036 | 🔮 Stop relying on future you

December 14, 2021

Yo,

Usually I write about things I've read or seen. Writing about something is a great way to internalise it.

This week is based more around my own personal experience - but I think that it will be helpful for at least one other person, which is the question I ask myself before writing an email.

And I reckon it will!

I am a big procrastinator. So, like many others, I put off things until later on/tomorrow and so on.

I'm making the assumption that future me will be better placed to do the thing I don't want to, or can't do, now.

The thing is, future me is still me.

Future me will not want to go for a run in the rain just as much as me right now.

So, a lesson to myself: stop relying on future me.

Stop relying on future me

This can apply to everything in life.

"I'll start eating healthy on Monday / next month / in 2022"

"I'll deal with it tomorrow when I have more energy"

"That difficult conversation can wait"

I am often guilty of this.

I am assuming that future me will be in a better position to do the thing I don't want to do now.

Of course, there are times when I'll be in a better moment to do something - less tired or less busy.

But it's only really a guess, mixed with a bit of hope, that I'll be in a better place.

At the end of the day, future me is still me.

If I don't want to do something now, why would I really want to do it later?

So what's the answer?

Here's a few mantras I try to stick to.

  • Eat your frogs: get unpleasant tasks done as soon as possible

  • If a task takes less than 5 minutes, just do it now

  • Postponing things to future me just puts more pressure on me later on. It's a lazy and naive way to avoid doing something

  • Have a decent quitting framework, such as this one from Steve Bartlett (Diary of a CEO podcast host) 

Until next week!

Thanks 😎

If you found this interesting and useful, feel free to subscribe. I send emails like this every Tuesday - see you next week 👍🏼

Photo of the Week 📸

What have I learned this week? 🤔

I read about quite a cool concept this week:

Instead of giving up on a whole day if it hasn't started well, think of it instead as in quarters:

  • Early morning

  • Midday

  • Afternoon

  • Evening

If the early morning doesn't go well (late for work, missed a gym session), focus on getting the next part of the day right (finishing a project, eating well).

I think this is especially useful for healthy eating - a croissant in the morning doesn't mean the whole day is a write off!

This Week’s Recommendation 🔝

TV 📺 - Narcos: Mexico S3 - Straight back into the swing of things. Narcos is brilliant, end of (even just for the music during the opening credits)

This Week I’m: ⬇️

This Week’s Quote 💬

Despite the upbeat tone of society in general, there is solace in the discovery that everyone else is, in private, of course as bewildered and regretful as we are. This is not Schadenfreude, simply profound relief that we are not the only ones..’. - Alain de Botton

There we have it!

Looking forward to catching up next week.

In the meantime, find me on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and have a look at what I’m reading on Goodreads.

Ciao!