There is a reason it has been so long since I’ve posted. I’m just not sure what it is. “Write Blog Post” keeps getting bumped from my carefully tended list of action items. Why? Is it really because I’ve been busy? (Thought truly, I have been) Or is it a simple case of procrastination?
In the busy life of raising children, it is easy to differentiate between being to busy to do something and just plain old procrastinating. After all, this is a time when schedules can quickly change. The call from school to say your child is vomiting and needs to go home. Discovering a birthday party invitation for Sunday at the bottom of a knapsack on Friday evening. The teenage drama which demands debate and reassurance. There is no way to predict when or how our children will need something from us. Time, or energy, or both.
The advantages of being en entrepreneur is that I don’t have to check with my boss before dashing off to pick up kids. It also means my life includes surprise business issues which need my attention. On a really bad day or week, the business emergencies coincide with the family ones. Those are the times when it is a real stretch to be two places and two people at once.
How to know if tasks remain incomplete because of busy-ness or procrastination? Some clues:
1. Your lunch ran long because you were reading the news sites or gossip blogs.
2. Newly added, non-urgent items on your agenda get completed before doing something which you were supposed to do weeks ago.
3. In the time slot you’ve set aside to complete a task, you work on a new or different project instead.
4. You find yourself cooking up new projects or ideas instead of finishing the stuff already on your plate.
5. Tasks get erased or deleted from your to-do list because they were sitting there for so long. Before making the item disappear, first remember the reasons why it got added to your list in the first place. Ask yourself if you deleting it because it is really no longer required, or because you don’t want to do the work.
Awareness and discipline are critical ingredients for any good habit. Knowing when and how procrastination shows up in your life requires the same skills.
Photo: iStockphoto Purchased
I definitely fall into periods of procrastination. I find that awareness is key to stopping it for me, particularly awareness of the reason why I’m avoiding a particular task (e.g., lack of self-confidence, aversion to routine tasks).
I find that as long as I have a list, I do not procrastinate. If I don’t write things down, they never get done. I used to procrastinate waaay to often, but now I like the sense of accomplishment during my days and try and get as many things done as early in the day as possible. So far so good.
I have a list and try to follow it faithfully,because I| can so easily stray