In a while, later, I'll do it later — Celebrate Procrastination Week

Today I made an epic discovery, a discovery that answers an age-old question:

Why can’t I jump into getting a job done? Why do I wait until push finally comes down to shove, then scramble to finish things at the last minute?

Now, I have the answer. I was born during Procrastination Week. Yes, that’s right. I entered the world in a two-week span of time dedicated to the fine art of putting

things off.

Finally, I am vindicated.

After recovering from the celebration of my discovery, I waited a while and then did a little research. Luckily for me, National Day Calendar had already done the work, so I’ll paraphrase their findings.

They list five reasons for procrastination:

1. Perfectionism

2. Dislike for the task or person

3. Fatigue

4. Fear of failure, success, or finishing

5. The task isn’t part of your goals

Every year, the first two weeks of March are set aside in honour of the fine art of dawdling over getting things done. Yes, Procrastination Week lasts two weeks. The date isn’t set in stone either. It changes yearly. I guess its creators never got around to determining a specific day. After all, why do today what you can put off ’til tomorrow?

The knowledge that National Procrastination Day takes place sometime during the next two weeks, means there is no end to what I can postpone. Imagine the percolating pile of pressures that I can push aside. The possibilities are endless.

Behold . . . the power to just say no:

· No to doing laundry

· No to dishes

· No to vacuuming

Visualize it . . .

At least until you’re buried alive under a pile of dirty clothes, or crawl out of bed to discover you can’t satisfy your coffee addiction until you excavate a cup from under a mountain of dirty dishes. Then there’s the image of two weeks of no vacuuming in a house with two cats and a three-year-old.

Hmm. Maybe I won’t put those items on my procrastination list. I’ll substitute reading emails, except, I’ve already perfected procrastination in that area. That’s why it takes me all day to tidy and delete my inbox. Why did I put my name on a mailing list for a gas fireplace store? Once the fireplace is bought, you usually don’t sit around anxiously awaiting the next newsletter, salivating over images of BTUs and burners.

Be honest, everyone procrastinates now and then. It’s why our To Do lists get longer and our piles of stuff grow higher. Procrastination is so widespread that quotes grow like weeds in a forgotten garden.

Calvin and Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson, once said:

“A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.”

So why is it so easy to put things off? More so, is there a way to prevent it?

Once again, National Day Calendar did the work. They suggest:

1. Figure out the answer to “What’s in it for me”

2. Put your time into chunks and set a timer

3. Beware of time gobblers (internet, email, social media, phone, figure out what your’s are)

4. Delegate when the task isn’t part of your priority

5. Make it fun by rewarding yourself

As for me, I’ll likely continue to ignore the words of Stephen King:

“The scholar's greatest weakness: calling procrastination research.”

After all , in the words of journalist Joan Konner:

"Procrastination always gives you something to look forward to."

Celebrate Procrastination Week — it’s a thing. Why are you putting it off!?