“I’ll go to the gym later.” “I’ll submit the homework later.” I’ll talk to my parents later.”

The word later has become more common than the word like. Why do we use the word later? Sit down, think about it. Procrastination at its finest?

You have some homework due at 11:59 but you decide to do laundry, clean your room and then do the homework later when it’s 10. Why? Why wait until the last minute instead of doing things without pressure?

Don’t wait for later, start now. Your alarm sounds, try not to snooze it, get up and get your day going. Think about the opportunities you have just by getting up and getting ready for the day. Don’t start going to the gym to say “I’ll go again later in the week”, that later becomes a month and before you know it you didn’t accomplish the goal you had to begin with.

It’s easier to say all of this than actually take action. Forget the word later and do it as soon as you think of it. Call your parents, spend time with them even if you are far away, FaceTime them. Hang out with that person that you’ve been saying “we should hang out later”, change the later to now.

Be persistent, be patient and do everything earlier. Anything can happen from one day to the next, avoid doing it later. Maybe you can never do it “later”. Work hard now that way the word later could disappear from your life.