How To Do Something You Don’t Want To Do?

Procrastination is a cruel tendency that renders even the most brilliant minds in chaos. Figuring motivation on how to do something when you don’t want can turn into awful task to do.

“Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.”

—Victor Kiam

Life would be so much more pleasurable if we could indulge only in the things we love and avoid stuff we hate. 

On the contrary, this is not that simple after all. We have to accept and accomplish the unlikable tasks no matter how frustrating they are. Embracing the things we don’t want to do and pushing forth with an achievable enjoyment makes us grow and flourish to become better and brilliant. 

“While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.”

—Henry Link

Imagine how the world would turn out if people like Einstein, Columbus, Rabindra Nath Tagore, and A. R. Rehman just sat dreaming about inspiration and motivation instead of working and creating new things. Would the great inventions, discoveries, literature, and music ever be made?

Putting off uncomfortable and undesirable things by creating excuses and torturing yourself over not doing them is practically aggravating. We can redeem this misconduct and unyielding behavior by illuminating and motivating ourselves with a strategic and productive mindset. 

“The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now.”

—Nolan Bushnell

To attain a productive lifestyle and gather inspiration to accomplish the tiresome tasks, read along and examine the various strategies on how to do something you don’t want to do:

Acknowledge the Core of your Issues 

We all suffer from the lack of interest and fear related to certain things, and no matter how important they are, we end up making excuses for not doing them. 

The first step is to acknowledge the fact that is holding you back from these specific tasks. The reason to do this is that no one other than you is forcing you to ignore them.

The problem may lie in your interest and mood towards that work. Try to remind yourself why you have to do it even if you don’t want to. What would the task accomplish? What difference would it make?

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

—Stephen King

A difficult conversation, an annoying project report, or even the simple task of doing your dishes may be difficult if you don’t feel up to it. Think about why you need to do these things. 

• Getting over that conversation may help you clear up your mind and move forward. 
• Completing that project report will make your boss happy and enhance your work performance. 
• Doing your dishes will get you clean utensils to cook and eat instead of digging right into the take-out containers. 

Additionally, another problem may be the fear that is withholding you. The fear of failing or becoming the center of embarrassment can be the reason for putting off uncomfortable situations and things. 

Life is not perfect, and so aren’t you. Get out of your fantasy world of comfort and perfection and see reality with your eyes wide open. It’s just a task, so stop deliberating and get on with it.

“Success doesn’t know these things about cold or early or tired. It just knows if you showed up or not.”

—Greg Plitt

Writing a book, creating a song, or simply expressing your thoughts may get you so anxious that you make excuses for not even trying. Face your fear, believe in yourself. Think how great it would be to rise above your fear and do these things. 

The book may turn out great and can be an essential milestone for your life. The song may be a beautiful composition, and expressing your thoughts may give you a better understanding of yourself and help others acknowledge that too.

Look at the bigger picture and dig deep to find your motivation. Accept and understand your fear and interests with an open and resilient mindset.  

Promotion and Prevention focus

In a psychological construct on Regulatory Focus Theory, introduced by E. Tory Higgins, Columbia University psychology professor and researcher, he categorized motivation focus in two parts — Promotion and Prevention. 

• Promotion focus orientation involves motivation to achieve gains, nurtured by aspirations and ideals, with a preference to eager and approach strategies. 
• Prevention focus orientation involves motivation to avoid loss, nurtured by obligations and responsibilities, with a preference for avoidant and vigilant strategies. 

To understand this concept of goal pursuing focus, think of it as a positive and negative perception of the outcome. 

With a promotion focus, you aspire to accomplish an undesirable task because, in doing so, you achieve something. For instance—creating an excellent presentation for an important deal will make your boss happy and increase your chances of an appraisal; Taking out the trash will make your home look clean and hygienic.

With a prevention focus, you are motivated to accomplish the tiresome tasks to avoid any complications and losses. For instance—failing to create that presentation will get your boss angry, and this will affect your job; When you don’t take out the trash, the garbage will pile up and spread a foul smell and insects in your house.

“So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don’t sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.”

—Lee Iacocca

You can be a promotion and prevention-focused person or both, depending on the nature of the tasks you have to do. These two motivation focus will enable you to push towards accomplishing the things you don’t want to do.

Concentrate on the motive, not the outcome

Figuring out how to do something you don’t want to do often comes from fear of failure. The fear of failure and unexpected outcomes make us forget all about the intention behind things. Being terrified of the results fuels anxiety and gives rise to excuses for avoiding stuff that makes you uncomfortable and doubts yourself.

Remember why you need to do that specific thing. What is the intention behind it? How would it affect your progress? Is the fear of a bad result so strong that you don’t want to start it in the first place?

“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”

—Paul J. Meyer

Would anything ever be achieved if people don’t step out of their comfort zone and work? The fear of failure does not mean ignoring things and avoiding doing them. Instead, choose to focus on the intent and give your best without any concern for the outcome. 

People tend to seek perfection in their results while neglecting the process. The fear of not achieving that perfection, makes things worse, and they lose interest. 

“You don’t get results by focusing on results. You get results by focusing on the actions that produce results.”

—Mike Hawkins

To avoid this, focusing on the motive of the task rather than the outcome is essential. Get over the myth of your comfort and start doing your most challenging tasks. 

Restrain from distractions

There are unlimited distractions and reasons for not doing something you don’t want to do. When you are trying to figure out how to do something you don’t want to do you’ll automatically come up with 100 other things you have to do instead of the task you’re ignoring. Giving in to the distractions restricts us from doing these things, and restraining is an effective way of accomplishing the daunting tasks. 

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

—Nelson Mandela

Constraining from having your favorite food or doing something you enjoy until you complete that uninteresting thing makes you adamant about doing it. 

However, if you find yourself rebelling against these constraints, get a friend or family member to help you with them. Ask them to follow through with these restraints unless you accomplish the tiresome task.

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.”—Winston S. Churchill

It is similar to how we restrict children from watching their favorite cartoons or playing with their favorite toys unless they finish their homework.

Being denied your favorite things cater to reverse motivation. You do the undesirable work to gain these incentives and rewards, thus completing the daunting task to achieve your favorite stuff.

Build a rhythm

Doing something you don’t want to do can be difficult, and gathering inspiration and motivation for doing it is not easy either. An effective trick to overcome this issue is by building a rhythm and productive momentum. 

Start by doing a little and then taking a break and resuming it again. Set a time of 10 minutes to indulge in the uncongenial task and gradually increase this process. 

Do not allow yourself to check your phone or do anything else until you complete your 10 minutes duration for the task. Take a little break and resume your work for another 10 minutes.

“The secret of getting things done is to act!”

—Dante Alighieri

Doing anything in one go, even when it is something you enjoy, is tiring. The situation gets more gruesome when the task is something you don’t like and don’t want to do. 

To get over this dilemma, follow a progressive momentum. Building a rhythm will make it easier to accomplish the challenging stuff.

Tackle the problem head-on 

Get on with your most demoralizing and unlikable tasks first thing in the morning. Start your day by taking on your most dreaded chores and get done with them.

“The only way around is through.”

—Robert Frost

Once you complete the hardest and challenging tasks in the morning, the rest of the day will go on smoothly,  and you will feel happy and motivated for everything else that comes your way.

Sometimes these uncongenial tasks may stick in your head, and you continuously think about them instead of concentrating on other important things. The dilemma of having to do and not wanting to is like an itch you can not scratch. It will affect your productivity and performance in other tasks too.

You may avoid this problematic situation, by tackling these boring and demotivating chores with the fresh start of a new day. The morning hours are more calm and productive, and doing these tasks in the morning will help you gain a better perspective of the process and intent of the task. This way, you would complete the challenging tasks with quick and better outcomes.

Fragment the daunting process 

At times some tasks can be overwhelming and seem impossible to accomplish. You might find yourself confused over how to do the needful work. It will lead to musing and fill you with dread.

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”

—Bruce Lee

Break the task into small parts and commence the work. The fragmentation of a difficult task will give you a better understanding and a productive outcome. Doing this will take off the load and enable you to accomplish the thing you were so nervous to initiate.

To clean up your room, start by cleaning your bed, then the cupboard, and so on. While writing a dissertation, consider it a combination of small papers and start writing one at a time. 

Spreading the task into smaller and attainable parts gives you a sense of achievement and motivates you to keep going until you complete the job.

Appreciate the opportunity 

Things can be unpleasant and sucky at times but looking past that and acknowledging the opportunity is very important. Consider the productive and profitable aspects of the task and how accomplishing it will benefit you. 

Showing gratitude and appreciation will motivate you to push further and start doing the job. Completing a boring assignment will enhance your grades and academic performance. Cleaning your room will remove the clutter and give you positive vibes. Focus on the advantages to motivate yourself for doing things you don’t want to do 

“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”

—Ann Landers

Undermining things and making excuses is unhealthy behavior. Being grateful and positive towards unpleasant stuff will make it easier to achieve your goals. 

Collaborate unpleasant stuff with things you enjoy

Pairing uncongenial tasks with pleasurable things creates a happy and uplifting atmosphere. It will cheer your mood and boost your morale.

Collaboration of unpleasant and enjoyable things creates a moderately desirable environment that motivates you and enhances enthusiasm for accomplishing anything you want to do.

You can listen to music while writing the assignments or go to a park with a beautiful view to complete a new presentation. Combining undesirable tasks with enjoyable ones will act as the impetus you need to keep going.

“I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.”

—Pearl S. Buck

This will improve your performance and get the work done quickly and with less discomfort. 

Reward yourself 

Rewarding yourself for a job well done is a motivating force in accomplishing sucky and more challenging tasks. 

Additionally, when rewarded for doing something you didn’t want to do, creates an incentive for completing the unpleasant tasks. Pamper and treat yourself with your favorite cousins, movies, and anything you love. It will inspire you not to give up on anything, no matter how nerve-wracking it may be.

“The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.”

—Barack Obama

According to the Incentive theory of motivation, at times people are driven and motivated to do something because of their expectation of some external rewards. 

The motivation towards accomplishing undesirable things can be inspired by a desire for incentives and reinforcement. 

When you set specific rewards for completing a particular job, whether you enjoy that task or not, you give yourself an incentive to accomplish that task for achieving that reward. We all have thrived on this concept since our childhood. Remember how we used to get candy for our good behavior and favorite toys for getting good grades.

This rewarding concept is an effective way to inspire motivation for doing sucky, difficult, and challenging tasks.

Bottom Line

Everyone experiences a lack of focus, interest, and motivation when dealing with some sucky, daunting, and overwhelming things that we find impossible to do.

Even though the task is uncongenial and overbearing, avoiding it forever is not an option. 

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”

—Pablo Picasso

Eventually, you’ll have to do it whether you like it or not. In this article, we have discussed some excellent strategies that you might find efficient. Employ them to inspire and motivate yourself to accomplish things that you do not want to do. 

Examine and experiment with these strategies to be more productive and successful by doing everything you dislike and find hard to accomplish.