Tomorrow. A word with so much hidden meaning only the truly self-aware can fully grasp its true definition. Tomorrow. It’s such a relaxing thought. It can instantly fill anyone with a warm sense of calmness just knowing that we no longer have to do that dreadful those things today. We can simply do them tomorrow, thus revealing it’s true danger, especially to the entrepreneur.
Tomorrow will never come.
Clear your mind and take a moment to think about this. Tomorrow will never come. Promising to do something tomorrow is promising to never do something at all.
…and by the time tomorrow does come, it’s already today.
See where I’m going?
If tomorrow will never come, and yesterday is already gone, then there is only today. Today is all that matters. This is one of the main reasons I make a checklist called “Today” every single morning. “Today” is what truly matters to real entrepreneurs who want to get shit done. Sure I have checklists for everything else I need or want to do down the road, but “Today” is by far my most important checklist.
3 Tips for your “Today” checklist:
1. Only add 3-5 tasks.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Your Today checklist has to be realistic.
“Write down the 3-5 things — and no more — that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable. They’re often things that have been punted from one day’s to-do list to the next, to the next, to the next, and so on.”
~ Tim Ferriss, author of Four our Work Week, says
2. Get done as early as possible.
The sense of accomplishment you’ll get from finishing those tasks will set the right tone and the best mood for the rest of your day.
I shoot for finishing my checklist by 9 or 10am. Then I have the rest of the day to put out fires, do some random marketing, or work on a secondary checklist.
3. Cut yourself off.
Don’t check email and don’t answer your phone until your checklist is done. Those two things are productivity killers. You can easily get distracted and start focusing on other shit that’s only important to other people, especially if you’re a severe ADHD nut like me. Cut yourself off from the world until your tasks are complete.
Final thoughts
Tomorrow’s tasks are weighing down on you like a bad of bricks, sitting on your shoulders. The only difference is that you can see a real bag of bricks. The weight from the tomorrow’s tasks are invisible and dangerous.
There you have it. Tomorrow sucks. It’s a dangerous word. Today is all that matters. “Tomorrow” is just something we say to get temporary relief from the uncomfortable feeling of being overwhelmed. While in actuality, putting things off until tomorrow is causing us more stress and anxiety.
That is all!
Good luck my friends.