Procrastination

Often times, the "staring into the fire" activities prevent me from starting an art project. I don't literally mean I stare into a fire. These activities usually entail various social media websites, watching television, playing a video game, watching YouTube videos, watching Netflix, etc etc. The mind numbing nature of these activities pulls me into a trap and will prevent me from working on an art project. As far as why I avoid starting an art project, I usually over think whatever the project is, think it will involve an immense amount of work, and decide that the "staring into the fire" activity is the easier activity to do, which it is but it's no where near as productive nor fun. "Staring into the fire" activities are not "fun." They're numbing. They prevent you from feeling and you're essentially locked in a trance. After a long day, there's really nothing better to do than one of these activities. The art projects are productive and fun but requires some work. Overall, the product at the end is much more enjoyable than the "product" at the end of the mind numbing activity. I put the word product in quotes because these activities don't yield any product.
The way I get around this is simply the "suck it up" attitude and I get whatever activity I need to do done. I force myself to start working on whatever the project may be and after a little nudge, I start to enjoy myself and it no longer feels like work. The mentality of the art project being work only seems like it when I think about the project. When I'm actually working on the project, it doesn't feel like work. It's interesting that my mind works that way although I'm sure others think like this as well.