A .PRIL.-crash.ti.nation
I wish I could say that I have gotten beyond struggling with procrastination. I certainly espouse the virtues of getting on with the job, when I give the pep-talks to my kids. "Why don't you just start on it?" I say. "If you just spent some time doing one page, then you'd be well on your way." I repeat this lecture a hundred million times a month to them. [this is no exaggeration]
And then when it comes to my own 'to-do' list, I fight with the exact things about which I remonstrate. "I don't feel like it". "I'll do it tomorrow." "I'm not in the mood." "I can't handle doing one more thing". "I'd rather sit and have a cup of tea.... Read a magazine.... Talk on the phone..."
When I was in school, it was a lot easier. Now, I have so many places I can procrastinate. Laundry. Dishes. Taxes. Checking the oil. Putting away my winter clothes. Contacting the school about child-related issues. Just for a start.
At one point in my life, some of these 'duties' were taken care of, while holding a phone to my ear. I got really good at tossing in loads of laundry in a cramped position. Now, I don't really have that luxury. My schedule has become much more regimented and the 'little jobs' have to be fit in after so many other things have been attended to throughout the day. It's easy enough, but it's harder when there's no one to distract you from it all.
I have to thank my #2 son for sitting with me last night as I prepared my taxes. He helped me read numbers. He organized and sorted through. And with the two of us the job was finished in an hour. I returned the favor by helping him with an English assignment.
Perhaps the answer to procrastination is a buddy system. I often think of a friend of mine who told me that when it came to dishes, her mother would ask her to do the job, and then she herself would pick up a cloth and say "Come on we'll do it together."
Anyone want to hang out with me while I wash the van?
And then when it comes to my own 'to-do' list, I fight with the exact things about which I remonstrate. "I don't feel like it". "I'll do it tomorrow." "I'm not in the mood." "I can't handle doing one more thing". "I'd rather sit and have a cup of tea.... Read a magazine.... Talk on the phone..."
When I was in school, it was a lot easier. Now, I have so many places I can procrastinate. Laundry. Dishes. Taxes. Checking the oil. Putting away my winter clothes. Contacting the school about child-related issues. Just for a start.
At one point in my life, some of these 'duties' were taken care of, while holding a phone to my ear. I got really good at tossing in loads of laundry in a cramped position. Now, I don't really have that luxury. My schedule has become much more regimented and the 'little jobs' have to be fit in after so many other things have been attended to throughout the day. It's easy enough, but it's harder when there's no one to distract you from it all.
I have to thank my #2 son for sitting with me last night as I prepared my taxes. He helped me read numbers. He organized and sorted through. And with the two of us the job was finished in an hour. I returned the favor by helping him with an English assignment.
Perhaps the answer to procrastination is a buddy system. I often think of a friend of mine who told me that when it came to dishes, her mother would ask her to do the job, and then she herself would pick up a cloth and say "Come on we'll do it together."
Anyone want to hang out with me while I wash the van?
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