Procrastination

Today I was thinking about how I am a procrastinator. I was born this way. In school I put assignments off to the last minute and then crammed the two nights before to crank out the paper or cram for the exam. At home I will think tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow and then be irritated at the mess. Even at work, I will put the least savory duty at the bottom of the pile. I always manage to get the task done, but I . . . . procrastinate. When I think about all this, I realize how dumb it is to put these unpleasant duties off. All I do is prolong the period of time in which I obsess about the fact that they need to be done, worry about whether I will manage to get them done with the level of quality I expect of myself AND done on time. I dread the time I will have to waste, I mean spend, completing the task. Rather stupid, right? If I simply cleared my mind of all these unpleasant thoughts and accomplished the task right off, I would save myself all the hours of stress and negativity I spend thinking about having to do it, wishing I didn't have to do it. I mean, the reality is that I have to spend the time accomplishing the task whether I do it right now or I do it at the last possible minute. So why spend hours or days between right now and the last possible minute obsessing? Just get it done, and have that time free to think about other, more happy things. Like pizza. Or Disneyland. Anyway . . .

The reason I was musing about procrastination today is that I was engaging in it this afternoon. I got home from work today and I knew that exercise was a must. I knew I would do it without a doubt as I do every other day. But I was dreading it. As it is Friday (thank God) and I can sleep in tomorrow, I can be a bit more flexible about when I begin today's session. I change out of the clothes I have worn all day and put on more comfortable ones. This is where the procrastinating begins. I sit down and turn on the computer. I check my email. I read the newspaper. I check out what's happening on Facebook. I delay some more. I sit and talk to my boyfriend. I finally graduate to putting on the rest of my workout clothes, even going so far as to put on the socks and shoes. But then I sit in my recliner and postpone even further. Talk some more with my boyfriend, play with my cat, and generally lounge around. I finally drag myself onto the treadmill with a heavy heart and drudgingly start walking. And miraculously after about five minutes I feel great and I think, why did I wait so long to get started??!! I could have felt this rush of positivity and well-being ninety minutes sooner!! What a dummy!! And them I remember, this is no miracle. I feel this rush of happiness almost every day. I will admit there is the occasional day that I don’t experience it, but it is a definite majority of days that I do. So why do I so frequently dawdle and wait and postpone my exercising? One of the mysteries of life.

Now that I have pondered this subject, I realize there is yet another reason for not procrastinating ~ many times what I am dreading turns out to be something unexpected. Not only is it not utterly unpleasant, I may actually find I am enjoying myself and shame on me for not getting started sooner.