Someday is not a day of the week.
— Anonymous
In her posts, Ellie has been beating up on the devil of procrastination. As I’ve been reading what she’s been writing, I’ve been wrestling with the idea of procrastination myself. I’m not so sure procrastination is such a bad guy. Let me tell you why.
First of all, let’s be clear. When we call a behavior “procrastination” we’ve already judged the behavior as less desirable than “gettin’ – R – done.” As a matter of fact, when I went looking for definitions, I found this at en.wiktionary.org: “The act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.” [emphasis mine]
The real question to me is Continue reading » Productive Procrastination
Have you ever had a problem with procrastination? Do you have any helpful suggestions for curing the problem?
In my last two posts I touched on a couple of ways that we postpone doing things: procrastinating pleasure and agreeing to do something at a future date. In this post I’m going to explore why we procrastinate (and offer a seemingly simple solution) and in my next post I’ll examine how I personally am wrestling with my procrastination quandary.
Sing along with Annie and me. (She can carry a tune. I can’t.)
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I’ll do it
Tomorrow!
Ok, Ok, depending upon how well you enunciate “I’ll”, I may have paraphrased one vowel too many, but help me out here:
What’s the problem with my I’ll do-it-tomorrow plan?
Well… much as we “love ya Tomorrow,” we apparently mind-blip past the fact that Tomorrow is: “Always a day away!” In fact – it’s not just ALWAYS, it’s also ONLY a day away. How is it we think that what we don’t want to do today, what we can’t bring ourselves to do today, will somehow automagically get done tomorrow? Do we really think that the rotation of the earth from dusk to dawn will miraculously change our inclinations to tackle the dreaded task – whatever that task might be???
Why Not Just “Git-R-Done”??
In many ways, procrastinating just prolongs our misery – the things-not-done weigh heavy on our minds and drag down our energy. So why do we procrastinate??? And how do we stop procrastinating?
Continue reading » Procrastinating – Just Git-R-Done
Once you accept the fact that you’re not perfect, then you develop some confidence.
— Rosalynn Carter
Believe it or not, February is National Time Management month. I really wonder who decides these things. First of all, February is National Black History month, so needless to say, Time Management Month doesn’t even make the radar. Everyone’s busy celebrating the historical contributions by black people, which is necessary because we didn’t devote the appropriate time to it when we took history the first time around.
On top of that, they chose the shortest month in the year to celebrate time management. How ironic is that? Was February chosen so that we can Continue reading » Managing the “Stuff” of Life
Have you ever agreed to do something out in the future and when the time came, regretted it?
Warning: Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear.
— Unknown
I’m looking at this week’s calendar and wondering — What was I thinking when I put THAT on my calendar??? It seemed like a good idea at the time. But today I realize that my week is full-up and my earlier “Yes” has morphed into “Damn! Why’d I do that???” And of course, now it’s too late, yet somehow I must make good on my promise to do whatever it is I said I’d do. Sound familiar? Do you do that too?
Why is it easier to agree to do something at a future date?
Well, Gal Zauberman of the Wharton School researched that question and he concluded Continue reading » The “Yes… Damn!” Effect: What Was I Thinking???
The only reason for time is so everything doesn’t happen at once.
— Albert Einstein
Just when I begin to think maybe I’ve figured out how to navigate all the demands on my time, fate intervenes and shows me just how wrong I am… or maybe it’s like my mentor once explained to me. “To truly figure out what a secretary can do, you just keep adding little bits to her responsibilities until eventually no more can be added. Then you know her true capacity for work.” Needless to say, he said that many years ago, when Continue reading » The Old Lessons Are the Best Lessons
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