Earlier
The balcony door is wide open and the curtains are swaying, the sky a slightly lighter shade of blue than it was this morning when I was out running around the national park across the road. There are birds – many birds – loud, singsong-y and free, chirping at each other, chasing each other around that big blue expanse, the sun sliding down in the distance.
Friends are coming home from the beach, one yelling out to another at home on the balcony: “Throw the keys down!” “THE KEYS!” And everyone laughs and the thrower is teased, his aim crooked, the keys completely missing their target. It sounds – and smells – like someone’s having a BBQ. The laughing continues, there’s a splash in the pool. More birds. Some noisy cars. Sunday sounds.
All this happens while I’m resisting. It’s been four hours now and while my beloved naps beside me on the couch, I’ve been sprawled out in a mismatched ensemble of floral pants, a stripy hoodie, zero makeup and chipped plum nail polish whipping through chapters of my latest read – the book I’ve just finished and wedged in its tight new home on the shelves – sabotaging my own grand plans for the day.
The thing is, today was meant to be my “blog” day. I even scribbled a cheerful (possibly over-ambitious) to-do list this morning, with time blocks and pink highlights and big, black letters to KEEP ME ON TRACK. It’s stuck on the wall above my monitor to help me make things happen… and until now, while I sit here typing these words, resistance has kept me from doing any of it.
Master Procrastination Techniques
If you’ve ever procrastinated before (and if you haven’t, deep-bow-my-worship-I-am-not-worthy), you’ll probably recognise some of today’s antics below:
1. Grocery shopping. Not a full shop, just a necessary trip all the way to the supermarket to get supplies for lunch. Fantastic time-killer.
2. Taking at least 30 minutes to make said lunch. And then, of course, allocating plenty of time to eat lunch slowly… and tucking into “a chapter or two” for dessert “… and then I’m definitely getting on the computer, OK?”
3. Cleaning. The bedroom, my computer desktop (shortly after failed writing attempt #1).
4. Writing a list of potential blog topics for the next month on my calendar – a list I know I’ll never stick to because I rarely (never) follow an editorial calendar. Seemed important to do it TODAY though.
5. Editing photos for my work Facebook page. On a Sunday. I don’t get paid to work Sundays. Textbook procrastination (this one followed failed writing attempt #2).
6. Getting snacks! Filling up my glass of water way too many times! Way too many toilet breaks a result of way too many water refills!
7. Trying to do the last thing on my list first, to, you know, get into something. Ending up back on couch with book.
8. Meditating mid-reading sesh – for clarity and motivation – and then realising I wasn’t meditating, I was listening to the key-throwing fiasco instead.
9. Seriously contemplating why I was sitting inside when the weather was perfect and it was a freaking Sunday and I hadn’t done anything anyway so I may as well have been out there ENJOYING MY DAY OFF. Oh hello, self-pity.
Such fun!
It’s 6pm now and the book is done and I find myself here at the computer, because, despite the above indicating otherwise, I actually do want to do the work. Showing up here and writing empowering content that might answer a question or untangle an issue in your life is hugely important to me – this is the stuff that really ignites my inner inferno, as you know – which is why I wanted to share today’s little battle to let you know that we all go through periods of inaction and indifference. We all come up with justifications for why we shouldn’t, or can’t, get the work done.
Advice From the Trenches of Inactivity
Do the work.
Just do it. Start. Wobbly and fumbly but with hope in your heart. That’s all that you need from the outset (it gets better from there, I promise).
Do it because you’re ready to expand, to stretch, to tear down walls. Because it matters. Because you can’t NOT listen to the call.
Do it to create space for more. To click into gear, to encourage momentum, to unlock flow.
Do it to activate that sacred part of you that knows that anything is possible – but also knows you need to meet those shimmering intentions halfway.
Do it because what you want wants you too.
Desire can only be held down for so long.
+ Do you ever struggle with procrastination? How do you get started and “get the work done?” Share your stories, tips and tricks in the comments below!
Image: Julian Bialowas
