Returning from the holiday meant you had avoided your usual procrastination cues -couch, TV, phone, schedule.
The key to defeating your procrastination may be to progressively build up a habit of doing work you prefer to avoid by setting up regular cues.
Eg to build a gym habit I set out my gym clothes each night. Then after a week of that I began to put them on before getting in the car to work. Then after a few days I drove past the gym in the way to work. Then went in for 1 minute and so forth. I know this sounds absurd. With these tiny steps I built a habit of the gym that is now 1 hour five times a week. Now I am building a habit of keeping my kitchen clean with the same progression of micro cues. You could imagine similar steps involving preparing your desk, later just sitting down at it, and so forth,all with cues like your first coffee, or you finished dinner etc. The formula is regular cue + micro progression to build a habit. Eventually it is mentally easier to maintain the habit than to break it.
Another tip, if you absolutely do not want to fulfill the habit on a particular cue, complete as many micro steps as you can, eg if I have an injury I will still go into the gym for a shower and to change before work.
> Returning from the holiday meant you had avoided your usual procrastination cues -couch, TV, phone, schedule.
I doubt this is it. Instead, I think that enough time without having to do the tasks that are being procrastinated reduces pressure and makes you less resistant to do them.
In a way, procrastination is your brain resisting continuous grind.
I like Terry Crews attitude:
“TREAT THE GYM LIKE A SPA.
Yes. It has to feel good. I tell people this a lot - go to the gym, and just sit there, and read a magazine, and then go home. And do this every day.
Go to the gym, don't even work out. Just GO. Because the habit of going to the gym is more important than the work out. Because it doesn't matter what you do. You can have fun - but as long as you're having fun, you continue to do it.”
I’m practicing the same - it’s mostly about the routine, habit, without aiming lofty goals. That’s probably why most of the side projects fail - overachieving and aiming perfection.
For the gym it's worked consistently for several years. The idea is that you build a habit in the brain so that you do it "because that's what you do". Similar to you brush your teeth when you do into the chrome in your pyjamas, you don't make a decision to do it.
The key to defeating your procrastination may be to progressively build up a habit of doing work you prefer to avoid by setting up regular cues.
Eg to build a gym habit I set out my gym clothes each night. Then after a week of that I began to put them on before getting in the car to work. Then after a few days I drove past the gym in the way to work. Then went in for 1 minute and so forth. I know this sounds absurd. With these tiny steps I built a habit of the gym that is now 1 hour five times a week. Now I am building a habit of keeping my kitchen clean with the same progression of micro cues. You could imagine similar steps involving preparing your desk, later just sitting down at it, and so forth,all with cues like your first coffee, or you finished dinner etc. The formula is regular cue + micro progression to build a habit. Eventually it is mentally easier to maintain the habit than to break it.
Another tip, if you absolutely do not want to fulfill the habit on a particular cue, complete as many micro steps as you can, eg if I have an injury I will still go into the gym for a shower and to change before work.