Be your best self.

The Catastrophe Technique: How The Worst Case Scenario Can Make You Super Productive

The Catastrophe Technique: How The Worst Case Scenario Can Make You Super Productive
Carly Jacobs
I

come from a long line of worriers. It’s deeply ingrained in my DNA. If I’m standing in a line, I worry that someone will push in. If I’m in a car, I worry that I’m going to die. If I’m waiting to order something at a restaurant, I worry that they’ll run out of the thing I want and I’ll have to think of something else to order. Being slightly anxious isn’t always a curse though, sometimes it’s a huge blessing. I often look at people who are very calm and chilled in their approach to life and I wish I was more like that. I used to study with this incredible free spirit who was like Jessa from Girls. She’d arrived at school with damp hair from swimming in the river and she’d casually cancel her weekend shifts at the cafe where she worked to go on yoga retreats. I couldn’t figure out how she managed her life so she wasn’t stressed all the time like everyone else. I found out further down the track that she was deeply in debt with years worth of parking infringements to pay and the house she lived in didn’t have hot water. I don’t want to live like that, so I embrace my anxiety and use it to help get things done. I do a lot of research on productivity and mind tricks and this is a little technique I developed based on a few different methods of visualisation for productivity. This will be a particularly excellent method if you’re terrified of the worst case scenario and if you’re quite driven by consequences.

the-cat-tech

Here’s how you do it.

Acknowledge the task you don’t want to do and visualise the worst thing that could happen if you don’t do it.

1. Imagine the consequences of you not completing the task today.

2. Imagine the consequences of not completing the task this week.

3. Imagine the consequences of not completing the task this year.

4. Imagine the consequences of not completing the task ever.

For example one of the things you might not want to do is eat a salad for lunch. We’ve all been there. Burgers just smell better right? But we can’t have burgers every day soo here’s what the method would look like if you really should order a salad instead…

1. If I don’t eat a salad today, I’m going to feel tired and gluggy this afternoon.

2. If I don’t eat a salad this week, I’m going to start being deficient in essential vitamins and minerals.

3. If I don’t eat a salad this whole year, I’ll develop cardio vascular problems as well as being severely deficient in vitamins and minerals and my digestion will suck hard.

4. If I don’t ever eat a salad again, my insides are going to rot and I’ll die an early death.

If you’re going to worry, you might as well use it to your advantage. This method is not meant to exacerbate anyone’s anxiety levels but if I know anxiety (and I do!), I know that it doesn’t like to be quiet and it doesn’t like to be ignored. It’s also a good exercise to visualise how it’s totally okay to put things off for a day but it quickly escalates once you put things off for a week, or a year or forever.

This method can really work with anything. Exercise, completing assignments, cleaning your home. Another benefit of this method is that it helps to separate the things you really need to do from the things you really don’t need to do. For example if you get the idea in your head that you need to clean behind your fridge, use the method.

1. If I don’t clean behind the fridge today, nothing will happen.

2. If I don’t clean behind the fridge this week, nothing will happen.

3. If I don’t clean behind the fridge this year, nothing will happen.

4. If I don’t ever clean behind the fridge, it will be someone else’s problem.

How perfect is that? So the next time you’re having difficulty trying to get your bum off the couch to get some exercise or if you’re struggling to re-write your CV because you’re unhappy in your job, give the Catastrophe Method a go.

Here’s a blank one you can use to get started. Just copy and paste it into a fresh document.

1. If I don’t _________________ today, __________________ will happen

2. If I don’t _________________ this week, __________________ will happen

3. If I don’t _________________ this year, __________________ will happen

4. If I don’t _________________ ever, __________________ will happen

Give it a go and let me know if it works for you.

[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]

Do you respond well to visualising consequences? Or does it just make you freak out even more?

 

[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]

P.S If you want more Smags sign up here. There’s always a Beyonce gif and a fact you didn’t know… last week’s fact was about Val Halen. For real.

2 Comments

  1. careeragogo 8 years ago

    Loved this article – an original take on a productivity hack. I think the idea of using one of your vices for good rather than evil is a great idea. Hey, if you suffer from anxiety you might as well make it work for you, don’t you think! I have to say that I have applied this technique and it make me laugh every time and motivates me to get work done. Love it!

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs 8 years ago

      Me too! It’s a great way to take your mind off the seriousness of everything and also makes you think what a loser you’re being for thinking something so simple. I love it! I use it most days actually. 🙂

Leave a Reply