How often do you find yourself saying "I will do it tomorrow"...?
You know today was yesterday's tomorrow right?
Tomorrow is not a day yet to come, it's a day that's here everyday.
We like to think that tomorrow holds so much promise. We didn't get done what we wanted today, so there's always tomorrow!
It can be a soothing thought to tell ourselves that. But if you like to always use that as your fall back, and look to tomorrow as the 'get stuff done day' but actually stuff never gets done on that that day, you then quickly realise that every day you aren't getting stuff done. You know you didn't do it yesterday, you know already you won't do it today, and even if you say you're going to do it tomorrow, you know deep down you won't.
One quote I saw on Instagram that hit me like a slap in the face not long ago was:
'One day you're gonna run out of one days'
In other words, one day you're going to run out of tomorrows, because that's all 'one day' is, a bunch of tomorrows all thrown together.
This post isn't about those things that you genuinely ran out of time to do in your day as you were run off your feet. The things that you know you will do as soon as the sun comes up the next morning. What I'm talking about here is more focused on those tasks that have been on your list to-do for a while but you keep putting them off because maybe:
It's outside your comfort zone
You're nervous or scared
You don't know where to start
You just can't be bothered and are feeling lazy
The saying 'I will do it tomorrow' and procrastination go hand in hand a lot of the time!
They're like a 90 year old married couple that, although they know they aren't good for each other, refuse to leave each others side (even in the retirement home).
For myself I openly admit to you that I can be a big procrastinator. Jeez, when I was younger I could procrastinate on procrastinating! Yep, on some days I could be that good at it.
But I then also became hugely frustrated at myself because at I was just not.getting.stuff.done.
You then start questioning yourself asking "Is this just the way I am?? Am I one of those people who makes plans to do things but never actually sees them through or gets them done?"
The trait of putting stuff off can feel very personal. You think to yourself that it's mainly something that seems to only affect you, while it appears everyone around you is getting on properly with life and are are already doing 'next weeks jobs' today. They don't even know what the concept of tomorrow is by the looks of it!
Not too long ago I came across this brilliant video by Tim Urban called 'Inside The Mind Of A Master Procrastinator'. Have a watch, it's really informative and funny, mainly due to his very grown up drawings! Please do spend the next 14 minutes of your life watching it before you continue reading, it's well worth it and will be time well spent:
After I watched this video I thought to myself; 'Everything he's said is describing me and my life! But, more importantly, it's also a lot of other peoples lives. So it's not just me! So many of us are like this! I dont feel alone anymore! Yay!'
Although I felt a bit of comfort knowing that so many people also struggle with the Instant Gratification Monkey, my main lesson from him was that I now had a better understanding and a explanation for my immediate procrastination. I often live by the 'panic monster', but I now had knowledge around my long-term procrastination frustration and that my "I'll do it tomorrow" saying was slowly having a hugely negative effect on me.
"Long term procrastination has made people feel like a spectator in their own lives. The frustration is not that they couldnt achieve their dreams; it's that they weren't even able to start chasing them." - Tim Urban
At the moment I'm currently writing two books, and some days are really productive in getting the words out, and others not so much. My rate of progress has been slowing down a bit in the last couple of weeks with a few other things I have taken on alongside writing.
On a few occasions I've found myself saying "let me do (something else) for the rest of the day, and I'll start writing again properly tomorrow when I have the right amount of time to focus on it."
Some days this just didn't happen.
I was getting fed up with myself feeling this 'long term procrastination' effect sneakily slipping into a few of my days.
So I've decided to get the panic monster involved on my terms. I'm making my own deadline on something (my books), that doesn’t have to have one. I'm not allowing the panic monster to have free rein to terrorise me, which normally happens when I have a deadline approaching and have hardly done any of the work that needs to be completed.
So I'm going to constructively compete against it.
As of this week I am getting involved in NaNoWriMo.
'NaNoWhat?' I hear you say!
National Novel Writing Month, is an annual, Internet-based creative writing project that takes place during the month of November. Participants attempt to write a 50,000 word manuscript between 1st -30th November.
The idea is you write an entire first draft novel in 30 days from start to finish.
Well, my books aren't novels and I already have 70,000 words written of one of them. However, I know the concept of NaNoWriMo's word count deadline of the end of the month is just what I need to kick my arse into touch in order to start hammering out the rest of this book.
Problem is, I'm already eight days behind and for that reason I've decided to start it off as soon as I've finished typing this blog post. I could easily have just decided to not do it at all as I am so far behind before I've even begun. But now that I've woken up the competitive part within me and have set myself my deadline and daily word count, that even thinking about pushing my start date back one more day makes me feel like that would be one tomorrow too many.
Also, if I don't hit 50,000 words (even though I'll be aiming for that), and only manage 40,000 then yes, the part of me that always wants to compete and win will be a bit disappointed, but then I'll also acknowledge that I wrote 40,000 flippin' words! These definitely wouldn't have been written in half the time if I hadn't at least got started! Either way I will be closer toward my end goal than if I hadn't even attempted NaNoWriMo in the first place.
So now, November, its on! *insert commentators voice* Contender REEEEEADY! Gladiator REEEEADY! (Any excuse to bring back a bit of 90's TV! In case you are wondering, of course I'm the the Gladiator. I mean, obviously. Who didn't want to be Jet or Lightening back in the day?!).
At the end of the month I will write another post letting you know how I got on with NaNoWriMo... here goes!!!
So why am I telling you this?
Perhaps what I've written of my own experiences above has hit a note with you. If that's the case, then below are some suggestions of some steps you can take and some self-reflective questions:
There's a strong bond between you and the self gratification monkey if you've nurtured him over many years. He'll still frequently take you off to the playground for the afternoon to play around. Yet now, when you notice you're avoiding do something, what can you say or think to yourself to help you say "no monkey, not today", in order for you to remain focused?
Look at why you keep putting off until tomorrow and seeing if it can be broken down into more manageable chunks. For more information on this have a read of my blog post Remember, Don’t Try To Eat The Elephant All At Once, Eat It Bit By Bit…
Work out what you respond well to that helps you get your 'tomorrow' job done.
Asking someone else to check in with you and your progress at agreed intervals. Is holding yourself accountable to someone external an action that would work for you?
Is it rewarding yourself with a treat once you've done it?
Is it all of those above things combined?
Why not take a few minutes out of your day right now to work out what will work for you to help drive you forward. I suggest that was we all know what will happen if you wait until tomorrow to do it...
*If you would like information on the Business & Life Coaching services that I offer, please do go to my Coaching Services page or email me via my Contact page.
Angela Gault
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