The constant, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do in the future, is the single largest consumer of time and energy. I think one of the most important habits that we need to change is PROCRASTINATION. So many people that I work with have PROCRASTINATED their dreams. I want to offer to you that you have your dreams for a reason. That reason is to evolve yourself to the place where you can create them.

We can’t depend on someone else to always come up with great ideas. Someone better than us. I think we all have to do our part, and we can only know what our part is by paying attention and being conscious to our own desires. PROCRASTINATION is the opposite of that. PROCRASTINATION is putting off because we’re either afraid, or we’re feeling lazy, or overwhelmed, or we’re indulging in some emotion that’s preventing us from creating anything.

Whenever you hear yourself say, “I don’t feel like it,” I want you to remember that is normal, but it’s not a legitimate reason to not do something. You will not always feel like it. That’s when you know that you must move forward. Evolving is uncomfortable. Discomfort is the price you pay to reach your dreams. That’s why having time scheduled to do it, and knowing that it’s not negotiable, is the best way to follow through on those things. 

Notice that when you’re doing your best work, it doesn’t always feel good. I think sometimes we feel like our inspired work should flow all of the time. It does sometimes, and that’s the worst part because then we want it to feel that way all of the time. The more emotional management and emotional responsibility you have, the less you will PROCRASTINATE. The more you recognize that you are the one creating your emotions, the less you will use them as an excuse not to create something.

We are used to having an authority figure driving our work. For example, those of us who would wait until the last minute to get our work done, would do it because there was a boss or a teacher expecting it. Then it became more important to get it done, than it was for it to be perfect. Many of us don’t have that anymore, so we have to be that for ourselves. 

When there is a deadline we get to the point where the pressure of completion and incompletion becomes more critical than the need to make it perfect. This is why some people will say they do better when they complete things at the last minute. Then they have an explanation for themselves as to why the product isn’t perfect. What is the solution to this? Complete is better than nothing. Showing up is better than nothing. 

When there’s no reason for finishing something, PROCRASTINATION often leads to incompletion. When there is no accountability, when no one is demanding it, many times it doesn’t even get done at the last minute because there is no pressure to get it done. There is a lot of value that won’t be added to the world, because it didn’t get done. If there’s no pressure to get it done, and that’s the only way you get things done, then you end up with a lot of incompletes in your life.

Dan Sullivan teaches that you should focus on getting the first 80% of any project done as fast as possible. Instead of, “I have a paper due in two months, so I have plenty of time,” you say, “I have a paper due in two months, I’m going to get the first 80% of it done in the next two weeks.” It’s like PROCRASTINATING in advance. Instead of waiting until two weeks before to feel the pressure, you give yourself two weeks now, and you get it done as fast as possible to add that pressure. You’re not worried about it being perfect, because you know you’ll have weeks to perfect it. 

What is counterintuitive is that the faster you work, the less effort it actually takes to complete a project. Asking yourself to work as fast as possible removes all options for distractions, delay, questioning, and time wasting. It also eliminates the option of perfectionism. You can’t work as fast as possible and have the luxury of making something perfect. Many think working fast is stressful, but when you try it, you will realize that working fast doesn’t leave room for stress. It requires a steady and relaxed focus that keeps moving. This is why people think they do better when they wait until the last minute, because they don’t have time to waste. They don’t give themselves that option, so they’re able to work more productively. I’m suggesting you learn the skill of doing that ahead of time, as fast as possible. Schedule chunks of time and say, “I have to get this done within this time.” It doesn’t have to be done perfectly, but it has to be done. It’s a game changer.

This will increase your momentum, your capability, and your confidence. It’s the same exact amount of work and time, but the result is very different. When you PROCRASTINATE, you spend the first half of the time thinking about doing something, and thinking about how you aren’t doing it. This causes stress, because it’s hanging over you. It’s burning up priceless energy.

Instead of having all that anticipation and stress, and then doing it at the last minute, just switch it around. When you work under pressure first, then you skip that whole part. You get the work done ahead of time, and if you want to spend the rest of the time refining, do that. You have to be your own accountability partner. You have to have authority over yourself and your brain. Once you start working like this, it’s so much more fun, and enjoyable. Think about when you complete something ahead of schedule, how great that feels. You still have time versus waiting until you’re rushing at the last minute. We burn up so much of our time, and our precious energy worrying and stressing, and mismanaging our time by PROCRASTINATING.

The mind makes all future tasks big and scary. So we PROCRASTINATE. Taking action is the answer! Stop trying to decide what to do. You don’t need to know what to do or how to do something. Just choose something and do it. Creators create their future by what they do today. Complete projects. Unfinished business drains energy. Create daily an entirely fresh future and commit to living it now. 

List 3 things you’ve PROCRASTINATED on. Do those 3 things. Ask yourself, “What do I want to produce? What structure would guarantee that?” It’s a choice, today, between a tiny step and no step. Our problem is that we don’t do something. It’s that we don’t begin it.