Procrastination

I'm a terrible procrastinator!  This sits on a "stickie" on my desktop:

We often wait for schedules to clear, for to-do lists to be checked off—always waiting for life to be in order, to settle down, an empty, clean slate—before we take the time to get into the things we really care about and really want to do. 

Here's the thing.  It. Never. Does. 

The lists never empty, there will always be routine commitments and responsibilities, schedules are rarely cleared.  And we miss out on beautiful days, spontaneous plans, frivolous ideas, fun projects, good books,  family time, and even daydreaming. 

And we don’t get to the things that really matter to us.

I wish I'd come up with those thoughts completely on my own.  But it's definitely the story of my life.  I don't know why I've let procrastination rule me, since I'm an avid believer that you should use the good china everyday!

My house is no longer 'new' and I finally feel like a bonafide Oregonian.  

This acknowledgment has lifted the weight of "I need to attend to all the unresolved details of the house--before I can move on to routine living."  Instead, I'm now taking the attitude, "I have ongoing house details that still need and will need to be addressed as life goes on."  This, a spurt of motivational energy (from who-knows-where) and a sense of urgency (more on that later), has given me incentive to tackle a few projects I've put off for far too long. 

I've started cleaning my basement.  To be honest, my motivation is a commitment I've made.  I'm letting a lovely young couple get married here next summer.  And their plan is to have the bridesmaids get ready in the cottage, and the groomsmen will use the basement.  What could be more perfect incentive!  

When I moved in, I edited down to a full, but not-too-cluttered look, with only the things I love and need around me.  The rest went to the basement.  It was a quick way to eliminate extraneous stuff without having to decide what to do with it.  While my home looks pretty pulled-together, my basement has been a mess.  So, knowing my tendency to get distracted or come to a stall as I ponder what to do with each item, I asked my friend, Suzanne, to help me out.  Having someone waiting for me to make decisions, urges me on.  We move quickly as I say, "Goodwill" or "consignment" and she fills the bags.  A few things have crept back up the stairs for reconsideration, but everything else has to go!  And even if I have a hard time parting with things--once gone and the burden lifted--forgotten! 

I LOVE making photo books from my trips, guest books for weddings, etc.  (I started with Apple iBooks, but I've found Shutterfly is the most user-friendly and all-purpose site.)  Making books provides me the perfect combination of nostalgia and creativity.  It's just enough layout and composition and captions and comments--to keep me happily busy for hours.  But, since it's so enjoyable, I've put it off until my life is free of responsibilities and interruptions (see quote above).  But I'm finally taking my own advice.  I've completed three photo books since the new year.  And to demonstrate the extent of my procrastination, one book is from a trip I took in 1972--that's over 50 years of hauling all the photos and journal around with me!  

The lesson I've learned (?) over and over is that when I finally undertake a project, it gets completed much more quickly and easily than all my procrastination, anticipation and dread would lead one to believe.  I'm always amazed how painless it is and how much satisfaction I feel--with relatively little effort.  

Ol' Ben Franklin put it best, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today."