beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep ………. I crawl out of bed, drag myself to the landing where my phone is plugged in, turn on ALL the lights as I go and hit ‘STOP’ on the screen.
I fight the urge to go back to a warm and cosy bed.
I’ve been getting up since 5am since November 2017 (4 months when writing this post). The initial 10 minutes feel dreadful but for one reason or another, I have a more productive day because of it. I feel like a champion knowing I’ve done my morning routine, exercised, meditated and completed my household chores before most have even got out of bed.
LT – 1
Those Still In Bed – 0
In December 2016 I met Seamus and Paddy of Saddle Sand Sea, who were about to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic ocean. It was the final stage of their World’s Toughest Triathlon.
They’d already completed ‘the toughest non-stop cycling event in the world’, Race Across Europe, cycling 3,000 miles in just 12 days.
They then went on to run the ‘toughest footrace on Earth,’ the Marathon des Sables, a marathon-every-day-for-5-days-in-the-desert type thing.
The grand finale was the Atlantic row.
During my interview with them (on a washing machine, don’t’ ask!) they told me their stories and struggles of the previous challenges.
Seamus explained that during the 3,000 mile cycling event he hit a huge mental and physical wall. The support team who came to the rescue had a chat with him and asked if he wanted to go on. He was unsure so they gave him 3 options:
- He could get in the support car and be driven to the next checkpoint. No-one would ever find out.
- He could let his teammate Paddy take over the cycle. Paddy had already been cycling all day, had completed his part of the route and was recovering ready for the next leg.
- Or….. he could just get on with it.
Seamus chose option 3.
On 14th December 2017, the boys jumped in their boat and started their epic 38-day journey across the Atlantic.
Their words stuck in my mind.
“Just get on with it.”
During the 38 days the duo was at sea, I thought of them and their words frequently. While they were out in the middle of the Atlantic, rowing for 12 hours a day, I was in the comfort of my home, warm and cosy, sipping herbal tea and tapping away on my laptop.
There were things I didn’t want to do in my day. Things I had been putting off ages. Crikey! There were things on my to-do list that had been there for months……maybe even years!
Now was the time! JUST GET ON WITH IT.
It was around this time, I listened to a podcast with Chase Jarvis and Mel Robbins, 5 Seconds To Change Your Life. I know it sounds like a cringy, cliche title but it tied up nicely with Seamus’ words of ‘just get on with it.’
In the podcast, Mel talks about ‘the 5 Second Rule’, which has absolutely nothing to do with dropping food on the floor and still eating it.
She explains that anytime she procrastinates or gets a negative feeling about something, she counts down from five, and when she gets to zero she’ll get the job done and/or stop the negative thought or feeling. It sounds simple,
So as a result of Seamus’ words and the podcast, at night, I set my alarm on my phone for 5am and charge it on the landing forcing me to get out of bed. When the alarm goes off I say to myself “just get on with it” and a jump out of bed. If I need a little more punch to get up, I count down from five to zero.
Here’s what else I use it for:
- Exercise
- Updating my website
- Cleaning my van
- Meditating
- Running to the gym in the cold, dark, wind and rain
- Contacting the companies I want to work for
- Housework
- Calling my mum
- Communicating with people in awkward situations
- Writing this blog
- The list goes on…….
Often the thought of doing a task is worse than just getting on with it.
I’d spend so much time thinking about it and beating myself up that I wasn’t actually doing it, it is quicker and easier to just get it done.
Breaking through the first few minutes of any ‘Just Get On With It’ task is the worst bit. Then after that, I’m often left feeling like I should give myself a jolly good pat on the back.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope you found it useful. This phrase has revolutionised my life.
If you enjoyed it, please share your thoughts with me over on Twitter and let me know what things you’ve been putting off recently.
You can also find me on Instagram. I usually upload my Just-Get-On-With-It jobs onto my IG stories so come and have a peek.