Video summary
The video challenges the conventional wisdom in personal productivity that labeling a task as "I'll do it tomorrow" is inherently deceptive or a form of procrastination. The speaker argues that this common phrase is often misunderstood; it does not necessarily mean one is lying to oneself or indefinitely postponing a task. Instead, the core issue lies in the lack of conviction behind the statement. When people say they will wait until tomorrow, they frequently fail to officially close out their current day, leaving the task in an ambiguous state where they might still attempt it later if motivation strikes. This uncertainty creates unnecessary tension and stress in the body because the individual has not truly stepped away from the commitment, effectively keeping the day "open" rather than finished.
To resolve this, the speaker introduces a crucial distinction between deferring a task and officially ending one's workday for that specific item. The proposed solution is to add a layer of decisiveness and clarity to the phrase "I'll do it tomorrow." This means explicitly telling oneself that today is officially done regarding that particular task, regardless of whether a sudden burst of motivation appears later in the day. By inserting this boundary with certainty, the individual stops negotiating with themselves or second-guessing their decision. The speaker emphasizes that true productivity relies on being able to switch between "on" and "off" states effectively, and maintaining an open-ended attitude prevents the mental clutter and anxiety associated with unfinished business.
The ultimate goal of adopting this mindset is to replace hesitation with conviction, which allows the body and mind to relax and reduces overall stress. When a person genuinely believes they are done for the day, the fear and tension associated with potential failure or inconsistency begin to dissipate. This clarity makes it easier to honor commitments made for future days because the current day has been properly closed out. Consequently, consistency naturally follows from this practice of decisiveness rather than relying on fluctuating motivation levels. The speaker concludes that anyone who frequently tells themselves they will do something tomorrow is actually closer to a solution than they realize; they simply need to ensure their statement carries the weight of a final decision for today, transforming a perceived weakness into a manageable and productive strategy.
Read the full video transcript
Okay, I'm going to try and make a video
that explains a kind of a controversial
idea here.
Which is my defense of doing things
tomorrow in personal productivity. We're
always kind of told that
you
tell yourself you're going to do it
tomorrow and that's the big lie, right?
So, I'm going to actually defend
this this idea. Now, it's not what you
think.
It's not because I'm telling you to be
more compassionate to yourself or
to go easier necessarily. But, there is
a very very interesting thing that's
happening around this
uh phenomenon where we tell ourselves,
"Look, I'll do it tomorrow." And in
personal productivity, that's always
presented as the big lie.
It's actually more helpful than a lot of
the hustle culture stuff that's out
there.
But, I want to
highlight what's going on here
with this idea of doing things tomorrow.
Um
and how to actually make it work
for you.
So, if we look at that there, we could
say
Let's just look at it this way. Let's
say
Let's say this phase here.
That's your
That's today.
We'll say, okay. And this over here is
tomorrow.
Let's label it there.
This is tomorrow.
And this is today.
And you're here at the start of your
day.
And
Okay.
We'll say I'm making a commitment to
start something here.
Maybe we don't show up for it. Okay, at
that point we
have the experience of failing to commit
to it.
It might not even be that, but it would
be at some point we have this intention
of of the task today.
And we say, "Well, actually, you know
what? I'm not going to do that today. I
really Look, I'll do it tomorrow."
Which Which does, in a way, look like it
opens up this
part of your day here for
what I advocate for, which is to reflect
on
your actions or your failure to follow
through on things, but you're stepping
away from the task, okay, which is what
I actually recommend we do when we fail
to show up for something, which is the
idea in my new book.
But it looks as if we've deferred it
here for uh the next day.
So, people say, "Okay, this is wrong.
This is bad. You shouldn't do that."
And people will say it's because, you
know, the the message is that people say
is that
the big problem is we keep telling
ourselves
"I'll
do it
tomorrow."
This is the big lie that we're telling
ourselves.
In my experience, this is the insight I
have on all of this.
What's really happening here
today,
especially, you know, in this phase here
when
we've told ourselves, "Look, I'll do it
tomorrow."
I've asked many, many people this
question.
And it is this.
Okay, you you're telling yourself here,
maybe at this point, "I'll do it
tomorrow."
However,
what happens if a sudden burst of
motivation comes along at this point?
Or
at this point.
Or at this point.
Today,
what would you do? If you really felt
like taking action on that task at of
the points in this day that you have
written off and said you're not going to
do it,
would you actually
change the idea of, you know, I'll do it
tomorrow. Would you Would you drop that
concept and jump into doing the task?
And I have to tell you invariably
people have told me, "Yes.
100% I would jump right in
to doing the task if at any point here
in today's timeline
I get a sudden burst of motivation to do
the task."
So, really
what this
sentiment of I'll do it tomorrow means
is
hopefully
I'll do it tomorrow or maybe I'll do it
tomorrow, but
I
might
do it
today.
You see, the problem with I'll do it
tomorrow
isn't that you're lying to yourself and
that you're putting it off yet again.
The problem is
that you actually haven't fully
written off today.
And this day up here where you think
you've you've told yourself, "Okay, it's
finished. I'm stepping away from it."
You actually haven't stepped away from
it.
There's a big difference between telling
yourself you'll do it tomorrow
and actually officially ending the day.
I'll do it tomorrow versus I'm not doing
it now. I won't do it today. Officially,
categorically, and you know, with with
conviction.
That's the only problem with the idea
that I'll do it tomorrow. Not what you
think. It's not this big lie that we're
told about. It's actually it doesn't
mean
what we what we think it means. It
means, "Yeah, okay, I'll do it
tomorrow." But,
today is still open.
And the open-ended thing here is the
problem because it creates all this
tension in the body that you carry
around.
To be productive
means that we're good at being on
and we're very good at being off.
And when we're telling ourselves we're
doing it tomorrow and really what it
means is, "Yeah, but I still might do it
today." This day here means open all day
long.
Even though you think you've you've
said, "I'll do it here."
And you may intend to do it there, you
probably think you might do it there.
You haven't officially shut the day
down.
Okay? So,
if you could the only problem with "I'll
do it tomorrow"
is that there's not enough conviction
behind it. I know this is not strange.
But, if you can tell yourself, "Look, I
will do this tomorrow." And replace this
part of it with something else,
then we'll really have a much better
solution. So, let's get rid of this.
This part here.
Let's get rid of this. That's what we
unconsciously or secretly mean when we
when we say that to ourselves.
Or don't You don't have to stop telling
yourself I'll do it tomorrow. You just
have to add something to it.
And it is this.
We need to add that today, which means
we could say
that today
is
officially
What's the word?
Finished.
Officially finished. This is the trick
to make this work for you.
You're allowed to tell yourself, "I'll
do it tomorrow." As long as it that
means that today is officially done.
And that means should motivation show up
here or here or here,
I still won't be doing it.
Okay?
The missing ingredient to personal
productivity for years, for decades,
isn't motivation and it isn't even
compassion.
It's clarity.
Decisiveness.
Boundaries with yourself. So, if you can
put that boundary into place, this
space becomes a lot more clear. You're
adding clarity to it now. Not a sense of
we'll see.
It's the we'll see attitude or maybes
get us into big, big problems with
personal productivity.
So,
you're allowed to have a day where you
you say, "I'm not doing it."
Especially if you've made a commitment
and you didn't show up for it.
The idea in my new book is that you step
away and you use this time now to
Ideally, you would do some reflection on
what really happened there.
"I'll do it tomorrow" is a fine thing to
tell yourself as long as it doesn't mean
"Maybe I'll do it later secretly." It
has to mean today now is officially
finished. I am not doing that task.
Stepping away from it.
Add that what we're looking for here is
not motivation. It's conviction.
Certainty, right? Adding a little bit of
Because procrastination is this game of
second-guessing yourself all the time
and negotiating and renegotiating.
If we can find a way to
insert conviction, clarity,
this gets a lot easier.
Okay? So, if you've been the kind of
person that notices that you say this
yourself a lot, "I'll look, I'll do it
tomorrow." You're actually a lot closer
to solution than you think.
And a lot closer than a lot of personal
productivity advice and videos that
um
would admonish you for that.
You're a lot closer than those videos
would lead you to believe. All you got
to do is add conviction to it. Now, if
you can do that and you get good at I'm
done now, finish for today,
your body starts to relax, it starts to
get more certainty.
A lot of the fear starts to go out of
all of this, this whole dynamic becomes
a lot less stressful, and you will find
that making commitments to yourself
becomes a lot easier, and and
consistency will follow from that.
So, when you say I'll do it tomorrow,
mean it. That's the only thing I would
add to it, and that would be a game
changer for you in your personal
productivity.
Any thoughts or feedback, leave them
below. You can reach me um below. My
links uh to work with me one-to-one are
there, and for my um my books.
And for a group I also run as well,
which is called the Self-Trust
Community. So, we meet once a week.
So, if you're interested in that and any
of these ideas, if they resonate with
you, um you can find that on my website,
too.
Take care. Talk again soon. Bye-bye.
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