Lacking motivation? Maybe even to the point of experiencing physical maladies like nausea, headaches and lethargy? Disrupting relationships and enjoyment of life?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) involves determining where motivation drain starts and remedying it. Music is also proven to boost motivation and keep you focused on your goals until completion.
Here, we’ll discuss mono-tasking as a remedy for multi-tasking and as a solution to helping you stay motivated for your personal goals.
We live in a noisy world that emphasizes multi-tasking. Mono-tasking is what our brain developed over millennia to use as a core focusing skill. Certainly, Capitalism and your job likely aren’t interested in you doing one thing at a time – we can’t remedy that systemic disease here. Yet, we can use mono-tasking in our personal and private lives (even during your breaks at work) to get grounded and focused on the goals you prefer to be living. Below are three songs that, for different reasons, are effective in helping you experience, embrace, and activate mono-tasking.
“Demolition Man”
The Police
This song is an essential example of a breed of song that just has a motivational force in the tempo. The entire song is built around a three-note bass line that repeats ceaselessly, amplifying the energy that builds and becomes more than just a refrain. It gathers momentum that cultivates a deterministic vitality. You can leverage this and the song is unapologetic in challenging you to accept its zeal. You cannot not hear the imploring directive to DO IT (whatever your it is.) Whether you choose to embrace and use the sensation in your body to dig into your own work is up to you – that’s where the CBT concepts are meant to help you focus your thoughts and feelings, control and dismiss negative self-talk, and take action.“Start Today”
Gorilla Biscuits
Best band name ever? This track is a solid example of lyricism that is 100% directly and unabashedly about getting motivated and staying motivated. Walter Schrefiels delivers a potent and lasting message about wasted time, wasted energy, the art of excuses, and lost opportunities to be productive in our passions while we stand around waiting for others to satiate our need for Purpose. Stop waiting! Get busy. Yeah, sure, a planning phase is prudent – and even that is something to be motivated for and mono-task. Let Gorilla Biscuits into your stereo. Hear the clarion call. Start today.“War”
Bob Marley and The Wailers.
Yeah, yeah, purists, I know – lyrics are mostly by Haile Selassie I. The song is by Bob and Gang. The message of War is a scathing motivational Mana. Stripped of its specific context, the motivational element here is one of scorched-earth policy – I WILL DO THIS, and no external force will deter me. And those horns at the very end?!? C’mon!There are tens of thousands of songs that directly speak to motivation or have an energy that you personally connect with to become energized. Curating your music with care is important. Being intentional is the next-deep-layer to making the most of your choices. CBT is a vast ‘tool-kit’ that is rigorously evidence-based and proven successful. Mono-tasking is only one skill that aligns with CBT, which will help determine your intentionality. Here are some tips and tricks to use mono-tasking:
Personalize it. Just being candid — I am 99.9% doubtful you’re going to get your company/boss to allow you to mono-task. Personalize your mono-tasking in your private/personal endeavors. You’ll experience more success and learn your subjective way of leveraging this skill to achieve your goals.
Intentional Focus. Use this four-letter word liberally: STOP! You will likely suck at mono-tasking when you start. If you were born on planet Earth, especially in a Capitalist culture, multi-tasking is both a Truism and a poison. To mono-task, you will NEED to lean into the practice of using STOP as an intentional thought pattern to dismiss distracting ideations about other life matters and stay on task. That is a bit broad. I will return to the other skills that assist, like meta-cognition, cognitive framing, distraction management, reflection, mindfulness and more in future columns.
SMART Goals. Specific-Measurable-Attainable-Rational-Trackable. Define your goals before starting using this tool. I’ve only got 800 words. SMART Goals is described succinctly here.
Mindfulness. Mindfulness means being present NOW. Put your phone away, turn off and distance yourself from anything that distracts you. Emphasize the goal you want to be doing with intent. And … Distraction Management. If it isn’t necessary for your goal, put it out of your mind and out of sight/reach. Gather what you need prior to beginning (this should be in your SMART goal) and have only those items in front of you. Environment matters.
Mono-tasking and musical incentives are proven to improve mood, increase productivity, refine focus, reduce stress, and enhance durability and resiliency for obstacles that will occur (remember, change is inevitable; growth is optional.)
Use all these skills starting today. More are coming your way soon.
*This column is meant only to educate, not to be TREATMENT. If you are struggling with mental health maladies, please either use the crisis hotline and/or contact a professional for services. AZCrisisline: 1-844-534-4673; Text: 4HOPE (44673); Chat: crisis.solari-inc.org/start-a-chat.
