Normally I wouldn’t write a blog post to document that I’d completed a task. Especially not one that only took about 10 minutes to complete. But this is exceptional. This needed to be shared. Why?

screen shot showing "postponed 523 times"

According to Remember The Milk, I postponed this task 523 times. That means I’ve been dragging a stupid nagging reminder from one day’s “to do” list to the next for pretty darned close to a year and a half.

Of course it’s embarrassing to admit this, because I know better than this. And I do better than this, in most ways. In my own half-hearted defense, I offer two rationalizations for the delay.

One was that, at some level, it was an emotionally-loaded task.  It related to closing out an insurance policy my father had set up in my name, and anyone who’s been through the aftermath of loss knows that the administrative bureaucracy of death can go on for years even if you’re not ignoring it and when you sit down to face the words on paper, it can feel like a time warp of grief and old wounds.

The other reason I avoided doing it, beyond the emotional association, is that the impact of completing it was trivial, since I knew that the cash value of the policy is very small and the paperwork was just arcane enough (in carbonless triplicate, no less!) that it never rose to high enough priority to command my attention.

Still, those are excuses, and not super-great ones. The fact is, it’s such a relief to have it done that it’s worth the embarrassment to write about it — to encourage you to consider what you might be carrying with you from day to day.

So here’s your kick in the pants:

If there’s something you’ve been putting off doing, even if it’s small, even if it’s tough, you will feel SO much better, so empowered, so relieved, and so ready to take on the world when you can finally mark it “done.”

Join me, if you like, and face what you’ve been avoiding. I won’t judge you. We’re in this together. Go get ’em, tiger.

Procrastination vs. Processing

One thought on “Procrastination vs. Processing

  • March 19, 2014 at 6:50 pm
    Permalink

    Oh my, Kate…I can COMPLETELY relate on this topic. I KNOW there are a couple of tasks I’ve been lugging around for years. I don’t, however, have a program that can confirm this for me. Hehe. Perhaps it’s time I start using a tool like that though…then I can see how long I’ve been dragging out a particular item and just do it already!! Eager to see you tomorrow morning at the women’s group!

    Reply

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