Things left undone because:

Laziness
Lack of Motivation
Fear of Failure/Criticism
Doubt Uncertainty
Not knowing how to start
Angst/Anxiety about starting
Habit Weakness
Resisting Challenges
Lack of energy
Task aversionAvoidance
Trouble focusing
Fail to prioritise
Helplessness in the face of complexity...

Make a to-do list...
Prioritise...
Set deadlines, and get a friend to check on how you're doing with meeting them...
Balance getting stuff done with getting enough rest and having fun...
Manage stress...
Be realistic...
Don't be afraid to ask for help.
Reward yourself

Sacred Text

Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

Story

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”
Pablo Picasso

Hmmm.... I just started thinking about all the jobs that I had on my list yesterday (and last week) that I didn't get done (let's be honest, that's most days) and mentally ranking them in importance. How many were so important that they will screw up my week, derail my master plan or end up hurting me or someone else?
On the flip side, if they were important tasks that I had set myself, why did I not complete them? Was it that they were less important than the other tasks I got done? Did I just forget (of course not) or was it simply I was prepared to accept the delays and impacts of not getting them done? If I were to die tomorrow - would any of those unattended tasks really matter?
What about you? Were there any mission critical tasks that just rolled over into the next day?
For me, the answer is a combination of all. There were most definitely tasks that I had set as urgent that I needed to get done to progress my strategic plan - but I let other things distract me. Many of those distractions were not that important either when I reflect on it.
Now those tasks are sitting in front of me staring accusingly at me from my to-do list with a cocked eyebrow, crossed arms and a tapping foot.... and my grand plan is stalled by not getting on with it.
However, if I died today, I don't think any of my un-actioned tasks or goals from yesterday would have left a void in my existence or disrupted the universe.

Except those deeply personal matters.
Is there someone who I owe a call to?
Have I left a favour to me unthanked?
Did I tell those people who matter most how much they mean to me?
Hmmmm... maybe there are a few things I would not like to leave undone.
How about you?
So, it's a new day, a new week and I would encourage you to do as I am going to do this week - embrace every day with the words of Pablo Picasso headlining every page of the daily "to do" list.

A reminder to not put off what must be done today. Whether that be updating your cv, applying for that job, implementing that new structure, writing your business plan, going for a run, taking your partner out for dinner, heading to the park with the kids, writing that blog post or booking that family holiday - Carpe diem!!!

Poem: The Sin of Omission BY Margaret E. Sangster, 1838 - 912 (extract)

It isn’t the thing you do, dear,
It’s the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At setting of the sun.
The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.

Today and Tomorrow by J E Carpenter

Don’t tell me of tomorrow
Give me the man who’ll say
That, when a good deed today
‘Let’s do the deed today.’
We may all command the present,
If we act and never wait,
But repentance is the Phantom
Of a past comes too late!
Don’t tell me of tomorrow
There is much to do today
That could never be accomplished,
If we throw the hours away.
Every moment has its duty,
Who the future can foretell?
Then why put off till tomorrow
What today can do as well?

Rumination

Both light and shadow are the dance of Love.
Rumi

Benediction

Translated by Mark Berry,  a young pastor of a church in the UK.
O Breathing Life, your Name shines everywhere!  Release a space to plant your Presence here. Imagine your possibilities now. Embody your desire in every light and form. Grow through us this moment’s bread and wisdom. Untie the knots of failure binding us, as we release the strands we hold of others’ faults. Help us not forget our Source, Yet free us from not being in the Present. From you arises every Vision, Power and Song from gathering to gathering. Amen.

Things left undone