In Others’ Words: Procrastination

“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” ~Don Marquis (1878-1937), humorist, journalist & author

 

We all procrastinate. Some of us are just better than others at putting things off until tomorrow, or the next day … or next month. The result? A pile of stuff waiting to be done — and it’s all got to be done now.

It would help to uncover the root of procrastination … but there is more than one root to this problem. Sometimes I procrastinate because:

I’m lazy. Yep — there are days I ignore the To Do list because I just don’t want to do anything.
I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start on the project because it’s h-u-g-e … and it’s easier to not begin at all.
I’m afraid. Afraid of what, you ask? Failure.
I’m too busy watching what someone else is accomplishing. Wrong, wrong focus.
I’m trying to do the wrong thing. Sometimes I think I’m supposed to do a project — but I’m doing it out of guilt or because I think it will get me something or somewhere (how selfish is that?). Or maybe I said yes when I should have said no.

The next time I’m procrastinating, instead of beating myself up over what I should be doing, maybe I should calm down and ask myself, “What’s stopping you from doing this?”

In Your Words: What are you procrastinating about? Why are you not doing it?

 

I’m back home after being in Houston and Dallas for a week! No, I’m not unpacked yet — but here’s a glimpse of some of the fun I had at the ACFW conference!