The Gift in Procrastination

Hello Fellow Life Enthusiasts!

Today we consider the gift in procrastination…

I must admit I am not the greatest with time management.  In my mind everything will take 15 minutes.  I also love lists.  They help keep me focused as I find I can get sidetracked very easily.

I use my lists to make a game of how much I can do.  I start each day ready to jump into action and tick off the things I complete on my list.  Because as much as I love to make lists, I love it even more when I see those little check marks by the things I accomplished.  It makes me feel good and I also love to “share” all of my accomplishments with my loving husband and daughters who do their best to pretend that they care as I go on and on about it – but thus I digress .

As the days go by I find myself with several half accomplished lists.  I am a bit old school and although I am beginning to make lists on my phone (as technology and I are becoming better friends – I’ll save that for a different post) the majority of  my lists are written on various pages in a notebook and yes, I mean the ones with actual paper with lines on it bound by that little spiral thingy.    Suffice it to say wherever I go my lists go with me just in case I think of something that needs to be added to a list .

Normally this is not a problem, I can easily flip back and forth to different lists, checking things off as I go along and then I am on my merry way to the next task at hand.

Then there are those times when something else gets added into the mix – kids starting school, doctor appointments, medical treatments, surgery or anything that is unexpected, maybe even a crisis and I can get thrown into a total tailspin.

This is when I begin to go back thru my notebook and see everything that I still need to do.  Then I start thinking of all those ideas that have been floating around in my head that need to get added to a list.  Then I try to envision having to deal with whatever unexpected issue/crisis that has come up.

Then the meltdown occurs and panic sets in that I will never be able to get all of it  done.  Can anyone else relate to this?

I start to lose myself in how long everything is going to take (reality overtakes my 15 minute time frame), how many things I have to do,  what’s coming up that I have to prepare for and then I find myself wandering from room to room in my house noticing everything that is a mess which compounds my feelings of overwhelm.    I like to call this the brain spins – all thinking and no action.

Then my procrastination ritual starts to ensue and I find myself making a new list with everything that didn’t get completed from the old lists and add my fresh ideas.  I factor in whatever the unexpected issue/crisis is that I have to take time for.  I go thru any miscellaneous paperwork I have laying around just to make sure that I am not missing anything and that everything I can think of it on the list.  Of course, this also becomes the time when I clear up the house, maybe even clean a little bit because in order to be able to be productive I have to have a clean environment so that I can think straight right?

This may go on for hours or days depending on the severity of situation before I can snap out of it and go into action mode again.

I used to think that this was a bad thing and then I started paying attention to how I felt after I went thru my “procrastination ritual”.  I always feel calmer, more grounded and centered with a fresh perspective.  I have a sense of accomplishment and look around my surroundings feeling a sense of peace and order.  It  gives me a moment to breathe, slow down and regroup.

It gives me a chance to refocus my energy and begin again with a new sense of power and excitement.

We can all get so caught up in everything that we have to do and if something unexpected comes along that requires more of our attention it can shake our foundation.  We need to take a moment and ground ourselves and get our balance back so that we can quiet all of those thoughts in our heads and get us back into our bodies doing things that we love, feeling a sense of accomplishment and just plain making us feel thankful to be alive.   Our procrastination rituals can actually help us do that.  They give us the opportunity to clear out the closets of our mind, bringing us back to the present moment and looking forward to the future.

So I ask you to think of your procrastination ritual and how it helps you get more grounded and balanced so that you have a renewed excitement about what you are doing in your life?

I would love to hear your comments.

Love, Hugs and Smiles!!
Cathy
Be You, Be Powerful and Live Happy!!