Let’s say you are having one of your down days. You have no energy, yet many tasks still on your list. Other people are irritating you and the harder you work, the more flattened you feel. You start to think… “Why not just let the rest of the day slide? Maybe tomorrow I’ll have more energy.” It is in this conversation with ourselves that the enemy, procrastination, takes hold of us. When this happens, tasks pile up, and the desire to avoid the task, and even sometimes the job or the home, increases.
There’s a drug available guaranteed to help you with these symptoms. It’s legal and usually free. Music. Whatever kind of music gets in your head and sets your nerve cells firing. Song, drumbeats, chants, and even operas have been used for hundreds of years to stimulate energy and renewed purpose. What works varies from person to person, but I rely on several questions when working with a client lagging in daily life.
The first is, “What kind of music draws you away from your destructive self-talk?” (I’m too tired to do this. I shouldn’t have to do this. Maybe I’m coming down with something. I’ll do this tomorrow.”) The second question is, “What tempos and instruments waken your nerves?” The third is, “Which lyrics are inspirational to you and remind you that what is important in life is the journey?” The fourth is the sing-a-factor, toe-tapping factor, and the fifth is, “What music is available to you, or can be brought into situations where your energy usually lags?”
Go forth and turn on that radio, plug in that I-pod, fill your house with your favorites on Saturday morning. If you have a really tedious and dull project requiring your least favorite skills-say doing your income taxes-don’t start without the music.
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Barbara Rice DeShong, Ph.D. |
