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On this episode
How many times have you planned to do something really important, only to abandon it or rush to get to it at the last minute? Our present selves get caught up in the moment, distracted by short-term discomfort or other priorities, and we end up jettisoning the things we know we need to do. This makes us stressed, overwhelmed, and constantly playing catch-up.
Our past self – our wise self – often makes better decisions for us than we do in the present, so we need to back our wise self. This means trusting the choices we made when we were thinking clearly. By preparing ahead and using simple strategies, we can avoid the traps of the moment and follow through on what truly matters.
Setting reminders or alarms, building in buffer time, creating accountability and riding out the urge to procrastinate or distract ourselves can all help.
Life gets harder when we ignore our wise self. We end up rushing from one thing to the next without properly handling what’s important. Over time, the pressure compounds and we can end up feeling out of control.
But this episode has got future you covered, so you can start making plans your present self will stick to!
Show links
More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
- How to Make Long-term Behaviour Change Stick – Episode 259, with Alasdair Cant
- How to Be REALLY Productive… Without Losing the Plot – Episode 190, with Graham Allcott
- How to Change Your Life One Tiny Step at a Time – Episode 248, with Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi
Reasons to listen
- To overcome procrastination and stick to decisions made by your wise self
- For simple hacks like setting alarms, creating buffer zones, and using accountability to follow through on your goals
- To discover how to handle discomfort in the moment and prioritise long-term benefits over short-term ease
Episode highlights
Relying on past-you, not present-you
1: Hack it with accountability
2: Set an inconvenient alarm
3: Make it difficult to do
4: Find some extrinsic motivation
5: Ignore it
6: Name it
7: Prepare for it
8: Surf the urge
9: Make a promise to yourself
10: Gamify it
11: Try it
Don’t beat yourself up
Leave room for spontaneity
Make a plan for next week
Episode transcript
[00:00:00] Rachel: Every Monday at 2. 45 in the afternoon my alarm goes off My alarm goes off to remind me to go down to the gym in the office where I work for my personal training session at 3 o’clock. Now it’s at 3 o’clock because there was no other time in the week we could fit it in and It’s on the day where I reserve to do all my prep my podcast planning, all my deep work and my deep thinking. [00:00:23] Rachel: Nine times out of ten when my alarm goes off, I snooze it so…
