Loving Kindness Meditation for Self While Doing the Difficult

AllbuddhaBound

I may be overcomplicating things but I have started to meditate with loving kindness for myself while I envision myself doing mundane boring tasks that I like to avoid. Procrastination is an issue for me. It occurred to me that perhaps I beat myself up when I procrastinate and maybe that is acting as a deterrent to further action on my part.

Has anyone here used an approach like this when attempting to encourage themselves and if so, what were the results?

Kindest regards

Glow

Yes, beating yourself up (and thus reawakening all the criticism you may have received in the past) will definitely de-motivate you and lead to more procrastination. There's a very good book called The Now Habit by Dr. Neil Fiore on procrastination that deals with the underlying self-criticism that perpetuates procrastination. You might check your local library for a copy. It's been around for a while (since the 1980s, I think), so there's a good chance they'll have it. For a taste of what Fiore's approach is like, see this blog post: Overcoming Procrastination With Self-Talk.

AllbuddhaBound

I can see how that self-talk approach has a lot of power. I am feeling more hopeful already and I will pick up the book.

Best to you and thanks Glow.

Glow

Glad I could help. I remember reading that you have Christopher Germer's book on self-compassion. Fiore's book is, I think, a good accompaniment to Germer's. Loving-kindness is about cultivating a more kindly climate of the mind and procrastination is a very self-denigrating state and can leave you feeling harried and anxious. The best way to overcome it (something I struggled with quite a lot well into adulthood) was to learn to think about my own "laziness" and the tasks I wanted to complete in less frightening terms. Essentially, it's about learning how to not "psyche yourself out."

fivebells

\Has anyone here used an approach like this when attempting to encourage themselves and if so, what were the results?

Yes, and the results were quite profound. (Full disclosure: I still procrastinate.) I recommend cultivating metta for the full experience of not wanting to do the chore, not just for yourself.

cosmicyogisattva

hmm, might i suggest trying not to focus too much on whatever task you know you must complete, and instead attempt to bring presence to more expansive perspectives of the now, so that upon setting out to complete a task you are uplifted in that you can even enjoy what you are doing because you are aware of the greater context of your journey through life, where focus no longer falls upon doing or not doing and the stress caused by such procrastinating thoughts, and instead "doing" is simply the reaction you have to "being" from an inspired perspective...
Maitri

hope this helps

SherabDorje

hmm, might i suggest trying not to focus too much on whatever task you know you must complete, and instead attempt to bring presence to more expansive perspectives of the now, so that upon setting out to complete a task you are uplifted in that you can even enjoy what you are doing because you are aware of the greater context of your journey through life, where focus no longer falls upon doing or not doing and the stress caused by such procrastinating thoughts, and instead "doing" is simply the reaction you have to "being" from an inspired perspective...
Maitri

hope this helps

How does this get the laundry done?

cosmicyogisattva

if doing laundry is a problem, it is because your clothes have not yet been worn & if wearing the clothes becomes a problem it is because the laundry has not yet been done.