Oh yes! So very much!
Irony of ironies, I have used this post as part of my procrastination. Instead of doing the things I should have been doing, I began composing this post in my mind about 12 days ago. Now that this is the day this post is due, I’ve spent part of my morning creating some other thing that really isn’t needed until next year!!!
So committed to my procrastinating, I created this…
What I should have been doing | What I did |
Finishing the newsletter editing | Make this table |
Finishing the newsletter editing | Sort the laundry into colours |
Finishing the newsletter editing | Put on a load of red/orange/pink/purples |
Finishing the newsletter editing | Sort the beverage area of my kitchen, including entirely rearranging how the station operates. I also considered recording myself doing this so as to create a TikTok post |
Finishing the newsletter editing | Think about writing the post on procrastination…14 days ahead of when it is due |
I think I’m driven to meet deadlines and seem to be pathologically incapable of finishing work ahead of time. This was painfully evident when I moved house recently. We were still packing and cleaning the house right up to the moment of settlement. There was a horrible hurdle that day in that the removalists that we had booked were woefully incompetent and brought a truck that was essentially a ute with delusions of grandeur. This setback cost us hours of precious time and would have put us over the deadline for getting out of the house. Fortunately for us, the sellers also had delays and the buyers of our house were happy enough to allow for us to take a bit longer. Even with a 22 hour extension to the deadline we still found ourselves working right up to the last minute. I can’t help but think that this was because of the procrastination in the packing, etc in the weeks leading up to that day.
So, how to get over it? That’s the $64,000 question.
I usually employ a series of techniques that are manifestly inadequate. I say this because I try and try and try and fail at each point. Nevertheless, I don’t stop the trying and I keep searching for the technique that will one day work. Some methods have minor success so they might be best used in combination. If one method has 5% success of getting me motivated and another might have 10% then I figure I’m 15% better off than I was if I didn’t try anything at all.
I break down the task into components and give each component a deadline well ahead of the final deadline. This usually results in some of the work being completed and another opportunity to beat myself up for not being better at getting things done.
Another go-to technique is to find something else I can achieve in a short time. This may be unrelated to the job at hand but something I enjoy and can stay focussed on. Once I get that rush of satisfaction of a job well done (or just done) I use that adrenaline to impel me into action to complete other tasks. This is often why I will have my own handmade graphics to accompany my posts. I spend a couple of minutes (cough…or hours) making something to scratch the creative itch and then I’m set to go and finish the main task.
Ad break: If I like the graphic I’ve made and think others might like it, I’ll upload it to my Redbubble shop…which I have done with the graphic in this post as well as the one in my last blogpost.
So what’s the take-away message? I’m not sure. I’ll get back you…I’m just not sure when.