Today you are in luck! You get my brilliant mind to show you how to trick your own. While some people try to fool others, I’m going to show you how to fool yourself. I’m going to show you how to trick your brain into doing what you don’t want to do.
I’m Amazing
It’s exciting to be doing a guest post for you. The other day I was in my lab, doing very honest, ethical, and not at all underhanded things, when Yaki’ came in. He just kept saying “brains”, but knowing zombies as well as I do, I knew what he was saying.
“DoC,” he said, “you’re absolutely brilliant. Of all the scientists in the world today, you are the best. Plus you know Bigfoot – that dude that lives down the street with the giant feet – and you’re super cool. What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Can you guest post for me?”
Yeah. I’m cool. And brilliant.
I’m sorry, what were we talking about? Oh right! Toxic waste.
No! How to trick your brain into doing what you don’t want to do.
Make it Easy
I learned how to trick my brain early on. For those who don’t know me, I’m a gifted scientist who has reanimated a lot of the zombies that are running around today. Please, hold your applause; I won’t be able to hear it, so what’s the point?
When I first started reanimating, the process was overwhelming. There were so many steps, and many were unknown. Some of the steps were simply to learn more steps!
I would have felt discouraged and buried beneath the workload if not for the fact that I’m a mega genius and have great hair. I immediately realized the solution was simply to make the work easy.
Sure, I could look at the 452 steps I had to do, or I could realize that most steps are really simple and take less than a minute, and the bigger ones can be broken down. Instead of focusing on reanimating a body, I focused on getting my assistant Bob to get the chemicals, or getting my assistant Bob to mix the chemicals, or getting Bob to turn off the fire alarm and put himself out.
The point is that you don’t write a book in one sitting, you do it a sentence at a time. You don’t run a marathon by looking at a finish line you can’t see, but by thinking about the mile you’re on. That’s the first step to trick your brain into doing what you don’t want to do.
Be Consistent
If there’s one thing a scientist can’t abide it’s stale chemicals. That’s why, when I start the reanimation process, I have to keep going. That’s one of the secrets to trick your brain into doing what you don’t want to do.
The process takes 2 weeks. Each day requires several steps. If you miss a day, you have to start over.
To trick your brain, you make the tasks easy, then you do them every day. When you make the task easy enough to do without worrying about it, then you can do it everyday, consistently.
Finally, the best way to trick your brain into doing what you want is to tell them that you have a pile of brains on the back shelf.
No, wait. That’s zombies.
For your brain, you want to make things fun. You do this by changing chores into fun activities or adding rewards. You can make a “Fun at Work Day”, turn your tasks into a race, or find other ways to get motivated to work. Injecting fun is a fantastic way to trick your brain into doing what you don’t want to do.
Easy, Streaking Fun
If you want to trick your brain into doing what you want, take it from this 5 time Nobell Prize winner.
DoC has only won 5 no-bell awards.
To trick your brain, and get more done, follow these small steps to success:
- Easy: Make the task easy enough you have no problem doing it.
- Streaking: Do the task consistently each day, building long streaks of action.
- Fun: Build excitement about the work with games, rewards, and other tricks.
Also, put a “bury me again” sign on your assistant’s back. They love it.
