(no subject)

[smg01]

You know what trait is particularly challenging to change? Procrastination.

It's not that I like having a sink full of dirty dishes. It's that it never seems quite the right time to do them.

It's not like writing up and distributing the minutes from that committee meeting is particularly time consuming or difficult. It's that there always seems that there's something better to do. Like... take a nap.

It's not that the squeaking noise of the car doesn't seem like something that needs checking. It's just that, making that phone call gets put off.

It's not that I like being a procrastinator. It leads to things like making apologies for doing things last minute, or having to rush to get things done in time, or turning what could have been really simple to deal with when tackled early become a bit more complicated. It's just that when one is innately a procrastinator, one even tends to procrastinate about changing procrastination.

My mom told me once about advice that she got from someone who said that whenever she wanted to put off a task that she didn't want to do, she would tell herself "just do it now." Which seems like pretty good advice. I might try that... tomorrow. Or next week. You know... sometime.

This post is brought to you by nothing in particular. Just a thought that occurred to me as I walked the dog at lunch.

Comments

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Boy do I sympathize! I sometimes find setting a timer for 15 minutes helps. Not always though!

[cleothemuse.livejournal.com]

THIS. As but one example, I have a love-hate relationship with the snooze button on an alarm. On the one hand, I like pushing back getting-up time by five minutes; on the other hand, I have pounded it into submission and accidentally gotten up late...

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

The snooze button is one of my very favorite things. I've recently found using a second alarm helpful. My clock/radio alarm goes off at 6:00, I get to hit the snooze once, and then my phone alarm goes off at 6:15. Much to my surprise, it's actually worked for the past few weeks.

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting idea. I may have to try that out.

[cleothemuse.livejournal.com]

I ALWAYS use two alarms... one set for the time I SHOULD get up if I don't want to have to rush around, and the second set for when I HAVE to get up. And yet, I have a terrible tendency to sleep through alarms...

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

That's been my history too. One other thing that I've been doing is telling myself very sternly as I settle down to sleep: "up at 6:15, up at 6:15, up at 6:15" a bunch of times. This is in an effort to set the body clock as well. I don't know if it's coincidence but it seems to be working.

Strangely, since the new wake up schedule I haven't been as sleepy during the day for the most part. I don't know what to make of that.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Can't take the credit -- it's via FlyLady (http://www.flylady.net/) -- but "set a timer for 15 minutes, do as much as you can in that time, then you get to stop" is quite manageable!