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How to defeat procrastination?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ishmael" data-source="post: 75734" data-attributes="member: 532"><p>"12. The demon of acedia—also called the noonday demon—is the one that causes the most serious trouble of all. He presses his attack upon the monk about the fourth hour and besieges the soul until the eighth hour. First of all he makes it seem that the sun barely moves, if at all, and that the day is fifty hours long. Then he constrains the monk to look constantly out the windows, to walk outside the cell, to gaze carefully at the sun to determine how far it stands from the ninth hour, to look now this way and now that to see if perhaps [one of the brethren appears from his cell] Then too he instills in the heart of the monk a hatred for the place, a hatred for his very life itself, a hatred for manual labor. He leads him to reflect that charity has departed from among the brethren, that there is no one to give encouragement. Should there be someone at this period who happens to offend him in some way or other, this too the demon uses to contribute further to his hatred. This demon drives him along to desire other sites where he can more easily procure life's necessities, more readily find work and make a real success of himself. He goes on to suggest that, after all, it is not the place that is the basis of pleasing the Lord. God is to be adored everywhere. He joins to these reflections the memory of his dear ones and of his former way of life. He depicts life stretching out fora long period of time, and brings before the mind's eye the toil of the ascetic struggle and, as the saying has it, leaves no leaf unturned to induce the monk to forsake his cell and drop out of the fight. No other demon follows close upon the heels of this one (when he is defeated) but only a state of deep peace and inexpressible joy arise out of this struggle." - From 'The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer' written by Evagrius Ponticus in 390 AD.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It's an ancient concept and word from thousands of years ago with a different name. Whether you want to believe there are literal spirits that influence you on a daily basis or cause these things to happen is immaterial; the truth is that every single person deals with this concept to some degree and can relate to what is written here. The way to deal with procrastination whether it's because of a demon causing or influencing your decision or not is to build mental fortitude and discipline.</p><p></p><p>"16. When the soul desires to seek after a variety of foods then it is time to afflict it with bread and water that it may learn to be grateful for a mere morsel of bread. For satiety desires a variety of dishes but hunger thinks itself happy to get its fill of nothing more than bread."</p><p></p><p>The lesson being taught here goes beyond the benefits of fasting or 'being grateful for a morsel'. The important thing to gather from this psychologically is that satiation as a concept beyond food in all things is a feeling to be filled by wants. It's not just about being grateful for what you DO get, it's the ability to be content in the circumstances because engaging with undisciplined thoughts will lead to more of them. If you cannot be content with just the bread, you will want and may even be motivated to indulge, or in a more modern framing, waste money on food.</p><p></p><p>"19. The man who flees from all worldly pleasures is an impregnable tower before the assaults of the demon of sadness. For sadness is a deprivation of sensible pleasure, whether actually present or only hoped for. And so if we continue to cherish some affection for anything in this world it is impossible to repel this enemy, for he lays his snares and produces sadness precisely where he sees we are particularly inclined."</p><p></p><p>The more disciplined you are, the less of an impact the world around you will have from a psychological standpoint. You must lay the groundwork for the path to be travelled. In how this relates to procrastination specifically, you must begin to reframe in your brain what is important and prune what does not matter and what you cannot afford to keep latching onto. It's more than just a pro/con list, it's your future. You have to act when you have the chance because the chances are few and far between. Think about how often you're in the repetitive motions of life for weeks/months on end before you can make a change that actually matters. That's when the chance is really there, whether you made it happen or not. The chances don't come every day because you don't make them come every day, or you have nothing to change.</p><p></p><p>I sincerely doubt you have nothing to change. We all do. None of us emulate Jesus perfectly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ishmael, post: 75734, member: 532"] "12. The demon of acedia—also called the noonday demon—is the one that causes the most serious trouble of all. He presses his attack upon the monk about the fourth hour and besieges the soul until the eighth hour. First of all he makes it seem that the sun barely moves, if at all, and that the day is fifty hours long. Then he constrains the monk to look constantly out the windows, to walk outside the cell, to gaze carefully at the sun to determine how far it stands from the ninth hour, to look now this way and now that to see if perhaps [one of the brethren appears from his cell] Then too he instills in the heart of the monk a hatred for the place, a hatred for his very life itself, a hatred for manual labor. He leads him to reflect that charity has departed from among the brethren, that there is no one to give encouragement. Should there be someone at this period who happens to offend him in some way or other, this too the demon uses to contribute further to his hatred. This demon drives him along to desire other sites where he can more easily procure life's necessities, more readily find work and make a real success of himself. He goes on to suggest that, after all, it is not the place that is the basis of pleasing the Lord. God is to be adored everywhere. He joins to these reflections the memory of his dear ones and of his former way of life. He depicts life stretching out fora long period of time, and brings before the mind's eye the toil of the ascetic struggle and, as the saying has it, leaves no leaf unturned to induce the monk to forsake his cell and drop out of the fight. No other demon follows close upon the heels of this one (when he is defeated) but only a state of deep peace and inexpressible joy arise out of this struggle." - From 'The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer' written by Evagrius Ponticus in 390 AD. It's an ancient concept and word from thousands of years ago with a different name. Whether you want to believe there are literal spirits that influence you on a daily basis or cause these things to happen is immaterial; the truth is that every single person deals with this concept to some degree and can relate to what is written here. The way to deal with procrastination whether it's because of a demon causing or influencing your decision or not is to build mental fortitude and discipline. "16. When the soul desires to seek after a variety of foods then it is time to afflict it with bread and water that it may learn to be grateful for a mere morsel of bread. For satiety desires a variety of dishes but hunger thinks itself happy to get its fill of nothing more than bread." The lesson being taught here goes beyond the benefits of fasting or 'being grateful for a morsel'. The important thing to gather from this psychologically is that satiation as a concept beyond food in all things is a feeling to be filled by wants. It's not just about being grateful for what you DO get, it's the ability to be content in the circumstances because engaging with undisciplined thoughts will lead to more of them. If you cannot be content with just the bread, you will want and may even be motivated to indulge, or in a more modern framing, waste money on food. "19. The man who flees from all worldly pleasures is an impregnable tower before the assaults of the demon of sadness. For sadness is a deprivation of sensible pleasure, whether actually present or only hoped for. And so if we continue to cherish some affection for anything in this world it is impossible to repel this enemy, for he lays his snares and produces sadness precisely where he sees we are particularly inclined." The more disciplined you are, the less of an impact the world around you will have from a psychological standpoint. You must lay the groundwork for the path to be travelled. In how this relates to procrastination specifically, you must begin to reframe in your brain what is important and prune what does not matter and what you cannot afford to keep latching onto. It's more than just a pro/con list, it's your future. You have to act when you have the chance because the chances are few and far between. Think about how often you're in the repetitive motions of life for weeks/months on end before you can make a change that actually matters. That's when the chance is really there, whether you made it happen or not. The chances don't come every day because you don't make them come every day, or you have nothing to change. I sincerely doubt you have nothing to change. We all do. None of us emulate Jesus perfectly. [/QUOTE]
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