This has been coming up a lot for me lately. Why do I procrastinate? For me it’s tied to perfectionism.
I have many ways to procrastinate, doing laundry, eating, cleaning house, or the dreaded social media. There are also the things that look like work, researching for a project, answering email, or any other distractions disguised as work.
On our way to Washington to fish. Anticipation creates different kind of rush.
They are all very effective at keeping me from doing what I need to do. They can have unhealthy side effects. I guess the major side effect of doing laundry or cleaning house are good until you come up on your deadline for the project you needed to do. Then the unhealthy side effects kick in.
Unhealthy side effects like beating yourself up for not having the project done already. The shame you feel because you may miss a deadline. The stress you put yourself through because you are pushing to meet that deadline.
Why do I do this to myself? It’s come into my awareness recently that it’s because the adrenaline rush gives me such a high.
Susan and Zandy Parr jumping. One form of an adrenaline rush.
Never mind that I also get a high feeling when I complete a project before a deadline. The adrenaline to meet a deadline must be so much better.
Time is our most valuable resource. We can’t get it back. I can’t get back those hours that I’ve spent mindlessly scrolling social media or going down rabbit holes while researching a project. Cleaning the house does give me some sense of satisfaction but is still unhealthy if it’s only done to avoid something that I’m not motivated at that moment to do.
You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Mike doing what he loved – fishing in Washington
Why is this coming up for me today? I’ve had a family crisis come up and now I may have less than three hours before I need to leave. Had I written this when the reminder comes up on my calendar, I would have had it all ready and would have only had to post it. But alas, I let my procrastination take over.
It seemed even before Mike was sick that we always lived in a state of crisis. We procrastinated and then went from one crisis to the next. I was thinking about that last week and what occurred to me was that the adrelinine rush must be very strong. Then when you get something done you get a satisfaction reward as well.
Several years ago, Mike and I went fishing in Washington. He wanted to put his cattle out on the milo stalks before we left. He left it until the last minute and ended up building several miles of electric fence the week before we left. He got it done but was wishing he hadn’t done it all at once because his arms were sore, and he didn’t enjoy the fishing as much as he might have.
My bugaboo is perfectionism. When I first get a design project I’ll be inspired and get a great start. Then I feel like I need to take a break from it and have a hard time getting inspired or even motivated again. The worst are my own projects because the deadlines are usually fluid, they can be pushed. I get myself into a lot of unnecessary anxiety this way.
A fish we caught in Washington.
When I put a project aside it’s hard for me to pick it back up until I feel inspired. Like it’s hard for me to write these posts without having inspiration. So, what happens is I don’t. Then when it’s urgent I feel like I’m sending content out into the world unfinished (not perfect) funny thing is those not perfect projects are usually the ones to get the most comments or likes. Or in the case of design projects people love them. Now I’ve spent needless time stressing over them when I could have moved on to the next project.
How do you procrastinate? If you’d like to find out how the horses can help connect with me here.
What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round when I could avoid this stress by not procrastinating?
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Onward! The Truth About Caregiving
