Tick, Tick… BOOM! How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Creating
Do you also have that thing that even before you know whatās going on in your life, your subconscious brain is already playing a related song in your head?
ā525,600 Minutes. How do you measure a year?ā
This is what Iāve been hearing today as I had to say goodbye to someone very dear to me. Itās a song from the 1996 Broadway musical called āRentā, written and composed by Jonathan Larson.Ā
Itās actually not that strange this song comes up in my head now.Ā
A couple of weeks ago I watched the recently released movie ātick, tick⦠BOOM!ā. In the movie, we follow Jonathan Larson (played by now-Oscar-nominated Andrew Garfield) about 8 years before he released his genre-defining musical āRentā.Ā
Itās a great movie to watch if youāre a creative person or a creative entrepreneur like me. I could see many similarities by comparing the main character with myself. There are actually some solid lessons in there.Ā
The real lesson I took out, however, is that life is short.Ā
The Curse of Procrastination š„Ā
It wouldnāt be a stretch to call myself a Master Procrastinator. Yes, with the capital letters.
When I donāt have a deadline for a client or an event I need to plan for, I just⦠get stuck on the details. Iām what they call a āborn perfectionistā. Before I even realise it, Iām completely redesigning a tiny logo on a presentation slide that had nothing wrong with it to begin with.
Of course, what Iām really doing in such moments is procrastinating.Ā
Itās easy for me to have an opinion of a tiny logo, because itās inside my comfort zone. Itās small and low-stakes enough to work on without worry or doubt.
When it comes to working on my business, however, like making sales calls or deciding on goals and strategy⦠well, letās just say I can take forever. The things I typically I typically procrastinate on:
ā° Are not within my comfort zone ā creativity or design
ā° Have higher stakes ā bigger decision that influence many smaller ones
ā° Donāt have a clear deadline, because of a client or event date
Knowing this is only the first step of course. Taking a different course of action in these moments of potential procrastination is what truly matters.
Caution: spoilers for ātick, tick⦠BOOM!ā up ahead.
Imperfect Work Always Wins š
When the movie about Jonathan Larson starts, he is about to turn 30 and on the brink of finishing his musical SUPERBIA. He worked on it for about 8 years. He views it as his masterpiece and his golden ticket out of poverty⦠into Broadway.Ā
When that didnāt quite turn out the way he hoped it to, Jonathan called his agent and asked her in desperation: āSo what am I supposed to do now?ā.Ā
āYou start writing the next oneā, she said. āAnd after you finish that one, you start on the next. And on and on [ā¦]ā.
While it may not immediately sound like it in the movie, itās actually great advice.Ā
We shouldnāt ever get stuck on trying to perfect one thing, because we canāt know what will work. Moreover, weāre probably not as good as we think. The more āimperfectā work we put out, the better we get.Ā
And the more likely it is that our work will blow up, in the positive sense.Ā
Thatās part of the reason why Iām publishing these articles on a daily basis. To get better at writing and to eventually find my ānicheā ā a combination of what I love to write about and what you, my readers, love to read about.
How About Love? ā¤ļø
The ātick, tick⦠BOOM!ā from the movieās title, however, doesnāt directly relate to the āblowing upā of Jonathanās work (even though it did, eventually).Ā
It refers to time running out of our lives. Life is over sooner than most of us realise.Ā
If the 525,600 minutes in a year wasnāt quite understandable enough for you, letās take a look at how many weeks (waitbutwhy.com) there are in a long human life:

Not that many, right? Especially if you consider the weeks you already lived and that most of us likely wonāt make it to 90. Thatās why I went with the chart of āfamous deathsā as an example. And if you watched Jonathan Larsonās movie, you know where he fits.
In the end, it all comes down to this: whatever it is we want in life, we better get off our ass and do it now. Because we might not get another chance tomorrow.
And yes, that includes love.Ā
Loving to create is one thing, but loving the people in your life ā and being loved ā is another. In the end, I believe that is what truly matters.Ā
So create. Let the realisation of your limited number of weeks lift the curse of procrastination. But never ever let it take away from the time you spend with your loved ones.Ā
Because just like yours, their time is limited too.Ā