by thegriefreality

A Sea of Blue Skies

Are you a procrastinator?

I am. Always have been.

I have an essay due next week, on Monday. At the time of writing , it is a Sunday and I have  7½ days left.

I was going to dedicate time to it this morning, from 11:00 – 16:00. But do you know what I hadn’t phoned my dad in a little while. So, at about 10:40, I checked in with him over the phone. Time quickly ran past 11:00.

That’s okay, I thought, I can start my essay at 12:00. In fact, I should put some clothes in the wash to get ahead of the new week.

I reached down to pick up the basket overladen with clothes, and without giving it a second thought I also reached out for the unopened Blue Skies fabric conditioner, waiting expectantly. I regretted that decision immediately as the weight and size of it all meant that I lost my balance. Before I could save it, the bottle left my loose grip, bounced and cracked on the floor. Blue skies splashed up against my glasses and I was down, cursing far more dramatically than necessary. I was left powerless to the wave of blue swelling across my bedroom floor reaching even the darkest depths behind my wardrobe.

The only saving grace here is that I don’t have carpets, and while pulling away the wardrobe to mop the floor, I thought I should write about this. Yes, let’s continue this procrastination period by writing about how much I procrastinate!

It’s now 12:03 and well, we all know that by the laws of procrastination, I will have to start my essay at 13:00 now.

Hopefully dear reader, by the time that this post is up, my essay will have figured out how to write itself, references will be arranged alphabetically in a long list and it will submit itself.

So tell me, are you a procrastinator?

Katie x

 

54 thoughts on “A Sea of Blue Skies”

  1. Papers and essays are particularly good things to procrastinate over. I have to present a paper at the NeMLA virtual conference in next month. I finally got my research together and the paper mostly complete. Now I have to boil in down to a 20 minute presentation and then actually create the presentation slides. There are so many other things that get in the way. It seem to be the nature of papers.

    Reply

    1. Hey Timothy, have you you completed your presentation yet? I hope it went well if it has already passed. If it hasn’t been yet, i hope you aren’t procrastinating too much!

      Katie

      Reply

  2. Gotcha beat, dearie, on procrastination: I noted to a friend that I might use our current freeze here in Kentucky (the HIGH today will reach 28F!!😱) to straighten up my basement. He replied, “C.A., you’ve been telling me you’re going to start that project for 10 YEARS! I’ll believe it when you tell me you’re done.” 😁
    Anita teaches at UK (the University of Kentucky; I could only WISH it was United Kingdom), and out of her 500+ students every semester, there is almost always someone who emails her minutes before a major assignment is due and says, “My computer is not working.” So what was its condition three weeks ago when the assignment was made!? 😏

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  5. Honestly, I have found over the past few years, that I work better when I am under the gun. I like procrastinating, probably because it doesn’t give me the time to rethink and overthink and rethink some more about the final project. I’ve had to do the same thing with packing for travel.

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  6. For the most part, I only procrastinate on things that don’t have to be done in a certain timeframe. If there is a deadline, procrastinating always involves more stress than not procrastinating, which I find is good motivation to get things over with.

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  10. As a professional procrastinator, I can empathize. In fact, I hesitate to respond because then as a procrastinator you’ll just have to answer these comments instead of working on your essay. 😎

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  13. I am most definitely a procrastinator and I’m the Mom that leaves washed and dried clothes lumbering in the dryer for days because I’d much rather hang with my Hubby, watch movies with my boys, or study for my tax prep class (notice how the studying comes LAST lol).

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  18. Thank you for sharing!!.. about the time I contemplate doing a task, especially one not very high on my list of priorities, some words by Rose Milligan come to mind… 🙂

    Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
    to paint a picture, or write a letter,
    bake a cake, or plant a seed.
    Ponder the difference between want and need.

    Dust if you must, but there is not much time,
    with rivers to swim and mountains to climb!
    Music to hear, and books to read,
    friends to cherish and life to lead.

    Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
    with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
    a flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
    this day will not come round again.

    Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
    old age will come and it’s not kind.
    And when you go, and go you must,
    you, yourself, will make more dust!

    (Rose Milligan)

    Hope all is well in your part of the universe and have a Happy Valentines Day…. 🙂

    Reply

  19. As someone who spent several years requiring high school students to write essays this post made me smile. When it comes to writing, especially required writing, it is easy to find many other things to do first. Breaking it down into manageable steps helps.

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  22. I’m a procastinator if I hate the things I should do! In that case, I end up doing everything the last day. I need a deadline, a threat, or someone who reminds me that if I don’t do something, then there’ll be consequences. Instead, if the things I should do are a pleasure, I usually finish as soon as possibile 😄

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  29. I am a super procrastinator. I have been struggling to bring the monkey & devil inside me (brain & heart) under my control. I wish I could find a magical whip to tame them. 🙂

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  31. Yes, proscratinating is all too easy and the rule of the next appropriate rounded time is unavoidable! Ironically I looked at the time I write this and it’s 9:01 but this won’t be a comment I procrastinate sending 😉

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  36. No, I’m not one …. but I’m married to one! And that sometimes ask for a lot of patience – and then I’m always surprised at how he managed to do whatever it was he had to do in a certain time frame with minutes to spare 😉

    Reply

    1. Thank you for commenting! I actually did manage to hand in on time and I received a really good grade *WOOHOO*
      (apologies for the late reply, unfortunately I just found this comment in a different folder!)

      Reply

  38. You make the point clearly that time waits for no one. We must let our loved ones know we care about them, while we still have the time to do that. There are no guarantees of tomorrow. I hope, by the way, you’re feeling better.

    Reply

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