Procrastinate Before It’s Too Late!
I’ve been procrastinating about writing an intro for this month’s newsletter topic: procrastination. The word carries a negative cloud as though all procrastinating is a weakness to be deleted from a productive life. Oscar Wilde said, “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.” In contrast, Picasso said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”
We often put our creative projects on the bottom of our to-do lists if they make it there at all. Indefinitely delaying our creative impulses leads to remorse and regret. Sometimes we are so used to postponing the most important actions (read: personally meaningful) that when we finally have time to pursue them, we don’t. By then, we are so out of the habit of giving them time we fill the hours with other meaningless ones. Days pass. Years. And what we said was most important fades under the rubble of what had masqueraded as urgent. Put your creative ideas back high on the list. The kitchen floor can wait. The sheets don’t need to be changed this minute. Will watching one more newscast of the world imploding save a life? Why watch one more episode of a show you’re not likely to remember in a month? Are you alphabetizing your bookshelf instead of writing your own book—a book that might make a difference to someone? Consider positive procrastination. Postpone the tasks that are not urgent or important and that, if left undone, might fall off the list altogether. Polish your procrastinating style to make time for what you’ve been missing.
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