I recently thought more than usual about procrastination, as I feel things are piling up around me, even with hard work and constant planning. I am only one person and I’m doing as much as I can. Yet, I have to prioritize, and some things get postponed every day. I also developed a blind eye for some things, like boxes stored in the hallway that limit access.
But what made me talk about this was a Facebook page I recently found. The page shares funny and relatable videos about things around us that we procrastinate on for months, sometimes years, but actually only take a few minutes to resolve.
For example, in one video they procrastinated for 2 weeks before cleaning the stove, and once they finally did it, it only took 14 minutes. Or they postponed cleaning a closet for 2 years, and it actually took only 31 minutes.
And I’ve been there. I’ve sooo been there! When I moved into my apartment in 2012, I had a partially clogged cold water pipe in my kitchen. At the time, I did try to solve it with a plumber, but they told me I would have to replace all the pipes and that it would make more sense to do it during renovation. So I waited for the renovation. For more than 10 years, I struggled with weak cold water flow in my kitchen, but never actually renovated. And if you follow my channel, you probably noticed that I use my kitchen a lot.
Then one day in 2021, while pregnant with my son, I got that nesting push to finally call a plumber and resolve it. It took only 30 minutes, cost less than $100, and I had proper running cold water in my kitchen for the first time since moving here. Even I was shocked. Why didn’t I do this sooner?
In that moment, I learned that, in my case at least, procrastination can come from wanting things to be perfect and aligned, and by waiting for the perfect moment, I end up sabotaging myself.
And I also realized something else. Some things truly aren’t a priority at first. But if we postpone them for too long, sometimes they become priorities anyway. Not because they suddenly become important, but because they slowly start affecting our daily life more than we notice.
My kitchen pipe is an extreme example, but I’m sure many of us are surrounded by less obvious examples every day. We suffer through things or learn to ignore them instead of resolving them, even though sometimes they would only take a few minutes and bring a huge sense of relief once done.
And this is what that Facebook page woke up in me. I started walking around the house and noticing things I had learned to ignore. Papers sitting in a corner to sort later. Packages that needed to be flattened and taken to recycling 3 weeks ago. Toys taking over the room while the drawers were empty.
So I started tackling the small things. It only took a few minutes to sort through the papers or get rid of the empty boxes. The toy area took about an hour, but once done, I felt so relieved. And my son was so happy to have his toys accessible and organized. In less than 2 hours, my house looked amazing—and I opened up space, mentally and physically, to tackle bigger things.
And I’m sure many of us have been there: postponing things or learning to live with them instead of resolving them. And this does a bad work on our brains! Ignoring or procrastinating small things can lead to ignoring or procrastinating bigger things in time. On the opposite, solving one or a few small things around us can lead to building courage and momentum to clear bigger things in the future.
And not only courage. Once you clear smaller things, you create the visibility and bandwidth to tackle larger things too.
If this feels relatable and you stayed with me until this point, let’s do this exercise together. Look around you and find things you’ve been postponing for a while that would only take a few minutes to resolve. And take care of them. It can be something to clean, throw away, or organize. It can be a phone call you postponed making. An object you didn’t repair or replace yet. A shower you need to take. An appointment you postponed making. Or even saying no when you often say yes out of politeness, but inside you regret it.
Resolve something quick or small. How do you feel? You don’t need to comment here, just acknowledge that feeling for yourself. Is it relief? Do you feel lighter? Motivated to do more? Or maybe a little scared?
Sometimes resolving something small means there’s nothing left to hide behind. Maybe now you have to face the bigger thing. Maybe you realize the solution wasn’t as difficult as you imagined. Or maybe you suddenly have free time or mental space and don’t know what to do with it yet.
Procrastination is not an easy subject, and it can be difficult to accept or acknowledge. But if you feel comfortable, share in the comments something you postponed for a long time that actually took only minutes to resolve. These experiences help us grow and can inspire others to start their own journey. Looking forward to reading your experiences!
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