Holidays: How To Get Stuff Done

Holidays. We all have plans for them. Grand ideas of hobby projects we’d like to work on or just odd jobs we’d like to complete. If you’re like me you may even have a written list of such items, tasks that would be so nice to undertake if only we had more time than our normal routine allows.

Yet when the holiday finally rolls around, nothing is more tempting than simply allowing our minds to become mush as we engage in whatever activity we tell ourselves we’ve earned after so long enduring the humdrum of work or study. Playing video games, watching Netflix, reading a good book… Even napping can become an activity we use to avoid doing something productive.

Of course, this mindset is really just another form of procrastination. When there’s something we’d genuinely like to do or achieve, yet more immanently-rewarding activities always seem to co-opt our time instead, all we’re doing is trading long-term satisfaction for short-term satisfaction, which defines procrastination to a tee.

So how do we break this cycle? How do we start ticking those tasks off the holiday list when Netflix is always waiting in the background? If your answer is by sheer force of will, you’re destined to fall into the same cycle of procrastination again and again (until you’re lucky enough to be saved by the panic monster, should he happen to stop by). So that’s not going to work.

The other obvious solution might be to remove Netflix from the background. To remove the source of distraction and temptation. But Netflix is not the only activity that tempts the procrastinator, and eliminating all such activities is almost an impossible task in itself. How would you remove the temptation of napping when any bed or couch looks suitably comfortable to the procrastinating mind?

Overcoming procrastination is a struggle as old as mankind that isn’t going to be won by a random blog post. That being said, I find two things to be helpful in promoting productivity.

1. Firstly, remind yourself often what the fruits of your efforts will be. Think of how nice it will be to have a clean floor when you’re tidying your room. Imagine seeing your blog post published on the webpage when you’re writing it. Anticipate how much easier it will be to locate a desired file as you’re organising your virtual or physical workspace.
2. Secondly, set yourself a deadline. Don’t make it arbitrary; make it mean something. For a holiday task list, this is easy. The deadline is when you have to go back to work. For other projects, find a date when it will be most satisfying to have that project completed, perhaps when you’ll have an opportunity to present your efforts to a friend, and make that your deadline. You could even get someone else to set you a deadline! Write it down and look at it often to remind yourself how much time you have left. If nothing else, this will eventually attract the panic monster’s attention.

Now to stop procrastinating with the writing of this blog post and attend to the next item on my holiday to-do list…

And Happy New Year everyone!

Easter

I love Easter. It revolves around two of my favourite things: Jesus and chocolate.

But to many people Easter is just a holiday, and an over-commercialised one at that. Chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs begin appearing in stores months before the actual Easter weekend, so that’s where our focus is drawn. It would be easy to conclude that Easter is therefore about sweets and a short holiday – and new life, of course, because the eggs have to represent something, right?

To the Christian, Easter is perhaps the most important time of the year. It’s a reminder of a time two millennia past when an innocent man was executed by being nailed to a tree. That’s an odd thing to celebrate, to say the least. This man was by all accounts a great teacher, but history remembers many such figures. What made this man Jesus so special that even now we have multiple international holidays to celebrate him?

Well, objectively? To call Jesus Christ a great teacher would be awfully irrational. There’s no denying the wisdom in his teachings or the vast popularity he garnered as a public speaker, but he also made some rather bold claims about his own identity. “Christ” is not actually his last name, but a title that means promised saviour. He also claimed to be the Son of God, which the religious leaders of the day saw as outright blasphemy and subsequently plotted to kill him. Later on, his immediate followers were all executed in horrific ways for spreading his teachings. That doesn’t seem like the mark of a great teacher, does it?
On the other hand, it takes an astounding amount of conviction to be martyred for your beliefs. So what made the disciples so resilient in their faith?

The answer is in the second half of the Easter weekend. On Good Friday we remember his crucifixion (the most painful way that the Romans could think of killing someone, or so I’m told), while Easter Sunday is about his triumphant victory over death. I mean really, who can defeat death but God? It was this miracle that proved once and for all to the disciples and countless others that Jesus was not just a great teacher but also exactly who he claimed to be: the Son of God.

It also confirmed that everything he taught was true. It’s harrowing to think that we’re all so guilty of sin that we’re condemned to Hell – that no amount of ritualistic sacrifices or religious piety can get us right with God. But that’s what he taught. It’s also the very problem that Jesus came to Earth to solve. By living a perfect life as only God can, Jesus took the punishment we all deserve – and yes, got sent to Hell. But because he’s just that badass, Jesus defeated Satan on his own turf and returned to life so that there was no doubting his authority over all creation.

That’s the crux of Christianity, and you’d be right to say it seems far-fetched. After all, we’re talking about events that are supernatural – a word whose very definition highlights the impossibility of it all from our human understanding of natural laws. But I know that I certainly don’t have all the answers, and despite the many great minds throughout human history I doubt we have all the answers collectively either. It’s no great stretch to imagine that there are truths beyond human understanding. The question is whether we trust the answers that God provides.

In a recent interview, Stephen Fry stated his that main reason for denying the existence of God was because of the evil in the world. Why do bad things happen to good people if God is good and all-powerful? It’s an age-old question and a good one. It’s further exacerbated by the standard of living we’ve become accustomed to: we live in a consumer society and we too often believe that we have a right to a happy life.
But God understands suffering. He was crucified, remember? He has reasons for allowing suffering to continue, and one of those reasons is to give people time to repent. If God descended down to Earth tomorrow in a blaze of glory and judged every person according to their deeds, many of us would be in big trouble. Fortunately, God has the grace to give us all plenty of time to recognise the trouble we’re in before it’s too late, and to spread the good news as far and wide as possible before God’s judgement inevitably comes.

Easter is also a reminder that whether it’s rising from the dead or pronouncing judgement on our deeds, God always keeps his word. One of the most chilling passages in the Bible is Luke 16:19-31, in which a rich man dies and after being sent to Hell finds himself in excruciating torment. He looks up to Heaven and asks if someone could go to his brothers, who still lived, to tell them to repent before it’s too late.
The reply in a nutshell: “They have the Bible and all those who preach it; let your brothers hear them.”
“No, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they’ll repent.”
“If they don’t listen to those who preach to them, they won’t listen to someone who rises from the dead.”

I can’t think of a more alarming wake-up call. God isn’t going to conclusively prove to us he exists: he’s asking us to take that much on faith. It’s certainly a rallying cry to us believers to spread the good news to those still in the dark.

So that’s what Easter is all about: Jesus’ death and resurrection (also demonstrating that people really don’t listen to someone who rises from the dead). Through Jesus alone we’re able to know God, and with that relationship follows a whole host of other blessings and truths that give our lives purpose.

I’m not sure where eggs and bunnies came into it.