Procrastination is stagnation. 

It’s also a choice. 

We know a task awaits. We know because it’s right in front of us, just lying there with no inclination to wander off in search of someone more responsive. There’s no desire whatsoever to let us off the hook.

We all have reasons for putting things off. Basically, we don’t want to do any of it. It wasn’t our idea. We’re busy with other things. We’re tired. But we better find the energy or we’re going to be lugging it around like Marley’s ghost dragging his chains.

We need two things. (1) Inspiration. (2) Technique.

Technique is whatever works. For some, To-Do lists transform dreaded tasks into little bundles of joy. Ahh, the triumph of ticking off one more item! Some people have even been known to complete a task then add it to the list just to be able to check it off. And the inspiration to get it all done?

It comes from experience: The task is not leaving. I’m tired of looking at it. And, gosh, what a wonderful relief when I finally get stuff done!

When you see someone having a tough time, 

do what you can to ease their suffering. 

Giving, one of the paramitas, comprises three basic categories. The third category—fearlessness—is relieving others’ fearful feelings, which can range from a vague sense of unease to outright terror.

Rarely will we find ourselves in a position to alleviate terror, but all around us anxieties abound.

From the overweight mailman who struggles to deliver a package to an upstairs flat to the mother trying to calm her crying child in a clinic’s packed waiting room to the struggling freshman who just failed her exam. No, we can’t change their situations. It’s their karmic consequence. But rarely are they expecting us to.

What we can do is raise our heads out of our own tiring, frustrating, heart-wrenching traumas and see that we’ve got a lot of company.

Having lugged heavy boxes up the stairs and failed our share of exams, we can sincerely appreciate what they’re going through. And we can forget our own concerns and spend a few minutes letting them know that we care about theirs.