Internet experts say that when you want to publish content online or on social media, it´s important to schedule your publications with a certain cadence so that there´s a predictable rythm. Saint Google seems to love that consistency.
Yo cuando me enteré de esto hace unos meses (¡gracias María!), me propuse para este blog el ritmo más sencillo y alcanzable que se me ocurrió: escribir un post a la semana. En principio no tenía en mente ningún día de la semana en concreto, pero para cuando me fui a dar cuenta, ya había surgido un patrón: acabar publicando el domingo, normalmente por la noche (o en la madrugada del lunes, que técnicamente ya es a la semana siguiente…)
In view of this, one could say that I have a tendency to leave things until the last minute. And in some cases, it´s true. I could choose to focus on that and beat myself up for spending my time procrastinating (which is a word that I don´t like at all, by the way).
But also, if you look at it this way, it turns out that week after week I´m achieving my goal of publishing a blog post, because even if it´s at the last minute, regardless of whether I feel like it or not, when the time comes I always start writing, with no excuses, because I want to honour my weekly commitment to myself and to my readers.
Seguramente, de no ser por este plazo autoimpuesto, se habrían quedado sin escribir como la mitad de los artículos que ahora podéis leer y disfrutar… Pero aquí están, gracias a haber encontrado una forma productiva de negociar con mi procrastinación 🙂
By the way, have you ever wondered why we procrastinate? A theory that I´ve heard several times states that leaving things until the last moment is very convenient for our unconscious mind, because that way we avoid responsibility regarding the outcome: if it turns out badly, then we have the excuse of not having had time to do it properly. And if it turns out right? Then great, we take the credit for having achieved it in record time. Either way, our ego avoids suffering.
In contrast, when we complete the task ahead of time, it´s a lot clearer that we´re the ones responsible for the outcome, and that triggers a lot of fear and insecurity within us: what if it turns out wrong? What if they don´t like it? What if they reject me?
Maybe the key to this is to leave all excuses aside once and for all, accept that the result is and will always be our responsibility, and choose the best way to manage our daily life according to what we want to achieve in life.
Because, what would happen if you really dedicated time and effort to that thing you say is important but always gets left behind?