Procrastination
I have two big things to get done for work this week. I've known for literally a month that I need to get these things to my boss on Friday; he's been remarkably clear and consistent in "No extensions, no excuses" mantra on this one. I've blocked off big chunks of time on my calendar to devote to finishing these projects; I've promised myself every day for the last week and a half that I wouldn't leave the office until I finished one of them. And where am I? Half-done with both, and half-done with about five other things that I'm working on. It's not even that they're especially hard or complicated projects. I don't know what's up with me; I just cannot muster the focus or mental energy required to finish these things.
I don't know when I turned into a procrastinator; when I was a kid, I always did my homework the minute I got home from school. There was no arguing or negotiating or snacking; I just did it, and I enjoyed having it out of the way before dinner. And even in college, I remember during my semester abroad junior year, when everyone else was scrambling to get their final papers done and fighting over the four computers for 25 students, I was drinking my cider and doing quiz night at the pub, because I was all done.
But by senior year, I was definitely the one in the computer lab at four in the morning, or 10 minutes before class started, or whatever. I don't know what happened to cause me to be truly deadline-driven (really, until grad school, the notion of "you'll need as much time as you're given" in relation to deadlines was preposterous to me), but I seem not to be able to get away from it.
The biggest challenge here, aside from the obscene amount of time I know I waste by not just sitting my ass down and cranking something out, is that the Smelmooo is the exact opposite of a procrastinator, and it's infuriating to him that I'm so last-minute about everything.
Birthday present for my nephew's party on Saturday at noon? Purchased on Friday night; wrapped on Saturday morning (at which point I realized we were out of proper kids' wrapping paper, and I ended up decorating my own, which was fun, but not so much an efficient use of time).
IRA contribution for 2005? Will probably be overnighted on April 14th.
Work projects due on Friday? Led to a huge amount of mindless web surfing last week and obsessive e-mail checking today, and sucked up a bunch of family time yesterday.
So I understand why it's frustrating to the hubby, and it's frustrating to me, but I simply can't bring myself to fix it right now. Another time.
I don't know when I turned into a procrastinator; when I was a kid, I always did my homework the minute I got home from school. There was no arguing or negotiating or snacking; I just did it, and I enjoyed having it out of the way before dinner. And even in college, I remember during my semester abroad junior year, when everyone else was scrambling to get their final papers done and fighting over the four computers for 25 students, I was drinking my cider and doing quiz night at the pub, because I was all done.
But by senior year, I was definitely the one in the computer lab at four in the morning, or 10 minutes before class started, or whatever. I don't know what happened to cause me to be truly deadline-driven (really, until grad school, the notion of "you'll need as much time as you're given" in relation to deadlines was preposterous to me), but I seem not to be able to get away from it.
The biggest challenge here, aside from the obscene amount of time I know I waste by not just sitting my ass down and cranking something out, is that the Smelmooo is the exact opposite of a procrastinator, and it's infuriating to him that I'm so last-minute about everything.
Birthday present for my nephew's party on Saturday at noon? Purchased on Friday night; wrapped on Saturday morning (at which point I realized we were out of proper kids' wrapping paper, and I ended up decorating my own, which was fun, but not so much an efficient use of time).
IRA contribution for 2005? Will probably be overnighted on April 14th.
Work projects due on Friday? Led to a huge amount of mindless web surfing last week and obsessive e-mail checking today, and sucked up a bunch of family time yesterday.
So I understand why it's frustrating to the hubby, and it's frustrating to me, but I simply can't bring myself to fix it right now. Another time.
2 Comments:
Ah a sister procrastinator, I always knew I liked you. Of course, I've been a procrastinator dating back to my very first book report which I finished the night before ... much to the dismay of my Type A parents.
I actually did one paper way ahead of time in college and (no joke) received a grade lower than any other paper I'd done. That was all the validation I needed to wait until the last minute from then on. :)
-Leslie
By
Anonymous, at 7:12 PM
I became a huge procastinator in college. Luckily, most of my late night computer sessions resulted in trips to the diner with my good pal MJ, so it was all good. Good luck!
-S
By
Anonymous, at 8:46 AM
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