How One Mantra is Helping Me Conquer Procrastination in 2025

It’s a brand-new year – yay for 2025! Every year, I take some time to evaluate everything I want to accomplish and make a plan. Call them resolutions if you want, but for me, it’s all about creating positive change in my life.

My 2025 Resolutions: Rules for Success and How I Plan to Tackle Them

I’ve got a few rules for my resolutions:

• They’ve got to be attainable.
• There needs to be something measurable about them.
• I make a plan for each resolution.

Last Year’s Goal

Last year, my big goal was to drink more water. I know it sounds silly, but I’m just not a thirsty person, so I was only drinking a cup or two of liquid a day. I started with a huge water bottle that was kind of a pain to lug around. My husband is pretty good about supporting me with my goals so when he bought me an insulated stainless cup with a straw, it was a great upgrade that helped me achieve my resolution even more effectively. He even got me my favorite color! Check out the pic below. I joke that I look like a hamster with my water bottle! But, I'm happy to report that I drink about 50-60 oz of water a day.

The key was having it handy. 

My Main Resolution for 2025

This year, I’ve got a few goals, but my main one revolves around a mantra with an action item. I’ve realized that, more often than not, I put off doing things I really don’t want to do. I’ll eventually get to them, but the procrastination has become a bit of a habit lately, and it’s time to put a stop to it.

I also know that reciting mantras helps me push through tough stuff. When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I always remind myself: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Now, I’m not actually eating elephants here, but it’s a good reminder to break down big tasks into smaller steps.

So, this year’s mantra is: Do Hard Things First.

How Mantras Help Me Tackle Procrastination

I started practicing it last week and made a point to tackle the things I didn’t want to do first. Turns out, they weren’t as hard as I had built them up to be, and knocking them out first thing makes the rest of the day feel a lot easier.

Managing My Energy and Delegating Tasks

Living with an autoimmune disease, I have to be really aware of how much energy and bandwidth I have each day. I can easily overdo it. Most of the things I consider “hard” aren’t physically demanding, but they do take a toll on my mind or take time away from the physical tasks I need to do. So, I’m also trying to give myself some space by delegating tasks to my family or paying for help with things like cleaning the house.

The Plan & Measurable Steps

My measurable step is to take inventory at the start of each week, write everything down on my dry-erase board, and identify the “hard” tasks. I tackle those first. And when something pops into my head that I know I’ll want to put off, I remind myself of my mantra: Do the hard things first.

I'm also trying to incorporate a process called 'Timed Tasks." The idea is to set a timer for 15 minutes and try to beat the clock. This helps me stay hyper-focused and makes the task kind of fun! There are apps that can help you as well but I'm using the timer on my phone and that seems to work well for me.