I do not want to do that.  Not today.  Perhaps I will get to it another day.   I may never do it.  I am not feeling it. 

I am the ultimate procrastinator.  I can rationalize putting something off in creative ways.  By the time the rationalizations are formulated in my mind, I have fully convinced myself of their truth.   But at the end of the day, it is still nonsense. I have successfully deceived myself one more time.

I will argue that there is a time for procrastination.  The garage needs to be cleaned out.  It can wait until next year. The leaves need to be raked. They are not going anywhere. A shirt needs to be pressed. Why do it now?  You can wait until you are desperate to wear the shirt and learn the art of fast ironing.

And then there are times when there is no excuse for procrastination.  You feel compelled to send a card to someone dealing with a chronic illness.  It needs to go in the mail today.  Someone is on your heart.  You feel the need to call or text.  Don’t put that off. You could be a lifeline of encouragement.

 

What can you do for yourself that should not be postponed?  There is a good book sitting on your nightstand collecting dust.  Carve out some time for reading.  You know you need to go for a physical and have bloodwork done.  But…you don’t want to go.  You need to make that appointment today.

  My goal this year is to do one thing every day that I do not feel like doing.  I am keeping a list of such endeavors in a Notes app on my phone.   Feelings are unpredictable and sometimes not helpful.  I am going to curtail the process of creative rationalizing as much as possible!  It should be interesting!  How about you?  What can you do that you do not feel like doing