Procrastination

I'm a long-time subscriber to the ideas of Flylady, aka Marla Cilley and before that the Sidetracked Home Executives, aka, Pam and Peggy, from whence came Flylady's system. While neither of the above organizational systems works perfectly for me, they have made a difference and I use versions of the ideas contained therein in my everyday life.

So, today is the day set aside for me to move things off of my to-do list. It is Anti-procrastination Day.  I procrastinate for various reasons:

• I don't like doing it-it's just not fun.
• I feel overwhelmed by it-like I'll never get it right so why bother?
• I haven't owned it as my responsibility-I feel like someone else, such as my husband or kids, should take care of it.
• I've worked hard on other things, so I can let this thing slide. 
• I'm just plain tired and can't muster the energy to do it. 

So, when things fall into this category,  doing something for just a few minutes (15 minutes is the Flylady way), helps me get around a lot of the above self-defeating dialogues.  What usually happens is that knowing that I've only required of myself 15 minutes of cleaning or filing or appointment-making or whatever the task might be, I'm able to circumvent the thought processes that cause me to feel trapped by stuff like this, and I jump in more willingly. Then I almost always just finish it up, even if it takes more than 15 minutes. The amazing thing is how little time most things take-that's the biggest lesson I've learned. For example, I can clean an entire bathroom in about 5-7 minutes on average-a good, thorough clean, not just a once-over (The books and ideas from Jeff Campbell of Speed Cleaning have also been a huge  help to me). So, I don't hate that job any more. I do it while I'm performing my own personal ablutions, either in the morning or the evening. It has become so routine that I hardly think about it any more. Therein lies the power of routine, and so today, I'll try to get through my list of things that I often procrastinate doing for any or all of the above reasons.

Included are:

1. Making 6 doctor's appointments (I don't really like making phone calls)
2. Starting a contract knitting project in earnest (It took 2 hours just to wind the yarn, but that's done so I'm ready to go)
3. Getting some things listed on ebay (so many details-the photos, the pricing, ack!)
4. Finishing last year's filing and solidifying this year's system. (I know, it's March already.)

If I can get all that done, it will be a good day. Some things will be quick, and others not so quick, but I'll keep listening to Harry Potter 7 to keep me going and have the satisfaction of a slightly shorter list at the end of the day.