Img source: fotolia.com
Two weeks ago, I wrote an article telling how we do not have the courage or the determination to face with difficult tasks that we have at hand and suppose that we might postpone important things for the future, expecting that somehow, we are going to be ready to finish them. For those of you that might have not been convinced yet, I would suggest you to reevaluate your opinion by answering the following questions and then be able to think whether you should keep postponing your task. You do not have to answer them for me, but for your own selves.
“Someday is not a day of the week.” – Janet Dailey
Is this really the right moment that I should do it?
This is probably one of the most important questions that you should be answering when you find yourself postponing important things. If your answer to this question is yes, then it might not be necessary for you to continue answering the other questions listed here. You should not waste any more time, but rather should intend to dedicate time in your agenda and do the actual work needed for that task. Remember, it might not be easy, nor simple to do it, but you still have to do it. Postponing it probably is not going to be sufficient. Maybe you may not need to do anything about it, because it might not be something important now and you can then simply delete it from your to do list, or delegate it to someone else that can finish it for you.
Now, here comes the audition part of our excuses that we have been so good until now to prepare instead of doing the actual work.
What should happen for you to be ready?
If this task is something that you expect the assistance of someone else to help you with, try to schedule a time in your calendar when you plan to contact him asking for his help. If it is something that is important, but you have now more important tasks that you need to be doing rather than this, then schedule a time when you intend to finish it. Instead of carrying with you all the guilt and the negative emotional baggage, you are now finished dealing with its time planned to be taken care of and you can continue with other important things. If it is something that is not important, but you have only kept thinking about it without any solid reason, you may simply delete it.
How will you be more prepared?
If you have chosen to postpone it, then you should know exactly what should happen in order for you to be prepared to finish it. Maybe you need to do a consulting session with someone who is more experienced in your field, or maybe you need to take some time and reflect before you continue further, because you have not had the change to think about it until now. It may also be that there is something else that needs your attention before dealing with this task – something that if it gets done, might make this task a lot easier to finish. For these reasons, you might need to prepare a plan.
What is the plan that you intend to follow to prepare?
Should you make e phone call, or send an email, read a book, or do an online research to get the sufficient information that are needed for you to make a decision related with this task? Do not set unrealistic expectations that you are not able to reach, because you loose your motivation early on. Be very specific about the milestones towards it, and try to do your best to make an actionable plan that you intend to follow.
Conclusion
I agree that there are things that need some time and that the current time might not be the best moment for them to happen, but we should also be aware of our mental thieves that want to sabotage our own progress. Even though we might deal with a task now that we have been postponing in a while, chances are that we might fall in the same trap in the future for other tasks as well if we are not aware of our own behaviors. Having said that, it is important to have a set of questions that we may use to confront our fears and increase our levels of productivity.
