Procrastination

There are several things I do not do well at all, some things I do alright at and a few things I do very well. Sadly, procrastinating is one of those things that I do very well. You see, I have practiced this art form long and hard.

I don't know when it started, but I have always said that I "work well under pressure." In high school I would wait to do a big paper until the night before it was due and then stay up until some horrendous hour finishing it. (Don't tell me you never did that.) I liked to think that I just did better finishing the project all at once. That might be part of it, but I think it comes down to the fact that I am both a procrastinator and a perfectionist. How can I be both a procrastinator and a perfectionist? I don't know, but they somehow work together.

This last Tuesday, the teacher in my Bible study shared a cartoon about procrastination during her teaching. I think it describes me perfectly, so here it is:

Yes, that is me. Generally, the enthusiasm factor is not at its maximum effectiveness until I realize that I may or may not have time to finish the project.

In fact, recently I was so frustrated with my messy house that I invited company over just so that I would clean my house. I had about 2 weeks to clean my house, but did I use those whole 2 weeks to do that? No, of course not. Why would I do such a logical, self-disciplined thing? Thankfully, I did a couple of things early on in the week, but later in the week I definitely implemented the energy-intensive phase of cleaning my house.

It is not only in cleaning my house that I procrastinate, but that is certainly the area that is most visually obvious to anyone unfortunate enough to witness my procrastination in action. Hm, I suppose my house does need to be cleaned again. Anyone want to come over for dinner?