Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hollow Fears

Usually when I'm procrastinating it is because the thing I have to do is mentally or physically hard. It takes energy and effort and it seems so much easier to sit around instead.

But sometimes the thing I have to do is easy. I know how to do it already, so it doesn't require solving problems or thinking something through, and it doesn't require much physical exertion. But still I hesitate.

Often this means I'm afraid for some reason or another.

As long as I don't examine my fears, they continue to influence my behavior and push me away from doing the task at hand. But sometimes when I recognize that fear is what's keeping me from doing the thing, I can see fairly quickly that my fears are hollow. I prick them with the pin of rationality and they go "pop" like the balloon they are.

I just had this happen. I was procrastinating on checking my work email. It's not hard to check email. I do it all the time, so I don't have to spend mental energy figuring out how to do it, and it isn't physically demanding in any way. It turned out I was afraid of what I might find. But then I realized that I have the capability of handling whatever comes to me on email. Even if it is something I don't like, I can handle it and I don't have to be afraid.

Once I realized I was afraid but it was a hollow fear, I was able to check my email and check that task off my to do list.