Procrastination - A Mom's Worst Enemy

Hello everyone,

I hope that when you read this post, you are keeping safe and healthy! If you are in an area where Covid-19 has picked up back again - remember to wash your hands, not touch your face and wear your mask.

I am writing a little later than usual because I woke up ill during the night. I chose to rest and sleeping a few hours might have done the trick - sometimes, your body tells you that it has to rest and if you don't listen, it will make you listen!

Procrastination...yeah, that feeling of: I will do it later because right now, I have to watch another episode of The Office. Then, you hit a deadline, have guests coming, need to get to that place or whatever else you had to do but were procrastinating about and it hits you: WHY DID I NOT DO THIS BEFORE???  Panic sets in and you go in full mode to accomplishing whatever that task was. You scramble to get things done, you are going a mile a second because this was way overdue. Once it is done, you are exhausted and vow that you will never do this again - and the next time, it happens again. Why??

I think the reason procrastination takes on each time is because of one simple thing: distractions. When the internet was not a thing, I read so many books. I would take out all these books from the library and I would read them through the weekend, on weeknights, while taking the bus or subway - wherever I could, I would read. But when the internet came into the picture - things changed. Our focus shifted. 

Don't get me wrong, the internet has been instrumental to us all. It has become a great place to for research, get connected and has allowed so many people to start new ventures. It has allowed stay-at-home moms to take care of their families while still providing for their family. 

However, it has also been a source of great distraction and a perfect vector for procrastination. It sucks you in and you find yourself unable to turn away from it. For example, I am writing this post while listening to an episode of The Office. Why? because I have gotten used to do any kind of writing with either music or a show. When I can't fall asleep, I put on my earphones and I listen to music or episodes of The Golden Palace.

There is a way to prevent procrastination. It is not easy but it has helped me to go on with my tasks and be more productive. The first thing that will help is to make a list of things to do. But, the key thing is that this list cannot have more than three to five items. If you enter more items than that, you will not succeed. It will frustrate you and procrastination will take over. So, cut that list to no more than three to five items.

Another way to prevent procrastination, is to treat yourself when you get a few items on your list. For example, when you get two items done, you can reward yourself with a sweet treat, an episode or a chapter in that book you have been reading. If you are into podcasts or audiobooks, it helps to have it in the background while doing whatever needs to be done.

In the end, you need to find a way to make sure that you perform your tasks without being interrupted. It may take a few trials and you may need to change avenues, but once you find it, you will procrastinate less. Also, if you start to procrastinate again, give yourself some grace. I have days when I am on top of the world. Then, there are days where I just procrastinate and procrastinate and when the end of the day is near - I scramble and just feel exhausted because I had to do all my tasks in less than two hours...

All and all, procrastination is never going away. It is up to you to just not let it get the best of you. In order to beat it, you need to just find how you can work, while still giving yourself some grace when it gets the best of you.

Yeah - I procrastinated this post and it sort of shows - but I still wanted to publish it because that is what I do each day of the week. It's not a great post but it's my post. It is also to show that not every post needs to be perfect - it just needs to be you.

Until my next post, hang in there and give yourself grace when procrastination takes over.

SM