Watch Out for the Queen

Of procrastination, that is.

Stumbling around Google images the other day, I came across a site that had a procrastination test.

A test!

Sounds like more time wasting fun!

What is this amazing test, you ask?

I'll show you in a bit...

Just kidding!

THE PROCRASTINATION TEST
By Dr. Bill Knaus EdD, Design by EduDemic.com


                   Not Me          Somewhat like me     Like me

1. Procrastination comes naturally to me. Duh!
2. I have responsibilities that I'm not doing. Definitely.
3. I have plans that stay on the drawing board. So many plans on that board!
4. I divert from uncomfortable priorities. Who wouldn't?
5. I tell myself that later is the time to begin. Every. Single. Time.
6. I start things that I don't finish. Shall I count them?
7. I have a habit of showing up late. I've had people lie to me & tell me things start an hour earlier than they actually do, just so I'll show up on time.
8. I delay acting to meet a deadline. Sure! Why start until you have to?
9. I find ways to extend deadlines. Not always *sad face*
10. I come up with excuses to explain delays. I'm the excuse queen!
11. I put off hard decisions. Actually, I'm pretty good at making decisions quickly.
12. When I'm not sure, I'll avoid the situation. 50/50 on this one.
13. I put off making a needed lifestyle change. Does changing procrastination habits count?
14. My pessimism prompts delays. I'm naturally an optimist!
15. My emotions affect what I do. I'm no Spock, that's for sure!
16. My intimate relationship is going nowhere. Uh...are married couples supposed to be going somewhere?
17. I avoid what frustrates me. I like to torture myself, so I keep coming back for more
18. I get side-tracked by conflicts. I thrive on conflict!
19. My doubts and fears inhibit my actions. What doubts? What fears?
20. When I feel anxious, I'll avoid what I fear. That's what my pills are for.

Total "somewhat like me" + "like me" scores:   13

I got 13.

13!!!!

Ugh.
I'm sad but not really surprised that my number is so high.

The test doesn't tell you where you stand on the procrastination scale between inconvenience to disabling, but I think you can probably figure it out for yourself.

Sometimes I like to assuage my guilt by reasoning that it's not really procrastination, just over-estimating the time it takes to get things done. Like my new programming homework. Or how long it takes to get somewhere (I act like I live in LA--everywhere takes 20 min or less to get to from where I'm at). Or cooking dinner. Or a thousand other things.

Why start it a week ahead of time, when I fully believe I can finish writing that program & get it to work the night before it's due? Why waste time doing it until I absolutely have to? It's madness!

The perky, pesky, hate-inducing early birds really get my worm. How many times have I heard the comeback "If you get it done right away, you won't have to worry about it and you'll still have lots of free time afterwards!"

Try telling that to MY brain. It'll punch you in the face, kill you, then wait to bury you until it's almost too late, when the sirens are wailing away just down the block and the trunk of the car is stuck and your rigor-mortised body fights me every step of the way.

Tomorrow I'll work on a plan to stop procrastinating...

I Knew It Would Happen...

...and honestly, I'm only surprised at the length of time I made it before it did.

My apologies for my long absence.

When I took my vacation, with the best of intentions, I meant to take a mini-break from the blogger world just long enough to refresh, get some stuff done and prepare for classes to start again in the fall.

Of course, when you're a tremendous procrastinator and world-class justifier like I am, a little mini-break can become a rather large break.

A (large) part of me wants to whine & give forth all my excuses...

...but if I am to be honest, there really isn't any.

Sure, I've been busy. But I was busy the first nine months I blogged faithfully, so that holds no water here.

So I'll just leave it that I was gone, but now I'm back!

And I'll keep the excuse-giver locked inside where she belongs, the dirty creature, and just be glad instead that I'm starting again.

And for the fact that this made it much, much longer than any of my diaries or journaling attempts did in the past.

If it's any consolation, there's a large part of me freaking out over all I've missed while I was MIA.

And there she peeks her head up again, blinking in the daylight, that darkness-dwelling creature named Someday Tomorrow who says "Someday I'll catch up on all that I missed..."