Why shouldn’t you feel guilty about not completing your tasks?

Because everyone has a bad day and today it could be your turn.

Because the world will not come to an end if you push some tasks to the next day.

Because, as Tara says in Gone with the Wind, tomorrow is another day. And you get 24 more hours to complete pending tasks.

And finally,

Because instead of wallowing in guilt and self-pity, you should spend some time reflecting upon why you couldn’t complete the tasks you had committed to.

I have been there and I know it’s difficult. But there is nothing that an honest try cannot achieve.

I have reflected upon my inability to complete tasks many times. In fact more than I care to remember, and here is what I have learnt. There are only three reasons why you fail:

You do not have the motivation to complete the tasks.
Your health fails you.
You do not have enough time at hand.

And all these can be eliminated if you have the desire to do so, from the bottom of your heart. If you follow the HMT framework:

Health
Motivation
Time

All these must be available to you for you to finish what you committed to.

If you are not healthy, no amount of motivation and time available at hand can get your work done.

If you are feeling good both mentally and physically, but not motivated enough to complete a task, the whole day will pass without you raising a finger.

You are in the pink of your health and feeling highly motivated to complete your important tasks but you have no time to start working on them. Needless to say, you will not be able to do anything about it.

Let’s see what needs to be done to tackle each of these pillars of the HMT framework.

Health

Remember, when you say health, it should encompass both mental and physical health. Physical health is something we have been talking about for long and it’s time mental health gained as much weightage when we say “health.”

Modern workplaces as well as homes are breeding grounds for mental stress and hence you must be intentional about keeping healthy mentally.

Here are some simple tips for you to maintain good health and high energy levels through the day.

Spend some time with yourself in the morning

Sit quietly with a mug of your favorite beverage and do nothing except maybe listen to the birds. Let the thoughts flow and think about them deeply to understand why you are having those thoughts. It helps in purging the negative emotions that play with your mental well-being.

Journalling or writing morning pages can also be a good way to talk with yourself and clarify your own thoughts.

Get active

Do some physical activity like walking, jogging, cycling or exercising for 30 minutes five days a week. It is recommended by doctors and I can vouch for its effectiveness in maintaining high energy levels through the week.

Keep yourself active throughout the day by taking regular breaks, stretching your body, exercising your neck and arms, spot jogging, etc. Anything to keep the blood rushing through the body.

Eat well…Sleep well

Eat nutritious food — your sprouts, leafy greens, fruits, meat, nuts — all food groups should be part of your daily diet. Keep yourself hydrated through the day. And finally, get 7–8 hours of sleep at night.

Always be happy

Remember that your happiness is not dependent upon your social, financial or physical well-being. It is simply a state of mind and if you are intentional about it you can be happy, whatever the circumstances. When you are happy you feel better both physically and mentally.

Motivation

This is a tricky customer. Being motivated getting through every single day. Here are a few tips to help you navigate demotivation and lack of interest

Know your why

Whatever you are doing, ask yourself why you are doing it. But don’t stop there. Ask the “why” again and keep repeating it till you reach the bottom of the reason.

See, we do everything to meet our basic needs, sometimes called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs — money, food, power, safety, security, respect, health, relationships. Everything else is just abstraction and this is the abstraction that we need to remove and reach to the cracks. When you have that sorted out, you will never lack motivation for doing anything.

Reflect on the outcome of your actions

On a more mundane level, ask yourself what will happen if you do the task and what will happen if you do not do the task. Either the enormity of the situation when you do not complete it or the euphoria you will feel when you complete it should be enough to motivate. It works. Every. Single. Time.

Reward yourself when you complete a task

Research has proved that immediate rewards are intrinsic motivators for finishing a task. Our brain remembers being rewarded for completing a task, and the next you want to finish the task you feel motivated because our brain senses the joy of receiving a reward.

So reward yourself for finishing each milestone in a project, not only after you finish the whole project!

Time

The first thing to remember, when you want to create more time for yourself, is this:

You cannot keep your personal and professional tasks separate. Treat them at par.

Once you’re comfortable with the idea of having a single SuperList of personal and professional interests, here is how you can find more time to do things:

Give each of the tasks a priority on a scale of 1 to 3.
Schedule priority one tasks in your calendar and complete them as in when the time comes.
Keep adding the new tasks that come up in the same SuperList.
Complete the tasks scheduled for the day. If you are unable to finish the task, schedule it for the next day.

Yes it is as simple as the four steps listed here. But of course this is theory and you need to practice “doing” it every single day.

Besides this, you need to take care of a few things to keep you on track:

The last task of every day must go to plan the next day.
Plan your next week over the weekend.
Do not schedule your calendar with back-to-back tasks. Keep buffer time.
If you are not able to complete a task mistake for the day, it is not the end of the world and this whole article has been about precisely that point.

Final thoughts

If you have been with me till here, I am confident that the next time you are unable to complete the tasks for a day, instead of chiding yourself for it, you will devote some time analyzing the reason behind it.

I have also given you enough tips to get started. Take care of your health, keep yourself motivated and schedule your day intentionally to finish your tasks every day.