How to Get It Done

By Lev Novak

When you least want to do something, that’s when you have to do it most. Not because you have to, but because now, you really don’t. Every fiber of your being resists it: you can’t wake up, you can’t eat that last burrito, and, in my case, you can’t take a six hour bus to New York literally the day after you just took a six hour bus back from New York. You don’t want to do this. Life’s not fair.

1. When You Don’t Want to Do Something, Do It Angry

Well, it has to be done. I’ll be honest: I don’t want to write this article. My entire housing plan fell apart this afternoon, and while that means I’m going to have a lot of material to help you out with in the future, at the moment, I feel like garbage.

But I’m still writing. Because I have to get it done, and because I decided that I’d get angry about it. Being sad about my circumstance is natural, and believe me- I’ve been “woe is me” for quite a bit. But that gets us nowhere. Being angry, in a pinch, gives you the last reserves of energy necessary to finish the task.

For example: if I was too sad to write because my apartment situation fell through, that would be an understandable (if wussy) bummer. But now that I changed the narrative: I’m mad, I have energy.

Next time you can’t believe you have to stay up late when you’ve got no sleep, and you’re losing your mind, don’t get sad and sleepy: get mad and indignant. That will help push you ahead.

2. Skip The Parts You Hate

You may have noticed that the picture for this article is a duck. Maybe it’s a chicken. I don’t really know.

That’s because looking for the pictures for these articles is my least favorite part of my job. I’m a writer- google-searching for the proper image is important, and I do it, but today, in this mood I’m in, I don’t feel like it. How do you find the proper visual for an abstract concept? It’s difficult, and I knew if I had to do it, I might not even write this article. So I skipped it.

I think that’s actually a good lesson to take from that. When you’re at your wits end, preserve your wits: focus on the most important parts of what you have to do, and do those as well as you can. Skipping the parts you hate can, at times, be the best way to get the best results when you’re most reluctant to “get it done.”

3. Get Support From the Right People

Not your parents. They’ll end up babying you, or belittling you, or second-guessing you even as they love you and they try to help. This is because they’re parents.

Instead, find your older sibling. If you don’t have one, find an older friend. If you don’t have one of those, find the tallest friend you have- they’ll have to do. And that older sibling or friend will give you the best advice because they’ve been there: they’ve been at their wits end in this class, or pledging, or with their significant other- whatever. And they’ve been their recently. They’ll give you the perspective and advice you need, mixed with some support and humor.

4. Treat Yourself

Promise yourself a beer or a hamburger when you finish. Trust me, it helps.

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