Recently I had gotten into the habit of putting unpleasant or scary tasks off because I was afraid to deal with them—it’s called procrastination. As a result, my productivity suffered because of the weight of these tasks hanging over my head. For example, I needed a huge favor from a fairly famous person whom I am not all that close with and who didn’t owe me any favors. I put off calling this person for more than a week because I was afraid that I might be turned down. Finally, because of the encouragement of a mutual friend, I called him. When we connected, he said he was delighted to hear from me and when I asked for the favor, he said “no problem” and took care of the matter immediately. Putting this call off caused me a great deal of stress and rendered me ineffective at what I do. From that point forward, my morning mantra has been, “Face your fears first” and I repeat it several times before I get out of bed. In other words, get any unpleasant tasks behind you right away so that you can get on with the rest of your day stress free. Doing so will not only make you happier, but far more effective as well.