Procrastination is usually talked about in the context of the six perfections of the bodhisattva, and, in particular, in the fourth of the six, which is called enthusiastic perseverance or joyful effort or effort or perseverance. The way to get enthusiasm clearly in focus is to see it in the framework of its opposite: laziness. This is a big shock for us – we don’t like the word laziness – but it’s logical psychologically.
There are three levels of laziness. The first one is the most obvious one: “I can’t be bothered.” The second one, and the one we’re talking about here, is more sneaky, more wicked: “Ah, too busy – I’ll do it later.” The third one is the hopelessness of feeling it’s not possible.
All the lamas say that the key to having enthusiasm is to think about the benefits of doing something. It’s clear: when we see the great practitioners, the evidence is right there: I want to become like that.
We always seem to put off our practice. It’s one of the commonest things that we all talk about. You go to your meditation course, you’ve thought about the benefits of a practice, you’re all enthusiastic, so you get up in the morning and before you go to work you do your meditation – and you feel so good.
But by the third morning, you wake up and, instantly, you can’t be bothered: you’re in your comfort zone, it’s really hard to get up in the mornings, you’d rather sink back into sleep. Then you lie to yourself: “Well, you know, I’m too busy: I’ve got to have breakfast, I’ve got to do this and that, so I’ll do my practice later” – then you sigh with relief and turn over and go back to sleep.
It all happens so quickly: you think of the thing you’re supposed to do, and the next millisecond you go, “Oh, I can’t be bothered.” But then another lie on top says, “I’m too busy” – it feels so virtuous! – “so I’ll do it later.”
You think you get yourself off the hook, but it’s a lie: later never comes: you don’t do it later; you won’t do it later. All you’ve done is create aversion in your mind, and this tension builds up, year after year, and you carry around these burdens like a turtle with their house on their back. It’s so painful. We can see this.
But we all know that when you finally do decide to do that job you’ve been putting off, it takes you thirty minutes. You can’t believe it, and the relief is enormous, and you feel so good about yourself.
For example, I’m a so-called Buddhist nun. I do my job: I teach the Dharma, I edit the Dharma, I answer letters from people about the Dharma. Aren’t I lucky that my life is about the Dharma? I’m very fortunate, I’m happy, it’s what I want. I have my list of jobs to do – we’ve all got our own systems, haven’t we – and there are certain jobs that I put off.
It’s all so quick – in a millisecond I’m saying, “Oh, I’ll do that later” – and then it’s a week later, two weeks later, and the job is still undone. And then it becomes a habit.
This is why the Dalai Lama or Lama Zopa – these accomplished people who’ve got supreme enthusiasm – there’s no such thing as putting things off. Or think of anyone we know in ordinary life who accomplishes a lot of things: it’s because they don’t put things off. They can accomplish twenty times more than we can because we spend so much effort putting things off, and then feeling dragged down by it, constantly feeling guilty, constantly telling ourselves off and building up this aversion in our mind. We understand this so well, every one of us, you know?
So, what’s the solution? You make a decision: “Today I’m going to do a little bit of practice.” You make effort. But don’t be dramatic: “I’m going to do four hours every morning” – no, that’s ridiculous: start with five minutes.
You have to be reasonable and humble with yourself and know that it’s incremental. That’s important. And then delight that you’ve done it, rejoice in it. My mother used to say we’re our own worst enemies, and it’s so true. This is the irony of ego, isn’t it? We beat ourselves up mercilessly: “Oh, I don’t practice hard enough.” Once you start talking that way no matter how much you do, you’ll never be satisfied.
Another thing that’s important, and it’s really the first step, is to be honest with ourselves and notice when we’re putting something off. We’ve got to notice the mistake in our minds, own it, catch ourselves. We’ve got to hear ourselves: “Oh, I’m too busy, I’ll do it later. Oh, I’ve got to go to breakfast, I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to have my shower, I’ve got to comb my hair and put my lipstick on” – whatever.
We need to think of the benefit of your practice, the long-term benefit – and then you’ll prioritize it. You won’t kid yourself and say you’re too busy. I mean you don’t get up in the morning, and climb in the car in your pajamas: “Oh, I was too busy because I did my practice.” I don’t think so. We always make sure we have our shower, put our lippy on, drink our coffee – we don’t put those off.
We have to decide, we have to prioritize. We have to be in charge of our lives. We’ve got to be adult about it. Then we’ll succeed.