Put 'Procrastinate' On Your To Do List.  But You Don't Have To Do It Right Now!

I read this article recently and it really resonated with me.  I could identify with how Michele was feeling and how she was acting (excuse the pun).  How often do you busy yourself with activities that really are not that important but are easier than what you perhaps should be doing?

An article by Michele A'Court from the Your Weekend magazine, August 22 2009.

I AM the Master of Procrastination. As an aside, I should point out that I am also the Absolute Queen of Hyperbole - but that's an altogether different story which we will save for an entirely perfect time.

Anyway, when I say I "procrastinate", I don't mean that to sound like a bad thing. If it weren't for my two-monthly GST returns, the dusting would never get done round here. It's only when faced with a file-box of invoices and receipts that I can really knuckle down to cleaning windows, ironing table napkins and cleaning the oven with a toothbrush.

Those of us who live from deadline to deadline know the best time to receive random visits is just prior to said deadline, when beds are most likely to be made, fridge stocked and flowers arranged. There's nothing like the need to focus on work to get you focused on something else.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, when I really should have been thinking about other things. I've mulled over the maxim, "If you want a job done, give it to a busy person." Perhaps it's less about them being energetic and efficient, and more about them wanting a distraction from their already-too-long To Do list.
So while I am supposed to be filling out income and expenditure spreadsheets, I'm pondering how many of the world's great things have happened when the creator really should have been doing something else.

Did Jane Austen, for example, bang off some novels to avoid finishing a petit-point footstool? Did Alexander Graham Bell invent the telephone when he should've been mowing the lawn? And where would we be if Archimedes had stayed in his office writing maths formulae for measuring the volume of irregular-shaped objects instead of deciding, "Bugger it, I'm off for a hot bath."

These are the things I am burning to know, when really I should be offsetting mileage and depreciation costs from my out-of-town entertainment fees. That, and I'm letting my mind wander in other directions with interesting results, like the possibility of housing our Members of Parliament in shipping containers along the capital's waterfront - easy walking distance from the Beehive, and a highly democratic response to suggestions that prisoners, who also serve at Her Majesty's pleasure, might fairly be accommodated this way.

I'm not saying that by putting off filing your tax return you might accidentally find the cure for cancer. But it is worth noting that Sir Isaac Newton wasn't sitting at his laptop when that apple konked him on the head.

So, in the interests of human development, put "Procrastinate" on your To Do list. You don't have to do it right now. Just whenever you get round to it. Maybe read a magazine first.

Michele A'Court