Stop Procrastinating Until Later Reminding Yourself That Later You Will Be Lazy Too.
People put things off for a variety of reasons, but one of them is convincing yourself that you will have more energy later. It’s easy to shift this burden onto ourselves in the future, but in most cases we are just as lazy, busy, or tired in the future as we are now.
We often have misconceptions about our future . We expect this person to be more organized, efficient and energetic.
But here’s an interesting thought from the notebook of the philosopher Simone Weil :
The illusion that time itself will bring me courage and energy … In fact, it is usually the other way around (sleepiness). Tell yourself: what if I will always remain who I am at the moment? … Never put off something indefinitely, but only for a definitely fixed time. Try to do this even when it is not possible (headache …). Exercise: Decide to do something no matter what, and do it at exactly the right time.
The next time you’re on the verge of procrastinating because you think you’ll be in a better mood to do it later, remember that later on you may very well be who you are at the moment. You might as well do yourself a favor in the future and do it now.
Of course, this is not always the case. Sometimes it really makes sense to do something later. But if you’re only using this to justify your procrastination, this little reminder comes in handy.
Simone Veil on Temptation, the Key to Discipline, and How to Become a Complete Human | Gathering brains