- We all know that we should be fill in the blank.
Meditating, writing that blog post,
decluttering that cupboard, doing yoga,
eating our vegetables, getting organized,
getting to bed earlier.
I know you have a whole long to-do list
that sometimes gets stuck because of the power of inertia.
And sometimes, numbing out is so much more comfortable
than upleveling, and sometimes it's just hard to motivate.
So how do we stop procrastinating?
One way is to focus on small doable tasks.
Remember that even the massivest projects in the world
are broken down into one step after the other.
When you think about a big project like getting healthy,
getting fit, decluttering your house, starting a business,
it can feel so overwhelming
that we don't even want to start.
Instead, break it down to just the one next step
that you need to take.
Every blog post is built of one sentence at a time,
and that sentence is built of one word,
one letter at a time.
And that's how Rome was built.
That's how great projects get done.
That's how Everest gets climbed, one step at a time.
So rather than seeing the big picture looming large
and then saying, "Forget it," see the small thing
that you can do today.
Declutter your house just one item at a time.
Write your proposal one sentence at a time.
Start getting healthier one vegetable at a time.
Celebrate those small baby steps.
Celebrate each and every little win.
So take a tiny step today.
How do we stop procrastinating?
Well, we've got to adjust our mindset about deadlines.
Everybody knows that deadlines kick us into action.
We know that time is crunching in.
We feel the pressure and we suddenly motivate
in the last minute squeeze in just before time runs out.
When we feel that scarcity that time isn't on our side,
then we suddenly take action on those important projects
that we have to complete.
But the fact is that we are all facing the deadline
of all deadlines.
In the end, death is coming for us all,
and I hate to be morbid, but actually,
it's what motivates me on a daily basis.
When we feel like we have all the time in the world,
we don't get things done, and when a deadline comes around,
we suddenly get started.
But the truth is that none of us
ever have all the time in the world.
Tomorrow isn't promised;
the ultimate deadline affects us all.
So today is all we have,
and when we realize that each moment is a precious gift,
we have no time for procrastination
because we know that the ultimate deadline will come.
We need to start living each day as if it's our last.
When we don't feel like we have all the time in the world,
it will kick us into action of prioritizing the things
that really are important.
You've heard the people who had near-death experiences
and suddenly change their lives
because suddenly they realized
how precious and fleeting life is.
You don't need a near-death experience to give you
that aha moment.
You could have it right here, right now
and start taking action on the things that are important
because tomorrow was never promised,
and we don't have all the time in the world.
How do we stop procrastinating?
We start putting value on our time.
Look, if I told you that you have a flight to catch tomorrow
would you procrastinate in the morning?
Would you take your time and scroll on Facebook
and binge eat and miss your flight?
No, typically we don't do that.
We know that we have to get to the airport on time
and we don't miss that deadline.
We don't miss our schedule.
We respect that because we know
that it's money down the drain
if we don't use our plane tickets.
And we value money; we know the value of money
and we don't wanna waste it.
We also know that it's harder to get a flight later
and we might not get the flight we want
and we'll have missed that window of opportunity.
The truth is that we put value on money
and we do things not to miss out on money,
which is great, but we don't get that same value
on our time, our precious finite resource of time.
Money can actually be replenished.
We can make more money, but we never get our time back.
When we see acts like loading the dishwasher,
organizing our office, taking care of our body,
of our finances, of our home,
when we see all these menial acts
that we sometimes feel are not meaningful,
and we sometimes feel like we can just put them off
and put them off, as valueless,
as non-important, we are missing a very crucial point.
We're missing the point that we're wasting our time.
We're not valuing our own time.
We're not realizing that just like
we wouldn't wanna miss the flight,
so too we don't wanna miss out on the appointments
we've set for ourselves.
On putting ourself on our own schedule,
our goals, our dreams, our needs,
our management of our lives.
Why do we value money over time?
Why do we do things with urgency not to miss out on money?
Like catching a plane so we don't miss our tickets
versus not doing things that waste our time.
Why do we give away our time so freely
to binging on Netflix or scrolling on Facebook
or whatever it might be when we have
pressing, urgent passions, goals, dreams, interests
and meaning that we want to create in our lives.
So if you wanna stop procrastinating,
look at the meaning and value
that you place on your own time.
Think about what you really want to do
with your precious one fleeting life
and then break that down into small, doable actions
that build up over time into the projects
that create meaning in our lives.
Look, it's okay to relax and numb out from time to time.
We all need to do that.
We all sometimes just need to binge on Netflix
and that's okay.
And sometimes, we just get really busy
and we value the business, right?
We keep ourselves in busy work
and actually distract ourselves from the things
that are more important to us and more meaningful
that really move the needle towards
what we're trying to build
and the vision that we have for our lives.
But my guess is that you're looking
to create something meaningful,
whether it's a streamlined home that feels organized
and beautiful to you or a business that you wanna start,
a book that you wanna write, a blog that you want to write
or perhaps just better communication and relationship skills
in your family or maybe you wanna master baking
or you wanna learn a new language.
Whatever it is, I know that you have
goals, hopes, and dreams for the way
that your life should look.
And to get there, you're going to have to actually take on
the tasks that will build up that dream for you.
When you procrastinate on those tasks
that will lead toward the meaningful vision you have
for your life, you are sending a very clear message
to yourself and to the universe.
My dreams are not important.
My time is not valuable.
I'm okay wasting it.
Instead, treat yourself with the respect that you deserve.
Treat your ideas with the urgency that they deserve,
and treat your life as though it might end someday.
(upbeat pop music)