The P-Word, Procrastination: The Big Stall

The Nation of Procrasti is out there.
It’s not actually on any map, but we’ve all been there. Some of us go
there quite often and have racked up frequent flyer stuff to prove it. It’s
not actually very far away, so it’s very easy for anyone anywhere to get
there.

Lots of us make an annual pilgrimage, or semi-annual, monthly, weekly,
or daily. We don’t actually have it on our calendar, a trip there usually
just happens. Often we often go there on a side trip, while we’re on the
road to anywhere else we’re going.

Procrasti is a scenic place, filled with many like-minded tourists also
busy seeing the sights. “Might as well, since we’re here,” we say. Some
days it’s a very busy and bustling place. Sometimes we’re in the mood
to stay awhile or at least we’re not in a hurry to leave it, so we look at all
our favorite spots:

The Museum of Maybe Later
The Town Hall of Tired Right Now
The Fire Station of Something Else is on Fire
The Fountain of Forgetfulness
The Lake of Let’s Float That Idea For Awhile
The River of Rushing, Can’t Stop for That
The Gargoyles of Gee, I’m Not in the Mood
The Statue of I’m Waiting for Word From Them First
The Main Street of Might, Might Not
The Forest of Fine, First Thing Tomorrow
The Park of Pretty Tough Job to Tackle
The Tunnel of Take Too Long Right Now
The Garden of Golly, I Need to Sort my Socks

Most of us go alone, but a few of us even take a buddy for company.
Sometimes we say we’re going on vacation there, and take other work
along. That means we are stalling. Plain and simple. And the trouble is
when we come back home there’s that task waiting for us. It just waits.
And eventually we do come back home because there’s no place like
home. And Procrasti is nice, but we wouldn’t want to live there.
* * *
Nancinator Anti-Procrastinator Action Ideas ONE, TWO, THREE:

When you finally decide to come back from Procrasti or just stay home
in the first place to tackle a task/get it done/make it happen-- here are
some ways to win:

1. >>>>Worst First Monster<<<<

Look at what you have to do and decide what is the ickiest,
yuckiest, vile part or section of the job. What is the thing you hate to
do? What is the most horrible thing...Gather your courage, look that
monster in the face, and attack! Shout to the task, “You don’t scare
me! You’re done for!” And then dig in. Do the big bugaboo beginning
(scrape the paint off, write the outline, make the tough phone call
etc..etc..) and when you’ve accomplished that much, shout, “Now,
there! Ta DAH!” Whee! And the rest is downhill.

2. >>>>The Pepperoni Principle<<<<

This is also known as “Divide, Divide, Divide and Conquer” and it’s the
third and even the fourth “divide” that makes the difference.
Nobody eats pizza with the whole pepperoni plopped on top. It’s the
thin slice, that makes it nice, edible, and do-able. MMmmmmm!
Every job to be done can be sliced into sections, and the smaller the
section, the more approachable it is. So, don’t take on the taxes, the
P.3/ mending, and the mailing list all in one big chunk! Break it down,
and down and down starting with a teensy slice:
get the tax records together in one place; find the buttons that fell off,
gather the article of clothing, the scissors, the needle and thread; get out
the list of data to be entered in the spreadsheet. Now there, that’s easy.
Step two should also be small: separate one pile of receipts, thread the
needle, enter 10 addresses. To get us back from Procrasti, sometimes
we have to do wierdly simple baby steps. Trust me.

3. >>>>Sticky Sticks To It<<<<

Sticky notes are perfect for procrastinators. Write down each individual
step of the whole project. Jot each teensy, weensy task on a separate
sticky. Things like: find the phone number, find the phone, make a list
of points I want to cover and results you want, rehearse aloud, prepare
what you’ll do if you only get voicemail, dial number, talk/leave
message.... Post those notes in sequence in your work area, on the
kitchen cabinet, wherever you’ll see them and have it stick in your
mind...so you can stay stuck on this job. As you do each separate task,
pull them down and revel in the rightous feeling.
***
Go for it. Choose ONE, TWO, or THREE, or a combination.
Taking a trip to the Land of the Great Getting Things Done is ever so
much more satisfying. That’s a *zippy* trip! Email me, I’d love to hear
about it.

PROCRASTINATION: The BIG Stall
by Nanci McGraw
c 2001 All Rights Reserved. Nanci McGraw, www.Nanci.org