In my life, I’ve always been someone who just gets an idea and goes through with it. That’s literally how I started blogging, creating websites, editing, and photography. When something sounds attractive, I just do it.

As much as I’m obsessed with planning every part of my life, this is the exception. I think this is mostly because of the adrenaline rush we get when things are showing so much potential and could make us so happy.

And then when the real work comes in when I start to fall back because what I’m doing is not as easy as I thought it would be. In the long run, it’s not as exciting as the online mentors told me it would be and now I have this thing that is staring at me, asking for more of my time and commitment.

This is not a good thing because when you do a lot, you miss out on the opportunity to be a master at one. If I just focus on writing, I could be an amazing writer because that would be all that I do, but because I’ve got all these other things that I’ve committed myself to, I can’t put all my effort into writing.

Same thing with photography. Mastery takes time.

This is not necessarily something I’m actively excercising, but I do know that it’s true. I’m just not willing to let go of any of my creative outlets just yet.

What is the one thing you know you should put all your focus into?

I know you might be looking at the title of this post and thinking to yourself “I’ve seen this before” or “there is no solution to procrastination”. I’m here to tell you otherwise

Now I’m not going to lie and tell you that I don’t procrastinate because I do, a lot. But I also know how to not procrastinate. 

I consume a lot of self-help content; I’ve read so many books and articles and watched so many ‘how to stop procrastinating’ videos and none of them seemed to work until I got to the one I’m about to tell you about.

The 5 Seconds Rule

The 5 seconds rule is a concept I learnt from Mel Robbins which basically says, for you to stop procrastinating, you simply have to count down from 5 to 1 and when you get to 1 you get up and do whatever you’re procrastinating on. 

It might seem so simple, and that’s because it is. One thing we do when we think about the things we have to do is think that at some point we will want to do them. The truth is that you are never going to want to study for that exam. You’d rather lie on your bed and scroll through Instagram 

What the 5 seconds rule does is, it forces your brain to think about something else (counting backward) which stops your brain from trying to convince you to put whatever you have to do off, and then from there you take action. Usually, that first slump is what most of us struggle with. After the initial start, then it all depends on momentum from there

When I tell you I have tried all the methods you can think of, all the challenges in the world and nothing works as well as this. I have read so many productivity books and this is by far the one method that I can guarantee works. There hasn’t been a time when it didn’t work.

Even though I’ve explained this, I still think it’s better to hear it from Mel Robbins herself

For the longest time, reading the Bible was a foreign concept to me. I simply never knew how to read the Bible and that affected my Christian life so much. I was lukewarm for the most part because I didn’t know much about God, only things I learned from watching sermons. 

This can’t be the way we live our Christian life. It shouldn’t be a religion full of rules that we struggle to follow, because it is much more than that. It is a special relationship between you and Christ.

And believe me, when you finally consistently read your Bible, pray and have enough faith, it will look like things in your life are just falling into place. 

The soap method is a simple method of reading the Bible that I discovered and it changed how I study the Bible. The focus is usually a scripture that you want to focus on during that session.

This method is divided into 4. The SOAP abbreviation stands for:

S: Scripture 

O: Observation

A: Application

P: Prayer

Scripture 

This is the part where you choose the scripture you are going to be dealing with. Usually what I do is I read a chapter in the Bible and the scripture that sticks out the most, is the one I use. 

What I’m currently reading is Matthew and the scripture that stuck out was Matthew 6:34. This is mostly because I deal with a lot of angst at times so anything that helps ease that is a win.

 The scripture can be a topic want to understand more, a verse you relate with at the moment with what you are going through, or it could be the verse of the day

This is what you would write in your journal

Scripture: Matthew 6:34

So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring it’s own place worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today

Observation 

This section is for the things you understand and don’t understand about the scripture. You basically take it down, strip it apart and try to understand exactly what it is trying to say to you, in the simplest terms possible

You would write this in your journal

“This scripture is telling me to stop worrying. Worrying brings nothing to me other than more worrying. Therefore it is important that I just worry about what is currently happening. Thinking and overthinking things that are going to happen in the future won’t help me, so rather focus on today”

Application

Here you focus on how you can apply the scripture in your life. This is very important because most of the time we are readers of the word but not doers.

You have to evaluate exactly how you are going to put what you have read into action so that it makes a change in your life. Because that’s what the Bible is for, to help us navigate this thing called life in a way that glorifies God

Example

“I am going to apply this by always being intentional about not overthinking. One way of doing this is to only focus on the things I’m trying to accomplish today because those are the most important and the only ones that matter. I am going to start writing things down and planning ahead so that I don’t stress about how things are going to play out in the future. I don’t have control over that so I am going to stop worrying to much about it”

Prayer

This is the part when you pray about the scripture you just read and the application you just put down. All those things you said you will do, pray to God that he will help you do them consistently and to remind you of this scripture when you are in a similar situation

This part will also help you remember when you are in the future and God has answered your prayer. You will realize just how amazing He is because the prayers you put down have come true and it brings you so much gratitude

I usually write it down and then read it out loud. 

Example

“Father God I pray that Matthew 6:34 sticks in my brain. I pray that every time I face worry or stress, I remember your instruction that I should just worry about the present moment and to stop overthinking. I pray that I implement everything I said I would do very well and that the stress I am constantly under is eliminated in the name of Jesus”

—————

For me, passively reading the Bible like a textbook never works. I have to write, highlight and comment on what I read to make it resonate with me. That is why this method works for me. Let me know if this helped you and also how you read your Bible. 

The bible app was, for the longest time, that app that just chilled on my phone. Mainly because I convinced myself I would read it one day.

You might think because of the convenience that comes with having your bible on your phone, people would read it more. That is far from the truth.

A lot of us just let it take up space in our phone because feel too guilty to delete it or we think that one day we might actually start using it the way it should be.

There are so many ways this app can help you grow in your walk with God and may be the key you have been looking for to finally have a relationship with Him.

Bible Plans

Bible plans literally changed my Christian walk when I didn’t know how to read the bible.

I knew I had to but found the bible difficult to understand, or I would just get bored and stop after a few scriptures without getting anything out of it.

It was when I started reading bible plans that things started coming together. Because in the beginning, you may be at a point when you don’t understand the bible, start with a plan about praying.

This will set the foundation you need because once you know how to pray and why it is important, you will be able to pray before reading the bible plan and the holy spirit will aid in your understanding.

Staying consistent is not easy, even with notifications reminding you that you should be reading, so it will all come down to being self-disciplined and realizing how important this is. You have to tell yourself that reading the word is a priority, or else you will keep falling off.

Audio Bible

We all have those days when reading the bible just seems impossible. Sometimes even reading your bible plan becomes a mission.

That’s when the audio bible becomes so much more essential.

Having a voice read along with you makes things clearer because you have no choice but to listen.

I usually listen while reading so that I don’t skip anything when my mind decides to wander, and also because it aids in my understanding

Daily Scripture

Even if you just take a glimpse at it, it makes a difference. It might not change your life in an instant but it’s better than completely not reading the word.

One thing I like doing is bible journaling around the scripture of the day.

You can also make it a challenge for yourself in the beginning to meditate on that scripture daily using the SOAP method and grow yourself that way

Activity Tracker

A lot of us have a goal of reading the bible consistently. If you are a person of habit, this will prompt you to open the app.

The daily tracker can help you so that you at least open the app once a day to keep up with yourself, even if you are reading just one verse.

Endless bible versions

In total, the YouVersion bible app has 1096 versions to choose from. I use the New Living Translation, after some careful consideration.

When I come across a confusing verse, switching between versions is as easy and clicking a few times. That is the benefit of having so many versions in multiple languages

Connecting with friends

This is not a feature I fully utilize but I can see why it would be beneficial to connect with your friends. Having people to discuss with and be accountable to will definitely aid in your understanding and also consistency

Phillipians 4:6 – “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done”

When I say that verse alone has changed my life, I mean it.

I’m one person who used to worry a lot. And by that I don’t just mean worry, I mean worry more than the average person.

I had a lot of fear about a lot of things. The saying ‘the presence of fear is the absence of faith’ was playing in my life. I didn’t have enough faith to believe that God would get me through everything that was stressing me out.

And to be honest it wasn’t like my life was falling apart. I just have the tendency to overstress aboutthings I cannot change.

Below are the things that I did and still actively do to keep my anxiety in check.

1. Ask yourself what is worrying me

You have to sit down and ask yourself what you are really worried about. Make a list if possible. Sometimes like I said above, we stress about things we can fix quickly or things that are insignificant.

Now ask yourself how your life would look like if you didn’t worry about anything, and not stress about things you cannot control.

The peace that comes with that is absolutely incredible.

2. What can you do about the situation.

Do your best and He will do the rest.

A lot of the time we use the above saying as an excuse to be lazy. We read that as “He will do the rest” because we never actually get to a point where we can really say we have done our best.

We do the most mediocre work and expect God to subsidize that so we get the best results. That is not how it works. Do your best, He will meet you halfway.

If for example, your stressor is studying (like it is for me 100% of the time), then do things that will ease your anxiety. Things, like planning ahead and following through with the plan will calm you down.

From there, do not stress about the exam. That is not your part. Once you have done your part, you have to let go and let God.

There are things that are simply out of our control, and those are things you should let God handle. Release the impossible to Him and trust that He will do what He does best.

3. Meditate on the above scripture everyday

I never used to believe in repeating things to yourself enough until you believe them or even writing them down, that was until I followed a bible plan dedicated to Philippians 4:6.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done”

The more I read this scripture, the more I believed that God really has it all under control.

It’s one thing to read it, it’s another to believe it, but when you truly embody what you believe then you will see the impact it will have on your life.

I spent about a week reading that verse along with Matthew 6:34 which says “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today”.

The two scriptures helped me remember that even if I worry, it won’t change anything. It will only bring even more worry, resulting in an endless circle of stress.

If you end up taking one thing from this post, it should be this. Meditate on the scripture every day.

It may seem insignificant but as time goes you will begin to believe what you are saying to yourself.

4. Pray

I cannot emphasize enough how important communication with God is.

This should be the first thing you do when you start stressing about something. This alone will turn your life around because God will even guide you on what you should do. No situation is bigger than Him.

Do you have anything you do when you are stressed or worried? Let me know below in the comments. Thank you so much for reading

As someone who wants to have their own successful business one day, I consume a lot of business-related content. If you have similar dreams, then studying and learning about business is a good pastime.

Everything that has to do with organisation, productivity and just improving life in general interests me.

The following are some channels I love for learning about business. All the names are clickable so you can go straight to their channel.

Sparkle Mariee

She focuses mostly on online businesses but the ideas can be used throughout.

Gary Vaynerchuk

If you’re into productivity and business related content then chances are you already know this man. He is amazing at what he does and his advice is applicable

Marie Forleo

She might be my favorite on this list. Her humor is contagious and her advice is amazing.

She has so many videos all on business, all of which are so incredibly informative. Her work ethic is also so inspiring

Vusi Thembekwayo

Bringing it back home, Vusi Thembekwayo is amazing at what he does.

His speaking abilities speak for themselves (pun intended) and his business advice will literally motivate you to start your business the next day. That’s how good he is

Robin Sharma

This is more of a productivity channel than a business channel but at the same time, you need to be productive to run a business so it works out

Fight Mediocrity

This channel is so visually appealing. If you have a popular book you haven’t read but would love a summary, this channel may be for you.

He also has some very controversial videos like ‘why I stopped reading self-help books’ to ‘why business books will ruin your life’.

Those types of videos will make you question everything you ever thought was true.

Sunny Lenarduzzi

I’m always looking for a female touch, or more like female content creators are all I watch. I always feel more relatable to them so that’s why I always gravitate towards their content.

I love this women’s content so much. If you’re thinking of starting an online business like a youtube channel or a blog, this channel is definitely for you

Erin On Demand

A new one in the game but she’s already killing it. She is young, she is a woman and she’s black. Talk about being relatable and inspirational

I started blogging around the time when blogging was booming. I was 15 and loved writing so naturally I gravitated towards blogging, the one way I could get my writing out there. I would write for hours, provided it was crap but I still did it, because I liked doing it.

And then I read about monetizing. That was when everything fell apart.

I got obsessed; consumed. I would read about Affiliate Marketing, Adsense and brand collaborations for hours, trying to figure out how I can make money from my hobby. I tried all the methods and none of them would work so I got discouraged and eventually stopped.

I remember at some point I would write about things that didn’t even interest me, simply because they would be favoured by  SEO (being front page of google). I got obsessed with making money.

The problem is not money, the problem is that I get too ambitious and that distracts me from doing the actual thing that I’m supposed to be doing, aka writing. Money becomes the focus.

My point is, if you’re going to be doing something because money is involved, especially a creative passion/hobby, then you should probably stop.

I was told multiple times that if I blog for money then I would not make it, but I still did it, and failure was the outcome.

Of course we strive to make money from the things we enjoy the most, but that’s the thing; you have to enjoy it and not only the money.

PS: I have made money from blogging, so it wasn’t all in vain