EPT
We've all had problems with studying, dieting, or sleeping diligently. The distractions are all too familiar: TV, candy, cake, Internet, you name it. The human will is weak; we are made to succumb to instant gratification [1].
If the human will is weak, how do we fight our weakness? Personally, I think that very thought, so deeply ingrained in our culture, to persevere over our fallacies through Herculean effort, is inherently flawed. If swimming upstream is the only way, maybe such efforts can be justified; but more often than not, there are ways around the problem. We can get out of the river, and walk up the bank on solid ground. We can circumvent the willpower problem; don't plunge into the rapids in the first place. Remove the source of the mental battle.
Losing weight is an a difficult subject for the vast majority of people [2]. How can we possibly fight the allure of delicious foods, snacks, desserts, and anything else? Indeed, not devouring something delicious that is placed in front of us is a battle of the fates (cue music). We may win the battle this time, but if we keep entering such combat, we're bound to lose the war against delicious delicious food. The solution, the way to circumvent the willpower problem entirely, is to never have these foods in front of us. If they don't manifest themselves, then they can't tempt us. Don't let snacks enter our house; stick to the outer aisles of the supermarket so that these processed foods don't even enter our eyes. Go shopping for food with a concrete list of items to buy; don't buy anything else; don't be tempted by the Doritos, stick to the list. Avoid the grueling do I eat it or do I not eat it battle of the will by removing the battle systematically.
Studying without procrastinating is another trouble spot for many of us. We surf the internet, we watch TV, we play video games. Why is it so hard to fight them? Simple. They're designed to stimulate our senses and keep watching, keep consuming. These machines, these services, have been created with the purpose of distracting us and keeping us hooked. They've studied our brains and our bodies. It's a battle we can't win; why fight it? Once again, the solution for me is to avoid the battle entirely. If I have problems procrastinating on the computer, I'll remove the machine from my work area. If it's the internet that's the problem, I'll block a handful of sites. If TV captivates me, then I'll just cancel my cable subscription. If all else fails, time to move venues. Head to our local library, which isn't going to have any of these devilish traps [3].
Some of us even have issues sleeping promptly. It's not uncommon for the pleasures of our waking lives wins out against the pleasures of the pillow. I'm sure we've all had nights when we decided, "OK time for bed!" at 11 p.m , only to end up staying up until 3 a.m. for no good reason. We got glued to something tantalizing. Well, time to throw that tantalizing thing out of our bedroom, and remove the temptation. Ideally, our bedroom should have nothing other than our bed and perhaps an alarm clock without any bright lights. Once we enter, our minds should be allowed to focus on the grand task at hand: dormancy.
We're all weak. It's not just our willpower, as I described in this blog, but our muscles, our immune systems, nearly everything about us is fragile. It's in our design. We can fight against our natural weaknesses for a while, but push it too hard, and we're going to break. Whenever possible, avoid such battles.
For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
Sun Tzu
[1] perhaps because in the earliest days of man kind, such pleasures were rare, and it was the right thing to do to take advantage of them whenever possible.
[2] Especially for us Americans! Hooray!
[3] Don't bring a laptop if we know that we procrastinate on it.
Crossposted from my main blog
