The Procrastinators Club Meeting Has Been Delayed...But I'm Not Going

Procrastination. It is a slippery slope paved with good intentions. And good intentions are, apparently, very slick.

When I started this project, I warned you – regular blogging is a challenge for me. (First defense of a serial procrastinator – blame others!) No, really, it started before there were blogs. Cleaning out my childhood room after I married, I found a whole box of diaries and journals with an entry every day for a week, then every week, then several months, then nothing. For someone who dreamed of being a writer, I didn't do much recording of my life!

A blog is public, though. People expect the next installment. (At least, I hope they do!) When I was in marketing and had to consider bloggers for advertising, my first move was to see how frequently they post and dismissed those who faded away or post randomly. Ah, karma.

I don’t procrastinate in my professional life. I meet deadlines and reach goals as a point of pride. I can use lots of excuses about my personal time – I’m looking for a job, I’m busy with charitable committees, I have two teenagers home for the summer who need me (ok, maybe not need). I have a household to run, community commitments, Facebook posts are easier,blah blah blah.  So, don’t we all? Excuses don’t help me encourage others to join me in charitable works, do they? And that was my goal.

This, for me, is about fear. Not laziness or lack of commitment. It's about an unwillingness to just post SOMETHING, an update, a paragraph, because the gentle readers might think less of me. (No one passes judgment on me better than me.) I missed one week and suddenly I thought I had broken a "perfect" pattern that I had to correct, which led to a second week missed until I could do it "right", and that led to writer's block and a freezing of my typing fingers. The good news is, it’s not too late to catch up! The charitable acts did not fade away, have never stopped and continue to grow. I have plenty of good things and people and groups to write about. 

Marla Cilley, aka the Flylady, is a free online mentor to people who take on too much and overwhelm themselves with their household, their family and social commitments and end up putting things off until it is a bigger deal than it has to be. She encourages her “Flybabies” to have routines, “DO IT NOW!”, jump in where you are and take baby steps. She explains that procrastination can come from a kind of perfectionism – "if I can’t do it exactly right, all at once, perfectly, I will put it off until I can", and that time never comes. I am definitely in this club. But that approach is often unrealistic. Taking a small step, breaking a project into manageable pieces – that avoids the feeling of being overwhelmed. One of her suggestions is making Wednesday “Anti-Procrastination Day” and doing something, anything you have put off. It can be scary or tedious at first, but once it is done it feels SO much better. And here it is, Wednesday.

So here I am, jumping back in with both feet. Taking a baby step. This project is a positive one; I refuse to allow myself to create guilty or negative feelings about it! Yes, it’s my project, my rules, and nothing has stopped the charity activities. I set out to challenge myself in all aspects of this project and sliding down that slope is easier than climbing up the hill. But the summit is a better view.

Please forgive me for my absence on the blog and calendar. I have a plan, a routine and baby steps and you will be seeing much more than just Facebook posts for the rest of the year. There are still 192 days left in my 45^th year and I hope you will continue to join me in making them great days for people who need a helping hand.