The Do-It-Now Habit
Do you need to increase your income, but have too much to do? Are you not making the progress you want to be making toward your goals?
Why can some people produce three times more than others?
Jane and Jill
Jane earns three times more income than her tennis partner Jill. Why is this? Jill asks Jane to share her secret over coffee.
Jill says, “Now Jane, what’s your secret? We both take care of two kids and play a lot of tennis. How do you make so much money?”
Jane says, “Hmm. I don’t know. Lucky?”
Jill says, “Naw, it’s not luck. Let’s figure this out. I work 30 hours a week. How many hours do you work?”
Jane says, “30.”
Jill says, “OK, I haven’t gotten a raise in two years. How about you?”
Jane says, “Well, I’ve had two raises this year and am getting a big bonus next month.”
Jill says, “What? Why? Do you sleep with the boss?”
Jane says, “Ha! No way. I just get a lot done there.”
Jill says, “How about your home business. Is that making money?”
Jane says, “Well, yeah, almost as much as my job.”
Jill says, “WHAT? Why?”
Jane says, “Well, I have plenty of free time, so I take really good care of my customers.”
Jill says, “OK, that’s it. I don’t have any time. I can barely do my chores and I’m exhausted every night. There’s no way I can start working from home.”
Jill says, “Jane, tell me the truth right now! Where do you find the time?”
Jane says, “OK Jane, I do have a secret. I got rid of two bad habits and formed one really good one.”
Two Bad Habits
1. The first bad habit is to look at a piece of work you are supposed to do (a task, a program, a communication, an assignment or other work) and put it aside to do later.
Instead of acting, you read it, digest it, think about doing it, consider the problems, discuss it and finally put it down to do later. You waste your time and accomplish nothing.
2. The second bad habit is taking a piece of work, look at it and refer it to someone else. Even though it’s your job, you try to get someone else to do it.
The other person eventually sends it back to you. A total waste of your time AND the other person’s time.
One Good Habit
“Do it Now.”
“One of the best ways to cut your work in half is not to do it twice.”
“If you do every piece of work that comes your way WHEN it comes your way and not after a while, if you always take the initiative and take action, not refer it, you never get any traffic back . . . ”
“In short, the way to get rid of traffic is to do it, not to refer it; anything referred has to be read by you again, digested again, and handled again; so never refer traffic, just do it so it’s done.”
“So if you are truly a lover of ease, the sort of person who yawns comfortably and wears holes in heels resting them on desks, if your true ambition is one long bout of spring fever, then you’ll do as I suggest and handle everything that comes your way when it comes and not later; and you’ll never refer anything to anybody that you yourself can do promptly.”
“Do it when you see it and do it yourself.” — L. Ron Hubbard
For example, the government sends you a tax form asking you for some financial information. You take ten minutes to understand what is required and realize it’s quite simple. You notice it’s not due for two months, but instead of tossing it in your desk to do later, you take another ten minutes to find the information, fill out the form and drop it in the mail.
If you wait to fill out the form later, you have had to spend another ten minutes to understand it again. Perhaps you look at the form every few days, think it over and decide to wait. You might even forget to fill out the form and then waste even more time trying to understand why the government is charging you a $250 late fee.
As another example, you notice your car tire is a little low. If you wait to fill the tire, you eventually get a flat tire while driving to work. You waste an hour changing the tire, which makes you late for work, which costs you money. You waste even more time and money getting the tire fixed or replaced. However, if you had formed a do-it-now habit, you would fill the tire within minutes of seeing the problem.
Jill Does it Now
Jill realized she had both bad habits. She was waiting for people to make tiny decisions about her work projects. And her online business was stuck because she kept waiting for the “right time” to start it.
Jill got bold and made the tiny work project decisions she had referred to others. As a result, she became the best producer at her work and felt a lot of energy. That weekend, instead of watching TV with her family, she started her online business. “Now” became the “right time.”
Within six months, Jill tripled her income.
How to Form the Do-It-Now Habit
The best time to form a do-it-now habit is, of course, RIGHT NOW!
1. Take a list of things you need to do, a stack of papers, a task or any kind of cluttered mess that you need to handle.
2. Take the first item.
3. Deal with it, handle it, do it now.
“. . . take the initiative and take action . . . .”
4. If you find it hard to do it now, remember the reward. If you get your work done in half the time, how will you spend the OTHER half of your time? Earning more money? Starting new projects? Having more fun? The choice is yours.
So . . . when can you give this a try?