Shortly after I started a new job in the mid-1990s, I read a book that changed my life. It was Do It Now!: Break the Procrastination Habit, by William Knaus. I don’t know whether the book would have made as much of a difference to me if I’d read it years earlier — it may simply have come at the right time because that was also when I was given my first big project to manage. Work suddenly became much more demanding. I was busy all the time and found that if I didn’t do things when they first presented themselves, it might be days or weeks before I could squeeze them into my schedule. Whatever the reason, that’s when I more or less banished procrastination . . . at least until 20 years later when I retired.
Once I was no longer working, I had a lot more time on my hands. Now, rather than thinking, “I’d better get this done now or who knows when I’ll find time to do it,” I’d think, “I don’t need to do this right away. My schedule is entirely empty tomorrow. I can do it then.” Of course, nothing had changed by the following day. There was never any urgency to do things when I knew I’d have so much free time tomorrow.
It took me a few months to realize I wasn’t getting anything done. Finally it dawned on me that most of the things I’d put on my to-do list just sat there. The sense of urgency that drove me when I was busy had disappeared. As the psychologists might say, my reasons for getting things done quickly had been extrinsic, and I hadn’t replaced them with intrinsic motivations.
I started being more diligent about scheduling my time and explicitly allocating part of each day to tackling the things on my to-do list. At first it took a lot of self-discipline, but eventually it came more naturally.
I was reminded of all this yesterday when I came across a poem I’d tucked away years ago. I decided to share it with you.
Tomorrow
He was going to be all a mortal could be
Tomorrow.
None should be stronger or braver than he
Tomorrow.
A friend who was troubled and weary, he knew,
Who’d be glad of a lift, and needed it too;
On him he would call to see what he could do
Tomorrow.
Each morning he stacked up the letters he’d write
Tomorrow.
And he thought of the friends he would fill with delight
Tomorrow.
It was too bad, indeed, he was busy today,
And hadn’t a minute to stop on his way.
More time he would have to give others, he’d say,
Tomorrow.
The greatest of workers this man would have been
Tomorrow.
The world would have known him had he ever seen
Tomorrow.
But the fact is, he died and faded from view,
And all that he left here when living was through
Was a mountain of things he intended to do
Tomorrow.
—Edgar Albert Guest
EXACTLY!!