At Weight Watchers this week, the leader spent some time reviewing the previous week's topic of clutter, and referred to clutter as the result of delayed decisions. And as I thought about the fact that I'd been storing a pair of tanning goggles for 12 years with no plans to ever go tanning again in my life, that certainly struck a chord!
That also sounded to me a lot like procrastination. You can talk about clutter as being physical or mental, but what seems to clutter my mind are the various tasks of life that I know I need to do but don't want to. I generally try to tackle the things that are bugging me so they're no longer on my plate, and I always feel fantastic after I do them. There are some things I take as just a fact of life--I always do laundry on weekends, for example, because if I don't then there will not be clean clothes to wear. There's a clear consequence of not doing laundry.
But there are many other things that just sit there, waiting to be done and because there's no real punishment for not getting them done, they can sit there, waiting, clogging up my brain. Sometimes I can just make a list of things that need to be done, and that frees up my mind a bit. But sometimes I start the list and I think, "Why am I making the list when I can just do the thing?" When I catch myself writing down these sorts of tasks, I can be pretty confident I'm just procrastinating.
Here are some recent things I've done that I'm glad are done:
1. I went swimming with the family at a nearby pool
I've been putting this off for so long. I like to swim, but I hate the preparation, the worry while we're at the pool about something happening and needing to stay vigilant the whole time, seeing co-workers while I'm in my swimsuit (this happens a lot in a small town), and then the rush when we get home to change, shower, etc.
But we went a couple weeks ago for the first time this summer and it was fun! It took a bit of time to get our stuff together but now that we've done that, we've got a system in place where we can pretty much just grab our stuff and go. In fact, we went back again this past weekend and I was looking forward to it.
2. Haircut
I hate getting my hair cut because I just always feel so awkward and I don't know what to say to the hair stylist and I hate sitting there with my glasses off and not being able to focus on anything. I hate making the decisions and communicating what I want my hair to look like, or feeling awkward showing a picture of a celeb with the hairstyle I want. It seems like most people like the experience of being pampered, but not me.
My recent strategy to get out of getting a haircut was to try to grow it out. It's summer, so why not try out something new? But my limp hair just hung there and I couldn't deny I needed to do something. So I went to Great Clips on Tuesday night (the height of luxury, I know! But when you procrastinate about something and decide you just want to take care of it, it's best if you can just walk in) and got a couple inches chopped off and I love it! I need to remember that it may feel a little awkward for 15 minutes but then it's over. And now my hair is a lot easier to do in the morning and my neck is cooler, which is no small thing when the temperatures frequently reach over 100 degrees.
3. Email to my new boss
The boss I've had for the past eight years is retiring as of this afternoon, and the new boss sent a lengthy email on Monday to all of us in the department with some questions she wanted us to answer. I was actually eager to start on this task, but not to complete it. I started jotting down some quick thoughts but then put that list aside. I thought, if she doesn't start until Friday why bother replying now? And then there's a three day weekend, and she didn't put any sort of deadline, so I could just wait.
But it just kept gnawing at me on Monday night, and I knew I needed to put some closure on this particular request. So Tuesday morning I got to work. I spent hours writing my response and editing it. I knew going into this that it would take a long time. It's always hard to sit and reflect, right? That's why I was trying to find ways to procrastinate. But now that it's done, I don't regret spending that amount of time on it.
I figured this was probably the one opportunity I'll have to introduce myself, describe my role and communication preferences, and honestly assess some problems we've had in the department. I did more professional reflection that day than I have in a long time. So I finished editing my response and sent it off, and felt so relieved. And then I was so much more productive for the rest of the day! Because as it turns out, when I put off doing some big thing I don't want to do, I'm not actually motivated to do other necessary tasks. I waste time instead.
In general, I've learned that this is one of the biggest benefits of adopting the "Just do it!" mindset. When I have the big thing looming in the back of my mind, I don't really want to accomplish anything at all. But once I decide to tackle the big thing I feel so accomplished that all the little things just fall into place, and then I can sleep soundly at night. And I love my sleep.
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