"PROCRASTINATE NOW--DON'T PUT IT OFF!"

Every year about the middle of November, when I advance another year, I vow to get my life fully organized.  That infers sending out Christmas cards by early December, returning my library books on time, calling or writing friends I’ve long neglected, and doing my holiday shopping before the Christmas rush.  But something undoubtedly goes wrong.  I think I must enjoy last-minute panic!  Maybe it goes along with my uncanny ability to defy logic.  I sometimes put important items in a logical place one day, only to realize the next day that I’m no longer in that logical mode.  By then I have no idea where the keys or the glasses or the important piece of mail disappeared to. But back to the universal struggle with procrastination! For me it’s a treacherous path of expectations and I finally decided that it’s far easier to write about it than to avoid it.  So if there’s anyone else out there struggling with that age-old issue--take heart!  Try to lower some of your expectations, maintain a smidgen of humor, and light a candle.  Turn on the music of the holidays, sip a cup of tea, and savor a few of these words of wisdom:

            “I remember reading somewhere about an organization called Procrastinators Anonymous.  I think they had been in existence for some years but had never gotten around to having a meeting.”  (anonymous)

            “My evil genius PROCRASTINATION has whispered me to tarry ‘til a more convenient season.”  (Mary Todd Lincoln)

            “Procrastination is like a credit card:  it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.”  (Christopher Parker)

            “The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up.”  (unknown author)

            “Someday is not a day of the week.”  (Janet Dailey)

            “You can’t turn on creativity like a faucet.  You have to be in the right mood.  What mood is that?  Last-minute panic.”  (Bill Watterson)

ELLEN DEGENERES

 

            And my favorite of all—“Procrastinate now.  Don’t put it off.”  (Ellen DeGeneres)

But whatever you do, enjoy the holidays, and as Thoreau said, “Simplify, simplify!”  It’s the only thing that’s worked for me.