There’s a pattern in human behavior that holds you back from achieving more.
A behavioral pattern that feels so natural that it’s almost invisible to recognize.
You have to observe yourself intentionally to notice what’s happening.
Just recently, I learned it’s called “Parkinson’s law”.
It goes like this:
The more time you have to complete a task, the longer it takes to complete it.
It’s the core of procrastination → when there’s no real time pressure you procrastinate.
It was happening to me all the time in my 9-5. And still does sometimes.
I had to learn how to deal with it the hard way.
You know how?
When my boss gives me a task with a 5-day deadline, he asked me the next day why it’s not done.
Every time this caused frustration. Until I realized he was doing it on purpose. Because he know about that behavioral pattern.
So he intentionally shortened the time so that I can speed up delivery.
Because the truth is, when you leave it for the last moment, tons of unexpected roadblocks appear. And then you delay.
In business, one delay can cause millions of revenue loss (not exaggerating here).
So I stopped frustrating myself and started acting on these tasks immediately. So that next time he asks I was already on it.
When I started writing, I noticed this pattern kicked back in me.
And then I realized: I had no boss to kick my ass.
I was my own boss for my writing business.
And that’s a great power that comes with great responsibility. Your success and failure depend on you entirely.
So I had to find a way around it.
But here’s the thing: everything I tried failed.
Because I had tons of internal motivation but zero external motivation. And that’s the type of motivation you need to kick yourself in the ass.
So I had to create one.
Here’s what I did:
Started a newsletter, so that I have real metrics to measure how I’m doing.
Enabled payments: this also created another layer of responsibility - to deliver.
Announced new project I’m gonna build in public - this made my paid members take over the role of my boss.
Now I had to deliver.
Now I had real time pressure coming from my paid subscribers, even if they were silent. I knew that if I don’t deliver, I’m gonna lose them.
And it worked.
Try it. It might work for you too.
If you’re a writer, put yourself at high stakes. And make sure you have external motivation, bound to time pressure. But make it real.
Here’s what’s NOT real:
Accountability tracker or buddies
Deadlines or goals you set yourself
Your friends, family, or other people around you
All of the above create fake urgency and your brain knows that. You need real one.
And by the way, this works for any new task you try to complete, not just writing - go to the gym, meditate, do some breathing, cook at home, etc.
And remember to have a GUT time!
Yana