I wonder how often you feel as, occasionally, I do. I find myself sitting on the grass or in the office, knowing that I have a task to do. And I just don't feel like doing the work. That happened to me today, even though I usually enjoy the task. So, I started thinking… What's going on in my mind when this happens? Don't I enjoy my work? Doesn't my work have value? Have I chosen to do something wrong?

Well, whatever the reason, it doesn't solve the immediate problem: I have to do the task, today, regardless of why I don't want to. (Of course, if you need to do a task in a career that you don't enjoy, then you need to revisit your entire career choice. I already touched on this type of problem in October.)

I thought some more. When could this problem happen? How about the following ideas…

• You feel scared (maybe you need to give a talk to a group of people).
• You feel nervous (perhaps you worry, "What if I don't succeed?").
• You intensely dislike the task (cleaning the windows in the house, for example?).
• You can think of better ways of doing the job (but your boss told you to do it this way!).

And so on. I'm sure you can find other examples from your own life.

What can you do about it?

Our upbringing doesn't teach us how to get control of our emotions. As O'Connor & Seymour say, "Emotions make excellent servants, but tyrannical masters." Check out these three tips to help you get over the immediate problem of getting down to your unpleasant task.

1. The five-minute rule. If you find you don't do something you have to do every day — like exercise, or look after your finances — try the five-minute rule. It goes like this: Make a specific time that you must do the task (say, just after breakfast). Then do just five minutes of it each day. That's all you have to do. If you want, you can do more. Can you imagine how quickly you'll get into the habit?
2. Accept the feelings. Often, we try to put the bad feelings aside, or overcome them, so that we can get on with the job. That's difficult, isn't it! Instead, take a few moments to accept the feeling. Take the feeling on board, embrace it, and welcome it. It sounds bizarre, but this actually can help motivate you. Some people even find the bad feeling shrinks away when they do this!
3. Replace the feeling. Each of us has a way to bring in a feeling we want. For many, music makes an excellent choice. Here's another way that only takes a couple of minutes.
   1. Sit, place both feet flat on the floor, relax, and close your eyes.
   2. Remember a time that you thoroughly enjoyed doing something. Remember it clearly and vividly, as though you are really there — like a daydream. In your mind, see what you saw; hear what you heard; feel what you felt.
   3. Look at the picture in your mind and notice the brightness; the colours; the size of the picture and where you see it; and how much movement. Notice the sounds, how loud they are and where the sounds come from. Do you feel warm or cool?
   4. Now, slowly start to visualise yourself doing the task you don't want to do, again vividly as if you are dreaming. But, make this new picture seem like the other one; make the picture the same brightness and colours; the same size and place; the same amount of movement. Make the sounds the same volume and from the same direction. Make yourself feel as warm or cool as in the first picture. (You may just surprise yourself!)

Further reading

• Introducing NLP by Joseph O'Connor & John Seymour
• Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
• Time to Think by Nancy Kline