Doing It Now - Help Overcome Procrastination

Why do we put off to tomorrow tasks that should be done today or that should have been done yesterday? Is it through laziness? or fear? In this meditation, we explore this problem and offer ways to overcome procrastination, set our minds to doing it now so that we experience the joy that comes from completing a difficult task. Interval music is "Above the Clouds" by Narek Mirzaei of Music of Wisdom (interval music volume lowered as suggested)

Transcript

Dear friends,

Welcome to this meditation on the problem of procrastination.

Is it a problem?

Why do we procrastinate and what can we do to overcome it?

But we need to begin by finding a place of quietness,

Some way to shake off the work and the worries of the day.

So we'll begin this meditation with a breathing exercise,

A very simple one.

The idea is to breathe in and out normally but on each in-breath we count the numbers 1,

2,

3 etc and when we get to 7 we move back down 7,

6,

5 etc.

We're going to give ourselves two minutes for this as an exercise in concentration.

If we lose count the idea is to go back to number one and begin again.

Now there's no need to beat ourselves up if this happens.

If we lose count it's simply a reminder of how difficult it is to concentrate and that's why we have the exercise in the first place.

It also helps us to shake off the worries of the day because as you know we are told that we cannot think of two things at the same time so if we are counting our in-breaths it will be hard to think about our worries or the jobs we have sitting there on the to-do list which is another good reason for this exercise.

So two minutes beginning now and counting the in-breaths 1,

2,

3 etc.

Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed that attempt at concentration.

It shows how difficult it is to remain focused which is exactly why we have difficulty in sticking with these things that we need to do.

That's why we have the problem of procrastination,

This habit of putting off until tomorrow things that we should have done yesterday.

We don't have to go very far to find quotes on this subject.

You might remember Shakespeare's lines from Macbeth,

The lines spoken by Macbeth.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty debt.

And what about the song from the musical Annie containing these lines?

Tomorrow,

Tomorrow,

I love you tomorrow,

You're always a day away.

I love you tomorrow,

What a line that is.

How often do we think of this when we have something important to do?

We need to give up say cigarettes.

We know we must do more exercise.

We want to improve our diet and take better care of our health.

Wouldn't it be great?

Wouldn't it be important to begin just now?

But tomorrow always seems to be such a better idea,

So much easier.

It's back to the case of I love you tomorrow because as the song says tomorrow is always a day away.

In the Roman Catholic tradition we have the story of Saint Augustine.

You may have heard of it.

In or about the year 397 AD Saint Augustine wrote his famous Confessions.

We are told that in his earlier life he lived in a relative state of luxury and he enjoyed a life of debauchery.

And you may remember his famous line,

Lord make me pure but not yet.

A good example of procrastination.

Augustine's mother,

Monica,

She was a committed Christian and she prayed sincerely for his conversion.

She called him the son of so many tears.

And Augustine did come around,

Coming around as putting it mildly I suppose.

He recovered himself to the point where he even became a bishop.

He was Bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430 AD.

Another of his quotes,

Too late have I loved thee,

O beauty ever ancient ever new.

Too late have I loved thee.

For behold thou wert within and I without and there did I seek thee.

I unlovely rushed heedlessly among the things of beauty which thou madest.

Saint Augustine had finally overcome his procrastination and so can we.

But first why do we procrastinate?

Why do we put off to tomorrow something that we know we should do today?

Something that we should have done yesterday?

The obvious answer is that we might have a natural tendency to laziness.

That's something we need to overcome if we are to get anything at all done.

Now since in life we need to get things done there is a natural pressure on us to overcome laziness.

But there are other reasons as well.

Sometimes as in the case of Saint Augustine it's a matter of not really wishing to make the change or not wishing to make the change just yet.

We know that it would be healthier not to smoke but maybe we enjoy smoking and the relaxation that that seems to give us.

We enjoy popping outside for a smoke with our friends.

We enjoy the opportunity to chat.

But in cases like that we have a decision to make.

Do we really want to change or is the idea of change just a vague idea?

It's time to make up our minds.

Do we really and truly want to change?

If we do then we must decide to do something about it now.

If we really want to change we mustn't put this off until tomorrow.

Let's have a one-minute pause now for each of us to ask ourselves this question.

Is there something in my life that I need to change and is that something that I want to change?

Do I really want to change and if so can I decide to do something about it now today?

A one-minute pause just 60 seconds for reflection.

Welcome back.

Now sometimes our procrastination is well founded.

We have a good reason for postponing.

We don't act because we're not quite sure what to do.

We need more information,

More research or we need to enlist the help of other people.

We are waiting for other people to come back to us.

What can we do if this is the problem?

Well if it's something that really needs to be done and lack of information is holding us up we have to gather the information to allow it to be done.

Let's take the first step and gather the information now.

If someone else has to be involved then we need to get them involved.

Ask for any necessary help now.

These excuses can provide reasons for delaying action but only for a while.

We can't delay indefinitely.

We need to make a move,

Any move forward.

Let's pause again.

This time to ask is there something that I need to do that is held up by lack of information or lack of support?

And if so what can I do now to get that information or support?

Can I decide to do that now?

Another one minute pause.

Welcome back.

Another reason and maybe the main reason for procrastination is fear.

Fear can stand in the way of all our good intentions.

There is the fear of getting it wrong,

Fear of making a mistake and getting into trouble.

To overcome this type of procrastination we have to try to manage our fear.

How do we do this?

Ask ourselves what could possibly go wrong?

Is it likely to go wrong?

What are the chances of it going wrong?

And what is the worst possible thing that could happen if it did go wrong?

And even then would that be all that bad?

When we look at any situation rationally we realize that many of our fears are ill-founded.

In the past as you may remember I've often referred to the quote attributed to Mark Twain.

I've had a lot of worries in my life most of which never happened.

But you can go back two thousand years and find the very same thought coming to us from the Roman philosopher Seneca.

There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes he says.

What madness it is in your expecting evil before it arrives.

Advice from Seneca from two thousand years ago.

And in more recent times we have advice from Henry Ford.

He says when everything seems to be going against you remember that the airplane takes off against the wind not with it.

The only real mistake he says is the one from which we learn nothing.

One who fears failure limits his activities.

Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.

So much for the fear of getting it wrong.

But amazingly we can even have the fear of getting it right.

We fear the consequences that might follow from that.

The thought that maybe we don't deserve the success that might come about.

Or that we might not be able to cope with the success.

The idea of finding ourselves on the pedestal and the fear of falling off.

Or we might be uncomfortable with the idea of being on a pedestal in the first place.

True shyness maybe.

And if we live in a society where people are inclined to criticize success we might be afraid of being successful.

So we can find our motivation to action frustrated on two fronts.

The fear of failure on the one hand and believe it or not the fear of success on the other.

Our fear of success was referred to by Marianne Williamson in a book called A Return to Love.

That book has the subtitle Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles.

And this is what Marianne said.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant,

Gorgeous,

Talented,

Fabulous?

She goes on actually who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine as children do.

And she goes on as we're liberated from our own fear our presence automatically liberates others.

Words there from Marianne Williamson.

Now at whatever point it is in the year it is still possible to make resolutions.

Can we make a resolution to work on any tendency that we have to procrastinate?

There is so much work waiting to be done.

Much of it ought to have been done yesterday or maybe even last week or in some cases last year.

I know about that because I have practiced procrastination as well.

The question for all of us is this.

When are we going to tackle this project if not now?

Let's not postpone this good work any longer.

Now there are two ideas that can help us.

They can help to motivate us.

The first is the idea of taking some action,

Any action.

Deciding to spend just 10 or 15 minutes on the job.

The surprising result is that when you get going,

When you get started,

You find it easy to continue.

Another recommendation is that we think about how we will feel when this unpleasant task has been completed.

That use of imagination can help us to get started.

We realise how good we'll feel when we have this job done.

Remember the song Sunrise Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof.

It reminds us of the swift passage of the years,

The unrelenting passage of time.

Remember the lines,

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older,

When did they?

And the song goes on.

Sunrise Sunset,

Sunrise Sunset,

Swiftly fly the years,

One season following another,

Laden with happiness and tears.

Sunset Sunrise from Fiddler on the Roof.

Lyrics like this remind us that now is the appropriate time,

Or as it was put to us by W.

E.

B.

Dubois,

Now is the accepted time,

Not tomorrow,

Not some more convenient season.

It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year.

It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow.

Today is the seed time,

Now are the hours of work and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.

Yet another reminder that we have to find the courage to move forward.

Mary Oliver died in January 2019.

As you know she was an American poet,

She won the National Book Award,

She won the Pulitzer Prize.

I'm sure most people will have heard of her and it encouraged people to buy her audiobooks.

You can look her up on YouTube or you'll see her reading some of her poetry.

Mary's work is inspired by years of solitary walks in the wild.

She was amazed and fascinated by the natural world.

It was she who left us with this quote,

Remember it?

When it's over I want to say all my life I was a bride married to amazement.

I was the bridegroom taking the world into my arms.

When it is over I don't want to wonder if I've made of my life something particular and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened or full of argument.

And the quote ends with the memorable line,

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

What a message for all of us.

Which of us here would wish to end up having simply visited this world and having made no contribution to it?

Not even having noticed the wonders that surround us?

Mary Oliver really wanted to live in awareness of the wonderful world around her and she did just that.

This is a poem of hers called The Journey.

It encourages us to abandon procrastination and take that important first step.

One day you finally knew what you had to do and began.

Though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice.

Though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles.

Mend my life each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do.

Though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations.

Though the melancholy was terrible.

It was already late enough and a wild night and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little as you left their voices behind the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own.

That kept you company as you strove deeper and deeper into the world.

Determined to do the only thing you could do.

Determined to save the only life you could save.

Let's have another one minute pause for reflection.

Welcome back.

I'd like to end this meditation with a prayer by Debbie Ford.

Let's take a second or two to come into the present moment and to make this prayer our own.

Dear God,

On this day I ask you to grant this request.

May I know who I am and what I am every moment of every day.

May I be a catalyst for light and love and bring inspiration to those whose eyes I meet.

May I have the strength to stand tall in the face of conflict and the courage to speak my voice even when I'm scared.

May I have the humility to follow my heart and the passion to live my soul's desires.

May I seek to know the highest truth and dismiss the gravitational pull of my lower self.

May I embrace and love the totality of myself,

My darkness as well as my light.

May I be brave enough to hear my heart,

To let it soften so that I may gracefully choose faith over fear.

Today is my day to surrender anything that stands between the sacredness of my humanity and my divinity.

May I be drenched in my holiness and engulfed by your love.

May all else melt away and so it is.

And that is our meditation,

Our meditation on our tendency to procrastinate and our decision I hope to decide to do something about it.

I suppose the message of this meditation can be summed up in just a few words.

If not you,

Who?

If not now,

When?

Namaste.

Reviews

Lovely Tony, wise words indeed that have touched my heart. Namaste 🙏

The quotes woven throughout the narrative are thought provoking. Each one of them hit home and awakened a sense of urgency in me to stop putting off for tomorrow what I need to do today. I never thought of it before doing this meditation, but fear of the pedestal is holding me back. That’s a new awareness that I will work to overcome so that I stop procrastinating. Thank you for this important meditation.

Your voice is so comforting. Thank you so much for this.♡

Thank you so much for this great meditation, so powerful and beautiful.
All kind of blessings for you.

Powerful and inspirational—Ty Tony. This was beautiful.🙏

Excellent lecture meditation, including Shakespeare quotes. Intermissions without talk but unfortunately loud synthstrings that do no justice to the high level of the content. Maybe add a version with silence intermissions or radical lower level of vol? Namaste for inspiring session!

Valuable insights here Tony and many important aspects to consider. I relate to the part about ‘fear of success’ . It fits with ‘fear of failure’

I heard somewhere recently that Procrastination is good as it gives one the chance to rest today and to have something to do tomorrow 😃.

I hope you are well in Dublin Tony.
✨🕯✨🐬✨🌏✨♥️✨

Debbie’s Prayer a

Thank you for the wonderful words of inspiration Tony; I'll return to this often. Namaste🙏

Excellent and soothing meditation! Thought provoking in helping with procrastination in any area someone may be having challenges. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and knowledge!

So very wise and helpful. This is the change I am focusing on. Your wisdom and guidance are much appreciated as I walk this path.

Namaste

Great one Tony. I really appreciate your thoughts overcoming procrastination. I was remembering a comment when we were on vacation years ago. Was told if not today tomorrow. Anyway take care my friend. 🙏

I really loved the settling at the beginning. As always, Tony has found quotes, stories and anecdotes that are relatable and relevant to share in this meditation about procrastination. I slept deeply after this, and woke in the morning with a renewed sense of drive!

Dear Tony - thank you for this meditation on procrastination. The pearls of wisdom offer true light on the path. 🙏🏻

Amazing and helpful, i am gonna start working on some paperworks now - well, after i made coffee ;-)

Wow! So many nuggets of wisdom in this, I know I shall return to it again and again…Thank you 🙏❤️😇

Most helpful. Thank you for all the inspiration and motivation.

Wow! Wonderful meditation Tony. Like most, I tend to put off things, but my excuse is usually that I’m unable to do certain things due to my back issues. Lately it’s been my left knee. It’s been incredibly painful but it’s finally on the mend (after weeks of pain). I had one chore I kept putting off and finally was able to get it done and you’re right about the satisfaction of seeing it through and done. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment.
This is a wonderful reminder to us all. Well said Tony. The ending quote is perfect. If not you, who? If not now, then when?
🌷🦋🙏🏽💕🕊🐾🪶🦋🌹🎶🎼🪶🌿🎵👍🏽