PROCRASTINATION

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"Procrastination is the thief of time. ~Edward Young"

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday, so I took the week off.
...OK,OK that was really my rationalization for PROCRASTINATION.

Procrastination really gets me down on myself. Procrastination only make the task at hand harder and more stressful to complete.

I won't bore you with my stories. Suffice it to say, that I remember a lot of instances when my Procrastination created larger issues for myself. When I procrastinate, I feel disappointed in myself and that I have somehow failed myself and sometimes others.

I Google searched "procrastination" and found loads of sites with good information.
Check some of them out:

sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/procrastination.html

www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030823-000001.html

www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/procrastination.html

In a nutshell, we procrastinate because the job or task at hand is -

1. Difficult - the task seems hard to do; we naturally tend to avoid difficult things in favor of those which seem easy to us.

2. Time-consuming - the task will take large blocks of time, and large blocks of time are unavailable until the weekend.

3. Lack of knowledge or skills - no one wants to make mistakes, so wait until you learn how before you start.

4. Fears - everyone will know how you screwed up.

We can overcome procrastination by -

1. Realize you are delaying something unnecessarily.

2. Discover the real reasons for your delay. List them.

3. Dispute those real reasons and overcome them. Be vigorous.

4. Begin the task.

Sounds easy, but for those of us who are PROCRASTINATORS, it is NOT. Check out the links above for more detailed explanations and solutions. (The Causes and Solutions to Procrastination above are from the calpoly link above.)

Click this you tube link for a great visual interpretation of PROCRASTINATION: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXziurFkQxM

In college, one of my sorority sisters (Thanks Sheri Costa, wherever your are) gave each person attending one of our weekly meetings "A Round Tuit".

This is a Round Tuit. Guard it with your life.

Tuits are hard to come by, especially the round ones. It will help you become a much more efficient worker. For years you've heard people say "I'll do that when I get a round tuit." So now that you have one, you can accomplish all those things you put aside until you get
a Round Tuit.

source: www.quantumenterprises.co.uk/roundtuit/index.htm

Now you have NO EXCUSES!! Get to work....
See you next week.

Over Committment

http://www.myclosetsandmore.com


Getting back to my original outline from the March 22nd... The first cause for disorganization is OVER COMMITMENT. We all do it. If you have a job, a spouse, children, other family, and friends your already have a lot to balance. Add to that your kids school, their extra curricular activities, your extracurricular activities and you definitely have a lot of commitments. Nothing we do comes without what I call "ADD-ONS". Those are all the little extras that are attached to everything you're involved in like the phone chains, money collections, unnecessary meetings... BEWARE of ADD-ONS! They suck away your time and wreck your schedule!
When my kids were very young and I lived in another city, I attended a women's fellowship group. The women who opened each session was a gifted speaker and storyteller. One of the things I took away from one of her opening messages, was that we all have different obligations at different times in our lives. Our commitments need to match the stages in the different times in our lives. Otherwise, too much conflict and stress is created.
Easy to say, I know. Set rules for yourself and all those "attached" to you for the time commitments you and they make. For example limits need to be made on how many sports activities in which a child participates. It affects the whole family! Each family needs to decide what works for them. For me, it means picking volunteer commitments that work with the obligations to my family and work. There was a time when I chose to make large 2 year obligation for a volunteer commitment at my kid's school, but I chose to make that commitment when it would fit in with the particular stage in my (& my family's) lives. Simply put, I only take on one large volunteer task at a time and then will take on a few smaller ones during the year. The smaller ones will be "do it in a day" type things. Things that are a firm time obligation with not other strings attached like bringing food to someone or setting up an event on a particular day.
I have found it easier to say "No, I can't commit to that now, but (if it is something I feel compelled to do) I would like to next year when it will fit our family schedule better." or "No, this isn't something I can commit to now because I'm committed for XYZ." It is easy to feel justified saying "NO" if you have boundaries set up before you are asked to commit to something. ...and don't forget, you can always say, " Can you give me some time to think about it. I need to make sure I'm not over committing." Also, don't forget to get some definite answers on what does this commitment entail both time wise and otherwise.