Just Do It
A simple phrase, but an excellent reminder for life: Just Do It. One of the so-called secrets to success or living a happy life is to “Just Do It”. The “it” being your work, your jobs, the details that you might put off and procrastinate over. If you want to accomplish remarkable things, then you have to work towards them – Just Do It! – whether or not you have all the details and plans mapped out for the rest of your life.
This applies to you wherever you are in life – be it high school, college, starting a business, raising a family, tending a garden, or even writing a blog. Just Do It. Those papers that need grading, those documents that need filing, those orders you need to fill – Just Do It!
Focus on the goal – getting these things done – and get excited about the conclusion! Imagine how elated you will be to have orders all caught up or documents all filed! Then work on it. Don’t let your focus be on whether you really want to be doing the task, or how long it might take, or how tedious a task it is. Instead, work towards the completion of your goal and focus on the desired end result!
Step 1: Just Do It
Sometimes we can get hung up on decisions that need to be made. No matter who you are or what you do, there are always decisions to be made! But they don’t have to be daunting! Many decisions that need to be made are trivial, while others are astronomical. For instance, the decision to wash light laundry or dark laundry first typically doesn’t matter. Pick one and Just Do It.
Not all decisions are that simple though – whether to open a shop on main street or downtown is a much larger and more complex decision. Decisions like this take careful thought and prayer and you should definitely give them attention and consideration.
Wherever possible, simplify your decision-making process and be certain not to over complicate your decisions!
Step 2: Do It Well
While reading a book recently, I was reminded of the importance of doing your work well. Sometimes when we have a lot of work to do, it can be tempting to let little treats in – a quick browse on Instagram (that’s never as quick as we intend!), watch a makeup tutorial, or some such. If we don’t give ourselves little treats like that then we’ll never have time for them, right? Well, it really just depends.
Personally, for myself, they are creeping elegance. If one video is okay, what about a second one – after all, it looks really interesting and I’m not sure I could find it later if I looked for it – and it’s only four minutes! … And I can get quite creative with the excuses I tell myself!
Many of the tasks that we need to do can be time consuming – so treats seem warranted, right? But the reality of it is that if we want to make the best use of our time, we shouldn’t allow those treats in under the guise of getting our work done. Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t think treats and delightful bonuses are wrong, at all! We just have to remember not to try to sneak them in when we have work that we need to accomplish!
So what do we do if we can’t sneak little treats in during work – and if we have so much work to do we probably won’t have time for treats? It’s really quite simple and straightforward! Decide what you want to accomplish – something realistic – and then decide on your treat or reward once it is accomplished!
For instance, perhaps you want to enter all your receipts in book work, or you want to finish organizing all your dresser drawers. If you will work on that goal intentionally and not distract yourself, you will be amazed at how much you can get done!
Step 3: It’s Done!
Once your goal(s) are accomplished, enjoy a break and reward yourself for a job well done! Or perhaps the delight of the task being accomplished will energize and motivate you to move on to the next task – no break necessary! Be sure to do your work well and intentionally! Then you will have a wonderful reward at the end of the day – the reward of time well spent and work done well!
Conclusion
What are some things that you have been putting off and just need to get done? What are some distractions that you can eliminate so that you can more intentionally focus on your work? Let me encourage you to make those necessary decisions and focus on your work! Just Do It!
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” – Col. 3:23-24
Work hard to be a steward worthy of the time and resources you have been blessed with! And always remember Who you do your work for!
Until Next Time!
Hope.