You won't come back to it

You won't have more energy in the future, so do what you can finish now

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that you won't come back to it. Your
future self is not going to magically have more time

(00:24):
and energy, So aim not to leave things undone with
the idea that you will revisit the project soon. You
probably won't do what you can do when you think
of it and realize that is probably what it's going
to be. So one of the things I have discovered

(00:44):
about time over the years is that people are wildly
optimistic about what their future selves will be capable of.
We actually put items like clean out attic on a
weekend to do list, as if a decade's worth of
accumulated stuff will be easily dispatched in our thirty six
waking weekend hours, and as if we'll want to devote

(01:06):
all thirty six of those waking weekend hours to this project.
We'll also do half a project, like start a photo book,
and then leave it thinking that even though it was
hard to find time for the first half of this project,
the second half will magically appear. Or we put an
item on the stairs rather than walk it all the

(01:27):
way to where it is going, as if our future
selves will be more capable of moving the item into place.
But the truth is that our future selves are going
to be very very similar to our current selves. Our
future selves will have the exact same amount of time
and energy. If it is limited now, it will be limited. Then.

(01:52):
Better to remind yourself that unless something becomes really urgent
or is incredibly important, you are not going to come
back to it, certainly not immediately and probably not for
a while unless you go on a finishing blitz or something.
But most people don't do that, So better to do
what you can do today, create projects for yourself based

(02:16):
on what you can do now and without creating future
to dos for yourself. If you can get to finishing quickly,
that is probably a good thing. So if you had
a nice weekend at a friend's lake house, don't intend
to spend time next weekend finding the perfect thank you
card and handwriting her a thank you note with printed

(02:36):
photos included. Most likely next weekend we'll have its own crises. Instead,
write a quick note as you're thinking about it, and
get it in the mail immediately. If you aren't anywhere
near paper and stamps, send a text with some photos
thanking her. You won't come back to it, so better

(02:58):
to do what you can do now after a meeting.
Don't assume you'll have some magical time in the future
to write up complete notes with a full analysis of
next steps. Just send your imperfect notes right after the
meeting when they are relevant. You won't come back to it,

(03:18):
and it's better to send the notes than not send
them or worry about this undone task for three weeks
until you realize it is pointless to send the notes
because they are so late. To be sure, sometimes it
might be worthwhile to wait to do something thoroughly, but
unless you are entirely confident that you will complete the

(03:41):
thorough job later, like there is a big block of
time carved out on your calendar and lots of accountability
for the task, the odds are it isn't going to happen.
You aren't going to come back to it. Your future
self probably won't have the time or inclination to do
what you're present self can't do now, so you're likely

(04:03):
better off doing a good enough job now instead of
imagining what you'd like to do in the future. In
the meantime, this is Laura, thanks for listening, and here's
to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening

(04:26):
to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

(04:49):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.