I have a bad habit.
If something looks like it’s going to take a long time or be hard, I will avoid it like the plague. I’ll shuffle it around on my to-do list, glare at it, pretend it doesn’t exist, and then… do literally anything else. Scrub the sink? Sure. Watch “just one” YouTube video about sourdough starters when I know nothing about it? Absolutely. Organize the junk drawer? Suddenly feels urgent.
And then, when I finally take time to do the task, usually at the very last minute, I find out it wasn’t that bad at all. Sometimes I even enjoy it. Which makes me wonder: why on earth do I do this to myself?
What My Brain Tells Me
- I usually think it’ll take forever. My brain tells me “this will eat up your entire day.” Then it takes something like 17 minutes. Seventeen.
- I like the adrenaline. For some reason, when there’s a deadline breathing down my neck, I work like a superhero with a coffee IV. Without the pressure, though? I stare at the wall and think about what’s for dinner or who I’m supposed to pick up where. The thoughts can be endless.
- Avoidance feels easier than starting. If I don’t start, I can’t mess it up. At least that’s what my brain says while I scroll through memes instead of calling to make the appointment. Who has ever heard of avoiding calling the make appointments just to avoid having to talk to people? Yep, that’s me!
- The relief at the end is addictive. Crossing something off my list after procrastinating gives me this big “I am unstoppable” rush. Ridiculous, I know, but it’s true.
So yes, I push things off. I dread them. I overthink them. And then I do them and wonder why I didn’t just start in the first place.
Take for instance my kitchen counter. l looked at this piled up mess for hours one day because I just knew it would take far too long to clean it off. I decided to time myself just to prove to myself that this project was easy peasy as my kids would say. Five minutes. It took me less than five minutes to go from this…
to this…
If you’ve ever let laundry sit for three days only to fold it in ten minutes flat, or stared at a school project until suddenly you crank it out like Shakespeare on caffeine, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Now you ask, Elaney, what are you getting at? Well, I’m getting there! The hardest part, for most of us, is just starting. Once I get going, it’s fine. Sometimes even fun. But am I going to stop procrastinating? Honestly… probably not. Because apparently, I like living on the edge!
Now I want to know about you! Please tell me I am not alone. Do you also wait until the last possible second, only to realize the task wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought? Share your funniest (or most ridiculous) procrastination story in the comments. I promise I’ll read them… eventually.
Happy Procrastinating!
Elaney
Read about my daily non-negotiable habit here.
