Do you ever find yourself sitting at your desk, telling yourself you should be working… but not getting anything done?  Do you judge yourself for not being productive enough time and time again, but don’t see anything different happening as a result?  Have you tried a variety of systems over the years, each one working temporarily or not at all?  Here at Positive Vector, we believe that real growth means behavior change.  Using our Internal Family Systems coaching method, you can address the root cause of your resistance and never suffer from it again.

That’s all well and good, you say, but what happens when I am already at work and I can’t slip away to do a full IFS session and the boss is breathing down my neck about that presentation due within hours?!  For just that very occasion, I carry around a checklist full of techniques I can use to generate behavior change right there in that moment – and now I am going to share my ten very best tips with you, so that you can do what you need to do when you need to do it.

For the purposes of exposition, I am going to apply all of these techniques to a specific issue that almost everyone can identify with – procrastination.  In the end, these can really be used for any case of resistance: for example, a direct analogy would be cravings, where part of you desperately wants something but another part of you thinks you shouldn’t have it.  Everything applies just the same.  And now, without further ado…

#1. Take a Deep Breath

Have you ever completed a really big project, or had a difficult conversation with someone you care about, and literally sighed with relief at the end?  You subconsciously used that sigh to release the tension you had been storing up in your body, and return you to a state of calm curiosity.  It turns out that this technique – like smiling to become happier - works even if you do it intentionally.

One effect of taking a deep breath is to oxygenate your blood, which leaves you feeling invigorated and ready to go.  To get the largest amount of air into your lungs, you need to breathe from your diaphragm.  Practice this by lying down on your back, and resting one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach.  Breathe slowly from the bottom of your lungs up, so that you feel your stomach hand rise into the air first.  Do this several times, and try letting yourself breath normally, to feel the difference.  You will quickly get the hang of it.

So the next time you hit a block, before getting frustrated and conditioning yourself to dislike work even more, take a deep breath and relax!  Afterwards, take another look at your work with a set of fresh eyes.

This is the first installment in a series of posts called Top 10 Ways to Change Your Behavior Immediately.

-William Ryan

Change can happen quickly.