Notes from the Queen

Yes, that's me.  The Queen of Procrastination.  I'm the one who always put off those term papers in high school, waiting until the last, possible moment to start.  They did get done and turned in on time, but the headaches and anxiety that caused didn't need to happy.

I can procrastinate with the best.  The best would be myself, when it comes to that.  It's so-o-o-o-o easy to put things off, especially the things that don't thrill me.

Sometimes that's writing.  Okay, often it is, if I'm going to be honest.  I haven't had a chance to procrastinate with that for a while and have missed the few TV shows I watch.  (I gave up a lot of TV, a long time ago.)


Procrastination is one of the easiest things to do.  The problem is, it doesn't have much value.  Things, chores, wants and needs have a tendency to pile up, if we ignore them with something else.  Let's take laundry, for an example.  Or washing dishes.  Or cleaning.  Or...  Yeah, all of those things that need to be done, yet get set aside.  For me, lately, they have taken a backseat to deadlines.  But today I finished the last of big deadlines.  Only a few to go.  Revisions, line edits and proofs is all that are left.  And you know I'll be right in the swing of procrastinating when they arrive.

Yes, I blog a lot about goals.  Unfortunately, I focus my goal setting on writing.  Daily things--other than "It must all be cleared" tend to fall by the wayside.   Why?  I've been focused on that writing.  I'm over a month past my normal schedule of getting my taxes done.  Guess what I'll be doing Sunday, when my desk is clear?  Yeah, you guessed it.  I'll be downing massive amounts of caffeine and looking for a wig to wear, after I've pulled out all my hair.  I am so not into math.  But it must be done.

Now that I'm back into the real world, instead of the trying-to-beat-it world of deadlines, I'm being smacked by all the things that didn't get done.  With what's left of tonight and into tomorrow (after running errands and watching Wichita State University try to make their 30-0 record a 31-record), at the top of my list of things to do is clear my desk.  O.M.G.  What a mess!  There's only an 8" square that I cleared a couple of hours ago where the actual top of my desk is visible.  And I have a pretty big desk.

So after I finish finding the top of my desk, my goal for the next few days--other than those taxes--is to make my goals for this month.  And they're going to have to include all the silly day-to-day things----dishes, laundry, cleaning...  Yeah, the fun stuff.  As for writing?  Yeah, there will have to be some of that.  I need to plot, I need to edit some things I worked on last spring...before the dreaded deadlines hit.  And I need to remember to kick back and enjoy a little TV, reading, or whatever strikes my fancy.

If you're looking at your goals for March (yikes! already?), remember to make time for a little enjoyment, while keeping those goals uppermost in mind.  Work on our goals should come first.  Okay, after family and personal hygiene.  We work to gain the perks of enjoying the good things.  While that doesn't sound like much fun, rushing around at the last minute to finish a goal that was ignored for too long, is even worse.  Don't procrastinate.  Do the work, the reward yourself with something, whether it's time or a small gift.

Here's hoping March will bring warmer weather, time to enjoy life and the satisfaction of meeting or even surpassing our goals.

Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill. ~ Christopher Parker