I recently had an experience with procrastination that reminded me of something important.
Over time, I got into the habit of not putting things away in my room when I was done with them.
My jewelry was scattered across my dresser. Clothes were not in their designated places. Shoes were left in random spots on the floor. Little by little, it added up.
You would think that would have been enough motivation to do something about it, but it wasn’t.
In my mind, organizing my room had become a project, and I had convinced myself I needed a full day to tackle it.
The problem was, every weekend came and went, and I never had a full day available.
So it didn’t happen.
Meanwhile, I had a few reminders that it was probably time to deal with it.
- The weather was warming up, but my closet was still full of sweaters.
- A friend had a surprise gift for me and asked for a picture of my room to see if it would fit. That was a reality check.
- And I had bought some pretty plants and vases for my room, only to realize I didn’t have any clear surfaces to put them on.
This past weekend, I decided it was time to do something.
But instead of putting pressure on myself to finish everything, I gave myself permission to do just one task. Secretly, I hoped it would motivate me to do more.
The one task I chose was switching out my fall and winter clothes to make room for spring and summer. So I got started.
After finishing that, I walked back into my room and noticed all the shoes on the floor were cold-weather shoes too.
That became task number two.
Then one thing led to another. Before I knew it, I had cleaned and organized the whole room, put the plants on display, and had a room I was no longer embarrassed to take a picture of.
As I stood there looking at it all finished, I remembered another time in my life when I used this same approach.
Years ago, after moving, I had an apartment full of boxes, a full-time job, and two teenagers at home. Every day after work, I would come home tired and look at all those boxes, feeling overwhelmed.
Then one thought came to me: Just unpack one box a day.
That felt manageable.
And what I found was that once I unpacked one box, I often had enough motivation to unpack one more.
Sometimes it turned into two or three. Sometimes it didn’t.
But at least one box got done every day until there were none left.
I share these experiences because procrastination often grows when we make something feel bigger than it needs to be.
We tell ourselves we need more time, more energy, or the perfect moment to start. But often, all we really need is to start with one thing.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and putting off a project, give yourself permission to do just one task.
One drawer.
One box.
One phone call.
One email.
Just one thing.
Then see if you’re inspired to do one more.