Humans are prolific procrastinators. It’s easy to make plans and throw dates on your calendar, and yet it’s practically inevitable that you’ll let some deadlines fly by with reckless abandon. Our brains simply prefer instant rewards to long-term payoffs. Given this tendency, we often have to resort to crazy strategies to get things done.
—Why we make plans and don’t follow through
Do you agree with that quote? Have you ever gotten excited by the idea of making changes in your life, only to find that actually following through was too hard and boring? When you did follow through, how did you motivate yourself?
I’ve been making couple of big changes in my life. What works for me is doing a lot of research first and then taking baby steps as I integrate the changes into my life. It’s not very exciting ahead of time, but it gives me a lot of small successes to celebrate. What works for you?
January 18, 2016
Being proactive, and forgive me for laughing at myself, I don’t make wild promises to myself or others only to then disappoint. Nah. What I do is fly by the seat of my pants. That way there is no room for procrastinating. It’s all in the NOW, at the last minute and knowing the difference between what is important and what is urgent – and when, dear dog in heaven, they are both.
U
As usual one size doesn’t fit all. The important thing is to figure out what works for us and go for it. Yay, Ursula!
I know what you mean. And I also look forward to hearing more about your changes.
But this is what instantly sprang to mind when I saw your title:
“I’ve always wanted to be a procrastinator but I never got around to it.”
🙂 I’ll send you some of the details in an email. It’s not that private, just too long for a post.
Great post! I definitely do weird things to get me motivated at times. Especially this time of year when I feel like a slug.
Well, yeah. Your weather sucks, so pat yourself on the back for even getting out of bed! You do an incredible amount in spite of your feelings.
since i’m retired i find i really do things simply as i want to.
although… i still have the habits of the working life to some degree i guess.
even like a simple thing as opening and dealing with any mail.
i do it immediately. it’s just so much easier.
and i do dishes as soon as i’m through eating. i wash them by hand.
little chores are so much easier to do sooner rather than later. they don’t multiply that way. at least that’s what i’ve found.
and on major decisions… i’m like ursula. i fly by the seat of my pants.
and oddly enough it has usually worked for me.
i think some people enjoy planning more. and that works for them.
and then. like kaitlin. i sometimes just feel like a slug. LOLOL
As usual, (1) it’s great to be retired, and (2) we’re all different and have to find out what works for us. It’s fun to celebrate our differences.
Never too hard (most things!), and never boring. What trips me up is lack of time. But maybe I’m just a poor time manager!
People who are turned on by life never have time enough for everything. I think it’s a good sign.
I like to plan.
and research and plan and research some more and plan again.
Recently I got rid of my van that was falling apart.
I researched cars for months.
I narrowed it done to two makes and models.
I drove through car lots and watched on their websites.
Finally I envisioned my idea car, even the color.
Then one day, the Universe made it appear.
Now I have a great 4 year old car with a 5yr warranty that was a leased car, with super low mileage. Being leased it had to be well cared for.
In the past, I used to fly by the seat of my pants when it came to vehicles but this is my forever car.
Truly, I will have this car until I die.
and I’m happy that I procrastinated getting a new vehicle until I found the perfect one.
But, as far as my “art” goes. I put that off because I want it to be perfect and it never seems to be to me. The way I get stuff done is by having wonderful friends that nudge me to keep going.
Thank you friend! xoxo
Have you ever read the Ira Glass quote?
A completely different approach is not to try to produce something great, just have fun exploring and see what happens. Glass’s approach is what has kept me from sketching for so long. I agree that with enough effort one can learn to draw. But it’s not my first priority, I didn’t want to commit that much time to it. Now I just have a pile of pencils and small sketchbooks and require I do one or two simple sketches a day. Lynda Barry says, “Waste time and materials.” I would add, “Have fun doing it.” For years one of my favorite sayings has been, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” It gets my ego out of the way.
In your case, Daily Painting, Paint Small and Often… is probably more appropriate. It’s a lot more professional. 🙂
wrote a whole reply – but my silly left hand, took it upon itself to hit another dkey – I think that means it’s wasn’t meant to be!
I hate it when that happens. Thank you for coming by!
Other than the inane planning exercises that I had to undertake during my professional management days, I have never had long term plans drawn up in my personal life. I have indeed drawn up innumerable short term plans and I have inevitably followed up on them to their conclusions one way or the other. I have no regrets and I continue to draw up short term plans just like I am right now involved in drawing up an itinerary to visit the South of India in February.
I was never good about long term plans. I figured it was good enough to have a sense of direction and know I was on the right path.
Eternal Procrastinator — that is me all the way.. nothing motivates me. I guess that is why others seem to go right past me…
Having people go past you isn’t always bad, if they leave you alone to do what you want.