Procrastinators Anonymous

I have been out of the blogging world the last month partly because of the business of the holidays but also in part because I kept feeling I need to write something about Christmas before I moved on. But of of course I was not super motivated after the fact to write about it so more time passed which made me less motivated to write and then I not only didn't write about Christmas but also missed opportunities to write about current events. As I reflected on this conundrum I realized it is a metaphor for certain aspects of my life. This pattern of procrastination coupled with the inability to let things go and move on has created a downward spiral of missed opportunity and increased disorganization. So I have focused on a single goal this new year. To stop procrastinating.

Procrastination has been a horrible habit of mine that peaked in high school, got infinitely better in College and has regressed since I have stayed home to raise kids and find myself living a life in which most deadlines for accomplishments must be set by myself-- a dangerous problem for recovering procrastinators like me. It's not that I am lazy--sometimes I am-- but I generally try to be industrious. It's that often my efforts get misguided due to some hopeless Task ADD. I am also unfortunately aware that I operate more efficiently under pressure. For years my mantra has been

“Why do tomorrow what I can put off until next week.”

But I am saying good-bye to this folks and hello to my new motto :

“Why put off until later what you can do right now so it gets done and you don't have to worry about it- Unless it is more efficiently completed at a different time.”

Okay not quite so catchy but definitely more useful. Inspired by a friend's funny blog post on watching the show “Hoarders,” my first exercise is getting rid of junk I don't need. I have been scourging my cupboards, drawers, filing cabinets, etc. to rid my life of time wasting clutter. And thanks to my wonderfully organized friends as motivators. I have examined everything and said to myself “would …. keep this? No. ” and happily tossed it into the trash, well...most of the time. The point is I am getting better and I am grateful for good friends who motivate me to improve. Well, I better go because I am supposed to be making dinner right now. D'oh! Ah well, I'll be better tomorrow- there I go again. What is that they say? “Old habits are hard to kill just like scorpions you have to keep hitting over and over again and just when you think they are dead another limb moves?”