It’s Tuesday lunchtime, I’ve been up since 7am, done four decent hours work and now I’ve decided to drink green tea and reflect on my morning. By reflecting, I mean consider what I’ve achieved, how productive it was and if I made the most of my time doing exactly what I enjoy. The answers of course, are that yes I did make the most of it, I was very productive and I did do what I enjoy. I’m lucky in this respect and certainly won’t be changing my career or lifestyle any time soon.
As I reach my late twenties however, I realise there are inevitably more and more things that I do not want to do. I don’t want work in a job I dislike, be around people that don’t make me feel wonderful and I certainly don’t want to spend even an hour of my time feeling like I’ve wasted it.
One of my pet hates and something which EVERYBODY is guilty of at one stage or another, is procrastination. “Oh that pot needs to soak before I wash it”, “that bill can wait”, “I’ll wait until the Summer to lose those extra pounds” are all lies we tell ourselves so we don’t have to do stuff. You feel the little bit of guilt as you know it has to be done and you need to be the one to do it.
What if, though instead of putting these things off constantly, we ask ourselves… why? Why have I put this off for days? Why can’t I get my ass to the gym? and why oh why did I sign up for that hot yoga class that I NEVER go to? Probably, because at that time you felt like that was something you should be doing.
Now to be honest, your bills and dirty pots aren’t going to disappear overnight and unless, you want a smelly house please go and sort them out. What I am saying though, is that while you’re procrastinating all these things, you can consider what this laziness/procrastination means and what you can change in your life instead of putting it off for weeks on end.
Here are some questions to ask your procrastinating little-self that should help you on your way out of putting-things-off-land and into a more successful peaceful mindset:
– Do I enjoy what I’ve chosen to do with my life?
You’ve been considering a new job for months but just haven’t got around to doing even one job application. Does that tell you something?
– Do I care?
Maybe you put a certain task off for a week or two and when you finally do it, you do it with a half-heart? Yeah, don’t do it if it can be avoided. This is especially true if it is for someone else. Don’t go letting yourself or a contact down as in the long run, you’ll suffer.
– What do I do when I’m not doing what I’m meant to?
They say that what you do while you’re avoiding the necessary tasks at hand, is what you should be doing with yourself. For example, when I worked in a job I didn’t exactly love, I’d doss a bit at work and end up on social media channels. I loved to research, online chat and write posts. This told me all I needed to know. (I work in social media marketing now, by the way).
– What does my future hold?
While you’re procrastinating, you’re missing out on doing something that could drive your future success. As soon as you do the dishes, you can work on your blog or apply for a dream job or plan that trip of a lifetime. Don’t waste the precious time that could shape your amazing future.
So what does it really mean when you’re putting stuff off? Well something, anyway. It could just mean that you’re kind of lazy or that you’re still figuring your stuff out. That’s cool, too. And by the way, I will probably be seen at procrastination station from time to time but with less question marks as to why I’m doing it. See you there.