The Procrastinator within…

So it seems that I had a realisation this weekend, one that I kind of knew but didn’t really think about as it only really manifested itself while I was working.  Yes it seems that I am a fully fledge ‘Procrastinator’.  How did this realisation come about you may ask?   Well, quite simply I was cleaning up our PC area as I finally got sick of all the papers and cables lying about and sharing a chair with both sons, and I found the TO DO list that I wrote when I stopped working.  The good news is that cleaning up the PC area was one of the things on the list however there were still another 20 that I hadn’t started or even contemplated.

Ah, Procrastination, what a wonderful thing.  Why do something now when you can keep putting it off.  It should be my motto for life or even my lifestyle of choice.

When I was working I thrived for deadlines, nothing got the adrenalin pumping more than knowing that I had a deadline that was creeping up and I still hadn’t started the work.  A two week deadline meant 8-9 days mucking about.  Then as the day approached I would spend a manic day completing what had to be done.  My work colleagues would ask if I was joking when I suggested doing lunch or coffee as they were trying to get work done before a deadline.  How weird is that?  In fact it pretty much sums up my school days as well, swatting up the night before exams when I should have been studying for weeks..

Procrastination comes in many guises, Twitter, email, blogging, Facebook the list is endless.  I do get days that I think okay today is the day I am going to “clean the line cupboard”, “oil the furniture”,  “attack the hall cupboard”. The hours I have free while the kids are at school\child minder are all mine to do all these “tasks”.  But once I have a morning coffee, check email, twitter, sneak a peek at LinkedIn, and then back to Facebook.  Then the all consuming blogging comes into play; write a post, check a post, read other posts…  My time has ebbed away and before I know, it’s too late to start anything.  Perhaps tomorrow or next week I think to myself as there is no rush to complete these things, they will get done when I can be bothered.  I have thought of setting deadlines for each of these things, but that won’t work as I set them so I can change them!

So almost 4 months later, that tomorrow still hasn’t arrived but at least I now have one thing ticked off.