I started the new year sick.  That first critical week where resolutions go to die: I was applying vaseline to my nose so that people wouldn’t assume I was the second coming of Rudolph.  In some ways it’s awesome because now I feel better and I don’t have the pressure of sticking to things because I never even started them!  In other ways it’s tough because I’m lacking on the motivation and I have no momentum.

I’ve been really busy though.  I’ve been busy procrastinating.  I know how I get…there is one task that I don’t want to do (or six or eleven) and I would rather do LOTS of things then do those tasks.  I have a list for such times.  A list of things that I normally don’t have the patience to do….but in a situation of procrastination I can get them done.  Here’s a few examples:

Light Bulb Shopping – I have a notebook in Evernote for household stuff.  In there I mark the types of lightbulbs when I buy new light fixtures.  When procrastinating I will check to see if I have a backup of those lightbulbs and I will shop for ones that I don’t have a back up for.  It’s ONLY at times of complete procrastination desperation that I will ensure that I have the 30 watt bulb for the lamp on the night stand in the guest bedroom.

Cleaning the Kitchen Utensil Drawer – sorting through the spatula’s that have seen their last days and letting them go is not something you can do on just ANY Saturday night after all.

Matching Socks – I’m not sure how it happens and I think I’d need a PhD in something to figure it out but I can tell you that the odds of me pulling a lone sock out of my drawer that doesn’t have a partner is VERY good.  I just can’t seem to be bothered by this at the point of things being put away.

Evaluating Kitchen Towels – There comes a point where even a heavy launder can’t make a clean towel look clean.  It seems that I always pull out a clean and heavily stained with tomato sauce, avocado and black licorice towel out when I have someone here.  These towels get recycled to the dry off a wet dog pile.

But once those things are done it’s time to just buckle down and get to work.  I set a timer – I have an old fashioned egg timer on my desk – I set the timer to 27 minutes and I commit to working on ONE task that I’ve procrastinated – if it’s not done within the 27 minutes I’ve usually found enough momentum to push through to completion.

What do you do when you’re procrastinating?  And how do you grab the bull by its horns?