Joyful Living

I think I've found a system that works for me!

I procrastinate... a lot... and I've been practicing for 27 years.  When I was a child, I could be found doing anything and everything but my homework and chores.  I've now perfected it to the point that I can spend nearly an entire day doing nothing but unimportant things.   Seriously!

I took a class a few semesters back that addressed procrastination.  The classes' definition of procrastination is, "letting less important tasks take priority over more important tasks."  I think that's a great definition. 

Some may look at my list of things I do each day and think I have no problems with procrastination.  Some may look at my home and think nothing is wrong with me.  My house is clean and orderly without much clutter.  I get decent grades in my college classes and food is served in a timely manner in my home, but if only people knew the truth! 

If you knew the truth, you'd know that I often wait to start my daily chores until after 10 am.  Sometimes, I don't start them until well after lunchtime.  Then, I panic and I become a whirlwind of brushes, brooms, rags, and soap.  I manage to get everything done, but I'm exhausted and I've come to loathe chores.  I don't like the way this feels.  I hate feeling guilty all day.  I hate rushing at the end of the day when I should be winding down. 

I've tried for years to try to figure out why I do this to myself and I think I've figured it out;  I'm a perfectionist.  I figure that if I can't get a chore done perfectly, I didn't do it well enough and if I want to do it well enough, I need to spend hours on each chore.  I dread this and so I end up doing nothing.  Since this realization, I've tried to figure out what I need to do to get over this problem. 

I've discovered that if I give myself permission to make mistakes and that as long as my home is pretty clean, that's good enough.  I've also started timing how long it takes me to complete a particular task and that helps a lot.  I now know that it only takes 3 minutes to wipe down all the surfaces in my kitchen and it's okay to only spend 3 minutes on it; it doesn't need to take an hour.  This also helps me with over-scheduling my day which is another habit of mine.  I tend to write big long lists of thing I want to do and then when I can't get it done, I get so angry with myself and stay up late trying to finish it all.  I've also discovered that my husband still loves me even if the dishes aren't done by X O'clock and the only thing he really cares about is clean underwear and a full tummy.  :)

Untitled Comment

02:48, Tue 1 July 2008 .. Posted by smmagers

Have you been looking in my windows??? You sound just like me. But I get up at 10am! Ever since I broke my leg I have a very hard time getting back to normal, ok ok normal for me. I am a night owl and go to sleep about 3-4 am. I have a hard time getting going until after noon doing my chores. I need to change it because it is hot and the animals need cooled down a few times a day and hubby want me to get up with him at 7:30.
God Bless. mj