Overcoming Inertia
Philosophy & Introspection
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August 27, 2022
Starting is the hardest thing to do. Inertia, analysis paralysis, and trepidation of traversing an unknown path can all stop even the most intelligent people from accomplishing anything. However, continuing toward a task at hand or a goal is much easier once you have momentum and an idea of what to expect when completing the task.
What do I mean by Overcoming Inertia?
It can be hard to push anyone to try new things that are outside of your comfort zone. Inertia is the poison that holds you back, and building momentum is the antidote. Different people have different levels of innate inertia towards doing activities. This can be cause by perfectionism, procrastination, or a myriad of other mental roadblocks.
When I was in my early days of playing tennis, I recalling thinking "this next one perfect, powerful stroke will end the current rally." But, I would usually end up hitting the ball into the net or out of bounds because of my impatience. Over time, I've learned that being consistent, pacing myself, and just keeping the ball in bounds longer than my opponent often proves to be a more sustainable strategy. And, focusing on learning proper form and letting your body build natural muscle memory tends to yield higher results than trying to force perfection. Create a process and stick to it. Do not seek to achieve all of the results or achievement of your actions at once.
Improvement, or "spice", is easier to add after starting and often makes the process more enjoyable. Your goal should be to convert your inertia into momentum.
Similarly, in my early coding classes in college, I would spend 8+ hours at a time working on a coding project, not fully recognizing a fresh mind's positive impact on productivity. Spending two, fully focused hours on a task is much more productive than an extended period of time of sub-optimal productivity. In addition, I found over time that it is beneficial to give my brain time to subconsciously chew on code. For all I know, I may have the next code feature breakthrough in the shower!
If you find yourself spinning your wheels and struggling to take action, or conversely, getting over-gregarious in a self-destructive way with your action then becoming discouraged, you haven't found inner momentum.
For a meta example, consider this article. Writing has always been a task that takes me time to get through. I fret about how my thoughts will be received, and it makes my writing time stretch as a result. I've gotten better at preventing myself from obsessing over perfect word choice in the first draft and embraced the fact that drafts are a part of the process. Even still, it is an ongoing struggle. And so, I plan to use early writings -- such as this one -- to review and find patterns in how I prefer to organize my thoughts. From here, I can then use these patterns to create a standard procedure that works for me to create articles. A step further is to be able to deviate from my self-defined convention to create different "flavors" of article. It's much easier to create a system for a process once you've gone through it. Or to recognize a pattern and act on this newfound understanding.
Why should I Overcome Inertia?
Here are some anecdotes to demonstrate positive outcomes that can come by overcoming your inertia:
Adaptability to New Situations
Starting on a Jaguar restoration process, I had no idea where to start, and I didn't want to break anything, especially on an object I perceived as being valuable. However, my mom said something that resonated for getting past this thought: "It's already not moving." Without doing anything, the Jaguar was just going to lie there, sleeping in silence. As long as I moved forward with care and researched each step of the way, the state of the vehicle (in theory) should not get worse than it started. Fast-forward, and even though I HAVE broken a few parts during the process, I have built up the confidence to be able to adapt to each situation and restore each component to a working state.
Realized Gain of Consistency
In my early days of working out, I would often see and feel the results of my progress after a couple of gym visits but would not maintain the momentum. I would stop. Consistency is key to refinement of a system that you are working on. Every time you come back to something, you'll find you have a new perspective or new ideas to bring to it. Or, in the case of exercise, new strength provided you've let your body properly recover. Once you trust the process and stick to it, you'll likely notice reduced weight, increased muscle mass, and an improvement in how your body feels.
Increased Awareness Through Rapid Feedback
StarCraft II is a real-time strategy game in which you to build up a base by harvesting resources and mobilize an army of units to destroy your opponents' bases. The entire map and mini map are covered by a "fog" that doesn't allow you to see outside of your units' field of vision. An important strategy in this game is to send out one or more fast-moving units throughout a match to scout out the activity of your opponents. Without sending scouts to monitor your opponents, they could have taken a base location right next to you without you knowing. Your scout may get toasted by your enemies, but not before you've gained more information about their base layout or unit composition than before. Failing fast and early in this way is the best way to learn more about your surroundings or a task. The more you fail and learn from it, the quicker you can adapt and get to a stage where you're failing less and less. It also helps you boost your awareness of your surroundings and options that may be available to you.
How can I Overcome Inertia?
So, your goal is to shift your inertia into momentum. Below are some actionable ways of doing that. Now, many of these thoughts have been thought before, and I've included some sources below. However, I feel they fit in this context and align with strategies I've used to overcome my own inertia.
Just do one small thing
Pick one small task or goal to work on that gets you closer to an overall goal. It can be difficult to choose which one, but really choosing any is better than just staring at the list of options all day.
Get better at making decisions and taking action
Research and preparation is important, but you won't get any true feedback or results without testing your theories. After considering all facets and opportunity costs for doing something, make a decision. Decide whether something is worth your time, sleep on the decision, verify that you still feel the same, and then move on.
Get better at switching directions
After starting to take action, be sure not to fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy. This is the tendency to think, "I have to finish this," just because you've started or gotten far along into the process. If you reassess your decision, and the benefits no longer outweigh the detriments, it may be time to move on. Alternatively, decide not to decide for now and make peace with that decision. There may be a better time in the future to revisit your options.
Reframe your environment
Make things easier on yourself by lowering the activation energy required to complete a task using cues. Having trouble getting to tasks? Add them to a calendar to keep track. Trying to get to the gym after work? Pack your gym bag with everything you need to go straight there. A little bit of strategy can smooth your concerns enough to get started.
Envision the completion to your goal
Keeping what you are working towards fresh in your mind can steer you towards action. Imagining a fresh paint job, a trimmed lawn, or a hot dinner after the effort you've put in can motivate you to get there.
Recharge
Find activities that are relaxing and take your mind off the current task at hand. Note: the goal of this is not to procrastinate if you have full energy reserves already. This is more about restoring your mental batteries if you've been looking at something for too long already. This could be as simple as a walk, a nap, or a snack. When done strategically to recharge, holding off on intentionally making a decision can be good if you feel you don't have enough clarity about it to find an acceptable level of risk for the decision's outcome.
Reward yourself and celebrate successes
Pick a small way of self-acknowledging your progress to reinforce it. This could be a night of relaxation and reflection, a fancy meal or a nice pair of shoes. Make sure to keep rewards within reason and to not go overboard. This can end up doing the opposite and taking you off of the path toward your goal.
Stop self-doubting thought processes
It can be easy for a thoughts such as, "There's no point to putting a high degree of effort towards this task with no guarantee it will work out," to creep in. This can often happen for a task we aren't fully interested in or ones that feel insurmountably difficult to understand. However, putting a lot of effort into a task helps to reveal what you're interested in, how you work effectively, and how the process actually works. Hopefully, if the task is undesirable, you are only subjected to it for a finite amount of time. Even if not, being able to extract and learn from lessons from your experiences is an important part of the process.
Who should Overcome Inertia?
Anyone can implement this system into their daily existence to make progress towards their goals.
When should I Overcome Inertia?
Start now! Pick something small or even a larger goal, and just complete some small component of the desired (or undesired) task.
Inertia can be tricky to overcome, but by using the strategies above, you can get past this roadblock to unlocking your full potential. Taking small steps (adding "mass") and optimizing your process while heading towards your goals (adding "velocity") can build you the momentum you need to surpass even your wildest expectations!
