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Trap #5: You believe that you need a "clean slate"
It is never tomorrow.
I’m serious. By definition, tomorrow is always not here yet. Tomorrow never comes. (If you’re a James Bond fan, tomorrow never dies, either.)
How many times have you found yourself slacking off at work well into the early afternoon — feeling sluggish and unproductive all day — and then deciding that the whole day is just a wash and you’ll start fresh tomorrow? (Some all-or-none thinking there, too.)
Or it’s already Thursday and you haven’t gotten to the gym, so you might as well “restart” next week.
The problem is, next week, there will likely be another excuse — pushing you forever toward the next tomorrow, or the next week.
Which is never actually here yet.
Years often go by this way.
The idea of a “clean slate” or “starting fresh” is a trap. We are the ones who have the slates, and we are the ones who choose when to wipe them clean. We can do it whenever we want. Is a good choice made on a Thursday at 8:39 pm any less effective than a good choice made on a Monday at 8:39 am? Of course not.
If you're looking to keep your house organized, save money, exercise, eat healthier, or be kinder to your loved ones, you only make it harder to reach that goal if you refuse to take advantage of the opportunity right in front of you, always yours for the taking, right here, right now, no matter how far “gone” the past day seems (or how bright and shiny tomorrow appears.)
Take Action:
- Identify how often you look for a "clean slate" to start something new and whether you use this to procrastinate or self-sabotage. Are there times when you postpone the feelings of productivity and confidence, giving all the power to this arbitrary calendar instead of to yourself?
- Challenge yourself to start a simple task at a random, unusual time, for example, beginning the first 5 minutes of a work task toward the end of the afternoon, when you had assumed you’d put it off until the next day.
- If you are someone who absolutely must have a "clean slate" to get motivated, don’t think in terms of tomorrow (or next week, or month, or new year). Why not have that clean slate start in one hour? Or fifteen minutes?
- Even better, instead of arbitrarily tying your clean slate to a day or time, create a true and meaningful clean slate through your behavior. Take a brisk walk. Do a brief meditation. Have a chat with a friend. Do some breathing exercises. Allow yourself five minutes of a video that makes you laugh. Each of these helps reset your mind and productivity much better than the vague "tomorrow."
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