It is just such a luxury to procrastinate…until you are in trouble for not doing what you were supposed to have done.

I think everyone procrastinates. Have you ever had a high priority activity and you put it off by taking care of lower priority activities? Yea…me too. I read once that procrastination and perfectionism go hand in hand.

I write an article for an online newspaper and it is supposed to be about local horse events. When there isn’t an event I would like to write about, I write on how to do something or I write a review of a new product. Lately, I have been putting those articles off. They aren’t fun anymore and that would be my main reason for procrastination. I just don’t want to do it!

How to change this bad habit? There are always going to be things I need to do but don’t really want to and I don’t mean the dishes.

I have found that keeping my environment uncluttered, keeps my mind uncluttered and I enjoy sitting down to write.

I also have started to allow myself to not have every single bit of information on the subject so that I can just sit down and start on it right away. Everything doesn’t have to be perfect first.

I sometimes tell people I work well under pressure. That really is just an excuse for me to wait until I can’t wait any longer. It is so stressful and I turn into a “beesh” if I am interrupted because I’m mad at myself for putting myself in this situation again.

In order to get myself started on a task, I have allowed myself to break it up into segments. When I do this, I start days ahead because it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Maybe today I will just come up with the first paragraph. What’s funny is when I do that, I usually do even more because I like to write! It’s just the getting started part…

And then last but not least…one of my girlfriends gave me the greatest idea. She had a bunch of cards to write. Three of us went to a great cafe, she told us what to write and we got started. After a margarita or two…we were done! I will learn to call on my support group for help with procrastination more often.

I mean, after all? What are friends for?