“Why didn't I do this sooner?"
This question was the theme of my summer in 2019. I put off tasks because they seemed too difficult, too laborious or because I just didn't know how to begin solving the problem. I wanted the benefits of the solutions, but I had been waiting to have enough time, energy or motivation to tackle them. Of course, neither of these ever came.
When we decided to move house and do up the old one it forced me to tackle tricky tasks I'd been putting off for eleven years!!!! I hate to say it, but there were problems left by the previous owners that we never got round to fixing, so we just put up with them. The surprising thing was that none of these tasks were anywhere near as bad as they seemed. Here are some examples:
A hidden gap in laminate flooring took 10 minutes and a bit of sawing to fix (the previous owners has left 'spare' bits the same size as the gap).
Two internal doors we found shoved down the side of a wardrobe when we moved in, took 30 mins to load into a car and take to the recycling centre.
Dismantling a shed that was rotten when we moved in took 1 hour to take apart (with a hammer and my friend's unspent anger) and about the same to dispose of.
Broken exterior pipe took 15 mins and £1.99 to fix.
Every time I solved a problem, I thought "Why didn't I do this sooner?"
We fixed all the problems from the previous eleven years in two weeks! The stupid thing is that while we put up with these inconveniences, the catalyst for doing something was to make sure no one else had to. How crazy is that? We could have had more space and a nicer environment from day one.
Then, there was the task of moving house. Financially, we had the means to move years ago. We now have a nicer house, more space, better garden, a fantastic local community and an amazing view of the Peaks.
Why didn't I do this sooner?
I had put these tasks in the 'too-hard' box and convinced myself that I needed a tradesperson, free time or a great deal of expense to fix them. However, once I got stuck into the tasks, the solution was a lot easier and required far less time than I imagined.
What have you put in the "too hard" box?
September seems to be 'back to school' for everyone, young and old. Everybody wants to get their heads down and make a final push towards the end of the year. Once we get caught up in the busyness of our day to day life it is easy to put off the 'big tasks', but it's worth taking a step back and considering:
What have you put in the 'too-hard' box?
What item on your to-do list has stayed there and never gets ticked off?
Think back to the beginning of the year. What 'big' tasks did you promise yourself you'd do in 2019 but haven't got round to doing yet?
Studies have shown that if you complete just the first 10 minutes of a task you are likely to finish it. The reason is that once you've cracked the first 10 minutes you have got through the hardest part and you can see what you need to do. You are in "the zone". The task that seemed too difficult isn't as bad as you thought. We also know that once we start tasks, we have a natural tendency to see them through as completing a task is an innately rewarding experience. Just 10 minutes or so is usually enough to get you going.
