Taking on procrastination
It’s all in the tail / Issue 1,188
Oh, hi friends!
Every task you do has a tail.
If you do the task quickly, it has a short tail.
Like this.
Wait sorry let’s get a little closer.
Like this.
THAT IS A TINY LITTLE COTTON-BALL TAIL.
Kind of ideal, as far as tiny tails go.
But if you procrastinate doing the task, the tail starts to grow.
Like this.
WHOA. SUPER LONG TAIL ALERT.
When your task gets a long tail, that long tail is composed of all the psychic and emotional energy associated with the undone task — the internal debates, the “it’s too late” refrain, the days (maybe months) of kicking yourself, Why didn’t I do it already?
When your work gets a long tail, you also start to feel like the long-tailed macaque with the long tail.
Not happy.
So how do we shorten our tails? How do we avoid the projects that haunt us, the lingering to-dos, the procrastination and dilly-dallying?
Three ways.
We don’t internally debate what needs to be done. We already know what we need to do. Then we do it.
We don’t get discouraged by a change of plans. If Plan A has failed, we come up with Plan B. Quickly.
We don’t allow sunk time (the two days, two months, or two years we’ve put off something) to stop us from taking action. It’s OK. It’s really OK.
Today is new.
Keep your actions swift and your tails short.
Love this! Going to envision the TINY LITTLE COTTON-BALL TAIL next time I catch myself procrastinating.
Such a perfect extension of yesterday’s message! So often procrastinating is the effect of not knowing the answers (or trusting the answers we have). Here’s to a big day of doing anyway and learning as we go!