Do It Right Away, Or Maybe Don’t.

When I was in school, every new schoolyear, I would have the intention to study at home every day. I fantasized that I would memorize the material 100 percent and have perfect scores. But when I got home after school, I would feel "The Resistance". "De Weerstand" in Dutch.

I recently discovered it has a name in psychology: "avolition". It's described as a paralysis when you have to perform a task. My brain hates the task I have to do. Screaming not to do it.

So instead of studying, I watched TV, constantly thinking about the tasks that are piling up, being stressed and miserable, my brain yelling: "I hate it."

I still have my avolition. Doing the dishes, maintaining the garden, showering, cleaning,... Stuff piles up, the neighbor complains, I get smelly,... I feel good when I finally do it, but the avolition stays for the next time.

In 2022, two years ago from composing this text, I thought I found a hack. I would program myself to "Do It Right Away!" If a task occured to me, I would just instantly do it as a matter of habit. Don't leave space for the avolition to build up.

But it went a little wrong.

I got a lot of work done that had been piling up. I also spent a lot of money, ordering things as soon as I thought I might need or want them. I spammed my friends and acquaintances with the advice to "do it right away" because I had that idea, and did it right away. 

I saw a video about the illnesses that cigarettes cause and right away sent it to a friend that we will call "The Geologist". I didn't get a response. A few days later I got the idea from YouTube to sent my smoking friends a book to help them stop smoking. I did it right away, no doubt.

One friend was confused. He had looked up the exact same book recently but didn't remember ordering it and now it was in his mailbox. The Geologist was pissed. He sent me an angry text. I was stressed out by it, and uninvited him to my 40th birthday. It was a mess.

I learned a lesson about unsolicited advice, and respecting people's autonomy. I still give advice on here, but people can choose to ignore it. Advice can seem like criticism or demands. I'm not sure if you have to nudge people, confront them, or just accept them for who they are. 

I still suffer from avolition. Stuff piles up and only gets done when it becomes unbearable. I have a trick to force myself to clean up my garden and house: throw a party. My brain is still screaming: I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. When I did something, I do feel satisfied though. I do try to do stuff right away, before the resistance builds. Body over mind.

Do some stuff right away, but other stuff maybe think about it first. You might make mistakes.

It helps to have a routine to overcome The Resistance. Then you just do things on autopilot. It can take 200 days to establish a habit.


peace ✌️ 💜 

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