When To Do Becomes To Procrastinate From Doing

[cedar_grove]

From The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have.

If not now,
when?

It keeps coming down to this: there is no tomorrow, only a string of todays.

Yes, I have a great big long to-do list, but you know the thing about those kind of lists – they only become done lists if you stop procrastinating (and making lists) and get on and do it.

That being said it does help if you know what you have to do. I was talking with a friend recently, and she asked if I do the same as she does and kind of stumble to one thing from another and another, as if not knowing what to do. For me, that's when lists come in really useful. Not so much that I make a schedule for myself, saying I'll do this, then this, then this, and so on, but it helps me to know what is outstanding so I don't wander by way of Facebook games, simply to avoid making the choice of what to do next.

I do have to limit the length of my list though – or else it becomes overwhelming, and Garden of Time looking more and more attractive. I find that three is a good number. A list of three things is doable… so long as item number one doesn't say: Finish Use'ara novel because that's something that obviously is going to take more than one day… but a scene of the novel, and a writing exercise, and an update to a web page… those are three achievable goals.

Achievability is the key.

Comments

[mirrani.livejournal.com]

There you go.. maybe this is my problem.. I sit and say I have all these things to do.. and the list never gets shorter... kind of like our netflix cue... because as soon as I've finished one thing something else gets added. I hate that. Maybe I need to make my things in threes like this and I won't have too much to worry about then.