I'm Slowly Learning To Take Things One Step At A Time

I’m Slowly Learning To Take Things One Step At A Time

If you wake up in the morning with a list in your head — feed the dog, do the laundry, run on the treadmill, work eight hours, go grocery shopping — then you’re going to feel overwhelmed. You’re going to want to keep smashing snooze. You’re not going to look forward to the day ahead of you.

That’s why you need to take things one step at a time. When you have trouble rolling out of bed in the morning, think about one thing you have to do and focus all of your energy on it. Of course, it helps if you can make the first thing you do in the morning a fun one.

Buy your favorite cereal so you look forward to getting yourself out from bed and eating it. Record your favorite show and watch it as you’re doing your makeup so you look forward to getting ready for the day. Find something that makes you excited to trick yourself into being productive.

After all, the hardest part of the day is getting out of bed. Once you’re up and active, it gets a little bit easier.

I’m slowly learning the time when I procrastinate the most is when I have a million different things on my to-do list and don’t know where to start. I’ll switch between starting one activity and finishing up another activity and end up accomplishing absolutely nothing.

If you’re anything like me, it’s best to come up with a game plan for each day. Figure out what you need to accomplish and what order you should accomplish it in. Once you have everything written down, don’t look at the list again until one thing is crossed off and it’s time to move onto the next thing.

Remember, if you’re looking at a long list of things you have to accomplish before the end of the night, you’re going to end up stressing yourself out. You’re going to end up half-assing whatever you’re working on because you’re worried about moving onto the next thing. Even worse, you’re going to end up making yourself miserable.

Strive to live in the moment. Even if you aren’t enjoying the moment, it’s better to focus on what you’re doing right now so you do it right than to focus on what you have to do an hour from now. Think about it: If you’re spending your entire time on the treadmill worrying about how you have to do the laundry and cook and pay bills once you’re finished, you’re going to feel doubly tired. You’re going to be exhausted from running and exhausted from the thought of the chores you have to do once you’re finished.

When it comes down to it, doing the laundry isn’t that bad. Picking up dinner isn’t that bad. Putting gas in your car isn’t that bad. It only sounds bad when everything is piled together.

In order to be a more productive person, I’m slowly learning to take things one step at a time. I’m slowly learning to live in the moment. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Holly is the author of Severe(d): A Creepy Poetry Collection.

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