Do You Procrastinate Like I Do
Every time I think I’ve got it beat it comes back to haunt me
I have a terrible habit that I’m struggling to break. That habit is procrastination, the downfall of many a dreamer.
Do you read about productivity, how to write a novel, living your best life, or any number of other topics? I do. I read about these topics, and many more all the time.
The problem is that I don’t act consistently or at all on many of these. And this inaction is my slide into procrastination.
I have the knowledge, I know what to do, but then some distraction gets in the way. This distraction could be anything from binge-watching something on Netflix, to playing a game on my iPad, to making an excuse that I’m too tired to continue. They are all-time-wasters to which I succumb far too often.
I need to replace them with something more constructive, for instance replacing Netflix with time spent reading. Or trading the countless hours spent playing games with writing. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not. At least it isn’t for me.
I’ve tried to limit my time spent on these worthless habits before. I can manage for a time, but in the end, I always seem to return to them just as I did before. It’s a matter of willpower, or lack thereof I suppose.
I guess I could look at this as I did when I quit smoking. I must have quit at least a dozen times, maybe more until eventually I just stopped. I don’t recall the entire string of events, but what I do remember is that I was on the first week of the nicotine patches, and before I got to the second week I’d quit. No more patches, no more cigarettes, no nicotine gum, nothing.
I know that a big part of it was mental. I was ready to quit. You have to be ready both physically and mentally to quit an addiction and I was ready. As a result, this time, unlike so many times before I just did it.
It’s been almost 20 years since I took my last puff, and thank God I never looked back.
It’s just too bad that there isn’t a patch for procrastination. If there were I’d be the most productive person on the planet.
Yesterday would have been a great day for a procrastination patch. I had my laptop next to me, which I didn’t open, not even once. I had my tablet in hand playing games and reading a little bit of news while I watched television.
Granted, I have a broken arm at the moment, but that isn’t a valid excuse. Although I may not be able to take part in much physical activity right now, the one thing I can do is type. I can rest my arm in a position where typing is not uncomfortable. I know this because I’m on my computer at work every day since I broke my arm — typing. With both hands like a normal person.
Since there isn’t a patch for what ails me, I’m going to have to come up with more creative ways of reducing the things that cause me to procrastinate.
The first thing I’ve done is to remove the games from my iPad. I’ve done this before and it has worked — for a time — about a month or so. I’m also going to limit television time to about an hour in the evenings. This will give me time to focus on reading and writing instead.
Geez, I sound like a parent punishing their child by taking away TV time. But then again, if I want to act like a child I suppose I need to be treated as one.
Anyway, I’m hoping that like quitting smoking, that this regimen will stick this time.
Who knows, maybe the 12th time is the charm. I’ll reevaluate my progress in a month to see if I’ve finally quit. Procrastinating that is.
Until next time…
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I came across Francis Alcantara’s articles last week and they are excellent. Give them a try, I’m sure you will enjoy them too.