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It just hit me lately — I think I am a procrastinator!! Well, I actually KNEW I procrastinated about some things, like cleaning out the basement, or the freezer. But it hit me the other day that my beloved lists may indeed be procrastination in disguise!!
Are you a list maker? I LOVE lists! I NEED lists: grocery lists, to-do lists, honey-do lists, project lists, garden lists….you get the picture. Go here to read more about lists. Sometimes I even have two or three lists with the same things on them! You know, one is the “today” list, and one is for the “summer” list, etc.
But what I’m learning, and it’s not something that I really wanted to know, is that being a list maker could be because I’m a procrastinator!! AAACCCKKK!!!!
Not a good revelation to have! Why would I not just go DO what I’m writing on the list for later?!? Am I really THAT short on time?
Sometimes it takes almost as long to find my list, find a pencil, talk about it for a while, then write it on the list than it would to just GO and DO what I’m writing down!! And actually, sometimes my lists are just in my head….but they are STILL lists, and the same thing applies!
But I’m not here to talk about the actual list…..sometimes they really ARE necessary, and very useful. What I’m talking about is what I PUT on my list.
Obviously, not all things can be done RIGHT now, but how many of them can be?
Example: Is it really NECESSARY to put “weed the front flowerbed” on my list? Why don’t I just go DO it!? I walk by that flowerbed 50 times in a day… give or take. What would happen if I would just pick a few weeds each time I go by?!
Just THINK! I could check that off before it ever got ON the list!
Is Procrastination Really Worth it?
I love a story I once heard….about a lady who had a hole in her skirt pocket. It was a big enough hole that things kept falling out of it, so really, she couldn’t even use that pocket. It was an annoyance, and a problem! So it went on, and on…a few years, but ONE day, she finally decided to just bite the bullet and sew up the hole.
She decided to time it–how long it ACTUALLY took to fix this little, annoying problem, that had plagued her for so long. Do you know how long it took? Less than a minute! It took seconds to fix something that had been on her “list” for years!!
That is what procrastination can do for you!
Not fancy, but the side of my fridge is covered with a variety of lists.
All Lists Are Not Created Equal
Like I said, not everything that I procrastinate about even gets on a physical list. For instance, my laundry. 97% of the time I take it out of the dryer, fold it and put it away. But SOMETIMES I think I’ve got to be doing other things right that minute. So, I just pile it on a bed and it sits and it sits and it sits and we pick off what we need, and three days later I fold what’s left and put it away!
Does that HURT anything? No. But it doesn’t look real special…and WHY? And if we get a call that company is coming, guess who has to scramble to get things folded and put away, and tidy again!?!
The other day, remembering that “hole in the pocket” story, I thought I’d time myself how long it actually took to fold this pile of laundry. TWO minutes and 23 seconds! Less than 2 1/2 minutes!! If I would have just DONE it, it would have been done, and I wouldn’t have had to think about it again! Instead, it laid on the bed for a day or two WAITING to get done!
Procrastination Makes It Harder
Weeding is something I put on my list regularly…weed the garden, spray the driveway, till the corn, weed the flowers, etc….
But, do you know what I’ve found? Weeds keep growing while “weeding” sits on my list! What used to be a long row of 1-2 inch weeds, now have become a long row 7-8 inch or bigger weeds! Uglier to look at, harder to pull, and more work to get rid of!
There was this long stretch of weeds along the grass, by the road. I kept thinking, “I’m gonna get to that, I’m gonna get to that”–it was on my list. I FINALLY got to it. And I timed this one too! Do you want to know how long it took me to take care of that problem? 17 minutes! And that included stopping to love on Breeze a bit!
All the while I was procrastinating the weeds were getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and it took all of 17 minutes, start to finish! If I’d have done it two weeks ago, it might have only taken me 7 minutes!!
Silliness!
Live and learn, they say…..maybe I’ll put that on my list! Surely I’m not the only one that does such things? Tell me it ain’t so….!! Are you a list maker? are you a procrastinator?
Anyway, thanks for coming and getting in on my not-so-fun revelation!
Good Thoughts
“Procrastination: the fine art of putting off until tomorrow what should have been done yesterday.” – Napoleon Hill
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