Every August, something shifts.
The kids are back in school; the house gets a little quieter, and for the first time in months, you have a chance to look around. And suddenly, you notice all the things that have been patiently waiting for your attention.
The garage is overflowing. Your closets need to be cleaned out. There are weeds growing in the flower beds. Those family photos are still sitting on your phone waiting to become albums or scrapbooks. Maybe you’ve been meaning to organize your pantry, repaint a room, or finally tackle that growing pile of keepsakes you’ve been saving for years.
Is this just me (Jen) or can you relate?
Instead of feeling excited about finally having a little more time, many of us feel overwhelmed.
When we look at everything that needs to be done, it’s hard to know where to start. The list feels so long that we convince ourselves we’ll wait until we have an entire free day—or even an entire weekend—to really dive into it. We tell ourselves we’ll start next month, after things settle down. Then next month becomes next season, and before we know it, another year has gone by without finishing projects.
The problem is that putting something off never gets it done.
Sometimes the best answer to procrastination isn’t finding more time, getting more motivated, or waiting until life settles down.
It’s simply starting.
Slow and steady wins the race.
And when it comes to the projects we’ve been procrastinating for months—or even years—that may be one of the most useful lessons we can learn.
The Conversation that Brought this Lesson Back
A conversation with a friend brought this lesson back to me this week.
She mentioned that she didn’t know when she would ever find the time to create the photo books and scrapbooks she’d always wanted to make for her family. She loved the idea of preserving those memories, but the project felt so big that she couldn’t imagine where she would even begin.
As she was talking, something I learned a few years ago about finishing projects from Jody Moore immediately came back to me.
She taught that instead of waiting until you have enough time to finish a project, simply start doing it.
That advice sounds almost too simple, but I’ve found it to be incredibly freeing.
We often think we need hours of uninterrupted time before it’s even worth starting. In reality, very few worthwhile projects are completed in one sitting anyway.
Most of the meaningful things we accomplish happen little by little over time.
That’s why slow and steady wins the race isn’t just an old saying. It’s actually a pretty practical strategy for getting things done.
What Is the Opposite of Procrastination?
We usually think the opposite of procrastination is productivity.
But I don’t think that’s quite it. You don’t have to suddenly become incredibly productive, organized, disciplined, or efficient to stop procrastinating.
The opposite of procrastination is action.
Small action counts.
Imperfect action counts.
Thirty minutes counts – even five minutes counts if five minutes is what you have today.
The goal isn’t to suddenly finish everything you’ve been putting off. The goal is to stop waiting and begin moving.
As Karen Lamb famously said: “A year from now you may wish you had started today.”
That’s the thing about procrastination. The time is going to pass whether we start or not.
So we might as well start.
What Can You Do in Just 30 Minutes?
So, what if you only have 30 minutes each week to dedicate to a project?
Then spend 30 minutes on it.
If you want to create scrapbooks for your children, schedule 30 minutes every Saturday morning. If you have digital photos scattered across your phone, computer, and old hard drives, spend 30 minutes gathering and organizing them. If your garage has turned into a catch-all, choose one shelf or corner and spend 30 minutes clearing it out.
You don’t have to finish it today.
You just have to move it forward.
When you think about it, thirty minutes doesn’t seem like very much. But thirty minutes every week adds up to more than twenty-six hours over the course of a year.
Imagine what you could accomplish if you consistently gave one important project twenty-six focused hours.
That scrapbook would slowly fill with memories. Those photos would finally be organized. The garage would become usable again. Little by little, the projects that have been hanging over your head for years would actually begin disappearing from your list.
Slow progress is still progress.
And sometimes, slow progress is exactly how we get big things done.
Why Do We Procrastinate?
One of the biggest reasons we procrastinate is because we secretly believe that if we can’t do something perfectly, it’s not worth doing at all.
This has been the story of my life.
We imagine beautiful scrapbooks worthy of displaying at family reunions. We picture perfectly organized garages with matching bins and labels. We want magazine-worthy flower beds and spotless pantries.
But perfection has a way of keeping us stuck.
Done is almost always better than perfect.
Your scrapbook doesn’t have to win any awards. Your children will treasure it simply because you took the time to preserve their memories. Your weeds will probably grow back next year, but that doesn’t mean pulling them today isn’t worthwhile. Your garage may never stay perfectly organized forever, but making it functional will make your life easier right now.
Progress has a funny way of building momentum. Once you’ve spent thirty minutes on a project, it’s much easier to come back next week and spend another thirty. Before long, you’re no longer carrying the mental weight of something you’ve been avoiding. And it truly is subconscious, even if it’s not conscious weight.
Instead, you’re enjoying the satisfaction of watching it slowly come together.
How to Overcome Procrastination: Make the Project Smaller
If you’re wondering how to overcome procrastination, one of the simplest things you can do is stop focusing on finishing the entire project.
Make the goal smaller.
Don’t “organize the garage” – Organize one shelf.
Don’t “make the family scrapbooks” – Finish two pages.
Don’t “clean out every closet” – Choose one closet and set a timer for 30 minutes.
Don’t “get the whole house organized” – Choose one drawer.
Big projects create overwhelm because our brains immediately see how much work is ahead of us. But when we make the next step small enough, it becomes much easier to begin.
And beginning matters.
As Mark Twain is often quoted: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
You don’t need to know exactly how you’re going to finish.
You just need to know what you’re going to do next.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
We’ve heard “slow and steady wins the race” since we were children, thanks to the story of the tortoise and the hare.
But somewhere along the way, I think we forget it.
We start believing progress only counts when it’s impressive.
We want the dramatic before-and-after. The weekend makeover. The perfectly organized house. The finished scrapbook. The huge transformation.
But most real change doesn’t happen that way.
It happens because we keep showing up.
Thirty minutes this week.
Thirty minutes next week.
Thirty minutes the week after that.
And eventually, the thing that seemed impossible is finished.
One of my favorite quotes from leadership expert John C. Maxwell captures this perfectly:
“Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”
Isn’t that true of almost everything worthwhile?
Healthy bodies are built one healthy meal at a time. Strong relationships are built one conversation at a time. Faith grows one prayer at a time. And we start finishing projects around our homes one small work session at a time.
As moms, we sometimes believe we need giant blocks of time before we can accomplish anything meaningful. But life rarely gives us giant blocks of time. More often, it gives us small pockets of opportunity. When we learn to use those moments instead of waiting for the perfect circumstances, amazing things begin to happen.
One Project. 30 Minutes. Start this Week
So as your kids head back to school this year, I want to encourage you to choose just one project that’s been quietly waiting for your attention.
Don’t worry about the entire list. Don’t think about everything that needs to happen over the next six months.
Simply pick one thing.
Then open your calendar and schedule thirty minutes this week to work on it. Protect that appointment like you would any other commitment, and when those thirty minutes are over, celebrate the fact that you showed up.
If you’re trying to figure out how to overcome procrastination, it really can be that simple:
Choose one thing. Make the next step small. Give it 30 minutes. Then come back and do it again.
Remember, something is always better than nothing. Done will almost always serve your family better than perfect ever could.
And when you’re tempted to wait until you have more time, more energy, or better circumstances, remember:
Slow and steady wins the race.
A year from now, you’ll be amazed at what thirty minutes at a time can accomplish.
