Long back in time,

we were committed to a proper routine.

We would to school, to college.

Wake up in the morning,

go to work, or to college

and return home in the evening.

Do some household work.

Or go meet our friends.

Sort of a routine..

We led such a lifestyle.

A sudden and radical change occurred.

Take this, this is your new normal.

During first lockdown, there was an

abrupt shift to working from home.

Initially it was very difficult for us.

I would sit in bed all day,

ate what my mom gave me.

Me and my streaming laptop

chained to my bed.

This is how I was passing my time.

That is when I remembered

what I read in Atomic Habits.

If you do something for 21 days

it will become a new habit.

So if I sit in one place, eat toasted bread

and serious binge-watch

I feared it might become an habit.

So I picked up a book on Vitamin D

and read it.

And I ordered many books.

Fortunately the books

were delivered to my home.

And I could read a lot of books.

After reading that

'Sitting is the new smoking'
I stood up to run
and to never to sit for long again.

I was so active that I'd not sit in

one place for more than 20 minutes.

So I was adapted to this lifestyle.

And I embraced my new normal

with open hands.

All of a sudden,
after a few years

when called back to office

when called back to schools

and colleges.

On one side we were waiting for this.

On another side,
we were used to a lifestyle.

We would do things
at our convenience.

Half dress is virtual meeting dress-code.

After getting used to that.

To go to work, to school,
to college according to fixed timings

and not at your convenience.

When you're assigned a task

with a deadline.

Manage meetings.

To eat and sleep when you don't want to

requires a new lifestyle.

Without knowing how to

set your body clock back.

Confusion you might face.

The symptom that we develop

during such times is procrastination.

Your mind keeps putting off things

for later.

But the task at hand

needs immediate attention.
So how do you productively
and quickly

beat procrastination
and do what you should do.

For those who are recalling a past video

I posted in 2021 about procrastination.

Yes, we had posted a video

on Eat that Frog!

And before that we had posted a video

on Atomic Habits.

Beyond all this,

what does our brain tell?

Why are we the way we are?

Many such things.

Related to procrastination.

And to increase our productivity.

We read many books.

And we have videos on it

on TheBookShow channel.

But

if you ask me why

talk about that again.

If we need motivation

we listen to Vetri Kodi Kattu song [Padayappa movie].

Why hear that song now again?

We get motivated
even when we listen to it now.

This the same concept.

When starting a new lifestyle again

When procrastination peaks

Always feel like putting things off

In order to counter this,

I watched a video.

That is what we are

going to discuss today.
This video is a package of
All the good things that we've read so far.

Neatly like rice and sambar, no wait.

But like Bisi Bele Bath.

I present this video to you.

So if you are moodless all day

here is the solution.

When we don't don't want to do something

or not at least for now now

an important reason why feel that way is

We know how it's done.

We've being doing the work.

But to do it after a break

To get the old skills back

And when people have learnt

new things

and improved their skill-set.

If we don't work on our skills

we won't be in the mood

to do something.

When you don't know

how to do a task

you won't have any mood

to do it.

So we need the skill-set

to complete the task.

There are many opportunities out there

to improve your skills.

Without having to go in-person

you can learn things online.

I have already talked about the classes

that I learnt on Skillshare on TheBookShow.

About the plant.

There's this thing

that I tried recently..
The pattern drawing, doodle art.

I do these
to keep my mind relaxed.

When I was relaxing this way

and I was called for another meeting

and I wasn't ready for it.

I watched a class about Procrastination

on Skillshare

and decided to work my way back up.

I read a lot of books.

But when I decide to finish a book in a week

Or when I sit down to write

the script for a book.

All other books cry for attention.

Expect the one in hand.

So on one hand, I feel cool anyway

because I am reading for TheBookShow.

But I'm in a tied-up situation because

I've not completed the task at hand.

So how to beat procrastination

and get the task done.

I watched a class on Skillshare.

So what's in it.

Get Unstuck.

Beat procrastination
for once and for all.

I watched that video

and without delay

watched the entire class.

So if you want to improve

your skill-set like me

you can learn from unlimited

ad free classes on Skillshare.

When you pay and enrol for one class

and you drop it.

It will take a lot of convincing

to pay and enrol to another class.

When I could access unlimited classes

for one month for under Rs. 150

I felt like it's a great deal.

The best part is

you can learn everything for free.

I can learn so many things for an entire month

with the same money I spend on one meal.

Getting access to unlimited classes

for under Rs. 150

was a wonderful option for me.

So if you want to improve your skill set

If we're in the same pinch

You can join classes on Skillshare

and start learning.

Another is.

We want to know
why we put off things for later?

To understand that..
We each have two minds.

Subconscious mind
and conscious mind.

If you're not too tired of this stuff

there's one more thing I'd like to tell you.

Conscious mind will understand

whatever I say.

It gets the idea

as to what should be done.

Because it understands ideas, concepts

the languages we speak.

English, Tamil, Hindi..

It has the capacity

to understand such things.

But at the same time

subconscious mind is different.

What he understands is
emotions and images.

Or senses: smell, touch and sound.

He understands these very well.

So there are ways by which you can

communicate with the subconscious mind.

You tell your conscious mind

to do certain things.

If it doesn't respect your words

you have to tell your subconscious mind.

So how do you tell it.

Whatever you wish to do

visualize what the outcome of doing it will be like.

It can probably be a new habit.

Related to fitness.

How and what will it be like

if you do this at work.

When you visualize what it will be like

if you do this thing in your relationship

your subconscious Mind

will look at the visualization

and understand the emotion

and help you in reaching the goal.

If it doesn't respect your words,

there is another option.

There's this being called Amygdala

in our brain.

What he does is

his biggest task is to save us.

When we are in a danger

he takes decisions to
safeguard us from the danger.

So in the good old times,

when we lived in forests.

When ancient humans

were faced with a problem

the Amygdala would decide

the fight, flight or freeze response.

In present day,
what he does is

if we have a stressful
and not so enjoyable task at hand.

Should you stay in such a situation

or escape from it

or without participating in it

should you just back off from it.

Your Amygdala takes such decisions.

His only priority is to save you

so what you can tell him is

'Hey, Amygdala, if I don't do this work now

look at what all will happen.'

Create a visualization to show him this.

If I don't do this,
I'll get scolded badly from him.

Or if I don't do this,
I will lose my job.

Or if I don't do this,
I won't get a job.

When you tell such things

to your Amygdala

in order to save you

it will help you do the work.

We've seen in the book

Atomic Habits

that if you want to do something,

take it one step at a time.

What did you learn from

Eat That Frog!?

How do you eat an elephant?

You've to eat it little by little.

Not literally eat an elephant.

Here elephant means a big task.

Which you don't like to do.

But you are under compulsion

to do the task.

Do the task one step at a time.

It's like one bite at a time.

So what is dopamine dip.

The starting point

of the task that you need to do.

If you take the first step

the dopamine released as a result

can help you do the entire work.

So we've seen many examples

of this as well.

Like.

If you decide to go to the gym

you won't have the mood

to wake up.

If you're not in the mood even to get up

and pack the workout clothes.

Go to sleep in workout clothes

One task done for you come morning.

Another one is.

'Let's go up to the gym, baby'

'No workouts, no nothing'

You tell this to your subconscious mind

and take him along.

You convince him

to come with you till the entrance.

After going to the entrance,

he himself will put workout clothes on.

So the reason for dopamine dip is

The Starting point.

Only for the starting trouble.

If you do that
things will flow for you.

Why else don't we do what

we know we should do?

An important reason is.

We don't like the work.

And we're not getting

anything out of it.

But we just can't escape work.

So for work
which must and should be done

you have to make it interesting.

When you are in no mood

to wake up and work.

Not in mood to go to office.

Or dress up.

No mood to go to office.

When I was not in mood to work

because of some crisis in my life

I came up with this concept called

'Thursday discipline'

by which
I had to wear saree on Thursdays.

I could take leave any day of the week.

But not on Thursdays.

Because I have a task on that day.

Because I wear saree on that day.

A being which resembled a beggar

the entire week

comes decently well-dressed at least

on one day. And thus receives praise.

'Hey you look beautiful

in this saree.'

'Your earrings look great'

When I get such comments

I feel confident generating inside me.

So a thing that you do routinely

but you're not in mood

but still you must do it.

Whatever brings you enthu-siasm

add that to the routine.

You need to add a flavour.

Reasons crop up in many.

If you don't like it at all to do it

have zero motivation

and you tried everything

but still can't do it.

So if you're not getting anything

out of that work

should you do it at all?

Work is not only the job you do.

It could be anything that you do.

Even this.

If it doesn't get you anything

when it's only making you more guilty

and only giving you a negative vibe.

Then why do it?

The problem here is your goal

is not clear.

So if you go to a basketball court

to play football

try as many as eight hundred times,

but you can't score a goal.

It is necessary to set a clear goal

and remain focused.

And that goal can be reached.

If you're goal is high up there

and if your actions are not consistent

with your goals

there's a major problem here.

So this is the first thing
that needs to be fixed.

Though you say goodbye joyfully

and take flight to a foreign country

and after living there for many many years.

Even after you get information

on the most delicious dosa in town.

Or when you bump into

Tamil speaking people

it feels like wow!

Our brains are familiarity-seeking beings.

So probably that kind of familiarity.

The lifestyle that you've had while working

from home for 2 years due to lockdown

and when the lifestyle changes

all of a sudden

the brain will find it very difficult

without familiarity.

So even now, pick something you'd

been doing in these two years

and do it during your work time

and it could be a good relaxation

for you.

What exactly they mean is.

If you're someone
who played a lot of video games

or watched movies

and if going back to work sucks

you should make time and do it.

Beyond what you get

out of it

when you do it
to get a sense of familiarity

you make it look for the brain

that okay we are in safe zone.

Even doing that is helpful, they say.

So not for the sake of your spouse,
parents, or children.

Or even your boss.

Not for the sake of anyone.

Doing what you like

for at least 20 minutes or 1 hour.

We've gone through this

in many books.

So if you want to do something

but you're not able to do it

Or if you don't want to do something

but you can't stop yourself

from doing it.

To break this
or bring about a change

about habits

and even about goal-setting

or to do better at a job

what all can you do

for that we've discussed about

many books on TheBookShow.

Think and Grow Rich

Atomic Habits

Eat That Frog!

Essentialism

Digital Minimalism

For relaxation,
Think like a Monk.

Ichigo Ichie

We've discussed about

many such books on TheBookShow.

So if you want to watch each video one by one,

you can create a separate playlist.
And you can watch them.

And the link to the playlist.

It's there below.

So if you liked this video

you can do something this second

without procrastinating.

Like, comment and share.

And don't forget to subscribe

to TheBookShow.

You can follow me RJ Ananthi

on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

And you can also follow TheBookShow

on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

On Goodreads,
beyond self-help books

you can explore many books.

And there's a link to that too

in the description below.

Is you are a super productive person

and you don't have time

to sit and watch videos.

So if you want to listen

to our videos in audio form.

TheBookShow podcasts are

exclusively available on Spotify.

And there's a link to that

in the description below.

If you want to share anything with me,

you can e-mail me.

Don't procrastinate.

Thank you, BYE!