When I was in college, I lived with my brother and cousin in a condo right north of campus in Austin, Texas. (Hook ‘em Horns!) Anyhoo, when it came time to study for finals, the boys would suddenly get the cleaning bug. They would scrub cabinets, carpets, toilets, grout, windows, trash cans, seats in their cars, baseboards, the fridge, microwave and particularly, the oven. Seemingly until finals, they had zero interest in cleaning.
Fast forward to today, I am working on book number 5. Actually, I am working on NOT working on book #5. I am doing everything that I possibly can to avoid sitting down to write the damn thing.
Recently, I have scrubbed every cabinet, every drawer, cleaned out every closet, and changed every filter on every major appliance in my house. All under the guise of WORKING. Do these things need to be done? Yes. Do they have to be done NOW? No. Do they have to be done by me? Also no.
To be fair to myself, there are times when doing menial labor can actually spur on the creative process. I have written many a blog while doing dishes, but this is not one of those times. I simply need to sit down and write, or this book will never get finished.
I am Procrasta-working.
Usually, I am pretty good about getting the things done that need to get done. I usually have a list of the top three things that I HAVE to do that day, and I work hard on getting those done first thing in the morning when I am at my best. Not this time.
You didn’t know this, my dear reader, but you just became my accountability partner in getting this book written.
Congratulations.
Cleaning my oven is just going to have to wait.
POWER THOUGHT: Procrasta-working is doing all the things without doing the thing.