Procrastination

April 18, 2016

Greetings from just a little while from now,

If you are like me, even figuratively, (which doesn’t mean we literally have the same figure) you have faced some Mondays with a certain dread.  Perhaps you have work piling up, or a difficult project for which you are completely unprepared for.  Or someone is bugging you AGAIN to finish doing your tax return.

These kinds of pressures can lead to Chronic Deferment Syndrome.  CDS.  You can tell that this is an actual condition because it has a capitalized acronym, unlike those made up sicknesses like “peanut allergy” which you can tell is fake because it has quotes around it. 

According to research which I am currently fabricating, Mondays are the primary cause of procrastination in America.  In the interest of making life easier for you, possibly saving you stressful anxiety and a painful IRS audit, I bring you:

Ten Steps to Dealing with Procrastination.

One:  Understand it. 

If we look at the origin of the word ‘procrastination’, (which I did and found a really amazing recipe for beet salad on the internet, and a cute video of puppies jumping into a basket) we find this breakdown of the root of the word; pro- meaning ‘forward’ and  crastinus- meaning ‘belonging to tomorrow’.  If I understand this properly, there are some things that come to us that belong to tomorrow.  If we are to correctly live out our fate, we should forward them there.  This is not really procrastinating, but embracing what is.

Two: Make a list. 

This is an important exercise to organize your thoughts and prioritize the various responsibilities in front of you.  You will need some lined paper, and a well sharpened pencil.  Do not look in the junk drawer in the kitchen to find the pencil because all that’s in there are crayons, some keys to things I can’t identify, a twist tie, and a phone charger to my Motorola Razr.  In spite of all the innovations in phones, I still really liked that Razr. 

If you don’t have lined paper it would be worth a trip to the store to get some.  It would also be a good time to wash the car, since it’s finally stopped snowing. (check local listings) And perhaps while you’re at the store you should look at belated birthday cards.  Maybe before you go you should make a list so you remember all this.

Three: Prime the pump

Nothing breeds success like success.  If you want to really grind through all the work you need to do, you first need some momentum.  I believe you should begin by doing something you enjoy.  Go for a run, or open up that carton of Moose Tracks you’ve been thinking about.  Teach your dog to jump into a basket.  It’s accomplishments like these that will give you the confidence to attack the challenges you’re most trying to avoid.

Four: Visualization

Imagine actually completing the activity you don’t really want to do.  Think about how satisfying it will be to have that behind you.  In order to make this most impactful, get some crayons and paper and illustrate what it would look like to be finished with whatever it is.  Or, if you can’t find crayons, lie on the couch, close your eyes, and envision your success.  This may take an hour.  Maybe a little longer if the house is really quiet.

Five: Embrace it. 

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”  Albert Einstein.
Einstein was so smart he is practically a brand name for geniuses.  So we can trust his perspective.

The idea is clear; we have time now, and we have time later, and it goes against the laws of physics, and possibly karma, to try to force all activity into one time frame.  Whatever you’ve been putting off is probably not good for you anyway.  There is a reason you don’t want to do it, so maybe you should acknowledge that and follow your instincts. 

And, the fact is, sometimes really good ideas happen at the last minute.  Sometimes circumstances evolve that take care of whatever you have been avoiding.  Sometimes if you wait long enough, everyone who matters will forget whatever it is you were supposed to do.  Besides, you have CDS. 

Ten: Adapt.

Life is filled with challenges; if we are going to make the best of our lives it’s up to us to find ways to weave through the difficulties placed before us and create solutions that make sense to our true nature.  This sometimes means being creative, inventive, and when necessary, to stretch the fabric of time and space to accommodate what needed to be done yesterday.

Hope this finds you seizing the moment… later,

David

Copyright © 2016 David Smith