If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done!
Steven Pressfield wrote a book just for me: “The War of Art”. Never mind that he doesn’t know who I am. The book talks about resistance and since I’m the queen of procrastination, I’m grateful for his attempt to reach out and intervene. (Just to clarify, I’m actually the queen’s queen. I am the queen that the queen bows down to when it comes to assuming the position of writing. And resisting.)
I love to write. I hate to write. I used to think it was just me but since reading Pressfield’s book, I’m partly relieved to find out that there are others out there that are just like me. But I’m almost a little ticked off. I mean, if I’m not the queen of procrastinating, then what am I? (Rhetorical question. No answer required.)
All that to say that since I can’t be the queen’s queen of procrastination, I need to work on my place in the world. And before I do that, I need to put on my therapist’s thinking cap (which looks exactly like a dunce cap only it says “therapist” on it) and ANALYZE.
This is where the hamster gets all excited. The hamster LOVES to analyze. As you’ll see by this very revealing list.
5 tell-tale signs that I’m about to procrastinate
1. I’m overcome by the sudden urge to tackle something I HATE doing. Things that fall in this category include cooking, cleaning the cat litter and removing the hair from the bath tub drain.
2. A sudden interest in learning something new takes over my life. If anyone’s interested, I downloaded a tutorial on how to grout kitchen tiles, which I’m pretty sure I’ll never get to.
3. An overwhelming sense of urgency to create an elaborate, colour-coded calendar based on my to-do list. A proven delusional way of “connecting” with what I want to accomplish, where nothing ever actually gets done.
4. A sudden desire to organize the medicine cabinet. (As an aside, according to the expiry dates on all the little jars, containers and bottles, I own a science experiment in my bathroom.)
5. A powerful impulse to renew my hate for clutter. Although I really can’t stand clutter, I’ve developed this cool way of ignoring the stacks and stacks of stuff in my house. Stuff that has mysteriously appeared and seems to procreate with time.
Now, just as a mathematician quickly calculates a problem, the hamster looks at this list and recognizes an important clue. A common thread . . .
Every time I’m about to procrastinate, a sense of urgency washes over me to tackle, learn, create, organize or renew.
PS. This blog post happened while I was supposed to be cleaning my house.
Well, the queen I suppose you are, since I don’t know of FIVE ways to procrastinate… but thanks for the lesson. Just what I needed, new partners in crime!
Yes, I suppose we’re all guilty. I’m just guilty-ER.
It freaked me out to read that list, because it’s so spot on for me as well. I’ve got an Italian program downloaded on my computer, as well as a French one to brush up on when I have something I should be doing, and I get distracted by the clutter in my room when I have something I should be doing (except when that something is tidying my room).
LOL – Why is it that we’re so good at doing something ELSE when we should be writing?