The thing about being behind is that you can’t catch up by doing more of what you’ve been doing.
You’re behind because the current strategy isn’t working. Yet we often tell ourselves that we’ll “sit down for a big workday this weekend and get caught up.”
We promise ourselves that we won’t get behind again, if we can just catch up this one time.How many times have you made that promise already? The reason you keep breaking it can be found in the old adage:
Rome wasn’t built in a day (even if the work was behind schedule).
You simply can’t master differential equations in a day.
You can’t become an excellent journalist in a day either. You grow over time, which requires forcused effort applied over time. Not for a day.
Think back to your last “catch-up day.” Was it pleasant? Did you enjoy cramming? I doubt it. So when you finished you breathed a sigh of relief and put your feet up for a day or two. You’ve just built a false image in your mind of what work looks like: a long miserable grind. No wonder you keep putting it off.
Since your approach isn’t working, what’s the worst that could happen if you tried mine? Take smaller bites, but take them every day. You’ll find joy in the process, make more progress, and avoid the cram days.
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