Summer Time and time to procrastinate

Procrastination pervades every aspect of our lives.  And we’ve mastered it to perfection having learned a subtle form of it when we were babies.   


We delayed falling asleep because our mothers wouldn’t cradle us in her arms.  We’ve procrastinated in performing our duties at home, in school, in the work place, and in our most fragile human relationships.  We shudder to think what the final tally of lost hours will be because we procrastinated habitually.


But as one writer said, not procrastinating will make us appreciate the life we have now.  And as we build on the small steps, we’d be amazed at how much we can accomplish over the years.


As we spend these hazy days of summer relaxing perhaps we should ask ourself, “In what ways do I procrastinate?”  Sit down with pen and paper.  Writing them will help you focus and identify them more clearly.  Here are some ways where people procrastinate:

• paying bills
• not discussing the complaints you’ve received about a member of your team for fear of hurting his/her feelings
• repeatedly postponing a dental appointment because you’ve got better things to do
• not returning the call of your son’s teacher because you know what the problem is and you’re fed up
• not discussing your resentment about your husband/wife/significant other spending too much time at work or with his or her buddies
• not getting that hair cut, that dress dry-cleaned, that donation mailed
• not visiting a sick relative in the hospital
• not telling your significant other you no longer love her/him
• not calling your doctor about that persistent numbness in your right arm or not fixing a colonoscopy exam date
• not having the car’s squeaking brakes checked
• not going to confession because you never know what the priest’s schedule is
• not sending that overdue thank you note or making that overdue call to your mother-in-law

Once in awhile you’ll deviate from your intentions.  You’re a human being with limitations, or else life, without warning, takes a detour, and we get derailed. 

Let’s take a lesson from our brothers and sisters in the east who live by mantras that they recite to themselves every day. 

Here’s one you can recite in the morning as you wake up:  “I will not procrastinate today.  It is unproductive.  I have tasks to do, and I will write them down so I can decide which of them need to be done by 12 noon.  My goal is to finish at least 2 big tasks and 2 small ones or I can sit and relax in the sun.