How often do you put off things that need to be done? If you are like most people then your answer is probably something along the lines of “more often than not.” Consider this almost a follow up to last week’s post about needs and wants. Most of us tend to procrastinate.
When I was in college, it was a plague that infected me and the majority of my other classmates. We would get assigned a paper, project or upcoming test and what did we do? We thought, “Well there is a great party tonight and I don’t have to start on that project just yet…I will just put it off and get it done later when I have more time.” We continued to do that until we reached the night before our deadline and all of a sudden we found ourselves in a bind because we hadn’t finished the necessary work and yet a massive project was due in just twelve hours. We did not get to walk up to the professor in the morning and say, “Listen, I have just been swamped lately. I really wanted to get the project done on time, but I just was not able to make it happen. Can you extend the deadline?” The professor would respond, “Well, why could you not make time for your project? You’ve known about it for a month. Surely, you could have made time to work on it at some point. What have you been doing?”
So what had I been doing? I was caught putting my wants first. You see, I wanted to go out with my friends to go see that new movie. Or, I wanted to go on a weekend trip to the beach. But what I needed to do was to increase my productivity on the current project by about a hundred percent. I needed to take responsibility for my time and actions. I needed to stay in and make sure I completed what needed to be done. I needed to manage my time better.
For some of you, it may have been a while since you were in college, but the same principles still apply. What kind of things do you put off? Paying bills? Spending time with family? Getting out of a job you hate? Pursuing a long-held dream?
We all have something that we put off.
“I hate my job.”…
“So find a new one.”…
“Well, it’s just not the right time.”
Why put things off? We only have so much time in life. When we die, we are done and there is no more of this precious time. It’s time to stop with the excuse of, “I will get to it.” All those things you put off, will never get done. You may get to the end and see that you worked in the same, unfulfilling job for forty years always dreaming of the ‘what if’. You never told her just how much you loved her because it was just never the right time. You never pursued your dream of being the president of your own company because you kept coming up with every excuse out there for why it was not the right time.
Keep in mind that your time here is finite. You do not get to do this over.
Stop putting things off.
Put your family’s needs and dreams first and don’t wait to go after them.
A great reminder, Daniel. Thanks for this. I especially like the challenge you bring us at the end of your post.
Good reminder Daniel. I have been trying to be more intentional about some things lately. With the twins being totally unpredictable I have to salvage whatever time I have. It reminds me of the saying, “Make hay while the sun shines”.
In other words, get er done! LOL!
Great post, Daniel. I am firm believer in getting to things now before it’s too late. While it’s always good to make time to spend with loved ones, we waste a lot of our time doing other things that really don’t need to come first before our goals.
RyanBonaparte Exactly! Thanks for reading Ryan!