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My ‘to do list’ is longer than my arm today and I already know half of the urgent items on the list will have to wait till tomorrow or possibly even Friday. So as I study my list and try to figure out which ones I can do quickly, which ones need to be done NOW and which ones  should have been done yesterday, my good buddy procrastination pulls up his chair beside me and offers me a cupful of daydreams and a plateful of  scrumptious ideas of how to fill my day in a more colourful way.

I know I should push him aside, ban him from my desk or maybe just chain him up and throw him in my non existent cellar, but he knows me so well and can really press my buttons.  And it really doesn’t help that the sky is blue, the sun is shining and a friendly home invasion will be taking place this afternoon.

Knowing that one in five of you who read these words (possibly more in bloggers) struggles with their own pal procrastination lurking behind their shoulders, makes me smile as I believe I am in very good company. Sadly this really doesn’t help any of us as we pile up the stress and tell ourselves how we “work better under pressure” or believe that we are superheros (mine has sparkly kick ass boots) who actually only need half the time to do certain things.

I know that checking me email and looking up my blog stats only delays what has to be done and I don’t really need to drink quite so many cups of tea even if I tell myself short breaks are good. Dancing to every song that I like may be good exercise but I don’t really have the time and why dusting suddenly seems so appealing I cannot fathom.

But thankfully procrastination is not imbedded in my genes but a way of life or a habit that I have picked up along the way. So by changing how I act and react may be  a slow process but it can be done. One trick is to set realistic goals, another to be honest with myself and finally  start today, not tomorrow as for a procrastinator tomorrow never comes.

Oops where did the day go?

Ending procrastination