This Silly Game Has Helped Me Procrastinate Less
and realize the hard truth about putting things off for tomorrow
“Every day you spend procrastinating is another day you spend worrying about that thing.”
If procrastination was a sport, I wouldn’t even participate because I’d always tell myself I’ll do it tomorrow.
I’ve spent countless hours of my life ruminating about things — to the detriment of my health. Work, past events, the future, things I shouldn’t have said, things I should have said, worries, the famous guy who stole ideas from my book…
You name it. I’ve ruminated on it.
The list is endless. And it also made me procrastinate endlessly.
But one day I realized that enough is enough.
A change of perspective
We don’t like wasting money, but we do like wasting our time worrying about things we have no control over.
Someone once said:
The true currency of life is time, not money.
When I came across this quote for the 294th time in my life, a light went on.
“What would happen if I literally treated time like money?”
I’ve started using money terms for time whenever I talk in my head. I use all the terms I can think of that we normally associate with money. It sounds silly, but it improved my procrastination tendencies.
These are some of the terms:
- I can’t afford to worry about this email. I’m going to send it now.
- Waiting until next week to make that call is too expensive.
- I’ll post this article today because I don’t want to break the bank and pull an all-nighter to edit it.
- I’ve completed all my tasks for today! I’ve saved so much time that I’d otherwise have spent worrying!
- Today I’m on a budget; I’ll get all these tasks done faster than usual.
- How many hours does it cost to worry about this?
The first five times I used these terms in my head sounded ridiculous, but they turned out to be helpful in the long run.
Now I experience exactly the same thrill I had as a student when I realized I had saved some money.
This tiny little habit shifts my perspective on money and time. As a result, it’s now easier to fight procrastination because it costs a lot of time!
The moment we realize that our time is the most valuable asset we have, procrastination becomes less innocent.
Of course, I allow myself some healthy splurges, too. Like I always say, time I enjoy wasting is never wasted.
But most of the time I live by this motto:
Save more, procrastinate less.
It helps fight perfectionism, too
I’m a recovering perfectionist and money terms help me with that too.
Perfectionism is very closely linked to procrastination.
It’s just so easy to put something off because it’s not perfect enough. I’ve done this time and time again, countless times.But what I tell myself now has helped me avoid that too.
- I can’t afford to be a perfectionist.
- Perfectionism is too expensive.
- That’s not worth the perfectionism.
These words are so ingrained in us because we’re taught from an early age that everything revolves around money.
That’s why using these words for other things can make a big difference.
I even use them for food.
- How much does that cost in calories?
- I’m not going to eat that burger. It costs two meals.
Thanks to that silly game I play with my mind, I’ve happily become frugal with my time, perfectionism, and eating habits.
I ended up playing it for almost everything else but money…
What you need to watch out for
For this trick to work, balance is key.
If you use these phrases too often, it can cause stress and make you unhappy. We don’t want that.
I only use these terms when absolutely necessary:
- Something is about to trigger my procrastination
- I take too long to get started on an important task
- I spend an unusually long time working on an article
- A task is stressing me out too much
Stinginess brings unhappiness and stress. That’s why I recommend only playing this game when the going gets tough. Not all the time and preferably not in the presence of others. It works best if you only use it in your inner monologues.
Dear reader, if you’re still here (thank you), I challenge you to try this silly game for a day and see what happens.
If it works for you, then this article was worth sharing.
Happy time saving,
Maria