Stop Putting Things Off!

How do you stop putting things off? A million-dollar question! I’m terrible at doing nothing and taking decisive action to change. Everything starts tomorrow, right? Ok then, next week?  Maybe next year?  Or when I get around to it? How about never???? How do we get over the age-old problem of getting nothing done?

Nothingness

I’m not just talking about weight loss or lifestyle changes. This can be anything. Life is so short, but sometimes, we don’t appreciate this. We live in a nothing society where we can spend all day glued to our machines, achieving nothing, spouting irrelevant opinions, and arguing over trivial matters. This is what the internet has made largely, but don’t despair—it’s not all doom and gloom! There are heaps of opportunities to improve life out there.

Like bad eating, irrelevant scrolling is not fulfilling; we just think it is. Scrolling endlessly is a bad habit that is not easy to break, but it is not impossible.

Don’t Delay!

When you are young, that’s fine.  You have your whole life ahead of you, but when you get a bit older, you realise time is running out fast.  And the older I become, the quicker time seems to disappear.

Yesterday, I turned 55 after a lifetime of putting things off behind me.  I started getting into the running out of time concept when I had my 2023 health scare.  A life riddled with cigarettes and alcohol had begun to take its toll.

Improved Health

Alcohol has all but gone from life.  Whilst I’m only a couple of months without, I’m finding life without the booze is so much better.  And I work alongside blokes of my age who, for them, getting drunk is a hobby.  They get quite horrified at the thought of anyone going out without being fuelled by booze and managing to have a good time!

Fourteen months on, and I’m feeling better than ever. Remember, I was 100 kilos as an adult but still ate all the wrong foods! Nowadays, I consume around 75% of the right foods but still leave a little room for what we shouldn’t have.I don’t believe in depriving yourself.

Do It For Yourself

I’m writing this piece as much for me as anyone else.  I’ve been off work this week, which is great, but suddenly going from having very little time on my hands to too much.  Saturday evening, my first thought was to have a few drinks. I mentioned this in my weekly weigh blog but resisted.  I knew it would be a bad idea.

Just One More!

You see, much as I try, I tend to not only have a couple of drinks.  Well, I do, then have a couple more and more and more…. It’s quite jolly for a while; then it descends as I drink more and more.  Usually stopping when my body literally cannot take anymore.  Then I’m ready to eat.  Stuff my face with all sorts of poisonous crap.  Wake up with a hangover, grumpy.  Eat more poison, and watch TV all day.  Nothing gets done.  Any chance of doing anything was thrown out the window.

A New Era

It’s slowly beginning to sink in that with no booze and less bad food in my system, I’ve got a clearer mind.  Yet, this week, I still put stuff off until later in the week.  The Smart Blogger course recently purchased has finally been looked at.  Already, it’s inspired me to spend a dreary, rainy Manchester afternoon writing. 

We complain about not having enough hours in the day, but the problem is wasting those hours.  I try not to think about the endless timescapes scrolling through nothingness on the internet. I don’t spend nearly as much time as I used to, but I’m still vulnerable to that habit.  And a lot of behaviour is a habit. All this is wasting time.

Achieving

I’ve done three things I wanted to do this week.  Sort clothes out, revamp the spare room/office, clear stuff out of the back garden, and take it to recycling.  I felt so much better about this as if I had a real sense of achievement.  Put my head down and got on with it. Seems to have cleared my mind even more.  My birthday was not ruined in a heap of alcoholic debauchery for a change, but I still got little done, telling myself it was my birthday.  Well, that’s not an excuse matey! 

Time Slipping

I realise I don’t have enough time left to keep putting things off. And the earlier you start to stop putting things off, the better. In the pre-internet world, I used to be so creative, bashing songs into a battered old four-track tape machine and writing bloody awful poetry. I also read books and watched much less television.

The world has changed, of course, but not always for the better.  We have quantity over quality in abundance, plus many old television shows in the archives. 

No Easy Answer

There’s no easy answer to stopping putting things off. But you can at least take some decisive action, and life will improve as a result.

But there’s a better world to explore away from the vast haze of nothingness presented before us. The internet is massive and needs to be embraced more. I’m adamant that going forward, I’m going to waste too much time on nothing. At my age, time is a precious commodity and one that needs to be embraced, not abused.

Plan Of Action

How To Stop Putting Things Off

• Use social media sparingly.
• Read and educate.
• Try not to fall into previous bad habits.
• Remove certain apps from the phone which deviate.
• Stay more focused, keep learning and moving forward.
• Remember, there is a time and place for everything!
• Spend more time away from the machines. Read a book, spring clean. Anything.
• New hobbies could be constructive and fulfilling.
• Make a list of things you want to do. Action it!