Personal Development

Time Management: Yoda’s Way to Get Blood Out of a Stone

By Joe Marchelewski ⋅ March 14, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Subscribe By Email ⋅ Post a comment

Like most folks, there is a certain frustration I feel over the fact that I can get tons of work done in an hour, but at other times I can’t get one thing done in an entire day. There is rarely a happy medium between random bouts of laziness and procrastination and random bouts of being able to cook a gourmet meal while finishing my novel. However, there are little secret ways to increase one’s productivity while battling against the wicked demon that is time wasted.

The key is to talk to your inner Jedi, a little guy named Yoda. Sure he was only a puppet (or CGI animation depending the movie) but his wisdom was relevant a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, and right here, right now.

“Do or do not… there is no try.”

It’s not a matter of “trying” to overcome procrastination, it’s a matter of “doing” what needs to get done. In essence, it’s all about your mindset. Stop trying to be a better time manger and get off your butt and do what needs to be done!

“Size matters not, … Look at me. Judge me by size, do you?”

Whether it’s a thousand random projects or one humongous one, don’t judge your to-do list by it’s size, or by your abilities. When we judge our abilities, we look at our past, what our track record is, but when we give it all we have, and then some, we’re not judging at all, but doing.

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

Be honest with yourself, what can you honestly accomplish? This works in tandem with the previous point. You can’t judge yourself too harshly, but if all you do is create impossible tasks then all you’ll ever do is pity yourself for what you can’t accomplish.

“[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.”

Again, you are not your past. If it’s noon and you’ve made your to-do list and nothing is finished, so what? Belief accompanies goal setting like a bride to a groom. If you only set out to accomplish blowing your nose, and you don’t believe you have a tissue, then what can you accomplish?

“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.”

Your day is an opportunity, and every minute you let procrastination have is one minute less you have. While laziness is not an evil emperor, it is a thief that comes to take away what is rightfully yours.

“Always in motion is the future.”

Every time you get something done, you’ve changed history. History isn’t a gigantic plant, it’s an amalgamation of a zillion random particles coming together. When you see history and the future as a collection, rather than a finished product, you can feel more motivated. Get your projects done now, and the future will hold promise, sit back down on your couch with a beer and watch your future disintegrate.

“Always two there are, no more, no less: a master and an apprentice.”

Throughout childhood we have coaches, grade school, little league, high school football, but then we graduate high school or college and all of a sudden we decide that we’ve had enough of all that. Around your office, your neighborhood, your place of worship and your community are people who are fantastic at time management. Find them and learn from them.