Monday, August 15, 2011

Procrastination or Laziness?

I hate to think of myself as either lazy or a procrastinator. Either word seems to have a negative connotation that leaves me feeling bad about myself. Lazy? I am not resistant to work, sluggish, slow moving. I do not lack motivation. Well OK, sometimes I lack motivation, but those times are few and far between!

If you look up the definition of procrastination on Wikepedia, this is a small part of what you will find:

In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. Some psychologists cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.

OK, that sounds a little bit more like me! If you dive really deep into the whole psychology of procrastination, which I promise I will not do here, (because that is just not something I would do!), I see that it really is not me. I only fall less than halfway into that category! I would never, not meet a work deadline, I would never not do something that would require another person to go without something I promised them, I would never not do something that someone else was whole heartedly depending on me to do. I may rush like hell, break a bone, sweat it out, curse and complain, and get it done without you ever knowing what happened behind the scenes!

Procrastination can also be associated with perfectionism, which I am heartbroken for myself to say, I do suffer from! And that is NOT a good thing. I do sometimes negatively evaluate the outcome of my own performance.

I can have a list of things that need to be done, and have three weeks to do them. You know what? I will do one or two and then rush like the wind in the last week to complete it! I like the rush and the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing that list in a hurry! I feel the same way when I empty a bottle of lotion or use the last of the toothpaste or shampoo! It just feels good to have it done!

Just something to ponder, do you put things off, do you procrastinate?

I have closets that I promised myself I would clean, junk that I thought I would throw out, sell, donate. I have gotten through some of it, but the piles still continue to be there, the clutter has just moved from one room to another (usually with a door that I can close), and don't get me started on my craft and workshop space! It's unbearable some days. My husband would absolutely agree. Then when I have a Friday night scrapbooking class, I am worked up into a frenzy trying to get the space presentable!


I find that I often have numerous projects on the go at one time. The other day, I spent a few hours going through some of my craft projects. I have three tables, sometimes four that I work at. I piled my projects up, I had five in total (not too shabby!). I prioritized them and labelled pieces of paper #1 through #5. I would do that at work all the time so I figured it would work here at home as well. In fact, I have already completed #1, now just to finish up to #5 without starting another one!

So on the day I write this, I had to go down to my craft space, grab my laptop, trip over the vacuum (which I swear to you, I NEVER put it away!) and close a door so I don't see the mess.

 As I turn off the light, I take a look over my shoulder. I see craft paper that I left on the floor, a basket of laundry that needs to go in the washing machine, a bag of junk that I am pricing for a fundraising yard sale, and the vacuum which I dropped in the middle of the floor yesterday when the phone rang is still in it's dropped position!. I say to myself - "I'll get it tomorrow, I'll have time, and it will all still be there!"
Oh, how it will all still be there!

Thanks for taking the time to read......

Tannis

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