clutter on table

Just days after I reorganized my school room, my glass book shelf broke.  (I know…glass shelves, heavy books…not practical.) I quickly started unloading the books onto the floor, surrounding chairs, and the dining/ school room table. Some how a day passed, then two, and what resulted was more books, more piles and procrastination.

I’d glance at the dining room table, think of the huge chunk of time needed to tackle the project, and then push it off for “another day.”

Anything that requires work tempts us to embrace the “another day” mentality. Why start today, what we can put off until tomorrow, right? The problem with that mentality is nothing gets done. Procrastination is the thief of time. Whether it’s establishing a budget, working on a meal plan, tracking food expenses, losing weight, or even decluttering, the bottom line is that it’s work, and the more one procrastinates, the harder it becomes. Even a simple thirty minute task can begin to feel like a mountain.

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but my broken shelf sat like this for weeks. Finally, just today, I purposely set the timer for only thirty minutes to at least begin the job. I always want to get jobs done from start to finish, but the problem with that desire is I don’t have enough large chunks of time available, or if I have time available, I begin five jobs at once. What follows is procrastination.

Well, no longer. With the timer set, I vowed I would not get side tracked. I wouldn’t answer the phone or turn on the computer. I wouldn’t start browsing through the books as I cleared them off (I know myself.)  I just needed to start and do the next thing. My goal was to get the table cleared off – nothing more.

clean dining room tableThirty minutes later, the table was not only cleared off , but dusted. The summer table cloth whirred in the washer, and excitement brewed about my fall tablescape – all because I STARTED!

Why did I wait so long?

It’s the weekend. What project have you been putting off for another day? Is it setting a budget, creating a meal plan, de-cluttering the junk drawer? Set the timer and join me.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t even have to complete it. Just get started and do that next thing. (Did you notice my books still on those chairs and my unfinished tablescape? That will be finished tomorrow.)

It’s time that I am dethroned as the Queen of Procrastination. 😉