Wellness Wednesday: Get ‘Er Done

Today’s hump day. Let’s get over it by picking a pesky procrastination and OWNING it.

In a recent column on anxiety, I talked about how we often mismanage our anxiety by avoiding whatever is causing it. Today, let’s face it head on.

Open or delete those emails. Write that thank-you letter. Pay that bill. Deal with that scary piece of mail.  Pair that mess of socks into order. Return that call. Schedule your dentist appointment. Take those clothes you’re never really going to wear to goodwill. Lighten the load of oppressing tasks you keep putting off.

Do one thing you know you need to do. Don’t think too much about it. Pick up the phone, click that email, open the envelope. Just do it.

Enrichment activity: Rate your anxiety, on a scale of 1-100, of thinking about the dreaded task. Rate again while starting to do it, actually doing it, then again as soon as you’re done. And if you can remember, rate one last time a few hours later. Did the numbers go up? Down? How are you feeling now that it’s over?

Usually our anxiety is at its worst when we are anticipating or starting the Hard Thing. When we’re done, we may think, “That wasn’t that hard; why did I waste so much time worrying about it?” Even if it IS really hard, we usually feel a sense of relief, maybe even satisfaction or pride with its completion. Pay attention to that part. Our brains are good at remembering painful moments but don’t notice as often when things turn out well. Reinforce any good that came out of it.

Speaking of procrastination, LB students: have you checked in with your advisor lately? Remember those drop, due, sign-up dates? Today’s a good day to take care of things!

Cover Image by storyset on Freepik