The Internet

One of my biggest timewasters is the internet. I leave it on while I can do things like keep track of what readings I have to do, read uni discussion boards, check uni email etc.

Unfortunately when I take a 'quick break' to do any one of these things, I also see that I have 4 new emails (of which at least one will require a reply - now!), and while I'm waiting for that I can check out one of 4 forums I am a member of, or perhaps check someone's blog.

Without realising it my 1 minute break has turned into a full blown 20 minute session, and I haven't moved from my chair. So I take the opportunity to dash to the toilet, make a drink and before I know it half an hour is gone and wasted.

The solution? I haven't found one yet, but when I do, you'll be the first to know, as another thing I can sqeeze in to a quick break is a short blog post.... oh, woops!

How to Procrastinate 101

There is really a very simple way to avoid anything that needs doing.

Find a new project

Whenever you are bored, or lack the motivation to complete a given task (particularly one that has a deadline flying straight towards your head) find a new project to devote your precious time to.

Take tonight for example. The kids were in bed reasonably early, hubby had promised to do the dishes, and there was not a lot that was required of me. A sensible person in that situation would have taken herself into the study and actually, well, studied.

Me? No. Far far from it. Here is an example of the distinctive thought process that goes into a really good evening procrastinating necessary tasks:

I wonder what version of MYOB I have. Hmm, where's that box. I would have put it somewhere obvious - oh, here it is on the bookshelf. Oh version 16. Excellent. Well, perhaps I should install it? I'm downloading something from the net, so I may as well while everything's here. Oh, setup, well yes I suppose I should set up my data file now. Hmm, inventory. Yeah I do want that - better get those details out. Hmm, I wonder how these go into the system? Oh, what a good idea, that works so well. Why didn't I do this before. Well I've got nothing else to do, I should just enter all my items into the inventory.

Meanwhile, 2 hours later it's nearly bedtime, and study? Ummm, look, I've put it in my bag to do tomorrow as I while away the hours on Long Island for Good Friday.

Deadlines? I don't believe in deadlines

My favourite procrastination activities

1. Read email. Join up to many yahoo groups and select them all to come to your inbox. You can easily spend many hours a day reading and replying to email. The higher volume groups are better.
2. Blog hopping. At the top of the page there's a link to "next blog" - I have made some discovered amazing blogs and people using this link. Plus, there's the whole time-wasting aspect.
3. Plan. Never underestimate the value of planning. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Procrastination, at a truly sucessful level takes lots and lots of planning. I manage to plan all the things I absolutely need to do to avoid study on any given day, and it seems to work out well.
4. Write a list. There's nothing like a list to scare you into not even trying something. Try it and see.

Good luck and happy procrastinating

Quick update

After much too-ing and fro-ing over the weekend I decided (against my husband's wishes I might add) to not take the job. I am just becoming settled with staying home and studying, and want to continue for a while yet. Plus with Dad arriving tomorrow and me leaving in 9 days it's probably not the right time to be thinking about it.

I do however feel chuffed I was offered the job even though I couldn't start for 2 months.

What is the worst thing you can give a procrastinator?

A deadline! Ha. But today I'm feeling it.

On a whim a few weeks ago I applied for a job. It is a job that is way beneath my level of skill and experience, with the pay to match, and yet offered an opportunity of experience in the dream field of my choice, a qualification that would enable me to work in pretty much every city in the country, and some helpful "tax reduction" strategies.

I had an interview two weeks ago, and was there for over 90 minutes meeting everyone and talking with the boss man. I hadn't heard anything and was starting to think I'd read him wrong in the interview, but on Friday he called. He's moving offices and trying to sort the paperwork out with the relevant government departments, but thinks I'm completely the right person for the job, and (as we're leaving on a 7 week overseas holiday in - oh - 2 weeks) could I come in for a few days before I go, to get the feel for things.

So I have until tomorrow to decide if this is the way I want to go about getting into my chosen field. I have a list of questions to ask him, and have been mulling and mulling it for 2 days straight now (hardly slept, but that's a whole other post), and everyone I've spoken to says helpful things like "you're taking it aren't you?" and "how are you going to study and work full-time?" Valid points, both.

I worked full-time last year, studied, did a play, and sold Tupperware. I am struggling now keeping up with one subject and two kids. I start almost rocking myself into a ball and chewing my hair thinking about working full-time, studying and running this house.

The job itself is a legal traineeship, which will give me a Cert III in Legal Administration, a worthy qualification. The job itself starts out delivering mail, filing and answering the phones, and through the 12 months moves up to attending settlements, interviewing clients and drafting wills.

Thankfully the money isn't really the issue. We'll be slightly better off by me working for 12 months, and then when the money picks up a bit, and the girls start school (in 20 odd months, and nearly 3 years) it will keep on getting better.

Obviously my whole life will be reduced to work, kids, study - probably in that order, but the thought of finishing my degree with 6 or 7 years experience in an office is almost too tempting to give up.

So, I guess I'm taking the job. I mean, this is probably for the best. Imagine all the things I can procrastinate now...

Ultimate Procrastination

Imagine, the ultimate in procrastination.

You are not doing the million things you have to do.
You do not know you are not doing the million things you have to do.
Therefore you do not feel guilty for not doing the million things you have to do.

Sleeeepppppp! 3 whole hours. Interrupted firstly by "Mummy, K's done an accident on the floor" and a couple of hours later by a delivery man FINALLY delivering nappies!

Of course, I must have needed it, but I am definitely read for more. And now I'm half a day behind, and due to everything else probably even more behind, but I'm not looking tonight. I'll wait until tomorrow.

I feel old

Yes, I'm supposed to be studying. Professor Fuller of the Harvard Law Review in 1958 just isn't grabbing me tonight like he normally does.

But to the reason of my post. I feel old. I picked up my new pair of glasses today (old frames, new lenses) to go with my new frames and lenses I got last week. That's right, I have two pairs of glasses. One for distance and one for reading. My darling husband (*choke*) keeps teasing me about hanging my reading glasses around my neck. Pfft. Course I have no other solution, so maybe....

Oh, did I mention I'm 26? Far too young (in my opinion) to have two sets of glasses. Although, do you wanna hear the funny part? The reason I now have two pairs of glasses is..... my eyes are getting better. Well, my short sightedness is getting longer. Yes I'm confused too. I have two astigmatisms, and am short sighted (to varying degrees) in each eye. BUT, my short sightedness is getting better as I get older, and soon, I'll only need glasses for my astigmatisms, and not for reading.

Hmmm, one day. In the meantime, I have two pairs of glasses. I feel old.

A Perfect Mess

A fine way of procrastinating is listening to the radio. Not only does it distract you from the many tasks you could be doing, it inspires you to look for more information - thus enabling you to postpone things even longer.

My husband and I have recently become avid "Radio National" listners. Some programs I find fascinating, others leave me cold. One that has recently become a favourite to listen to as I drive 20-30 minutes to Swimming lessons on Monday afternoons for Miss K is a show called "Counterpoint" where the views put forward tend to go against the grain of popular opinion.

Yesterday for example, there was a segment entitled "A Perfect Mess" which those of us who struggle with keeping houses, offices etc neat and tidy might find interesting. It's a book that talks about the positives of being messy and cluttered, and for those interested a link to the article and audio can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/counterpoint/stories/2007/1881687.htm The audio starts at approximately 32:50 minutes into the 55 minutes program.

And for those wondering, I grabbed an hours sleep yesterday afternoon, and was in bed by 11:30 last night.

The Downside to Procrastination

I thought at this point I should discuss the possible negative ramifications of procrastination.

Namely the fact that it was 3am before I got to sleep last night. Now, part of it was my husband's desire expressed at 11pm that he have something for lunch today. Monday is usually my baking day, so I had planned to make a cake this morning. THEN he wanted "something else" to go with his ham and cheese roll for lunch. So I threw a quiche in the oven, then a cake. While they were baking I did some reading for uni, not enough, but some.

My problem was that once they'd finished cooking I had finished a reading (and 1:30am is NOT the time to start in on a new, 10 page essay on the downfalls of positivism (separating law from morality) in a legal system.), and started browsing the internet. One of my favourite sites (http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/) is having dramas in the forums, so instead I read "recaps" of various shows. Mainly Veronica Mars. Until 3am.

Of course, that was mostly my own fault. I took the laptop to bed at 2am and read until the battery ran out at 3. I was tired, but not sleepy.

Thankfully, I don't have as much planned today. About 10 pages of readings, already iced the cake. Off to the library in a few minutes, and usual Monday bins, fridge boogies etc., then swimming lessons this afternoon.

Of course the question now is, will I learn from this lesson and go to bed at a decent hour, or catch a quick nap after lunch while the kids are glued to the new DVD we're going to get from the library and do it all again.

Stay tuned to find out

Procrastination is an art

It is amazing the activities one can come up with that are less plesant than the one being avoided. So far this morning, in an attempt to delay the 25 pages of reading I need to do today, I have emptied the dishwasher, checked emails several times. Posted on various groups, done the shopping list, a load of washing, and now, well, here I am.

In researching for this blog I found the following "creed" at http://www.eskimo.com/~spban/creed.html

1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
7. I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesmally small, is not exactly zero.
8. If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
10. I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
11. I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
13. I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
14. I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (the Procrastinator's Society) if they ever get it organized.

Welcome

After much procrastination (ha!) on my part, I have finally settled on a blog that I can really get behind. Procrastination.

I am a master procrastinator, having honed my skills with years of practice in avoiding cleaning up when my parents told me to, studying when I had to, working when I had to, and now I find myself with a family, a house, and study to do, my procrastination reaches new heights of inventivness (example: blog)

I plan to share the skills I have gained over the years in making procrastination an artform, as well as the exciting results as for the first time I attempt to combine keeping a house, kids, and study successfully.

My hope is that you will find my site a useful way of procrastinating yourself, and develop your own skills in this useful field. Now don't come back everyday, I'll only be posting when there's something else I don't want to do. Like the 80 odd pages of reading I wanted to get done by tomorrow. But I look forward to sharing this journey with you