I’ve procrastinated my way into a pit. The only way out is a swan dive. I’m going to have to wing it. Some things will be decided haphazardly. Some will not get done despite it being better if they had been done. Perhaps I’ll get a letter from the IRS or miss something else that is critical. All I know is that I’m about to be out of planning and preparation time and anything left undone will have to get back in line while I’m in mid-air. As a double Virgo I can already hear myself saying “I could have avoided this haphazard spree” but here we are! This is a cautionary tale fellow procrastinators! Haha!
I am a master procrastinator, I double majored in procrastination and justification. Which is great because I can justify my procrastination, as well as yours! My least disruptive way of procrastinating is by doing small tasks that I know I can do quickly, like cleaning up files, which then sends me into a kind of whirlpool of other small tasks that I don't need to do, didn't think to do, but will be glad is done once I'm through it. But that comes at the cost of not completing the bigger tasks that I MUST do. I have to use Howler now to set timers for me to make sure I complete tasks, otherwise I'll avoid them until I've left myself the least possible amount of time to do it and be stressed out beyond what I need.
Its an app (I'm on a mac) that's just a timer that has a wolf howling LOL. What you do it, set the amount of time you need, I try to do it in increments of 30-45 minutes, but I adjust based on the task/my attention span that day. Before I hit "start" I'll close out any windows that I don't need, lock my phone/move it away, go to the bathroom, get water, basically just get myself ready to work for that amount of time without distraction. Once I'm set, I hit start and get to the task. When your time is close to being up, about 10 seconds, you will hear a crow start crowing, then at the time up, there's a wolf howl. Something about it being the howl makes me happy! I use the free version and it does help knowing "I only have to sit still for 30 mins" and be the time it gets to the end, I find I'm often in enough of a groove that, barring any needs like water or bathroom breaks, I just restart the timer and keep going.
Oh procrastination has always been one of my biggest problems. But I don't even do anything useful while I'm procrastinating! I just doomscroll and disassociate. Thought recently I've learned that might be more executive dysfunction. Either way, it's not fun! 😂
I clean and organize things that don't need organizing loll
I've gotten better at not procrastinating over the years, but when I procrastinate something now, it's like this neverending cycle of dread and avoidance. It's so hard to break it!!! And I don't even know why I can muster up the strength to not procrastinate most of the time, but then let this or that slide. I have seriously almost broken that habit, but when it gets me, it really gets me (writing as I am procrastinating 3 important things that I know aren't half as hard or as painful as I think they are!!!!).
Big time procrastinator, and I wondered recently if perimenopause is making it worse 🤔 But what is up with Google storage?! I've been getting the alert for some time now that my storage if FULL, I've deleted so much and yet still barely made a dent, it's seriously making me crazy and I don't know how to handle it...I just keep putting it off 🤦🏽♀️🥺
When I do laundry I fold it in the laundry room then carry it to my closet or drawers and put it away right there and then! I’m a Pisces but I like to keep habits like not having any backed up dirty clothing or dishes anywhere! I’m single so it’s easier! Procrastinating is something so easy to do when I am not wanting to know the outcome!
This is perfect - the poem - I lost my brother suddenly this past April, at the young age of 57. So I get that poem so much and the think about those very things - thoughts that will hit me whilst doing laundry, in fact. I just saw Barbie yesterday also so I’m feeling extra existential.
I'm a master procrastinator too. I worked out when I had 2 littluns at home that I need short easy tasks. Empty the dishwasher while the kettle is boiling. Clean the sink whilst the kids are in the bath. And then I feel like I've achieved something at least. One of the main reasons I rented a shop was because I was so distracted at home. But even there I will have moments of, oh need to water the plants, sort out the cottons. Rearrange the entire stock room instead of doing one small task.
One of my tricks is to NOT charge my phone overnight so it runs out during the day so I have to go put it on charge and therefore not look at it.
I need my phone charged for directions in the car! I actually remember the days of paper maps, stopping at a gas station to ask for directions- but now how do we live without Waze or Google maps!!?
BUT WHAT IF THE LAUNDRY IS WHAT I'M AVOIDING?! 🤦🏼♀️🤡 Total procrastinator here. I'm always amazed when people say they don't procrastinate, I'm like "how?! What does that feel like?!" I am equally amazed with the folks whose procrastinatory activities do not involve their phone. Again, "WHAT DOES THAT FEEL LIKE?!" 🤣😂 I'm trying to get back to reading more (we recently re-upped our library cards because we live in MO & fuck these fascist library-defunding dickheads but also because it forces us to read something within a timeframe instead of just buying things to read "sometime later" which we all know never comes.) so I'll be trying to do that more? 🤷🏼♀️
I am super competitive - with myself. But I’m also super lazy (partially due to chronic illness but also, sometimes because 🤷🏻♀️) So, the reminders app on my phone has been my life saver. Any little menial task that needs doing, goes into the app with a date and a time. This is important. Because I NEEEEEEEEEED to complete the task before the alarm goes off. There is something about opening it in the morning, seeing 25 little jobs, having a minute of overwhelming panic, and then racing to beat the clock and have them all done. Aren’t brains fun? 🤣🤣🤣
Brains are kinda fun, even when they are doing us dirty. I love your timer idea! I have also timed myself doing something I hate so I can see how long I was torturing myself doing it. It’s usually about 5-20 minutes, after the hours & days I wasted feeling a way about NOT doing it.
We’re traveling tomorrow morning to be with my husband who just lost his Mom on Friday after losing his Dad in January. He’s also an only child. I told my son that Daddy’s an orphan now and we’d have to decide if we adopt him or put him in the orphanage. My son (who’s 10 and has a great sense of humor) said “Eh, I’m 50/50”.
I'm definitely a procrastinator. If I'm working, I'll use social media or games on my phone to procrastinate. If it's something around the house I need to do, watching the TV is my go-to when procrastinating.
I JUST LEARNED HOW TO PLAY THIS LAST MONTH AND I'M TERRIBLE BUT STILL OBSESSED. 🤣😂 I dl'ed it on my phone AND made my husband but the actual game. Did i mention I'm terrible? 🤣😂
I won an in-person game at Emily BBs but the phone version is way harder! And the janky one I downloaded can’t be closed when you’re done so you have to restart your phone, making it an even bigger time waster. 😩
Oh noooo! I hate when apps suck like that. Mine loads fine, but i think I've won like 3 times on it. I cannot keep track of everything as well on the phone.
Being totally honest here, and I’m not saying this “just to be nice.” I really like that poem. You did a lot of clever word play while making it poignant, and I love that!
I’ve always been a procrastinator, unfortunately. I usually end up scrolling Reddit and Twitter--like back and forth, forever. ))<>((
Then sometimes I watch TikTok videos. All three of these things are a major time suck, and I often get frustrated with myself. Before I had those things, I think I’d just do random web surfing, YouTube rabbit holes, and then Spotify rabbit holes. Before that...I think I watched tv or paced around the room or made up dumb physical games for myself like running as fast as I can and jumping over the arm of the couch onto the cushion 🤷🏼♀️ ....truthfully, I sort of miss those days.
I miss a good couch arm vault! Dang. Thank you for the kind words about the poem. My husband said he liked it too & he's friends with a bunch of legit poets, so I feel honored by you both!
They were so much fun! I used to spend like 30 min doing that. You’re welcome! See! It’s a really good poem.
I once wrote a poem in 7th grade when we were doing our poetry unit in English, and my dad was like, “are you ok? Are you thinking I’m going to leave or something?” Because it was about a young girl who had lost both her parents (in the twist ending), but actually at the time I had just been watching (and loving) a lot of As Told By Ginger, and there was an episode where Ginger wrote a dark poem, so I wanted to be deep like that 😂 I just tried to mimic her style of writing. Anywho, poetry is dope.
I am also currently doing procrastination laundry! I should be cleaning the house for the pet sitter who is coming on Monday so we can take our firstborn daughter to college😭😭😭 As sad as I am about it, I keep thinking at least she’s only going to be 5 hours away and not oceans away, like Busy and Birdie😥
Wow! Congratulations on getting her to such a huge milestone! I remember the bittersweetness of the drop off. Good luck with the cleaning, but don't go too hard. As a mom to two pet sitters, I think they expect a certain level of household chaos covered in fur.
I am a procrastination queen!!! I find that giving myself little rewards helps. Like...I just finished cooking at home for a client and before I pack it all up and do the dishes I allowed myself a little scrolling time. Caissie, I hope you get in the pool. I can't speak for everyone but I can wait for the podcast 😉
I’ve procrastinated my way into a pit. The only way out is a swan dive. I’m going to have to wing it. Some things will be decided haphazardly. Some will not get done despite it being better if they had been done. Perhaps I’ll get a letter from the IRS or miss something else that is critical. All I know is that I’m about to be out of planning and preparation time and anything left undone will have to get back in line while I’m in mid-air. As a double Virgo I can already hear myself saying “I could have avoided this haphazard spree” but here we are! This is a cautionary tale fellow procrastinators! Haha!
I see you and I hear you. Thank you for the cautionary tale, LOL!
I am a master procrastinator, I double majored in procrastination and justification. Which is great because I can justify my procrastination, as well as yours! My least disruptive way of procrastinating is by doing small tasks that I know I can do quickly, like cleaning up files, which then sends me into a kind of whirlpool of other small tasks that I don't need to do, didn't think to do, but will be glad is done once I'm through it. But that comes at the cost of not completing the bigger tasks that I MUST do. I have to use Howler now to set timers for me to make sure I complete tasks, otherwise I'll avoid them until I've left myself the least possible amount of time to do it and be stressed out beyond what I need.
Ooh, tell us more about Howler!
Its an app (I'm on a mac) that's just a timer that has a wolf howling LOL. What you do it, set the amount of time you need, I try to do it in increments of 30-45 minutes, but I adjust based on the task/my attention span that day. Before I hit "start" I'll close out any windows that I don't need, lock my phone/move it away, go to the bathroom, get water, basically just get myself ready to work for that amount of time without distraction. Once I'm set, I hit start and get to the task. When your time is close to being up, about 10 seconds, you will hear a crow start crowing, then at the time up, there's a wolf howl. Something about it being the howl makes me happy! I use the free version and it does help knowing "I only have to sit still for 30 mins" and be the time it gets to the end, I find I'm often in enough of a groove that, barring any needs like water or bathroom breaks, I just restart the timer and keep going.
Oh procrastination has always been one of my biggest problems. But I don't even do anything useful while I'm procrastinating! I just doomscroll and disassociate. Thought recently I've learned that might be more executive dysfunction. Either way, it's not fun! 😂
I think a lot of people here can identify!
I clean and organize things that don't need organizing loll
I've gotten better at not procrastinating over the years, but when I procrastinate something now, it's like this neverending cycle of dread and avoidance. It's so hard to break it!!! And I don't even know why I can muster up the strength to not procrastinate most of the time, but then let this or that slide. I have seriously almost broken that habit, but when it gets me, it really gets me (writing as I am procrastinating 3 important things that I know aren't half as hard or as painful as I think they are!!!!).
I love that you have mostly broken the habit while still maintaining enough of it that you sympathize, LOL!
Lollll I'm working in a real grey zone, not gonna lie hahahahha
Big time procrastinator, and I wondered recently if perimenopause is making it worse 🤔 But what is up with Google storage?! I've been getting the alert for some time now that my storage if FULL, I've deleted so much and yet still barely made a dent, it's seriously making me crazy and I don't know how to handle it...I just keep putting it off 🤦🏽♀️🥺
I did up my storage when we started doing the podcast, but keep bumping the ceiling if I don’t do a periodic digital garbage purge. 😩
When I do laundry I fold it in the laundry room then carry it to my closet or drawers and put it away right there and then! I’m a Pisces but I like to keep habits like not having any backed up dirty clothing or dishes anywhere! I’m single so it’s easier! Procrastinating is something so easy to do when I am not wanting to know the outcome!
I admire your laundry discipline so much!!!
This is perfect - the poem - I lost my brother suddenly this past April, at the young age of 57. So I get that poem so much and the think about those very things - thoughts that will hit me whilst doing laundry, in fact. I just saw Barbie yesterday also so I’m feeling extra existential.
I am so sorry to hear about your brother. I hope he visits you in good dreams whenever you need him.
Honestly, I was a little peeved because he hasn’t even haunted me yet. LOL.
I'm a master procrastinator too. I worked out when I had 2 littluns at home that I need short easy tasks. Empty the dishwasher while the kettle is boiling. Clean the sink whilst the kids are in the bath. And then I feel like I've achieved something at least. One of the main reasons I rented a shop was because I was so distracted at home. But even there I will have moments of, oh need to water the plants, sort out the cottons. Rearrange the entire stock room instead of doing one small task.
One of my tricks is to NOT charge my phone overnight so it runs out during the day so I have to go put it on charge and therefore not look at it.
I need my phone charged for directions in the car! I actually remember the days of paper maps, stopping at a gas station to ask for directions- but now how do we live without Waze or Google maps!!?
Oooooh, the phone charging idea is genius.
BUT WHAT IF THE LAUNDRY IS WHAT I'M AVOIDING?! 🤦🏼♀️🤡 Total procrastinator here. I'm always amazed when people say they don't procrastinate, I'm like "how?! What does that feel like?!" I am equally amazed with the folks whose procrastinatory activities do not involve their phone. Again, "WHAT DOES THAT FEEL LIKE?!" 🤣😂 I'm trying to get back to reading more (we recently re-upped our library cards because we live in MO & fuck these fascist library-defunding dickheads but also because it forces us to read something within a timeframe instead of just buying things to read "sometime later" which we all know never comes.) so I'll be trying to do that more? 🤷🏼♀️
I think your library plan sounds very good & smart!
I am super competitive - with myself. But I’m also super lazy (partially due to chronic illness but also, sometimes because 🤷🏻♀️) So, the reminders app on my phone has been my life saver. Any little menial task that needs doing, goes into the app with a date and a time. This is important. Because I NEEEEEEEEEED to complete the task before the alarm goes off. There is something about opening it in the morning, seeing 25 little jobs, having a minute of overwhelming panic, and then racing to beat the clock and have them all done. Aren’t brains fun? 🤣🤣🤣
Brains are kinda fun, even when they are doing us dirty. I love your timer idea! I have also timed myself doing something I hate so I can see how long I was torturing myself doing it. It’s usually about 5-20 minutes, after the hours & days I wasted feeling a way about NOT doing it.
You may have procrastinated on one task, but you were productive in several others!!! 🤍🤍
I should finish packing and make my kids start showers, but now I feel like I need to read all the sub stacks I haven’t read yet!
We’re traveling tomorrow morning to be with my husband who just lost his Mom on Friday after losing his Dad in January. He’s also an only child. I told my son that Daddy’s an orphan now and we’d have to decide if we adopt him or put him in the orphanage. My son (who’s 10 and has a great sense of humor) said “Eh, I’m 50/50”.
Aw! I love your kid! Sorry to hear about your husband’s mom. 💜
I'm definitely a procrastinator. If I'm working, I'll use social media or games on my phone to procrastinate. If it's something around the house I need to do, watching the TV is my go-to when procrastinating.
I've been playing a game on my phone lately, Rummikub. I tell myself it's to keep my mental faculties sharp, but, c'mon, Erin, I know the truth!
I JUST LEARNED HOW TO PLAY THIS LAST MONTH AND I'M TERRIBLE BUT STILL OBSESSED. 🤣😂 I dl'ed it on my phone AND made my husband but the actual game. Did i mention I'm terrible? 🤣😂
I won an in-person game at Emily BBs but the phone version is way harder! And the janky one I downloaded can’t be closed when you’re done so you have to restart your phone, making it an even bigger time waster. 😩
Oh noooo! I hate when apps suck like that. Mine loads fine, but i think I've won like 3 times on it. I cannot keep track of everything as well on the phone.
Being totally honest here, and I’m not saying this “just to be nice.” I really like that poem. You did a lot of clever word play while making it poignant, and I love that!
I’ve always been a procrastinator, unfortunately. I usually end up scrolling Reddit and Twitter--like back and forth, forever. ))<>((
Then sometimes I watch TikTok videos. All three of these things are a major time suck, and I often get frustrated with myself. Before I had those things, I think I’d just do random web surfing, YouTube rabbit holes, and then Spotify rabbit holes. Before that...I think I watched tv or paced around the room or made up dumb physical games for myself like running as fast as I can and jumping over the arm of the couch onto the cushion 🤷🏼♀️ ....truthfully, I sort of miss those days.
I miss a good couch arm vault! Dang. Thank you for the kind words about the poem. My husband said he liked it too & he's friends with a bunch of legit poets, so I feel honored by you both!
They were so much fun! I used to spend like 30 min doing that. You’re welcome! See! It’s a really good poem.
I once wrote a poem in 7th grade when we were doing our poetry unit in English, and my dad was like, “are you ok? Are you thinking I’m going to leave or something?” Because it was about a young girl who had lost both her parents (in the twist ending), but actually at the time I had just been watching (and loving) a lot of As Told By Ginger, and there was an episode where Ginger wrote a dark poem, so I wanted to be deep like that 😂 I just tried to mimic her style of writing. Anywho, poetry is dope.
I LOVED As Told by Ginger!
It’s SO good! Last year I rewatched it for the first time, and it’s still wonderful. It’s on Paramount+
I am also currently doing procrastination laundry! I should be cleaning the house for the pet sitter who is coming on Monday so we can take our firstborn daughter to college😭😭😭 As sad as I am about it, I keep thinking at least she’s only going to be 5 hours away and not oceans away, like Busy and Birdie😥
Wow! Congratulations on getting her to such a huge milestone! I remember the bittersweetness of the drop off. Good luck with the cleaning, but don't go too hard. As a mom to two pet sitters, I think they expect a certain level of household chaos covered in fur.
I am a procrastination queen!!! I find that giving myself little rewards helps. Like...I just finished cooking at home for a client and before I pack it all up and do the dishes I allowed myself a little scrolling time. Caissie, I hope you get in the pool. I can't speak for everyone but I can wait for the podcast 😉
Oh, thank you, Margot! Scrolling time is the treat that keeps on giving. And taking sometimes, but let's focus on the giving!!!