How it Feels When You Stop Procrastinating

One of my dear Club Organized members wrote a wonderful blog for me to share with you. Do you see yourself in it?

by Greta Heddy

My daughter says she's the queen of procrastination. In that case, I'm the Queen Mother. I even put off things I want to do. The things that I'm afraid to do, or don't want to do, get put off even longer.

Here's a short list of some of the tasks I didn't want to do from the recent past, with the number of months I procrastinated doing them in parentheses:

    - switching bills to my husband's name at our old house and taking over         the phone bill (4)

    - opening some of the bills from my daughter's appendectomy last fall (8)

    - signing up for a free membership to a gym though my health insurance       (2)

    - putting away boxes from my move (5)

    - changing doctors to get better care for my shoulder (1)

    - taking my car to the dealer because the fix they did last fall didn't work        (1)

    - starting various healthy habits: eating correctly (4); getting enough               sleep (2); exercise (years)

I'm not here to tell you how to get yourself to stop procrastinating. I'm not going to tell you about the negative consequences of putting things off. You know these. I'm going to tell you how it feels when you finally do the things you've been avoiding.

You know how good it feels when you do something that you want to do but have put off for some reason – going on vacation; buying new underwear; getting shoes that fit and are cute; calling an old friend or family member; sending a thank you note; losing those last few pounds down to your healthy goal weight.

It feels even better when you do something you don’t want to do. It's a sense of accomplishment multiplied by the relief of getting the awful task done.

It's like getting dessert after you clean your plate of the dreaded canned spinach. It's getting rid of a mental ball-and-chain silencing the nagging thoughts inside your head (plus the nagging comments from family or bosses at work) that keep you from enjoying “free” time because you know there's one thing you need to do. It's lying on the beach on a beautiful day with nothing to do but play in the sand and surf.

It's going to bed and getting a good night's sleep with no nightmares. It's like being ready for a party 30 minutes before guests arrive. It's sitting down to a gourmet meal that was prepared for you when you know someone else will do the dishes. It's being Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music” running over the hill and flinging your arms out in pure joy.

It's ice cream after a long, hot summer's day. It's as good as hot chocolate with extra marshmallows on a cold winter day. It's what you feel when you wake up in the morning, fresh and rested, and find that there's nothing on your To Do list. It's like getting a hug from your favorite person.

It's FREEDOM.

I've finally done all of those things that I listed at the beginning of this article. None of them turned out to be as terrible as I thought they would be. Some of them were scary or hard to do. But the freedom from worry, self-nagging, or hassle from others is worth it. Give it a try!

 Thank you Greta.

Love,

P.S. My newest book, The Joy of Being Disorganized, is all about finding happiness right where you are now!

It's so rewarding to hear from so many women whose lives have been changed by reading my book.