Well it wasn’t a surprise at our house when it was announced schools were shutting and England was going back into lockdown. Let’s face it, it’s been brewing a while. It would have been nice to sort my hair out prior to non-essential retail shutting but in the grand scheme of things, infection rates and death tolls; I’m sure I’ll be able to manage for a few weeks. I have been canny and managed to dodge the trauma of cutting JC’s hair this time though so that’s a relief for both of us (JC is my other half)!
So I’m here to promote my superpower, which is many other people’s superpower too, procrastination. While I don’t feel like I’m a world-class procrastinator, I do consider it a skill I’ve developed over the years! I know some people consider it a detrimental life skill; however I consider it an art form. For example, have you ever procrastinated so much that what you needed to do no longer becomes an issue? Either because someone else does what you needed to or it just becomes irrelevant, outdated or superseded. Alternatively, did you put something off for so long, you didn’t really need it any more then everything comes full circle and you need it again? Well, I have and do!
I read an interesting article about procrastination and some scholarly research that argues that procrastination is more emotional than bad time management. It’s a really good read if you’re interested in this kind of thing so I’ve put the link at the bottom of this page [1]. This kind of makes sense for me personally. I’m really organised at work, I use Trello as my to-do list, always hit deadlines and I’m meticulously organised in general. However, there are just some things that I hit a block with and reflecting on what I’ve read that does sort of resonate.
For example, I’ve procrastinated so well that I’ve used absolutely none on my stitching stash I ordered during the first lockdown back in March 2020. This is great, it means I’ve plenty to go at this time and I won’t run out of things to occupy me. Running out of things to do is of course a ridiculous thought and would literally never happen; I’ve got a shameful amount of sealed/un-played games to go at and I’ve also got the ‘box of doom’ of unloved craft projects. I was trying to ‘kit up’ (get all the components for) one particular pattern that I really loved so I could make a start on it.
However, there were so many issues with the orders that it completely put me off from making a start. I am a bit ‘woo’ and into spooky stuff and that project feels somewhat cursed/doomed to fail. I am also a logical person and I appreciate that is completely ridiculous. Nevertheless, I now have all of the components, I’ve had them for months. I got a lovely new bag to put the threads in, got everything ready, organised and in order. Have I made a start? Obviously not!
The article lists potential reasons for procrastination could be boredom or worrying about potential failure. They also ring true of me too. I love writing blog posts and updating my social media but some days I literally do everything but that. I think that’s the fear of failure coming in! I’m not sure the scientific reason/emotion associated with putting off the cursed project though… maybe fear of failure too but possibly more the negative association and emotions I had with the kitting up process.
I think I could well be an emotional procrastinator (albeit a self-diagnosed one). Am I going to do anything about this now I know? Well, I might do… but I’ll put off thinking about it until another day!
Sources:
[1] https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200121-why-procrastination-is-about-managing-emotions-not-time
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