In the Eliminate stage, it was, “Is this task something I can live without?”
In the Automate stage, it was “Can this task be systematized?”
In the Delegate stage, it was “Can this task be performed by someone else?”
If the answer to those three questions is No, then guess what? It’s our turn to do something!
But before we jump head first into the task, there is an essential element to consider.
Timing.
Finally, the title of Vaden’s book, Procrastinate on Purpose, starts to makes sense.
Seems counterintuitive, uncomfortable even, but he is challenging us to… wait.
What? Wait? I thought we didn’t want to procrastinate!
Turns out there is a big difference between avoiding something because it is uncomfortable to do it (procrastinating), and deliberately postponing something because it is not actually the right time to do it (being patient).
Hence, Procrastinating on Purpose.
Turns out many great minds are on the same page when it comes to patience and timing:
“Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is "timing;"
it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.”
~Fulton J. Sheen
“The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.”
~Joshua Harris
Or my favorite:
“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”
~Willie Nelson
Patience… sadly lacking in today’s climate of rush, rush, rush.
Patience gives us time to pause, to think, to breathe, to allow what is truly important to rise to the surface, for external conditions to become clear, for our own priorities to become clear.
Patience gives us room to breathe, so we are not madly sprinting from urgent task to urgent task, but instead taking stock of what is truly important, so that when we do take action, we do so in alignment with our spirit. We can be fully present to the task at hand, knowing that we are indeed doing the right thing at the right time, for the right reasons.
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