Have you ever had those days when you’ve set aside time to
work on a project (whether personal or business related) and
hours pass before you get down to task?  I had one of those
days today.  Good thing it’s Friday and my day off. The
only thing I had on my to-do list was to write you a note.

It’s close to 4 AM as I sit down to write this post to you.
I launch my web browser, surf over to MSN.com, and get lost
in an endless trail of distractions.  Someone sends me a
message to check out a video on Funny or Die.  Someone else
emails me to meet them on Yahoo Chat. Internet Marketer’s
start broadcasting their offers and stories.  The list of
distractions that enable my procastination is endless.

When it comes to procrastination, most of us are quick to
acknowledge the problem and are s…l…o…w… to do
something about it.  I surf over to dictionary.com and look
up the definition of procrastination, hoping it means
something other than I’m lazy.

pro·cras·ti·nate:

v. intr.

To put off doing something, especially out of habitual
carelessness or laziness.

v. tr.

To postpone or delay needlessly.

Hmmm… this is getting serious. I better stop
shillyshallying and get some help.  Didn’t realize I was
delaying needlessly.

Off I go in search of solutions to my problems.  It doesn’t
matter that it’s now breakfast time – no point in delaying.
Ignoring my grumbling stomach, I search relentlessly for the
magic pill to make me stop procrastinating.  You see, this
isn’t the first time I’ve procrastinated but I’m hoping
it will be the last.

Three hours later, I’m a procrastination expert.  My eyes
are blurry, my head is spinning due to lack of sleep and
information overload but I’m committed to a ten step
program to stop procrastinating.  I have been freed from
oppression – I have broken the bonds and liberated myself
from the control of procrastination.

I stand proudly at my desk and declare my Emancipation from
Procrastination, freeing myself from the bonds of laziness.

I have a dream, that one day my habitual procrastination, as
noted by my mother – whose voice comes back to haunt me with
labels such as disorganized, scattered and lazy – will be
transformed into an empowering situation where the endless
to do lists and procrastination temptations will be forever
banished to the annals of accomplishment.  I have a dream
today where I recognize that I walk not alone on this path
to procrastination but am in fact in excellent company.

This will be the day when I sing “My list, ’tis of thee,
endless list that plagues me, of thee I sing.  List of tasks
I don’t like to do, list of thorns in my side, from every
desktop, let the work begin.”

And if I’m to change the pattern of procrastination, this
must become true.

After hours of research, I’ve finally understood that one
of the big reasons I’ve been procrastinating is that I’m
focusing only on finishing.  So I’ll begin to concentrate on
starting.  All I need to do is keep starting, and the
finishing will take care of itself.  Which brings me to
another thing my mother used to say… but I think I’ll
leave that thought unfinished.

Energized and ready to tackle the daunting task of writing
this month’s post, I’m excited to have broken free from
the shackles of procrastination that bound me.

Free at last! free at last!… now if only I could find my
pen.

Maybe I’ll do this tomorrow….