Do Something Different

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
– Andy Warhol

Over the past week or so, I’ve been struggling to get up at my usual 6am. My bedtime’s stayed roughly the same, I’ve been a little more active than usual, work’s been annoying…but the fact is I don’t know why I’m suddenly working so hard to get out of bed.

Doesn’t matter, that much. I know two things: I want to get out of bed at 6, and whatever I’m doing now doesn’t always work.

In the past, I would’ve spent a long time trying to build up my willpower, come up with clever strategies, and kept on failing to get up when I wanted for about two more weeks. Then, I would’ve probably given up entirely or convinced myself it wasn’t the right time to pursue that goal.

That’s a fancy way of saving I would’ve fucked up, then gave up.

Nowadays I know better. When something isn’t working – when I fail once or twice and notice that I’m not getting the results I want – I do something different. Miraculous, I know.

In this specific example, I was sleeping in because it was too easy to hit snooze. No matter what, if my phone was within grabbing distance (and it always is; I use it right before bed) – I would wake up at 6 and then snooze and snooze and snooze – sometimes til 630, sometimes 7. Worthless time – not getting anything done, not really enjoying myself, definitely not getting sleep.

So instead of working on my willpower or beating myself up or giving up, I just took the option away. The past couple days my alarm clock has been my computer blasting Metallica from my office at 6am. No way to turn it off without getting up and going in there, and once I’ve done that, no chance I’m going back to bed.

I’ve been having a hard time getting any lifting in. Doing it in the morning before work didn’t work, doing it at the MMA gym immediately after class didn’t work, and doing it on Sunday didn’t work (they close at 5). Next strategy is doing it late Wednesday night – and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try something else. What I won’t do is keep pretending I’m going to go after MMA and keep skipping it “just this once”.

What I’m trying to say is this: stop trying so damn hard if what you’re doing isn’t working. Try once, sure, try two or three times – but then if you aren’t getting the results you want, do something else. Keep your goal, but identify a piece of the problem and flip it around. Wasting time trying over and over with a strategy you know doesn’t work for you is just as bad as not trying at all, and is just another way to procrastinate.