Don’t Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today

September 22nd, 2007

Thomas Jefferson once said this. I’m sure everyone has heard it before, just like I’m sure that most people have also violated it on more than one occasion.

I know I have.

Tomorrow never comes. Because “tomorrow” is always just one day away, and what can just one more day hurt?

The answer is a lot. Think of this in terms of your work on your website. Here is one thing that I catch myself doing all the time – I come across a good article that would be beneficial for me to read and I bookmark it into my “To Read” category. A month later, it is still sitting in there. Often times I will never get around to reading it.

So what am I missing out on? Who knows, and that is the problem. It could be something that would give me great insight into promoting my website, adding a new feature, or building revenue. What’s the worst that could happen? You spend ten minutes reading something that you already knew.

What’s the best thing? You increase your website’s traffic, profit, usability, or any number of other things. How many of you would prefer to double your traffic and income in a year’s time instead of half a year’s time? Seems like a pretty obvious answer to that question, right? Well you’re not going to reach your goals by putting off your research and testing. Finding material that will help you grow your website does not do you any good. Reading it does.

Looking through my list of “To Read”, I just found articles on how to improve your SEO, investing tips, a list of 17 “must have” plugins for WordPress, niche research techniques, and a couple of “how to”’s written by people who have “made it”. Sounds like some pretty good stuff, but currently it is doing me no use.

Trust me, I know – simple concept, but hard to follow. Here are a few tips that might help you, however:

1. Print out the article. Read it during your lunch break or as you are stuck in traffic (but never while actually driving! Knowledge doesn’t do you any good when you’re dead.)
2. Write down a specific time of the day when you will have time to read it, and then stick to that time.
3. Bargain with yourself – do whatever you want to on the web for ten minutes, then take the next ten minutes reading the article. Repeat if needed.
4. Just read it! Seriously, though – just read it.

Remember – you have to make it happen. No one is going to be keeping you to a schedule. You have to have the dedication to be your own boss. People don’t just get lucky and strike gold on the web, they work long and hard, and most importantly, they don’t procrastinate!

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