by LJ Innes

Created on: September 29, 2009   Last Updated: September 30, 2009

To me, procrastination is a lifestyle. There are those who "do" and those who just "do it later." If I'm always busy doing stuff, chances are I'll miss out on some very necessary downtime.

It's 8 pm on a Sunday night. The list of what I was supposed to do today versus the list of what I've actually done is synonymous to the distance between New Jersey and Portugal versus the distance between New Jersey and New Jersey. The only thing I did manage to do, was write my To Do List. That was 12 hours ago.

Okay, it is now, Monday, 9 pm, and I'm just settling in. I did think about this article all day, you know. But, what was I to do? I think my boss would have been slightly upset if I were working on a piece about being a procrastinator while simultaneously procrastinating on doing his work, don't you? It's not like I didn't rather be typing something for myself.

The sink is full of dishes, because I just haven't had the time to empty the clean stuff out of the dishwasher. My mailbox is overflowing, but I'm in too much of a rush in the morning, and too tired at night to check it; it's mostly bills anyway. The other day I had to put my garbage in my trunk and drive it to my friend's apartment building dumpster because I just can't seem to make it to the front of the house on Tuesday nights. Of course, I didn't tell my friend I was doing this, they would have wanted me to stop by, but I was just too busy. Once I'm in the house, I don't come back out until I leave the next morning, if I can help it. It's not like I don't have enough garbage to fill the bag, but a quick look at my refrigerator told me that most of the contents needed to go into the garbage as well. Overwhelmed at the prospect, I shut the fridge, turned out the light and went to bed. I prefer to do things on my own schedule.

Today I'm wearing mismatched socks because all my clean clothes are in a pile on a chair in my living room awaiting disposition. I could just hang my clothes up and put them in the closet, but that would mean being able to get my closet door open without the contents of my hamper falling out and wedging the door open. That would just mean more work for me. Besides, I like when my closet is closed, it looks neater, so I avoided that drama too. Last night, I did vacuum finally, but that was only after I stepped on a pin that stabbed the bottom of my foot. It was time. Of course, I only vacuumed the room that had the pin, the other rooms could wait a day or two.

A couple of years ago, during a rare and uncharacteristic organizational tangent, I bought a greeting card organizer at a card store. It's filled with cards I bought, some I even wrote out, but never, ever mailed. I usually wind up calling the card's non-recipient on the phone and giving an enthusiastic "Happy Birthday!" because I do mean well, and I do care. I mean I did take the time to pick out a card for them, specifically for them, that only they would understand, and only I will ever see.

I'm not oblivious to the fact that being prepared and doing things in a timely manner may have its advantages, but I've just never subscribed to that train of thought. It would go against my very grain to always be prepared. Scheduling equals confrontation, because there's so much to live up to. Procrastinators like me, just happily roll with the punches. Okay, occasionally we panic, but for the most part, procrastinators are more relaxed individuals in my opinion.

Did I mention that it's almost 11 pm? I think I'll finish this up tomorrow.

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