“I will do it next month.” I have said that sentence more times than I can count. If you are a woman who keeps her own plans waiting until the house is quiet, this post is for you. It took me years to learn that I had to stop postponing, and I would like you to learn it sooner than I did.
Table of Contents
How My Waiting Began
I have always loved learning something new. Studies came naturally to me, and I kept adding one more goal to my list. I even kept studying through a pregnancy, a story I shared in Books, a Bulging Tummy and a Dream I Refused to Drop.
I was serious about my health too. Until 2020, I went to the gym regularly and loved my Zumba classes. Then COVID arrived. The routine broke, the workouts stopped, and I told myself I would start again when things settled down.
They never settled down. Every month brought something new. “Let the children’s things get over first.” “Let this month pass.” “I will buy it next month.” “Let me first take care of what my husband needs.” My own wishes kept moving to the back of the line, and I hardly noticed.
There Is No Quieter Season
Here is what years of experience have taught me. We wait for a quieter season, a calm patch when everything is finished and we can finally begin. But it does not come. One task ends, and another walks in. Waiting for life to settle down is like waiting for the road to be empty before you start walking.
Psychologists call this habit procrastination, but I think of it as a quiet “maybe.” Maybe after this month. Maybe after the children’s work is done. Left alone, “maybe” turns into “then”: then I will start exercising, then I will begin that course, then I will finally do the thing I have talked about for years. And the wish stays a wish.
For many of us it is not laziness. It is love. We take care of everyone else first. But nothing changes until we stop postponing the things that matter to us, too.
A Blog That Waited Since 2019
I know this well because of this very blog. In January 2019, I created a blog and never launched it. I did not know how to start. What will people think? Will it be good enough? I am also a bit of a perfectionist, so I kept waiting until everything felt just right. Nothing ever did.
It took me until 2026 to stop postponing and finally begin. Today this blog has more than fifteen posts. None of them is perfect, and every one of them taught me something. That is the whole point. Experience is not there to make us perfect. It is there to make us a little better, day by day.
Four Lessons to Help You Stop Postponing
1. Another thing will always come up
If something finishes today, something else arrives tomorrow. There is no “after everything settles.” Decide to stop postponing while life is still busy, because it will always be busy.
2. Find the time in between
Everyone has the same 24 hours. You may not find a free afternoon, but you can find twenty minutes between your tasks. Small slices of time add up faster than you think, and they are usually enough to begin.
3. Start before you are perfect
Perfect is a moving target. To stop postponing, start with what you have, and improve as you go. A rough first attempt teaches you more than a perfect plan that never leaves your notebook.
4. Tell the children, too
When my children want to put something off, I tell them to finish it now. I say this because I have been through the ups and downs, and I know that waiting rarely makes anything easier. Children learn more from what we do than from what we say, so let them see us begin, too.
Start With What You Have
If I could speak to the woman I was in 2019, I would tell her to stop waiting for permission. You do not need a quieter season to stop postponing your own life. You need one small first step, taken today, with whatever you have.
As Secretary of my Toastmasters club, I gently nudge members to take up meeting roles. Many say, “Maybe next week.” I understand, because I said the same about my own plans for years. In my 50s, I am learning that a nudge works both ways: each time I encourage someone else to begin, I am reminded to begin myself.
Here is something you can try today:
- Write down one thing you have been saving for “later.”
- Choose the smallest possible first step.
- Do it within the next 24 hours, even if it is imperfect.
If money is the thing you have been putting off, you may also like my post on why women need financial independence. Stop postponing, one small step at a time.
What is the one thing you keep saving for “later”? Tell me in the comments. Maybe today is the day you begin.