How I Use an Emotion Color Wheel to Combat Procrastination
This is part of my How to Stop Procrastinating series.
Hey, friends!
Last Friday night, I was mad at the world. Everything felt terrible, and I was unmotivated to do anything productive or healthy.
Did I read for 25 minutes? Nope! Did I bike for half an hour? Absolutely not! Did I comfort myself with a chorizo breakfast burrito and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting? Hell yeah!
I was kind of a mess. But looking at an emotion color wheel helped me identify how I felt. (I keep this bookmarked on my phone.)
So what did I feel? Anger and frustration. Who was I angry with? A close friend had trespassed boundaries. Again. Once I labeled these emotions—and identified their source—I was ready to start processing my feelings.
I worked through this in two ways:
1. Talking to my wonderful wife #EmotionalUnloading
2. Writing down a plan to deal with my friend
By Saturday evening, I felt better. Was I still mad? Yes, but the anger was less intense. I knew what the problem was and how I'd handle it. As a result, I made better decisions: I read for 25 minutes, rode the exercise bike, and declined leftover carrot cake.
So here's my advice to you: When you procrastinate, use an emotion color wheel to clarify how you feel. Is it anger or loneliness or something else? The sooner you can label feelings, the sooner you can process them and feel better about the world.
And feeling better about the world is one antidote to procrastination.
Read more on How to Stop Procrastinating.
Thanks to Todd Ericksen for reading a draft of this!