All of us are likely to procrastinate at some time or another. Sometimes there is a reason behind why we drag our feet, such as not liking the task that you keep putting off again and again. Sometimes, though, procrastination happens for no reason at all. You know that this is going on when you find yourself doing something instead of what you know you should be doing yet you cannot come up with any reason why. Today I caught myself tidying up the house instead of sitting down to work after putting my son to bed. Normally, I do take a little time to tidy the house after he goes to sleep. Today, however, there was good reason to get right to work because he went to bed about an hour later than usual. For some reason, though, when I left the bedroom and realized what time it was I meandered about, picking up this and putting away that. I still do not know why I did that but fortunately I realized what I was doing and got myself over to the computer to begin working.
As I started working, I wondered why on earth I would have procrastinated about doing something that I enjoy. I love writing, and I’m excited to sit down to do it each day. In contrast, I do not like cleaning and I do it because I have to not because I like to, I like the result of living in a clean house just not the actual work it takes to maintain that.
I decided to learn a little about procrastination, because it is certainly something that can interfere with the work of even the most dedicated home-based professional from time to time. It turns out that there are other reasons why people procrastinate, aside from the common reason of dreading the task at hand. For example, some people enjoy the adrenaline rush of waiting until the last minute and then voila, cleverly pulling the rabbit out of the hat and getting it done just in the nick of time. While I have never really thought of myself as a thrill seeker, I have certainly done this more often than I care to admit. It’s no bungee jump, but there is a certain satisfaction to getting something done at the last minute, and done right. Twisted, I know, but it happens sometimes.
Do you procrastinate? Are you reading this right now instead of doing something else that is more important? Go do it now. You can come back and read some more later, when you truly have time.
Photo by clarita on morguefile.com.