The Only Way to Get It Done Is to Do It.
When I was in university doing my undergrad I developed a habit of procrastinating when it came to completing assignments. Rather than completing them ahead of time, I would wait for the last day or two before the deadline, stay up late and drive my stress levels up to the roof. Mind you, this was not me being lazy, I am just the type of person who works well under pressure. My best work comes out when I can actually feel the pressure of the deadline being close.
The thing about habits is that they take time to develop but once they are developed, they are not exactly easy to break. In fact, one study shows that it takes an average of 66 days (a little over 2 months) to form a consistent habit. As for breaking it, that can take from three weeks to a couple of years, depending on what the habit is.
When I started Grad School, I realized that it was a whole different ball game. The assignments were heavy and the deadlines were short so procrastination was no longer an option. By then, I was in a situation where I had developed a 4-year-old procrastination habit that I had to get rid of immediately and be consistent about it for 16 straight months — I had to go cold turkey!
So what did I do? — I just did it. I didn’t really have a choice, it was either I did it or risk getting shitty grades and an incomplete Master’s degree and there was no way I was going to let that happen.
The point of this boring story is to highlight the fact that — in order to get things done you just have to do them. We all have things on our short list that we would like to do but constantly put off for one reason or another.
This can be you pondering about whether or not to take that vacation you want to or whether or not you should start that business you want to or whether or not you should go back to school or switch careers into that career you want to pursue.
Let me enlighten you — the time that you are taking every day to ponder and contemplate whether you should or not, is time being taken away from you actually doing it. Don’t wait and procrastinate, just do it! If you are worried about failure or things not working out the way you want them to, this ‘worry’ is doing nothing but stagnating your progress. The only way you would know how things will work out is if you actually start doing those things, not by contemplating and worrying about things that you have no control over.
If this sounds like you, then now you know what to do because the only way to get it done is to do it!
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