Procrastinators of the world unite!... tomorrow

Hi, my name is Elisa and I'm a procrastinator. *Hi, Elisa*

Example: a couple of weeks ago we celebrated my husband's birthday - the big 4-0. His birthday was on a Saturday; so on Friday I decided I'd clean the house.

I admit the place tends to be kind of disorderly, what with Stella's talent for making a mess and my lack of talent for keeping up with it. It's very organized though. *wink*

Anyway, DH said he didn't want a party, so I thought had to put more effort into the celebration, and I decided to clean the house in his honor. A little voice in my head said "Yeah, good luck with that" but I shushed it, confident that I could make it. Here's how that went:

11.09am: on the pc, blogging. Decide to visit blogroll before I get off the pc. Just quick.

1.38pm: look at the clock, feel a pang of disappointment. Still, got lots done. Got an e-mail reminder for Shecky's Girls Night Out (like I would forget!), looked up exact address and marked it on my NY map guide (told you I'm neurotic), then Yelped restaurants and coffee shops in the area, got mail (yay, Netflix envelopes!), made lunch, ate lunch, watched Will & Grace during lunch (season 4, from one of the Netflix envelopes). Plan to start just as soon as this episode is over.

3.04 pm: still haven't done any cleaning. Must do menu & shopping list. I'll just check my e-mail quick.

5.08 pm: started cleaning kitchen and living room - no small feat considering I have just received several boxes of stuff I ordered online (I can get kind of carried away with the excuse that I'm prepping for a trip overseas). Office is still a mess but hey, no birthday party takes place in an office, right? Or in the kids' bedroom, for that matter.



I procrastinate. Especially when it has to do with house chores. It's not that I'm lazy (ok, maybe a little sometimes), it's just that I already despise chores enough without the added deterrent: nothing remains tidy, clean, or otherwise "done" for long. It's different when I have time to do it as well as I like. I guess I'm a closet perfectionist (or maybe I'm half-way out already, if this is anything to go by).

But sometimes procrastinating is good. For instance, I mentioned the boxes of stuff I ordered online. It could be worse. See, for some reason I just don't "do" moderation. It's always either/or with me. But in the past several years I have gotten much better at avoiding impulse buys, and procrastination has been the main tool.

For instance, I went to check out the Bakers sale (sorry ladies, the best stuff is gone now). Since I love shoes, my first impulse was to order 5 pairs ("they are so cheap, I'm actually saving money" as Rebecca Bloomwood would say). But when I waited until the day after to complete the checkout process, I realized that most of those models I have already and never use, mostly because they make it hard to run after Stella.

See, so it's not just a vice or a bad trait, it can actually come in handy! And there you were, thinking "oh, so she does have flaws!". Ye of little faith.

In fact, I was just reading how procrastination comes in handy when sticking to your diet. Jana Klauer, Nutritionist to the stars and author of "How the rich get thin" recommends using procrastination (ok, she calls it "patience") and a healthy snack to get over cravings. If a craving hits, she recommends setting a timer for 15 minutes, take some fiber and some protein and know that by the time the timer goes off your craving will be gone.

Ah, if only. Ok, maybe I'll try it. I got the gift (curse?) of procrastination, might as well put it to good use, right? And I will... just as soon as I finish checking my e-mail. Just quick.