Although I put off writing this, I'm not a procrastinator. I'm a prioritizer - unless thinking twice about something makes me a procrastinator.
No, I'm a blond; and blonds aren't likely to delay. Keeping our roots from showing has taught us not to put things off.
In spite of that, I married a procrastinator. In fact, my husband put the pro in procrastination. He had an art project due before we went on our honeymoon and he finished it one hour before our wedding.
Thankfully, being married to a compulsive, Type A Personality has turned him into a Type B Personality - that's a "usually done on timer".
"Put off until tomorrow what you can do today" is the procrastinators' motto. It's hard to put off things like New Year's resolutions, Fourth of July parades and Thanksgiving dinners; but a true procrastinator buys cookies on the way to the bake sale, gets gas from the AAA truck, sees doctors only in the emergency room and forgets most January appointments because of not buying a calendar until February.
In spite of such classic behaviors, procrastinators prefer to be described as time-challenged. Some say they are waiting for inspiration. Others explain they are positive thinkers, expecting whatever it is will take care of itself. Then there are those who point out tomorrow is another day and they want to see if it's a better day to do what has to be done. Unfortunately, there's also a group who claim they work best under pressure - even though blood pressure can cause deadlines.
Okay, I admit there are times when "drastically delaying" things works. By the time the interview suit is bought, it's on sale. When a stylist is finally consulted, long hair is in again.
Then there are the times I wish people would drastically delay - people like the IRS and Father Time.
As we get older, time passes too quickly to procrastinate. This is the time in our lives that comes right before we don't do things because we've forgotten about them.
Of course, there are ways to stop procrastinating. You can schedule doing things at specific times or on specific days. If this doesn't work, you can bribe yourself to do things - but this can be fattening. If neither of these strategies works, it's time to realize we make time for what we want to do - for the rest we make excuses. |
