Efficiently Procrastinating

Pettycon via Pixabay

I have spent much of today efficiently checking things off my list. I worked on my course syllabus. I wrote a blog. I took my daughter to lunch. I cooked dinner. I did laundry.

Impressed?

Don't be. I've spent a large chunk of the day engaging in structured procrastination.

While it's true that all of these things needed to be done (except the lunch with my daughter. That was just for fun, but it was planned for today), I did them instead of another task I've been putting off.

The due date for the other task?

Tomorrow.

Why you might ask, have I been procrastinating so feverishly?

Well, I've asked myself exactly the same question, and several answers have come to mind. The two that sum it up are fear of the unfamiliar and not really knowing where to start.

In her book It's About Time, Dr. Linda Sapadin discusses six different procrastination personalities: perfectionists, dreamers, worriers, crisis makers, defiers and overdoers.

I think I've sampled nearly every one of those today.

Though I don't expect my project to be perfect, I am invested in a good outcome. My dreamer side (wouldn't that be a great idea?) feeds my overdoer tendency (I can squeeze one more thing in!) leading me to create a crisis where none would actually need to exist, and to needlessly worry about something that isn't really all that difficult. Though I'm not much of a defiant procrastinator, my choice to select other tasks over the one that's most pressing does carry a mild aroma of defiance.

Sigh.

Labels aside, the most pressing emotion I feel is fear. Fear that I won't do a good job. Fear that I'll look foolish. This fear leads me to be overwhelmed by the task so that instead of digging in, I find other things to do instead. Those things are legitimate, but they're also obstacles I'm placing in my own path.

Geralt via Pixabay

The solution? Dig in. Set aside the fear, sidestep the obstacles and the competing tasks and start somewhere, anywhere. Find a way in, give it a shot, let it develop, fill the blank page because a messy page is easier to edit than a blank one. If the first draft is terrible, I can fix it. If I start in the wrong place, I can change direction. But if I continue to do nothing, the problem remains unsolved, the task remains undone and the fear grows, fed by inertia and reluctance.


So, here I go. I'm taking the clothes out of the dryer and I'm taking baby steps. Perhaps they'll be in the right direction, perhaps I'll need to recalculate, but at least I'll be moving.

What are you avoiding? What baby steps can you take toward getting it done?