A dear friend pointed out to me recently that there are three versions of each of us (or at least we act as though there are).
Version one is the future version of you. Future You solves all of your problems, is highly productive, never complains, and never procrastinates.
Version two is the past version of you. Past You creates all of your problems, is quite lazy, is an olympic level procrastinator, and likes to expertly delegate their work to Future You to complete tomorrow.
The third version of you, the only version that you continually inhabit, Present You, is constantly caught between the consequences of past actions and the hope for a better, more productive future.
So Present You looks at your study schedule, sighs deeply, and, being tired and disinterested, decides that Future You will do it tomorrow. Future You will solve all of the problems.
Lo and behold, the next day rolls around, the rumoured tomorrow. You take a seat at your desk, open your study planner and find that Past You’s decisions have left you behind schedule. Exams are around the corner, there is no other option: You have to overwork yourself today and catch up on work that Past and Present Yous have put off so many times before.
Sound familiar?
As hard as it is to break out of this cycle, there is hope. Here are a few short-term goals that might help:
Recognise that Future You will probably have the same amount of time and motivation that you currently do, or maybe even less. By being realistic about your time, you will be less likely to assign outrageous amounts of work to Future You that you will never get through.
Rather than assign more things for your future self to do, give your future self a break. If you have the time to do something today that will make things a bit easier tomorrow, then do so. We never know what the future holds, and things might be much busier than we hoped. Take ten minutes to do small tasks like clear your emails - Future You will thank you.
If you are disinterested in doing something specific, make a list of things that you need to get done, then go through it and complete the task that you are least disinterested in. If you make a habit of doing this, you will still be productive.
We all know how it feels to sometimes lack motivation. Make it your goal everyday to do something to make the future a tiny bit easier on yourself. Being stuck in a cycle of working on past delays and delaying today’s work for the future is a terrible way to spend your present.
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