"It seemed like such a good idea at the time" stuff: I used to own a few sets of Hungarian language tapes I’d
found in a bookstore in the San Francisco airport. I’d been so excited to
find them because Hungarian is so different from English and I thought it
would be fascinating to understand a bit of it. I tucked them in my bag,
boarded the plane and soon was up in the air listening to Hungarian. After
three minutes on the headphones, however, I remembered I don’t like
listening to language tapes.
It also occurred to me that I don’t need Hungarian for
anything, and I’d never be able to learn such a difficult language on my own
anyway. So as soon as I got home I put them on my bookshelf and there they
stayed for three years; the part of me that remembered how much I dislike
listening to language tapes wouldn’t pick them up, and the part of me that
continued to think it would be fascinating to get a glimpse into Hungarian
wouldn’t throw them out.
Sound familiar? Look around you. Do you have great old records you always
meant to put on audiotape? A box of prints you always intended to frame and
hang somewhere? You know in your heart you own things you’ll never touch
again. What should you do with them? Forget your plans to stage a tag sale
in your yard. Unless you’re a whiz at such things they’re more work than
they’re worth. Anyway, you shouldn’t be handling all this stuff because as
soon as you do, your mind starts thinking maybe you should keep it—and
that’s the last thing you want.
Here’s what I want you to do: Walk around your house,
notebook and pencil in hand, and note as many of these
"seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the -time" projects as you can: lamps you’ve
intended to fix for years, antique clothes you were going to mend, small
cooking appliances for some eating plan you once had. They’ve become part of
the background noise of your life and you don’t exactly see them anymore.
Having to write them in your notebook will help bring them out of hiding.
Now call your own bluff. Next to each item on your list,
write the date you’re going to complete the project (sometime soon) – or if
you know there is no such date, write "Toss it," and move on to he next
group of stuff. If you have written a date, transfer it to your calendar.
And on that date, you must do it. You can change the date once or twice for
good reasons, but that’s all. You have to either put those operas on
audiotape and be proud of yourself, or toss them.
