Tuesday Ten: Procrastination

Tuesday Ten: Ten Things I Really Really Really Need to Stop Putting Off

“Procrastination is the key to prolonging life.” ~Unknown

1. This week's Tuesday Ten. It's Wednesday, so obviously. Don't really need to say more about that one.

“It isn't procrastination if you put it off right away.” ~Unknown

2. Phone calls. I could fill the rest of this list with phone calls I'm not making. Here's my foolish secret: I hate calling strangers. I know, all of you phone-call makers out there are thinking, "It's just a phone call." I know. And I still hate calling people on the phone. I need to call the choir director about chaperoning the upcoming choir trip, the orthodontist about lovely lady's headgear, the vet about Poppy's next appointment...the list goes on and on. The most important phone call: Dermatologist about a mole. I'm going to call tomorrow. Really. (And, if you happen to be a dear friend who shall remain nameless and you need to do the same, get off your duff and call.)

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week. ~Spanish Proverb

3. Clean the basement. You're probably going to be reading about my messy basement until I die. Now I've really got to get it done, though, because once the Poppy puppy is housetrained, or at least trained enough that she doesn't need to go out in the wee hours, the crate moves down to the basement. And there's nowhere to put it. How's that for incentive?

Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow. ~Gerald Vaughan

4. Weed the front yard. Now really, this isn't my fault. I'm waiting for another procrastinator. A month ago our seventeen-year-old neighbor threw a party while his mom was out of town. Our fence got broken. "I guess things got a little out of hand," he said. Gee, you think? He seems to be a nice kid and I suppose most of us have done stupid stuff when we were young, so I'm not upset about the party or even the fence. People are more important than stuff, and really in the grand scheme of things it's just a fence panel, easily replaced. But it was my bright idea that we should let him fix it. We gave him the fence panel and the paint, and haven't seen either since. Sheesh. I can't weed and chase a puppy and a two-year-old away from the street. And my no-kid time is spent doing more pressing things. So....weeds in the front yard.

I do my work at the same time each day - the last minute. ~Unknown

5. Planning dinner. Nothing sets you up for a wonderful balanced meal like looking at the clock at 4:30 and thinking, "Oh crud! It's my night to make dinner!" My dinner nights have been the same nights for the last three years. You'd think I'd learn. But nooooooooooo.

The Procrastinator's Creed:
1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
~Unknown

6. Painting. The boys' bathroom and the other downstairs bathroom. We have the paint. We have the paintbrushes. I hate painting.

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. ~Mark Twain

7. Weeding the back yard. I don't have a good excuse for this one. I wish I did. I just don't like weeding. And who am I fooling? The front yard would be weedy even with an intact fence. You know....I think an appropriate punishment for throwing a party that breaks the neighbor's fence would be doing yardwork for that neighbor. Lots and lots of yardwork. Heh heh.

What may be done at any time will be done at no time. ~Scottish Proverb

8. Correcting lovely lady's math. Maybe I should do this in the evening instead of ten minutes before "math class."

There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house. ~Joe Ryan

9. Cleaning the litter box. The cleaning part doesn't bother me, it's tracking down the paper bags and trekking up and down the stairs, and finding time. Loving husband and I finally traded days-- now we each clean the litter box on the days that the other person cooks dinner. But I still keep putting it off until the very end of the day. What a lovely way to cap off a busy day, eh?

To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing. ~Eva Young

10. Just about everything else. My name is Cathy, and I am a procrastinator.

Someday is not a day of the week. ~Author Unknown

These procrastination quotes and many more can be found here.