Most often in our busy business lives there are so many things to attend to that we invariably feel if we’re not on top of everything, we’re procrastinating, or worse – we consider ourselves unmotivated or lazy.

The truth is we’ve got alot going on and it’s more a matter of honoring our truer interests, setting priorities, being time efficient, or even letting go of things completely.

I recently had a deadline on a project I was moderately interested in completing, but I was still committed to do it. It wasn’t causing me stress when the deadline arrived, because it was actually the deadline before the real deadline.  That is, I’d set a date earlier to complete the project than when it was due.  So rather than feel as if I was procrastinating for skipping a day or two, I had given myself one extra day before I needed to begin work on it.  I used this to finish a project I was already on and enjoy some down time. 

No guilt needed for my so-called “procrastination.”

What is the true reason you put something off rather than do it now?

Recently an associate wrote me, “I’m overwhelmed with my many entrepreneutrial projects. Each day I find I either lose time band-aiding old projects or organizing how I’ll tackle new ones – which seem to keep piling up. How do I get a better strategy and move ahead?” Here are a few suggestions I recommended, that can help get someone in this situation on the right track…

When the is finally cast for your life,  what will your epitaph read?  Will it read like George Bernard Shaw’s quote that you died ”…fully used up…” and follow Neil Young’s philosophy, “It’s better to burn out than fade out.”  Or will it resemble Norman Cousin’s quote, “The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live”?  These losses are the shoulda-woulda-coulda’s - those disillusionments we all hold onto.  What do you do about them?

Having just turned 54, I find myself feeling everyday is more urgently calling me to be present and not miss the gold in the moment.  Time I spend regretting my life in any way, mulling over thoughts of “if only’s,” is time I miss the sacred preciousness and gift of experiencing my life fully.

There are many excellent books on dealing with regrets, including the ten-step program by Hamilton Beazley’s book and Wikihow.com/Overcome-Serious-Regrets summary that captures this and more in its article on regrets.  Regrets.org.uk is a sociological database of time and sentiments of regret catalogued for different communities.  You can go there to type in your regrets and get them off your chest.  Or decide today that the past enabled you to be who you are now.  Your learning route is your own and not to be judged.  Accept it and be grateful for what you do have – not wish it or you, were different.

What shoulds have you let go of and how is that changing your present moments?

I’ve discovered the way to survive, feel productive and enjoy a short holiday week is to take some things off of my plate and be wary of adding new things.

It’s not always easy to dance to the beat of my own drum, though.  I have to be discriminating in which projects to let go of for now and which ones to eliminate completely.  I have to determine which conversations to shorten or decide whether to postpone a pre-arranged goal to take a call and connect with someone rather than rush a call. 

Some of this is knowing that I won’t beat myself up at the end of each day for not completing everything I started and trusting that I will followup at my earliest opportunity with those things I have decided to finish.

Today my heart was pumping and I felt an adrenaline excitement about all the projects I had lined up for the day.  I also felt an overriding anxiousness.  I’ve been here before. 

I asked myself how I could get it all done and felt a slight tremor that was pushing me to get into action.  But instead, I sat and waited for that solid, centered base to operate from.  This is the difference for me now in my life. 

Everyday I start with a short meditation, even when my mind is racing.  I ask for peace and pace.  I know that either one will certainly bring the other.  It regulates my workload and let’s me focus on my “nothing is important” mantra that I repeat when I find I’m getting overly significant about what I’m doing and what I have to be doing. It’s one thing to be enthusiastic for the projects I’m doing, the people I’m working with, the ideas I want to manifest…it’s another thing to feel a drive that makes you forget to breathe, eat regularly and get up from your computer to stretch and get out in the day. 

My meditations are one way I center my day.  I begin them after I shower and change and before I have breakfast or do anything else. 

I’ve found that even one phone call or checking my emails starts a trail of to-do’s that makes it harder to get back to the first breath of morning stillness or even show up for the meditation at all.  I set a timer now to remind me to keep my computer time short throughout the day.   

What do you do to keep your peace and pace?