A Case of the “Let-Me-Justs”

Does this sound like you?:

You’re gearing up to focus on a project- maybe a big one, a vulnerable one, a high-stakes one, one you’re excited or nervous about…

…and because you want to zone in and do good work, you decide you just want to take care of a few little things first…

And before you know it,  you end up with a case of  ‘let-me-just’s’…

“Before I start, let me just…

…respond to that email…do the dishes…clean my workspace…brew my coffee… answer that text…check Instagram….schedule that appointment.”

Then a certain amount of time goes by and you’ve yet to begin the project you’ve been aiming to do all day. Instead, you did a ton of easy, unrelated projects. 

And maybe now it’s even too late to dive in the way you’d like…so you call it a wash and decide to try again tomorrow. 

If you’re like me…..you rinse and repeat. 

I get the let-me-justs all the damn time. And yeah, sometimes I want a clear head and space before I begin. But it’s become THE sign that I am procrastinating. I’ve had enough experiences where I just don’t ever get around to doing the thing, or it hangs over my head for weeks which makes it all the harder to start, because now I have so much “build up” attached. “Well, now it better be good!’ And sometimes I decide- well if it wasn’t urgent, it wasn’t that important. 

I’ve lost more than a few handfuls of ideas and projects to the let-me-justs. 

So what do we do about the let-me-justs? 

1. Name it:
By calling them out, we take away a bit of their power. We create awareness around the pattern so we can consciously decide if we’ll indulge in these tasks or not. With awareness, we can reassign our priorities and move the stuff that’s better for us in the long run front-and-center. 

2. Treat the “let -me-justs” as a cue: Try this phrase:

“If the ‘let-me-justs; show up, then I stop what I’m doing, and immediately start ‘the big project’ I’m gearing up for.” 

AND/OR

3. Turn ‘the big project’ into a let-me-just! 

The let-me justs often show up because we’re intimidated by ‘the big project.’ But what if we took away some of that big scary power by saying:

“Let me just start ‘the big project.’ In 10 minutes if the dishes in the sink are still bothering me, I can go do them.” 

Giving yourself permission to stop can sometimes be enough to reduce that fear.

Usually, when I simply start, the daunting fear dissipates in about 2 minutes. So let’s turn the let-me-justs into a friend that serves US! 

As a recovering chronic let-me-just-er. I’d love to know how YOU cope with the let-me-justs. (Send me a message!)

I’ll leave you with this: 

If something is worth it in the long-run, it’s worth getting started right now. 

(I will if you will!)