J9's Property

There's a war going on in my life.

Well, actually, there's a few of them, on different fronts. Some are long-fought battles against old enemies, some are new skirmishes. The one I'm thinking of right now is one that's been with me, well, pretty much all my life.

The name of the enemy?

Laziness.

I don't think I can honestly remember a time without Laziness hanging around my neck, sneaking up behind me, pulling me down, making me his prisoner. It goes right back to when I was a kid. I never did nearly as well in school as I should have, because instead of my attitude being one of "how well can I do?", it was, "what can I get away with?" Why put hours of work into a project and to get a 90%, when I can put minimal work into it and pull of a still-respectable 80%?

It's an attitude I've never really been able to shake, no matter how hard I fight to get beyond it. I am the Queen of Good Intentions. (and yes, I know what the road to hell is paved with!) I'll start out like gang-busters, then just when I think I'm doing well, Laziness sneaks up behind me and trips me up.

Argh.

It doesn't help that I'm not only Lazy, I'm a Lazy Procrastinator. Now, some of you may be thinking, "don't those 2 go hand-in-hand?" Actually, it is very easy to be a Procrastinator without being Lazy, and although it's less common, you can be Lazy without being a Procrastinator.

Allow me to clarify:

There are some Procrastinators whose M.O. is to find everything possible to do to make themselves busy, and in so doing, avoid the important task they really need to do. They are far from Lazy, they are actually working themselves to death. But they are still Procrastinating, because they are putting off doing what they really should be doing.

There are also some very Lazy people who don't put off doing things, they just find ways to accomplish what needs to be done with as little work as possible. As a result, the end product is usually very poor quality, because they are too Lazy to do the task properly.

The Lazy Procrastinator, on the other hand, is much worse. Not only does the important task not get done, but nothing else gets done in its place. The Lazy Procrastinator lives by the adage, "Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?", and plunks themselves down on the couch and watches TV. Or plays video games. Or reads a novel. Or sits in front of a computer and does nothing but blog...

I'm finding ways to win the small battles, though. One tactic I've taken to using is the "Nike" approach. ("Just Do It!") There are times when I will literally kick myself in the butt and get moving. Other times, if I'm already in motion, I'll prevent myself from sitting down on the couch. I leave the TV turned off. (which is easier to do when I'm home alone...) I leave the computer turned off.

And slowly, I'm beginning to win. A skirmish here. A duel there. Stuff gets done, and I feel much better about myself. (There's nothing worse than that horrible sinking feeling you get while looking at the piles of unwashed dishes, knowing you could have avoided the 45mins of standing at a sink if you had not let Laziness get the upper hand 4 nights ago.)

Now I just have to get rid of the excuses. I'm a typical working wife in many ways: working a full time job, coming home and thinking, "I'm too tired from working all day to do anything around here!" But, then I look at my SIL, (who is the energizer bunny incarnate), and I see how much she can get done in an evening, after working all day. If I could do half of what she gets done, I'd be way ahead of the game. And why can't I?

I just have to make up my mind to do it.

Maybe next week....