Procrastination Revisited

 

As I do not remotely relate to this quote,
it is perfect for this piece :)

Why oh why…

Why do I procrastinate?  Why do I need the pressure of an impending deadline to get my ass in gear and get to work?

There are no good answers to this question.  It is simple as that.  If I haven’t answered or solved the question by this point in my life, I doubt that I ever will.

Did I say “will?”

Yes, I did.  I believe I have free will as most of do.  But that is not the kind of will I am talking about here.

I am talking about will in the sense of grit, determination, and intestinal fortitude, to work unceasingly to accomplish something.  That something in this case is to change a habit, to get out of a rut forged over decades.  Yes, that is the ticket:  grit, determination, and intestinal fortitude.  Or, as Nike has eloquently stated:  Just do it.

For years, i have tried to camouflage it as an operations management methodology called Just-in-Time.  I wrote a piece, Procrastination or JIT?, in July of 2018.   I really have nothing to add in terms of diagnosis.  I believe I covered it all in that piece.

I know what to do, or rather, I think that I know what I ought to do.  But as I have often cited my favorite motivational quote: Knowing never equals doing!  Heck, I gave someone advice just this week about beating procrastination.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It was an old German proverb:  start to sew and God will provide the thread.   Even back in July 2018, I provided a graphic:  The best way to get something done is to begin. 

The knowledge is there.  Smarter folks than I have encapsulated age old truths into these wonderful motivational quotes.  I should make posters, photos, and prints of all these brilliant motivational epitaphs and plaster my walls and desktops both physical and virtual.  Maybe this would help me generate or muster the will to beat this procrastination thing once and for all.  Just do it!  Grit, determination, and intestinal fortitude.  Never ever give up.  This thing can’t beat me!

Well…

It has won every battle thus far in the war. 

Don’t fret dear friends.  I am not depressed.  I actually have a big smile (stupid grin?) on my face as I type this.

The bottom line is that we all learn to cope and compensate we slalom, muddle, or stumble around the obstacles and achieve whatever it is we think we want.  If we are moderately content, why fret it so?  Again, another question I cannot answer. 

I am moderately content.  All in all, that is a good thing.

So why worry about a little procrastination here and there?  Finally, a good question.

I think I yearn for a clean desk, a trim and fit physique, and a proactive work ethic simply because, I want to do things with style and savoir faire.

Savoir faire?  How did this little diatribe on procrastination end up here at me wanting “a polished sureness in social behavior?”

Maybe I have been unsuccessful in beating this thing because I wasn’t doing it for me but rather how I wanted to be perceived by… all of you?

That stupid grin on my face has turned in a hearty laugh at loud.

Well, at least I had some fun writing this ramble.