Procrastination + setting the right type of goals for today
Newsletter - Issue # 7
A few thoughts from me…
In one of my recent notes, I talked about procrastination, describing ‘him’ as a prolific thief who steals regularly from all of us.
You can read the note here.
There is no positive spin one can apply to procrastination. We usually tend to view it as a negative thing (and rightly so), and we all know how limiting and debilitating procrastination can be if we regularly allow it to control/influence our decision-making.
There are many tips, tricks, and techniques for beating procrastination, but there are also some well-thought-out approaches we can all pursue too, for a more sustainable way to deal with it - I have provided links to two excellent resources below.
But while I don’t think any of us can ever totally eliminate from our lives the temptation to procrastinate - I still have to battle him regularly ☹️ - one method has certainly helped me over the years to develop a mindset to sidestep it.
I call it my ‘Washing Up Scenario’.
Ever since I bought my first apartment, and in every property since, I have always had a fitted dishwasher in the kitchen (like most of us). But - and some of you will now think I’m completely bonkers - I have never used one.
Even after a dinner party, I will still wash up today by hand…
My reasoning is quite simple. Washing up is, of course, a chore. No one (or very few) really ever enjoys washing up and drying the dishes. But for decades now, I have turned this particular task into a form of meditation, and a practice of just getting on with doing a chore, without any hesitation or negative thinking about it.
Today, if there are dishes and cutlery in the sink, I will immediately put on my Marigolds (rubber gloves!), wash up, dry, and put things away, and feel good about it.
While I’m doing the washing up, I will still my mind, relax and concentrate on the task at hand and ‘feel’ what I am doing. It’s a state of self-awareness, presence and meditation for me, and a truly practical way of poking procrastination in the eye 👈
I often talk about this and commend the value of selecting a regular chore and turning it into a practice of self-control, meditation and procrastination-busting, all rolled up into one.
It simply turns a chore from something we usually tend to view as laborious into something cathartic, satisfying, and one which actually cultivates (as Nike might like to put it) a ‘just do it’ mindset.
It really works. Try it 🙂
Some helpful resources:
Jari Roomer: The Procrastination Antidote (mini-course)
Veronica Lorca-Smith: The Anti-Procrastinator (Penguin Random House book)
Two amazing people I know, both on Substack too.
Align your goals with what you have to do today.
Setting goals is important.
If we don’t have a target to shoot at, we’re never going to hit anything.
Goals also help us to chart our direction. Without direction, we might just drift around aimlessly, without that firm destination in mind.
But goals can also be set so far ahead of us that it’s easy to procrastinate doing the things we need to do today, in order to get there because we have ‘so much time’.
This is why so many people have big ambitions but never end up achieving them…
The art is always to align the goals we set with what we need to do today. These are the very things that will move us forward towards them.
Ask any top athlete… If they create a goal to win an Olympic medal one day, they know that they will need to reach a whole series of interim or smaller goals in the meantime (competition wins, qualification, time targets, etc.), to stand any chance of ever achieving their ultimate goal. And guess what… to reach their next interim goal, will inevitably mean training very hard today!
I will leave you with the words of Sir Roger Carr, one of the most successful and respected business executives in UK corporate history:
For everyone, the principal goal should really be to become the best version of yourself you can possibly be.
That involves focusing on the task in front of you today rather than constantly looking ahead at a goal for tomorrow.
If you only look ahead, you may not be able deliver now what’s actually needed to make ‘the ahead’ come true.
There is a lot of good fortune in life, but opportunities are invariably presented to those who are delivering today.
So have a plan, be ambitious, be flexible, be realistic – all of those things – but focus on the task of today, and if you do so, and do it well, then somebody will invariably give you a task for tomorrow.
Sir Roger Carr - an extract from his chapter in A Few Wise Words
Certainly, a wise way of looking at tasks as meditative and an effective remedy for procrastination. Currently, I'm in a growth phase of "I wish I had known that sooner." So I wish I had this shift in perspective two decades ago. That's okay, though, I will begin implementing it today years old. Better late than never. Thank you for sharing this perspective.
A beautiful way to meditate and still the procrastinator in us Peter.
I also use home chores to «disconnect» and focus.
This is also the beauty of yoga, tai chi and karate.
The option to fully immerse oneself in the pattern of the movements in the different forms by simply doing them.