Task o’Clock!

When I don’t have a habit defined, it lives or dies based on “task o’clock”.

“Task o’clock”” is a term I came up with to define the “right time” for any particular task. For example, if my next task is to eat dinner, “task o’clock” is about 6:30 PM-ish where my internal rhythm (hunger) syncs up with the acceptable time/space(“dinner”). This works great when I use it for theming the day or a block of time, however, by relying on it without specificity is a gateway for procrastination.

When I lack specificity:

1. I decide to try the habit based on an emotion.
2. I look at the clock.  Is it “task o’clock”, and if not, how close is it to task “o’clock”. ( It becomes dangerous if it is close, because through procrastination I can miss “task o’clock” and its gone forever.)
3. I come up with a reason why it isn’t “task o’clock”( Unless I am absolutely feeling it, it always ends up bad here)
4. I find Reddit (Nothing is more fun when wasting time, but you can swap Twitter, Facebook, or Yahoo etc.)
5. I get fired up about a story, talk to myself, and then eventually get back to step 1.( Useless anger is always “worth it” at the time )

When you deal with “task o’clock”, it becomes black and white at every step. Black and white thinking relies on will, and that is a coin flip at best.

I have found the only way to beat this is by being very specific, and holding yourself accountable. Instead of saying I am going to write jokes tonight, I try to say I will write jokes at 8:15 (specific) and putting it on my calendar (accountable). I have noticed when I do this enough, eventually task o’clock syncs up with the habit I am trying to do and it becomes easier to make sure the habit happens.