The Procrastinator

The amazing Jen Hatmaker wrote a post this week about pulling yourself out of the doldrums. To get started she says:

First, make a list of everything you are behind on. The amount of emotional energy this steals from me is almost unbearable. Ironic too, because each line item could be accomplished in minutes at best, a day at worst: mail these things, return this, make those appointments, answer these emails (just, omg), scan that contract over, send in the money for that school thing (this, times a zillion, free public school my eye), pick up that stuff, return that phone call (just, omg), finish writing that article.

I can't tell you how much I identify with all of this. 

I wouldn't say that I’m lazy, in fact I somehow manage to get gobs of stuff done on a daily basis.

But I have this terrible habit of putting off the little stuff.

A document for our upcoming Disney cruise has been sitting in the study waiting to be scanned and emailed to our travel agent (who is also my friend) for two months...

One of my favorite people lives five minutes from our house. Our boys are friends. She has a toddler daughter. Our husbands get along great. We’re going to invite them over for dinner. We just have to pick a weekend...

The shirt Brian gave me for my birthday in January needs to be exchanged for a new size, but it’s still sitting in its shopping bag in my closet...

That box of baby stuff from Amazon has been sitting in our front entryway for a week…

The last of Andrew’s birthday thank you notes are sitting on the counter in the kitchen  just waiting for a stamp and a trip to the mailbox…

Just do it already! Seriously. I’ll get it all done eventually, but in the meantime these small, but somehow daunting tasks linger in the back of my mind, bringing with them guilt and embarrassment.

Writing it all down helps.

And I do go through spurts of great productivity, but I always settle back into my procrastinating ways.

I’m still looking for a permanent solution.