My name is Michelle and I am a habitual procrastinator.
It started back in school. I chronically put off studying until the night before a test. I reveled in the fact that I aced the test every time. So why bother studying if you don’t feel like it. Just do it later, right?
Well, then I grew up, my procrastination followed me, and I learned that it wasn’t going to work anymore. But that didn’t stop me from procrastinating.
I don’t feel like doing dishes leads to a disgusting, stinky kitchen. Oh, and you also run out of bowls.
I don’t feel like doing laundry leads to rummaging through dirty clothes to find “clean enough” jeans to wear. Don’t judge.
And of course, not feeling like waking up at 6:30 to get ready for work when you know you don’t actually need to get up until 7:00 to get to there on time. So, you hit the snooze button 15 times until you finally peel your body out of bed. Yes, you have.
Let’s Talk Laundry
I have a deep hatred for laundry. Even more than I hate cilantro. Ewww.
My mom never let me do the laundry because of her OCD. It was her thing and we weren’t even allowed to touch the laundry room door. So I had no idea what I was doing.
Le, sigh. I often wish I had been born with just a little OCD, but alas, I have the opposite. I was born with OCP. Obsessive Compulsive Procrastination.
I don’t mind throwing darks into the washing machine, but anything else that might require ‘Spray and Wash’ sits in a sad pile on the floor.
Even after all of that crap is done, my clean laundry sits in baskets. I figure, here’s their opportunity to put their own shit away. If it bothers them enough, they can do it themselves.
About once a month, I go on a binge (probably because I’m mad) and wash and fold everything (including fitted sheets). And then, I PUT THEM AWAY. Yes, I actually put them away.
See a pattern?
Why You Need To Push Yourself To Just Do It
Take a minute to sit down and think about how it would feel to have the dishes and laundry finished. Not in some stage of almost finished, but finished. Take a minute to think about how it would feel to exercise instead of pressing snooze 100 times. It feels good, right? And it’s not impossible.
Here’s a question to ponder. Who actually says you have to feel like doing something to do it? How many people do you know pop up from dinner and say, “I feel like scrubbing these pots and pans and loading the dishwasher!”. Or, “Boy, I really feel like working on the grass stains on Billy’s jeans”. Do people really pop up out of bed and gleefully announce, “I am really feeling excited about that 4 mile run on this 30 degree morning!”
The answer is no one. Ok, my mom, but that doesn’t count.
Write. It. Down.
I know this may sound goofy, but now I actually keep a journal of all of the things I do in a day.
6:30 AM: Wake up, get dressed, teeth brushed, face washed, hair brushed.
7:00 AM: G breakfast, empty dishwasher
8:00 AM: S breakfast, clean kitchen
9:00 AM: G Google Meet for School
9:30 AM: Homeschool for G & S
11:00 AM: Write
Well, you get the picture. If this seems ridiculous to you, I get it. But writing down everything I do in a day, even if I don’t get to the things I don’t feel like doing, will at least show that I accomplished something.
Look, I popped out of bed and got myself together! My kids are fed and doing school! I’m writing! At the end of the day, week, month, you have something to look back on. See, you are doing things. And doing those little things will lead to doing the not so fun stuff.
Even when you don’t feel like it.