How My Neighbor Cleaned My Fridge
You heard me; my neighbor came to my house so I could clean my fridge.
You may be wondering What incredibly persuasive skills I used to entice her to my house.
- Is she my paid cleaning lady? I wish!
- Do I have a deep secret about her that she doesn't want her husband to find out, and I'm extorting her? Not (they are lovely and wonderful people).
- Is she some clean freak with a mission to purge the world of dirty fridges? Nope. I don't think so.
She is a kind, generous person whom I like and trust wholeheartedly. However, we also need help finding a time of day to get together because of life's busy schedules. So I asked if she'd like to visit one day while I cleaned my fridge. She said yes, and I found a body double who would help me start a project I had been putting off for over three months.
This underused strategy, called body doubling, is a powerful way to accomplish boring and mundane tasks if you need more motivation or more time on tedious tasks. Let me tell you what it is and is not.
- It's not someone 'standing in' for you getting your work done for you; that is your responsibility.
- It's not someone telling you "How" to do your task; you can do this yourself; it may feel painful or daunting.
- A body double is a person who will sit with you and do something else (talk, read, or work on an unrelated task) in the room while you finish the job.
So, remember, the next time you procrastinate on an item you need to accomplish but can't seem to get done, place your body double out there. You need to find them!
DeShawn Wert teaches intelligent, motivated professionals how to get stuff done so they CAN relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor! Let's explore how you do your best work together. An Ericson-trained life coach and JTS Coaching-trained ADHD coach, DeShawn is a member of good standing in the ADHD Coaches Organization. She's contributed to several books on living with ADHD, including Dr. Dale Archer's book, The ADHD Advantage, and Laurie Dupar's series called More Ways to Succeed with ADHD.
Contact DeShawn Now-Set Up a Time to Talk
You know what I find fascinating? It's our differences
~ especially those of us who can be a little off-center trying to function and find fulfillment in the mainstream world. This world values efficiency and productivity, which can require productivity techniques and hacks that some of us find
too mundane and soul-crushing, if not impossible to follow.
For me, I've found I can't follow mainstream productivity tools and hacks. I've had to learn to drive my brain, use its quirks and creativity to feel seen, make contributions to the world, and enjoy both work and home.
I like working with smart people who are ready to dump conventional productivity techniques to learn their true personal productivity by understanding how to drive their brains and discover their unique strengths to redesign their days with systems that complement them.
Let's start exploring together!