\u2019t believe what a relief it is when you decide to stop arranging your shirts by color as you hang them on the drying rack<\/em> \u2013 where it doesn\u2019t matter<\/em>. Stopping yourself from doing some pointless thing you\u2019ve turned into a habit takes just enough willpower to make it a worthy starting exercise.<\/p>\n

Stop While You Still Have Energy<\/h4>\n

I know once you\u2019re in a groove it\u2019s tempting to keep on going until your batteries run down, but this is a swift road to feeling-like-crap town rather than having enough enthusiasm left to cheer at your accomplishments for the day. Save some energy. I know, it\u2019s hard to justify when you rarely have enough energy to get things done, but have you every considered that this pattern of gungho->burnout contributes to that?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been parceling out my time in smaller chunks all year, and though I sometimes think I\u2019m not making progress because things are getting done slowly, they\u2019re actually getting done. My fallow periods have shortened to almost nothing compared to last year, where I hardly got anything done at all.<\/p>\n

Write Out Your Plans\/Make Notes<\/h4>\n

If you jot something down the moment you think of it, you can more easily go back to whatever you were doing without getting derailed. There\u2019s nothing worse than being in the zone when your brain interrupts with, \u201cHey, you forgot to take out the garbage!\u201d If you dump that thought onto paper (or your smartphone), it doesn\u2019t need to take up space in your active memory processing unit anymore.<\/p>\n

Also, as I wrote a couple weeks ago<\/a>, when your nagging thoughts are more akin to a swarm of wasps, you have bigger problems. Maybe it\u2019s time to sit down and work out exactly what\u2019s eating you and what you can do about it.<\/p>\n

Practice Exerting Your Willpower in Small Ways<\/h4>\n

Practice self-control with things that don\u2019t matter. I\u2019ve read about this technique a bit, for example from Simone Weil<\/a>. I\u2019ve also read about stupid willpower exerting exercises like brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. I decided to put it in practice by doodling left-handed. The results are not yet in, but it\u2019s worth a go.<\/p>\n

Give In to Your Temptations in Structured Ways<\/h4>\n

Give yourself that bar of chocolate at the end of the day. Just like your muscles need fuel after a workout, so does your brain \u2013 and I\u2019m not just talking bloodsugar. Watch a show, read a book. Don\u2019t starve yourself of pleasure, even if you didn\u2019t hit your target that day.<\/p>\n

Get Some Fresh Air<\/h4>\n

Even if just to stand on your balcony\/stoop and stare at the clouds for five minutes. Going for a walk is better, a hike more so. If you can\u2019t get out at all, a hot bath maybe? It just has to be somewhere you can relax for a few minutes, that\u2019s all. Taking time out for that is important, and never forget it.<\/p>\n

These are just a handful of suggestions. Anything I missed?<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>by <\/span>\"feather\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you procrastinating right now? If so, stop reading this and go do whatever you need to. Yes now. You can always read this later. by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[20,15,23],"class_list":["post-546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living","tag-advice","tag-bullshittery","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":908,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions\/908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahdimento.com\/~sarah\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}