Cancer Of Procrastination

No daily to-dos!

I am sorry if you're a fan of to-do lists. Till now, you may have felt that I have some serious issue with to-do lists, or at least I've a lot of restrictions before following them. Well, getting to know that I also follow to-do list may calm your anger.

Even if you've resolved all the issues with to-dos after following the case study of the previous chapter, there comes an issue with following them daily. There must have been a time in your life when you made yourself a to-do list after getting instant motivation of doing something effective in your life. The thing that made more value was that you successfully completed checking the list before sleeping. It may or may not have continued for a few days, but with the surety, it didn't go for so long until you forgot that you ever kept a to-do list.

To be successful in something, we must follow the flexibility formula. That being said, there's no issue in keeping a to-do list when necessary, in fact it is recommended to do so. But, you must skip it whenever there's no such need, or whenever you don't feel like keeping it. We humans get disappointed easily, we normally skip the to-do list sometimes, but we feel ashamed doing it, and that's why we fail to keep it for a longer period. From now on, you're not supposed to feel ashamed of something that's completely fine. Keep the real reason of struggle in your mind, and never forget that the things like to-do lists are just the tools to help you, not to disappoint you. The only thing that you're supposed to make sure of is the virtue in everything you do. 

Benjamin Franklin: One of the founding fathers of the United States used to do journaling. Instead of keeping a to-do list (most probably this idea didn't exist at the time), he wrote a journal called "Virtue Journal" where he mentioned 13 virtues he wanted to develop.

List of 13 virtues of Benjamin's Virtue Journal:

Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling converzation.

Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; waste nothing.

Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes, or habitation.

Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles or accidents common or unavoidable.

Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Mr. Benjamin aimed to focus on one virtue each week and followed it in his daily life. The idea behind telling you about this is that you can even keep a virtue journal focusing on your individual life, where you can give up on some daily tasks, but never give up on your virtue. 

Moreover, there's also an example of Ralph Waldo Emerson: American essayist, philosopher, lecturer, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. Waldo's philosophy suggests the concept of flexibility and adaptability, where it says that life is dynamic and ever-changing. Adapting the change can lead to personal growth and the deeper understanding of the world and most importantly oneself. The philosophy is not against the modern day to-do lists but it is suggesting a balance between planning and the adaptability of change.

Keep in mind that this book isn't about philosophy or in the support of any philosophical concept. We're roaming around in the concept of self help, and gathering the examples from the people who lived in the past not worrying more about the movements they were involved in. Instead of focusing on how to reach to the levels of independency, or focusing on how to stand against the society, we are particularly focusing on the cancer of procrastination. I believe that's more serious and the core issue to be resolved before moving to the other things. 

After all this discussion, we come to the conclusion that taking strict or daily to-dos isn't necessary, all that matters at the end of the day is the virtue. We should start seeing things from different perspectives. Seeing something from different perspective can change whole idea, and who knows, you may win the game that you had already lost? More about the abstract mathematics, the art of logic and the power of seeing things from different perspectives in the next chapter.