I Don't Want To

I've been thinking a lot lately about how often what I do in a given moment is dependent on what I feel like doing or don't feel like doing.  I am guessing I am not the only one, so I thought I'd share my ponderings.

I find that I generally have a decently long list of things that need to get done - more than I could realistically do in a day.  I think we're pretty much all in that situation.  In any given day my list involves home tasks like sweeping, washing the dishes, watering the plants and making supper.  Since it's Fall, I also have a list of canning and preserving projects that I haven't had time for yet, including canning spaghetti sauce, drying apples, and freezing apple pies.  Then there are all my school responsibilities - the paper that is due next week, the marking I need to do for my TA position, and I should really be practicing piano every day to keep up with my lessons.  And of course there are all the projects I am in the middle of: a braided rug, sewing projects for baby, and this blog that I don't like neglecting for too long.  And then on top of all of that, there are friends I want to catch up with, my relationship with God to nurture, spending quality time with my husband, and an increasingly needed nap time.

So where do I begin?  Generally with what I feel like doing.

I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with that - I mean, it is good to do things that I enjoy and have motivation to do.  And it is not always the "fun" things that I find that I want to do - sometimes the desire to have a clean bathroom puts cleaning at the top of the list!  However, I have begun to notice that this approach leaves me consistently postponing certain things that I should really do.

You have probably seen this grid before:

	Important	Not Important
Urgent
Not Urgent

Our tasks can be placed in a quadrant depending on how important/not important and urgent/not urgent they are.  The idea behind looking at our tasks this way is that without realizing it we often do the things that are urgent (whether important or not), but neglect to do the things that are important but not urgent.  (Note: I don't remember where I heard this from, so I'm not able to give credit.)

I wish I could add a third dimension to the grid, including "what I feel like doing" and "what I don't feel like doing".  Unfortunately, I'm not that tech savvy, so this will have to do:

	Feel like it	Don't feel like it
Urgent/ Important
Urgent/ Not Important
Not Urgent/ Important
Not Urgent/ Not Important

I'm not going to fill in this chart with my "to do list" for you, but you can probably guess where this is going.  Generally, what I get done in a day comes primarily from my "Feel like it" column, regardless of whether it was important or not.  Often I will get things done from the "Urgent/Important/Don't feel like it" category, but after all, those things are urgent and important - they NEED to get done!

Through all of this reflection, I have particularly been challenged by my neglect of the things that I don't feel like doing and that are not urgent yet are important.  For example - practicing my music.  I don't know why, so much of the time I just don't FEEL like practicing.  And while I know it is important, it is just not urgent, since I still have five more days till my next lesson (or whatever).  Another neglected part of my life is taking time alone with God.  Again, I know (in my head) that it is important, but it does not have the sense of urgency attached to it that other things do, like getting supper on the table or homework, and most of the time I don't FEEL like it.

So what should I do?  Here are some thoughts on breaking out of the "Don't feel like it" cycle.

Schedule:  When I notice that there are important things getting neglected, I could try scheduling them in at a certain time each day.  For example, always practice piano right after breakfast.
Just do it:  Even if I don't feel like it.  The funny thing about not wanting to do something - starting is often the hardest part.  Once you get started, it usually ends up being way better than you expected.
Keep it up:  Get into a habit of giving priority to the things that are important - both the urgent and not urgent ones, the ones you feel like doing and the ones you don't.  I don't want my days to be defined by "filler" that I just do because it was easy (facebook and internet browsing can suck so much of my day away if I let them).  I want to me more intentional in how I spend my time, and not be ruled by my fickle feelings of what I want to or don't want to do.
Ask why:  Why don't I feel like doing this thing that I know is important?  For example, I sometimes don't feel like writing something for my blog because I feel like I don't have something worth sharing.  However, that is generally because I'm being hard on myself, rather than it being true.
Get encouragement:  I find I often forget about this, but asking for help is actually a good thing!  Once I told Jesse that I was finding it hard to practice my music, he started asking me to play for him, and telling me how much he enjoyed it.  Sometimes some external motivation is all we need when we can't find the internal motivation.

Now excuse me, I'm going to go play piano or read my Bible or something...

What are some different ways that you have found to help yourself find motivation?