How do you procrastinate?

Long ago, I mastered the art of procrastination. I am not proud of this fact, but it is as much a part of me as my brown eyes or love of freshly baked bread. In part, it has to do with my goal juggling-- (maybe I'm actually a little ADD-ish); I always have several creative projects going at once. When I tire of one, I simply move on to the next. The obvious problem with this is that I constantly have a plethora of WIPs (works in progress). There is also a hierarchy to my procrastinating: the things at the top of the list are the things that I must do or someone else will notice. At the very bottom of the list (the things that get bumped often)are the things that only I care about: getting exercise/ writing my memoir/ cleaning the clutter in my closet. Tippy top of the list?

 *Work related chores like grading papers! I am very good about returning things quickly--but that means that grading often bumps lots of other things off the "Must Do Now" list.
*Cooking--because I love it AND eating is a necessity of life AND I can share food with the people I love. *Laundry--a person has to have clean clothes!!!
*Making my bed every morning--just makes me feel like my life is organized--even when it isn't!
*Paying bills--online banking has made it much less onerous and late fees need to be avoided!
*Things my kids need me to do--It must be a MOM thing!
*Things my parents ask me to do--It must be a DAUGHTER thing!


What do you do to procrastinate? Sadly, I have a long (and sometimes embarrassing) list:
*Games on my ipad: Solitaire, Hearts, Scrabble, Words w/Friends, W.e.l.d.e.r., Word Search etc.
*Almost any show on the Food Network; I may need to join Food Network Anonymous soon!
*Answering email--that is a total TIME SUCK!
*Baking something decadent.
*Browsing catalogs--or online stores.
*Making lists--Is this productive or a thinly veiled procrastination technique? The jury's still out.
*Watching sappy, romantic movies on Lifetime or the Hallmark channel--or.--this time of year--the endless parade of silly, sweet Christmas movies. (Yes, Jewish girls still love the hokey holiday hoopla).
*Looking through my vast collection of cookbooks and dreaming about taking a cooking class in Italy.
*Calling my kids, friends, parents just to check in.

Mary Todd Lincoln wrote: "My evil genius Procrastination has whispered me to tarry 'til a more convenient season." My evil genius has been known to scream rather than whisper, and he knows exactly how to get me off track. For example, if I plan on exercising after school but then feel too tired, he says, "You've worked hard today. You'll exercise tomorrow!" If I am trying to stick to a writing schedule, he says, "What's the point? Is anything really going to happen with this? Is this the best use of your time and energy? Don't you have laundry to do?"

Maybe I will name my "evil genius." Maybe I'll call him Pete. Maybe the next time he tries to woo me away from the thing that I know I need to do, I'll just say "Shut up, Pete. Leave me alone! The Food Network will only make me hungry. The ipad games will still be there when I finish. My friends, kids, parents will all understand if I don't call them right now. And I certainly don't need to bake and eat any more cupcakes!"

So, good luck to all of you procrastinators! I wish you the wonderful feeling of accomplishment that comes from slashing things off your "To Do" list and finishing more in a day than you thought humanly possible. However, don't forget to budget down time, too. Our minds need to be still and quiet in order for us to achieve the balance that life requires of us. I know that the world will probably not come to a screeching halt if some things are put off "'til a more convenient season."