Introduction
Hey folks, I’m back with another topic to talk about!
I’m trying to actively write and publish articles that are relevant and relatable to most people. Unfortunately, this can take a while - especially with the hectic schedule over at my institution.
However, this isn’t the only reason for the delays. My Notion is filled with more ideas than you can imagine. I have so many unfinished projects, drafts of articles that I’d like to finish, books that I haven’t finished, and so on.
This got me thinking - is it just me? Do I just have a terrible attention span or is it something that others go through as well?
So, following a typical engineer, I decided to conduct some surveys and talk to some of my closest friends and understand if they have unfinished ideas and projects that they’d like to finish someday.
Lo and behold! Turns out, this is more common than I thought. I decided to dig deeper and found the root cause and ways to deal with this.
Explain what this is!
Well, let’s get to it.
Intellectual Stimulation is a more formal and polite way to describe a state of overthinking.
Wait! It’s probably not the overthinking that you’re thinking about - it’s more about you finishing the tasks and ideas in your head rather than in real life.
There’s a slang term used to describe this situation perfectly- “mental masturbation”. It’s a term I’d like to avoid using for politeness’ sake.
We seem to enjoy thinking about doing the task and finishing it in our heads. Once we’re done with it in our mind, we just don’t get the same rush or the thrill to actually finish it in real life - the outcome of the task no longer excites us.
This leads to us searching for new tasks or ideas in order to get that same thrill and excitement. We’re not really bothered about the outcome as much as we are interested in the prospect of “knowing” how it will end. We seem to derive some sort of weird pleasure in knowing how it will end and once we’re there, we don’t really have the drive to do it in real life.
How to deal with this?
Glad you asked! (hopefully)
There are a couple of ways for me to deal with this which have actually shown tremendous results. I’ve been able to be a lot more productive and have been finishing my tasks on time with absolute focus. Let’s go over what I’m doing and how you can use this to your life too!
Self-control
I know this sounds pretty ironic when you know the slang-term.
But it’s not rocket science, you just need to practice self-control.
I definitely had a big issue with unfinished projects, but I wasn’t really ready to let go of the ideas that I came up with.
Logically, if you focus on finishing one idea you’ll probably get that thing done - but what if that leads to you not coming up with any other “great” ideas?
The simple solution is to note those ideas down somewhere. When you come up with these ideas, I can guarantee you, it will seem like the best thing ever. You will feel like you gotta do this new idea as opposed to the old one.
Don’t do it! Practice self-control! Wait until you finish your first task, you’re not going to forget your new one, you’ve written it down.
Just revisit it at a later time and get working on that.
But this is just about not jumping from one project to another - there’s another important aspect I want to talk about.
Don’t finish the task in your head! Trust me, this works wonders.
For example, let’s say I’m going to build a PC. I’m not going to completely assemble the PC in my head - instead, I’ll take it slow and steady.
I’ll first unpack the motherboard and fix the processor onto it. Then, I’ll fix the CPU cooling fan then proceed to attach the RAMs and so on.
I’m not going to scour the motherboard for all the things needed. I’m not going to finish the entire motherboard in my head - I’m dividing the tasks to be done into sections and thinking only about that particular section and how to achieve that task.
This will make more sense when we get to the next way to deal with this.
Follow SMART goals
Ah, the cliche SMART rule (but it works wonders!)
SMART essentially stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Remember how I discussed dividing the activity of building my PC into sections? Those sections are essentially the definition of SMART goals.
Each section was specific - eg. Attaching the processor along with the CPU cooling fan.
It was measurable because I knew that this task would end if I’ve attached the fan.
It was attainable because I know that realistically, I can definitely finish attaching the processor within an hour.
It was relevant because this task was actually needed to complete building my PC
It was time-bound because I knew that I have to finish attaching my processor within an hour.
SMART goals can supercharge your productivity. Just remember, you need to be realistic with your goals.
You cannot attach the processor in 5 seconds - it sounds ridiculous, then how can you assume to finish learning guitar in a day?
Slow and steady wins the race - be realistic, it’s okay if you take longer, the point is you’ll actually finish it this time as opposed to feeling low that you couldn’t.
“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” ― Diana Scharf
Diana said it perfectly, if you don’t have a deadline, you’re not going to finish it.
But it can be sometimes too easy to get distracted with just creating these goals and not implementing them - which brings us to the third way to deal with this.
Use an Eisenhower Matrix
Eisenhower matrix is basically a time matrix with four quadrants representing tasks that are important, non-important, urgent and non-urgent.
Each task comes under four possible categories i.e, it can be important and urgent or important and non-urgent, non-important and urgent and non-important and non-urgent
Why is this such a big deal? Well, if you have a small matrix and fill it up with goals, then you should probably get started on striking those goals off your TODO list. A smaller matrix means you wouldn’t spend time filling them, you’d spend more time implementing them.
Just make sure you follow through and hold yourself accountable.
Eisenhower matrix will help you rationalize what tasks to do when and how to effectively finish them.
This is probably one of the biggest additions I’ve done to my routine this year and it’s been serving me really well!
Conclusion
In conclusion, intellectual stimulation is a common phenomenon that affects many of us. It can be a source of inspiration and motivation, but it can also be a trap that prevents us from taking action and achieving our goals. The key is to find a balance between thinking and doing, between planning and executing, and between dreaming and realizing.
Honestly, this quickly turned into a “supercharge your productivity” kind of article. I wanted to share something that actually helped me get over this problem, in the hopes that it can help someone else as well.
Truth be told, I do not think intellectual stimulation is a bad thing. Having some stimulating conversations or thoughts can definitely help you think better. There’s definitely a need to follow critical thinking and not waste time thinking about irrelevant topics though.
Eisenhower matrix is probably my favorite tool - I’ve always heard about its benefits but was too skeptical to try it. I cannot express how crucial it is if you want to be more effective.
These are just some ways I deal with intellectual stimulation, if you’ve got something that works for you or didn’t work for you, please do reach out.
I’d love to have an intellectually stimulating conversation about it ;)