Sometimes, it feels like the world stops you from doing what you want.

Perhaps you’d like to start a business. Write a blog. Start a YouTube channel. Rekindle old friendships. Or maybe it’s time for those six-pack abs you always wanted. But frustratingly, there’s just not enough time right now to do them all.

The solution to this dilemma can be found in Buridan’s ass.

Imagine a donkey that is placed exactly halfway between a bucket of water and a stack of hay. Because it is no closer to either option, it keeps looking left and right, unable to choose one. This goes on until the ass – paralysed by indecision – dies of both hunger and thirst.

Buridan’s ass can’t plan for the future. If it could, it would realise that it could first go to the water, then go eat the hay.

We can avoid Buridan’s ass. We can do everything we want to do with foresight and patience. The solution is to plan things one at a time. If you’re twenty and there’s five things you want to do, try doing one thing at a time for ten years. You’ll probably live until seventy to get them all done. This way, you can fully focus on one pursuit at a time without feeling conflicted because you know you’ll get to the others.

Most of us overestimate what we can do in one year, and underestimate what we can do with ten.

Let’s think long-term. Don’t be a donkey.

Credits to Derek Sivers for this idea. Buridan’s ass is also traditionally used for discussions surrounding free will. If you’d like to read more, here’s a skeptical article towards Buridan’s ass’ illustration of free will.