I'll Do it Tomorrow

After reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey and The Young Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews, I have found nine areas where typical teens are different from productive young adults. In these nine posts, I'll be explaining them and asking you to decide where you are right now and where you would like to be in the future.

Typical teenagers procrastinate and often put mindless pleasure or leisure before work. Productive young adults prioritize. I once learned a poem by Christina G. Rosetti that put it very well:

“Work while you work, / Play while you play.

This is the way to be happy each day.

All that you do / Do with your might.

Things done by halves / are never done right.”

Covey teaches that “put first things first” is the third habit (106). Honestly, this is the one I struggle with the most. It's just so easy to put off the hard stuff and do something you'd much rather be doing right now. You have to prioritize. I'm learning to mark out the big blocks, then organize other things around them. And then stick to your plan with a decided heart (Andrews 82). Young adults do this daily.

• What things are you procrastinating? What are you going to do today to change that? Stop reading and go do it!

Coming up...In it to win it.

Sources:

Andrews, Andy. The Young Traveler's Gift. Nashville, Tenn.: Tommy Nelson, 2004. Print.

 Covey, Sean, and Inc OverDrive. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. S.I.: Touchstone, 2014. Print.