If you are like me, you are on the blogs right now because you are looking for a way to procrastinate.
In addition to that, if you are a regular procrastinator–I mean, blog reader–you may have noticed that I was a little MIA this week. There’s a good reason for that. This week was the deadline for my final draft of my thesis for my Masters of Arts in Communications. It has been a three year labor of love (not including the year and a half of course work that lead up to it). So, writing for that had to take precedence over writing for the blog this week.
I would consider myself part of the 20% of American adults who are chronic procrastinators. Deadlines are my jam–I get the sickest, most absurd rush of adrenaline from working to the last possible minute (and I know I perform the best at that push…I know, I am so sadistic). This means I have become a bit of a master of finding other things that need my attention to keep from working.
There are five big ones:
1. WALKING BENNY, MY DOGGO.
I mean, he has to get out and about, right? It’s good for him, and I need the fresh air, too, in order to think clearly to have fresh thoughts to do my best work. This means that some days we need to go on the extra long walk (the one that goes by the DQ)…which means we of course have to get butterscotch dilly bar and a pup cup to enjoy…which means we have to sit and relax on the grassy hill by the Grand Rapids movie theatre…which means my work is just going to have to wait.
2. CLEANING MY OFFICE.
If you ask me what I am doing any given Sunday, I will most likely reply “Oh, I don’t know…cleaning my office.” This is a weekend ritual (if I am not out of town), and is one of my main ways of getting out of work. I organize, re-organize, sort, toss, retrieve, repeat. Maybe if I am feeling especially procrastinate-y, I will lump laundry into this.
3. COOKING.
I legitimately do enjoy cooking, so this isn’t too hard of a task to leverage to waste time. Three-course meals are a personal favorite to create, so if I have a deadline looming, nothing sounds more delicious than charcuterie board before a delicious roasted chicken which is followed by molten lava chocolate cake. I can’t help that I get such cravings before a project is due, but I will certainly satisfy them as a way to pass the time.
4. SOCIAL MEDIA.
Scrolling and swiping definitely is a way to not work, especially since I can claim that posting and engaging on social media IS work for me these days. It is so easy to find yourself in a time-suck when in Instagram and Facebook, so I don’t even dare to expand into the other black holes of SnapChat and Twitter (lest I be lost for good).
5. READING.
I will never claim to be a big reader; when it came to English I was always more of the speaker/writer type. Books are a great hiding place when there’s work to be done. When I do read, I tend to stick to non-fiction and business books, which then makes me feel like I am being partially productive while avoiding my to-dos. My current read is a book all about brainstorming called Me, Myself, & Ideas: The Ultimate Guide to Brainstorming Solo, and it has been awesome. Carrie Anton, one of the authors, was a speaker last summer at Camp Climb (that’s where I first heard her); she is so inspirational and motivational, and the book does not disappoint.
I would be fibbing if I said this blog post wasn’t itself serving as a little bit of a distraction from what I should be doing (probably the dishes or some other task)…because it is. But I have decided after years of putting it off to be OK with it, because this is how I am, and it is how I have gotten here in life (and I pretty much dig this spot I am at right now).
Are you a procrastinator? If so, what do you do to keep putting that task off?
Kayla Lee is a Minnesota-based wedding and elopement photographer who provides services to elegant, authentic, joyful couples who not only choose their own adventures, but also live them to the fullest.
