Friday, August 12, 2016

For the Love of the Last Minute

So, sometime last week John came home raving about this Ted Talk he’d just listened to. Mostly, he was raving about it because he said it described a particular habit of mine, truly and completely.

This is the talk. And it’s on procrastination.

 

And here’s the thing. John was truly and completely right. I was nodding my head the entire time because, that monkey? Yes. That panic monster. Yes, yes. I can relate to all of it.

In fact, it’s 10:30 pm and I’ve been running around like a crazy person since I got home from work trying to get everything packed before our trip because, I mean, why would I have done it sooner? What’s the rationale in that? As I type, there’s still laundry in the dryer and all the bags piled up in the bedroom. And we’re supposed to be leaving, well, early.

He talks about two types of procrastination in the piece, one being the deadline-driven type—and I totally get it. It’s why I love working in such a deadline-driven career. I understand deadlines. I like them.

But I do feel the effects of the other kind of procrastination, where I don’t have hard and fast deadlines. It’s really why I’m so glad to be doing a project like this—sure, technically I have a daily deadline (which may also explain why it’s now 10:44 and I’m still doing this…), but it’s also forcing me to do something—in this case, writing for myself, on a daily basis—that I’ve been wanting to do for so long. And it’s even more motivating when I think back on all the other things I’ve wanted to do and all the other ideas I’ve had that I didn’t necessarily get around to doing.

So maybe I’ll turn over a new leaf, as they say? Who knows. But at the very least it’ll give me something to think about while I do some more laundry, download some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes and figure out where all the beach towels are.



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