What task are you currently putting off? There is some job, errand or project that you are putting off at the moment, what is it? How do I know this?… Because everyone has SOMETHING that falls into this category.
Let’s imagine that the task you are procrastinating is this: organizing an envelope full of receipts and putting together an expense report to get reimbursed for money spent on a recent work trip. Annoying, boring, aggravating, petty… etc, etc. This job could be described in a number of different ways. However, the result is something rewarding- in 10 days time you will receive a check for $435. Why is it that these kinds of relatively small jobs seem like such large obstacles- even when there is a pay out at the end? Often it is because it is difficult to just begin… yet once the job is set in motion it isn’t even that tough to finish.
At the Hut the other day, an athlete was in the final set of a workout- last round. He was on the rower and lamenting the final set of 25 push ups that were coming. The grief and anxiety were written all over his face… in fact, it seemed like he didn’t want to even come to the end of the 500m row for fear of this seemingly insurmountable set of push ups. My advice was this “sprint this final 50m, get off the rower immediately and get in just 3 push ups as fast as possible. No rest between row and push up. Then after 3 push ups you can rest as much as you want.” He agreed, transitioned from row to push up as if on a mission and proceeded to hammer out not just 3 push ups, but 5. Then a few more, a quick grunt, into down dog and out of nowhere a couple more. Didn’t even bother to take the rest he was promised and before we both knew it, he was done with the workout.
I remembered this encounter today- and then opened the computer and finished a task in 12 minutes that I had been putting off for over a month. All I needed to do was overcome some inertia (and heed my own advice).
Sit down and do it. Get it started. Forget the story about how tough it is going to be and just get it done. You might not get $435 at the end of it… but you will have shirked that nagging feeling of procrastination. And maybe even have some momentum to take into something else you need or want to do.
You can sit and look at it for as long as you want… But that bar isn’t going to lift itself.
Wednesday’s WOD at 7 and 9am, 4 and 6pm
5pm Specialty CrossFit Endurance class session (run/row/etc)
Power snatch
2-2-2-2-2
Spend 15 minutes working up to heavy 2 rep set
Post 2RM to chalkboard/journal/PR board
Compare to Jan 5 2016- hang power snatch 3 reps
-then-
CrossFit Games Open 11.1/14.1 Version
As many rounds as possible in 14 minutes of:
30 double unders
15 ground to overhead any method (35/25/20kg)
This version: Every 2 minutes of work, rest for exactly 1 minute
Ex: 0:00-2:00 work, 2:00-3:00 rest, 3:00-5:00 work, etc…
This was also Open WOD 11.1! Compare to Feb 28 or 30th 2014 and to mid-March 2011
