I’m waiting for some vegetables to boil, and as I survey my living room I can see all the chores I’ve been putting off. Why does this always happen? One of the new things I learned last year was yes, it’s easy to get chores out of the way if you just start picking up one thing and keep going.

Here’s my three big hurdles. I’m constantly battling them.

• Keeping a Regular Schedule. I sleep and wake as my interests dictate. Being a freelancer makes this possible. I know when my meetings are and when my projects are due, planning my sleeping cycles around deliverables and conference calls. I also regularize my schedule when working with a team. But for some reason…I just like staying up and up and up until my mind is tired. Then I sleep.

• Doing Routine Things. There’s an energy-sapping field that I find difficult to cross unless I build up enough momentum to take a flying leap through it. This usually means that discomfort has built up to an intolerable level, which gives me the burst of energy to power through the problem. However, I wish I could just walk through that force field. Household chores, accounting, exercise, diet, and business would be a lot easier.

• Starting New Projects. It’s weird, but it takes me a long time to start a project. New projects should be fun and exciting! However, I’m just as unmotivated in starting something new and novel as I am doing routine things. Again, wouldn’t it be nice to “just do it”?

You know, I wrote these down thinking I was procrastinating uselessly. I was going to leave it at that, but I think I can see the pattern… (more…)