Well, hardly ever.

My tip for today is identify one thing that you’ve been putting off.  Maybe it’s too hard like cleaning out the attic.  Maybe it’s too scary like going to the dentist.  Maybe it’s too complicated like doing your taxes.

Whatever it is, do it.

If it’s so complicated that you cannot possibly finish it in the time you  have, do the first steps.

It’s not because the things we put off have a tendency to jump up and bite us—although they do.  And it’s not because I think you simply must be organized and efficient.

It’s because I’ve found that all those little (and big) things that I avoid doing are sucking drains on my peace of mind and they interfere with the creative process.

When I’ve got a thing like that hanging over me, there is always some little corner of my mind clouded and shadowed and knotted up with having to remember it and dreading it.  It’s a dark inky blotch on my To Do list.  It’s a mosquito buzzing around my head, a twinge in the stomach, a headache waiting to happen.  In short, it’s a damned nuisance.

There’s this contract I’ve made, and I’m not living up to my part of it.  The energy it takes to worry about and/or try to repress it is far less than the energy it will take to do it.  In the end, it’s just easier.

Sometimes, it even turns out not to have been as hard or unpleasant as I’d anticipated.  That’s often the case, in fact, but the real point is that the brain cells that are taken up with the looming task are brain cells that are not available to help you write your novel, invent the next big thing, or play Chutes and Ladders with your kids.

And wouldn’t that be more fun?