Source: http://zenhabits.net/productive/
By Leo Babauta
There isn’t a productivity guide in the world that will solve the problems that pretty much all of us face daily.
I’m the same as you — I face these obstacles to getting stuff done:
Doing busywork, instead of important work.
Going to distractions instead of doing difficult work.
Being tired and not feeling like tackling hard tasks.
These are all really the same problem: when you have important but difficult tasks to do, you run to distractions, or do busywork, or just goof off because you don’t have the energy.
I deal with this every day, and I don’t always solve it. But what if we could dive into this problem, and figure out what was going on? We’d be masters of the universe.
Pause Training
In truth, we face this problem of running from discomfort all the time, but we just don’t normally see it happening. This is why meditation is such a great training ground for the mind — you sit there and have nothing to do but notice the mind running from the discomfort of the present moment. Over and over. And in time, you learn how to work with this.
So I suggest you use your important tasks as meditation training, so that you’ll learn to work with the discomfort that arises.
Here’s how:
Pick one important task you really should get done today.
Clear space in front of you to do this task. Close the browser, or all browser tabs except the one you need to deal with this….