One thing I have been training myself to do recently is to follow routines, not emotions.
We all have moments where we don’t feel like doing something. And conventional wisdom dictates that we should leave that “something” alone and come back to it when we feel like it, as long as it is not urgent. This was exactly what I used to do — and what often ended up happening was that I truly took no action until a project, essay, or piece of work was due in a few hours’ time. That “I feel like getting started with this thing!” moment almost never came.
I have come to the belief that following our emotions, waiting to “feel like it”, is actually quite a dangerous mindset. It means that we are letting our emotions dictate our actions — and since emotions appear spontaneously and randomly, emotions cannot possibly be a good guide for our actions. A farmer who only plants when he “feels like it” (as opposed to following the seasons) will not be able to feed his family. A son who only visits his parents when he “feels like it” (i.e. once in a blue moon) will not have very close relationships with his mum and dad.
I think we’d all agree that success and productivity requires consistency, which is the opposite of being controlled by emotional whims. Therefore, I argue that we should be establishing strong, consistent routines. These are our best defence against the onslaught of emotions. Our routines should be geared towards clear goals, and be carefully designed to achieve them. The advantage of routines is that they become automatic; we do not need to think about whether or how to do them. When was the last time you thought about how to get off your bed, the order in which you scrub your body as you shower, or the method with which you brush your teeth?
Routines give us a great tool to break away from the dictates of our emotions. Feeling sad? Feeling happy? Angry? Miserable? Doesn’t matter — just follow the routine. And the great thing is that successfully completing routines boosts our confidence, and promotes positive emotions! Pretty soon, we’ve got a positive feedback loop of successful task-confidence-successful task-more confidence.
The primary method I have used to build consistent routines is to set up non-negotiables. I find that if I spend any time thinking about whether to do something I don’t like, an excuse to not do it will arise one way or another. The only way to stop this is to not think about it at all — make the action or task non-negotiable. Nothing short of an explosion will stop me from working out, taking that cold shower, or reading for an hour. Obviously, I try to make my non-negotiables healthy, good things — eating a pack of crisps per day is not one of them. But by not negotiating with myself and not allowing excuses to come to mind, I have been able to challenge myself and push myself in unimaginable ways.