The Power Of Later
Written by Dave Navarro on July 12, 2007
Contrary to popular belief, procrastination ain’t all that bad a thing. You just have to choose the right things to procrastinate on. Luckily, there’s a simple way to do it:
- Before you do anything at all in the morning, write down the 3 most important things you have to, have to, have to get done that day.
- Start working on them.
- Any time you feel the urge to work on something else, tell yourself “I’ll get to that later. After all these are the MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I HAVE TO, HAVE TO, HAVE TO GET DONE TODAY.”
(And yes, speak to yourself in ALL CAPS. It really helps.)
Easier Said Than Done? Fuggetabboutit.
Don’t give me “easier said than done.” It’s just an excuse to get out of the work of doing it. Instead, do it already, and find the exceptions to the rules when they make sense. In other words, only work on things that are not the MOST IMPORTANT THINGS when …
- You simply can’t work on them (you’re waiting for a callback or an email reply).
- You have something that is truly, do-or-die time constrained (I have to call Mike by 9am).
- (Some other really good reason I fully expect you to leave in my comments section.)
The trick here is to develop the habit of forcing yourself to work on the MOST IMPORTANT THINGS and get them out of the way as quickly as possible, because that’s where progress is born. Where willpower is birthed. Where discipline is developed. Where strength is sired. (Ok, I’m getting tired of the alliteration, too.)
Bottom line is that we procrastinate (in part) because we want to get out of working on these MOST IMPORTANT THINGS. But if you bite the bullet and do those first - hard as it is - you’ll develop an insane willpower that will take you further than you’re getting now.
So Do This Right Now
- Leave me a comment with your agreements / disagreements / exception to the rule. If it rocks I’ll add it to the list.
- Get the *&^% back to your MOST IMPORTANT THINGS already!
Hey Dave, what a GREAT site. I just put you in my bookmarks bar so I don’t miss anything. I found you by “chance” because I did the music for the Wendy’s “85 Softies” commercial and while doing a search on it was lucky enough to land here. : >
Stephen -
Thanks for the kinds words. How did the 85 Softies search lead you here?
I was looking for a video copy and Google the spot. You had mentioned it in a post of yours about what Wendy’s can teach you about time management and looking at the value of your time in a different way:
http://www.davenavarro.com/wealthblog/2006/02/02/what-wendys-can-teach-you-about-time-management/
Clever : >
It takes a creative mind to “think outside the box”. Thanks for providing a unique perspective on procrastination(my worst flaw) and one less excuse for doing it!
Thanks for the kind words, Joyce.
If you want to get a head start on procrastination, you might want to download my time management workbook at http://www.30hoursaday.com.
- Dave
Hi again Dave…TOLD YOU…less than fours later and I have your book…..took getting it from the city library but I have it and that’s all that matters. However I have also ordered it online as I’m an avid reader and prefer to “own” my books. For the record I’m a “creative” person “trapped” in a technical career so I tend to be a bit “obsessive compulsive” at times….but that’s not always a bad thing either
And…I will check out your time management workbook THANKS!!!!!
Joyce -
Don’t know if you caught the comment on the other post, but that book (”Don’t Try This A Home”) wasn’t authored by me … it was the ‘other’ Dave Navarro, the rock star.
BUT … enjoy the time management workbook all the same!
- Dave