What do you do with an idea, inspiration, or action item if it doesn’t need to happen now? Well, you have a few options and the one you definitely want to avoid is to forget it.
This is one of those situations in life that tends to cause us to waste precious time.
If we could simply rely on our memories, this kind of dilemma would be much easier to deal with.
Here’s a good example… plus it’s what inspired this post.
Lanette and I are in the process of building a home near Santa Fe. We broke ground last month and the project is now underway. And, with all the supply chain issues and labor shortages you’ve heard about on the evening news…
We’re already feeling the time pressure building.
In our last progress meeting with the builder, something was said that made me think of a question I had about a decision that I was pretty sure wasn’t scheduled to happen for a few more months…
But I didn’t trust myself to remember so I had to ask. I hadn’t heard the expression before—the question went like this…
“I’m pretty sure this belongs in the ‘For Later’ folder, but I don’t want you to tell me down the road that it would have been helpful to have known about it today.”
His answer came as fast as I had asked, “Yeah, put that in your ‘For Later’ folder and we’ll talk about it in about three months.”
The truth is, I didn’t have a ‘For Later’ folder, but I do now.
Okay, okay, it’s a tab in my project binder.
Try thinking of it like this… When we complete tomorrow’s tasks ahead of more important ones, or ones that logically should come first, it’s just another version of procrastination.
Doing tomorrow’s tasks today only serves to delay today’s more important work. Unless, of course, you’ve finished everything that should be done by today. Then, by all means, carry on.
Better yet, take a break and reward yourself for a job well done.
I notice this in my coaching… clients so often want to jump ahead. The simple truth is you’ve got to take the steps in order and do the work.
Leaping ahead does not get you ahead, it robs today’s resources—especially time.
It’s all about finding ways to keep in a natural state of flow. I was recently visiting another coach I’ve been working with and noticed a yellow Post-it on her doorframe…
It read, “Be like water.”
She was reminding herself that water flows. And I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it doesn’t get ahead of itself either. Water flows according to a natural order.
So, the message is this… Not everything has to happen right when you think of it or when it lands in your lap.
If you’re more of an analytical type, try looking at how a good CFO manages money. One attribute of time management is a lot like cash flow… If you can delay an expense, it’s like having more money now.
You can also think about the concept like airport parking with different lots for daily, short-term, and long-term parking. If you only use daily parking, you’re going to ending paying a lot more… and the currency is your time.
Using a ‘For Later’ folder or another method lets you stay focused on what’s important now. Because later comes, well, later…
Be untucked.
p.s. Oh! One last thing, if you found this post helpful, be sure to share it with a friend. Use the Share-Buttons at the top or the bottom of the post. Thanks, I owe you one.
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