How would your life be different if you STOPPED procrastinating?
And I don’t mean tomorrow, I mean right now?
This is the last in a wee series on procrastination, that sneaky and insidious thief that robs us of productivity and achievement and contributes to our sense of panic and overwhelm. We all do it (OK, so if you have never procrastinated in your life, get in touch – so we can all learn from you!). I imagine that right now you can think of a couple of things that you have said you will do, or that you want to do, or that you have a deadline for, and that you are….
….putting off.
This is not about guilt, shame or blame. Nor about failure. It is about recognising the impact of procrastination: the cost, what you are avoiding, and potentially those you have let down or hurt along the way.
Because once we can see the impact clearly and objectively – without judgment or emotion clouding our perspective – we are then in a much stronger position to do something about it. To take action towards a different life.
So imagine instead that you decide each day to prioritise that which is most important, and choose to do FIRST the thing that you are most likely to put off.
Yes, I know that there are many ‘yes but…’s that you could use to discount yourself from that process. I nearly listed some of them. But the choice is a simple one: I can choose to stop procrastinating and get on and do the task I have been putting off.
Imagine that you choose to live like this every day for a month.
How would your life be different?
A better question perhaps is: how different WILL my life be WHEN I stop procrastinating?
Take a minute with me now – no, not tomorrow. Ask yourself that question, and sit with it for a minute. Then note or write down all that you observe.
Be as specific as you can.
- What will be different?
- How will you feel?
- What will you achieve?
- What will the impact be on your nearest-and-dearest, your work colleagues?
- How much more in control of your life and your time will you be?
- What impact will it have on your mental and emotional well being?
- How will it impact your sleep?
Because we all know that when we continue to put off things that we know are important, there is always a cost.
A friend sent me this wonderful quote:
“You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.”
[Incidentally, a version of this quote is often attributed to CS Lewis, but the official CS Lewis website observes that this quote in fact belongs to James R Sherman. Whoever the author, it is a noteworthy quote.]
None of us can rewind our lives: we can’t go back and choose to organise our time better to get that project handed in on time without being up all night and causing great stress to ourselves and those around us. We can’t go back and change our approach so that we did what we knew we needed to at the right time rather than endless faffing and delays that cost us physically, mentally, emotionally.
But we can start now and create a new ending.
We can choose from today to commit to the task in hand in good time . To be ahead of the deadline and relish that sense of achievement. To take action each day towards a goal that we had been putting off because we want to achieve that dream.
Ann Voskamp in a recent blog talks about the Immediate You and the Ultimate You. When it comes to certain tasks and important but difficult activities, Immediate you wants the easy life now. Instant gratification, delay pain, do something much more pleasurable and stick your head in the sand.
But stop and take a few minutes to breath and consider Ultimate You. Who is the You you are becoming? What is the ending you really want to create for yourself? And how does that therefore affect your decision making?
Choose not to procrastinate. Choose to DO IT NOW – that which you have been putting off. How will your life be different? You will become one step closer to Ultimate You.