S17D01 - Human Desires and Getting things "Done"

Day 1 on 'My Morning Escapades'

   I have decided to wake up early in the mornings to dedicate some time for myself. Do things I like to do and want to make a habit of doing. That could be anything between writing and reading to photography to exercising, among other interests and activities.

   Today I want to talk a bit on human desires and getting things done. It is based on simple human psychology - how our brains work.

   And to keep things relevant, I'll mostly talk about what I am going through right now. This is a testimony to how relevant and ever-present this topic is, for any of us.

Getting things done - The Hard Thing about the Hard Things

   Doing what you want to do can be easy or difficult. There are two kinds of desires we have. On one hand we crave instant gratifications - things that make us happy in the here and now. These are fleeting desires like watching a movie, eating a dessert, playing a one-off game, etc. On the other hand, there are the much more sincere desires - things that have and give value over time. These are more like investments that would provide value as you keep spending more time and resources.

   But the thing is, the decisions and actions required to achieve your more sincere desires are counter-intuitive to your instant gratification seeking part. For example, given a free choice without any consequences, one would rather go out and eat ice-cream on a hot sunny afternoon than sit at home and try to publish an article that probably about a 100 people are going to read seriously.

My Experiences

   Today, I woke up 5 minutes before my set alarm. This usually happens when I am sincere about managing my time the previous night while going to sleep. I think the sub-conscious brain functions by learning from your previous decisions and actions. We call this phenomenon, the mindset. So, if you are sleeping on the pre-decided or pre-requisite hour and have planned how long you are going to sleep, what your sub-conscious mind does is set a natural body alarm inside you. Keep in mind the mindset theory as you read along.

   As I woke up today, I began with the basic morning rituals of brushing teeth and downloading ‘brown rolls’ into the ‘seat’. As I sat (and shat) there, I suddenly realised that in a space of a minute, about 10 thoughts on ‘things-to-do’ had already crossed my mind. I wanted to ‘justify’ my waking up early. I wanted to make it a ‘success’. And I was frenetic about it! I wasn’t concentrating, I was rushing.

   More often than not, this amounts to nothing as all our efforts are random shots at glory and not focused to build something by way of investing in it.

   Having finished my morning chores, I got down to working. (Well, I thought I would, but there were to be more small, frustrating obstacles which caused some delays) As I was planning my activities for the day, one checklist point crossed my mind which immediately made me take a detour to attend to it. When I had finished the ‘task’, I realised that I had done 3 extra things that probably did not require attention and ended up spending 3 times the time allotted to it. (And there I was thinking, "Where is the time?")

   Doing random ‘tasks’ in midst of other tasks and then getting stuck in the new ‘mindset’ rather than coming back to the need of the hour is a common phenomenon and as natural instant gratification seekers, we are quite susceptible to it.

The Mindset Theory

   The point-in-case is that there are so many small issues and distractions that are just waiting for your attention that it is quite impossible, in a casual way, to execute your plans in a smooth and focused manner.

   You need to constantly regulate your mindset while doing a task to stay focused; and not just ‘do’ it. Know what mindset you want to have while executing a task and what mindset you are now in. Change it, if there’s a difference. Be more conscious about the way you do things. It brings more focus and hence quality into your work.

   In the end, it is about respecting your every milli-second. Long, hard tasks require you to see every small effort as an investment that will matter, in the long run. Without giving time to anything, one cannot expect value out of it. And as time is the most valuable resource all of us have, focus when you invest it! Just as this article required me to give it time and thought, without bothering about finishing that book or looking up on those monetary investments, etc.

   If there is a higher point that I would make here, then it is this. Don't focus on getting things "done". Focus on doing them. They will "get" done, if you do so.

   I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Hopefully this was not a ‘deviation from mindset’ for you. And if it was, I hope you found some value here.

Bye!