On avoiding procrastination

I have just said goodbye to a friend who lives in the most wonderful location across the river from Edinburgh - her (big) front window looks across the estuary into the heart of the city, spectacular on an evening. As she left, the usual stuff came out of my mouth "We should come up again...". I just know that all I have to do is ask and the door will be open and I also know that it was just 2 minutes' work to get out our diaries and arrange something there and then, yet we didn't, we procrastinated.

Why? What is it that leads us to say "I should..." and then not do anything about it?

Well, I can also think of other times when I managed to get huge amounts done in a limited time - typically those last few days before a holiday when the 'To Do' list shrinks at a rate of knots, or when there is some other drop-dead deadline. What can these times tell us about how to make more effective use of our time?

It seems to me that the difference is something to do with committment. The drop-dead deadlines (which, of course, includes catching that flight to the sun/snow/sand...) somehow generate that sense of 'must do' which has a more compelling force than 'should do'.

So perhaps there are (at least!) two things to think about when deciding what do do with your time:

1) How important is this appointment/meeting/day out/etc to me? The more important it is, the more likely the job is to get done and the more likely I am to start early just in case something comes up at the last minute. I am saying yes becasue it seems like a good idea, or because someone else thinks it is important - or because it meets my needs?
2) Am I hoping for something better to come up? Maybe the reason we did not arrange that weekend in Scotland was that we were not willing to commit in case something else came up that was more compelling. And of course if something else does not come up then we have missed an opportunity!

Whatever I face, if it matters enough to me I will organise around it. So decide what really matters, get those things in your diary first (Stephen Covey's large stones) and then arrange everything else around those personal committments.