Procrastination is my worst enemy. He disguises himself as fun, but I’m learning the truth. He’s like a bad friend that is always getting me into trouble. What starts small one day, turns out to be huge a year later.
Procrastination loves for me to put off what I need to do so I can spend time on less important things. It’s hard to argue his point. The things I need to do are usually hard and sometimes not fun at all. The things I want to do are always fun, but not always worthwhile.
I want to binge watch the latest series on Netflix. I want to watch six hours of football on Sunday. I want to grab a seat on the couch and watch an hour of news. And sometimes I do.
More and more I am asking myself, why and what. Why do I need these things? Are they making my life better? And the big one, what else can I be doing with that time that would add value to my life?
The answer to the first one is easy. Sure, I let myself relax from time-to-time, but now I try to be conscious about it.
The second answer becomes powerful. Once you have a list of things you believe are important to your life. It’s hard to do anything but focus on them. Most of us, including me, have just been going through life without that list.
Here is how I deal with procrastination.
1. Cut out excuses.
These are the time wasters, the distractions of instant gratification. By removing the things that I would do when I procrastinate, it makes it a lot harder to do so.
2. Make a list
I love lists. To do lists, goal lists, you name it. With all these lists, I put the most important thing first. It sounds easy, but it’s not. Often times, the most important thing is the hardest.
If I force myself to do the hardest thing first I make sure I am getting the most out of life. On top of that, I start to build momentum. If I just completed a hard task, the next one is going to be a piece of cake.
3. Stay busy
I’ve heard people say that if you need something done, ask the busiest person you know. I can tell you that the more I add to my list, the more efficient I am (as long as I am following the process above). I won’t always get everything done, but I will get the most important things done every day.
4. Start
When I had the idea for this life lessons project, all I thought was “wow, 75 letters is a lot!” I actually had this idea years ago, but in a different form. Guess what, I put it off. I had some lame excuse and didn’t sit down to do the work.
This time around was different. I didn’t focus on the full list. I decided I was going to take some notes about one topic. That was the task. After an hour or two I stopped and went to bed.
The next morning I decided to do some writing. Before long I had the first letter done. I thought, “that wasn’t so bad.” In fact, I enjoyed it! 1 down, 74 to go. Wow, that is still a big number.
Then I created a goal, what if I did two of these a week. That is doable. No problem. After moving along at that pace, I decided that goal was too easy, so I upped it to 3 and now it is 5.
Procrastination isn’t about getting something done, it’s about not getting started.
Be a doer
If a procrastinator delays, a doer does. I work to be a doer every day.
I also realize the world is against me. My good old enemy, Mr Procrastination, found some friends. They go by different names and they get stronger every day. You might have heard of them: iPhones, Apps, Text Messages, Social Networks, YouTube or Netflix. There are a lot more, but these are the ones you know.
It gets hard when they all gang up on you. It looks something like this.
The alarm goes off, I am going to get a running start to the day. I can’t afford procrastination. There is too much to do. I’ve got my list and I am ready to go.
Oh look, there are 10 new text messages! Let’s have a peak at those. Hmm, what happened with 600 of my closest Facebook friends? This will only take a second. Wait, check out this hilarious video. You’ve got to see it. You know how much I love cats. Why are they so afraid of cucumbers?Cucumbers! I need to add that to my list. What else do I need at the store? Fruit, eggs, cereal…DING! Breaking News – “some politician, did some stupid thing.” I’ve got to see this.
These ads are amazing. It’s like they can read my mind. I’ve been thinking about getting a new can opener. Let me check out the 500 different ones that Amazon carries. I’ll read a few reviews, compare the prices, see how long it will take to ship and press buy.
Darn, it is only $5 and I need to spend $25 to get free shipping. I have to get free shipping. What else do I need? This should only take a minute. WAIT. What time is it? Darn it. I’m late. No time to shower, I’ve got to go….
While this is an imaginary day, it happens to people all over the world, including me. The world is spending billions of dollars to find ways to steal our attention. In the process, they are stealing our time. These distractions have the power to turn us all into procrastinators. I for one, will be on high alert to avoid this happening.
This post is part of a series of letters to my kids. My goal is to reflect on and capture as many life lessons as possible. Here is the current list I am working from.
