Shut Up and Get to Work!

“Shut up and Get to work!” I yell at myself. That’s right. I can talk to my inner voice like this.  And sometimes I need to.

I doubt I’d appreciate anyone else being so blunt with me.  But I often need to stare my whiny self in the mirror and tell me, “Enough already!  Plant your butt into that chair and do what needs to be done! Do the work.”

That was the case recently as I had to work overtime for my employer, finish a large graduate school assignment, complete a freelance writing project I promised to do, finish household chores, and still find time to enjoy moments with my family.  When I stack up that long list in front of me, I sometimes feel stressed and overwhelmed.

How will I get it all done? I scream and act all dramatic, like one of my kids.  It’s as if for a few minutes I believe my worries are real third-world related problems.

The answer is easy. I will do one thing.  Then I will do another thing.  I just have to start and then keep going until I finish. I can do the work. But I have to force myself to dig in and remain focused.

Procrastination can occur.  I put off my writing assignment, for example. I kept waiting for some spark of creativity to hit me but it didn’t for over a week.

Well guess what? The hard truth is that sometimes it doesn’t come!  We wait and we wait and we wait… We could die before any magic ever rains down upon us…

So that’s why we must act.  We must just begin writing a word, a sentence and even a paragraph.  We must start doing that chore around the house or that assignment for school that we’ve been dreading.

But then something interesting happens…after I start, I realize…Hey, I’m doing this.  It isn’t so bad after all. I’m learning.  I’m growing.  I’m making it happen.

Then I complete the duty.  After that I look at it and surprise myself with the outcome.  “Wow, that’s pretty good!” I often say to myself when I examine the end results.

So do yourself a favor.  Begin. Try again.  And if you need to, tell yourself to shut up and do the work.  I won’t be rude to you but I give you permission to be frank with yourself.

Because I want you to examine your own results and be amazed at you too.