Procrastination

One of my primary talents is procrastination. I am world-class. There is no job too large or too small that I can't put off indefinitely. If procrastination were a sport I could make it to the Olympics. In college, I rarely pulled an all-nighter studying for an exam. But I did pull them all the time when I had a paper due. There's something about having to produce a completely finished work that puts me into a tailspin. No amount of telling myself that if I did it earlier, I would have time to edit, correct and improve it. I just wouldn't listen to me. I once had a roommate (Hi, Jane!) who did exactly what the study guides suggested. She broke large projects into manageable bits, worked on them consistently leading up to the due date, and Voila! The work was done--no fuss, no muss, no bother. Of course, this required diligent work on her part, but there was never any angst, at least none that I could see. I used to watch her with total fascination, rather like studying a different species. My right brain thought it was a great system, but the part of my brain I usually work with never got the hang of it. On the plus side, while I'm putting off getting anything on paper, I am mulling over the topic, exploring its various facets, occasionally capturing a bit of inspiration. So when the deadline looms, I'm not starting from scratch. A deadline is the only thing that motivates me. Hence the all-nighters. Currently I have four large projects underway. Not one of them has a deadline, if you don't count hoping to finish them before I die. I am in so much trouble ...