87 - Moving Beyond Procrastination
Moving Beyond Procrastination
TL;DR:
“Action is the antidote to anxiety.” - Gretchen Rubin
Limit what you take on wherever possible. Where you can, make sure you’re saying an exuberant “Yes!” to the things you take on.
I’ve been considering procrastination a lot lately. Procrastination and I have had a love/hate relationship for most of my adult life. But before we get there, let’s rewind a bit.
As a junior and senior in college, I rarely ever battled procrastination. I had a job I loved, I was studying a topic I enjoyed AND I knew I couldn’t get behind in or I’d be sunk, and I had academic projects that were setting me up to be successful in the, at that time, only career I’d truly imagined myself in. Social media, cell phones, text messages, and even Internet at home also weren’t in existence then.
Fast forward to today and I’m doing battle with procrastination - and prioritization - on a regular basis. I’m rarely doing nothing. But, I’m NOT always doing the thing that is highest priority in that moment. Part of my issue is that I take on too many activities and tasks. I’ve met very few hobbies I wouldn’t at least love to try. And I’ve got a storehouse of backlogged projects like photo albums, documents to scan, classes to build, and even a Lego kit that needs to be assembled. So, while action is the antidote to anxiety, it has to be action that moves you toward your goals and desires.
As we go through December, I’m trying to focus on taking action on the tasks that help me advance my biggest personal goals which are loving relationships with those I care about, personal wellbeing, and financial independence. If an action I’m considering isn’t moving me forward on one of those, it’s likely coming off the to do list for now. Deletion of tasks is becoming one of my most important skills.
What’s your relationship like with procrastination? What about with prioritization? Do you see a link between these two like I do? How do you limit your time on the things that kill your time and productivity? For me, it’s checking social media only a couple of times a day and doing so with a purpose in mind - like I’m going on to do happy birthdays or to check on a treatment I know someone was having. Hit reply or post a note in the comments with your thoughts about this post. I’d love to hear from you.
Some Things You Might Find Interesting
What I published: I’m continuing to work on several longer pieces, but did have fun getting this one out this week.
Happy December 1 - The Final Hive Power Up Day of 2023. A little AI image fun (see below) and a little look at my Hive writing for the year as well as setting some goals for next year. Hive is an interesting place to write and earn from writing and I want to continue exploring and learning next year.
Image enhanced with AI: Speaking of what I published, I actually made this cute image of Kona and I a couple of weeks ago, but used it as the first image in a post on Hive this past week and thought I’d share it with you here too. If you want to know more about how I created it and my observations about this specific image and creating it with AI just check out the Hive Power Up day post above.
Keep Up With My Cancer Journey: Later today, if you’re reading this on Monday, December 4, I’ll go for my “teach” session before my first chemo session which is Wednesday, December 6. If you’d like to follow along on more detail on this journey, you can request access to my Cancer Journey website at https://www.mylifeline.org/invitation/Monroe4702670/c4d9a0945939697870a9267ec2cd951230b25b0e9f023ca466233659967b5e46
The Beauty of Craft: I am a little obsessed with watching people make things. From cooking shows to home improvement shows to woodworking videos on Facebook and YouTube, I just enjoy watching people take joy in their craft of choice. While this isn’t the world’s most interesting video to watch, I found myself watching several videos by Mr. H Carpenter this week and just absorbing the incredible nature of his craft. No power tools. Just some measuring and cutting, all with simple hand tools, to create incredible joinery. This is my favorite video of his thus far:
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