I must admit that I rarely engage in procrastination — as a matter of fact, my neuroses are such that I do the complete opposite. Often, I immediately finish things that have a far-off deadline as I am convinced something will inevitably pop up and cause me to place my attention elsewhere. That being said, the week before vacation time is usually a time when I procrastinate.
As I am trying to get as much done before my absence from the office (real or imagined these days), I put off a bunch of tasks. I just don’t have it in me to tackle them before my absence. These tasks could be making calls that I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to or writing some report. What the tasks have in common is the black cloud of dread that hung over me while trying to clear my to-do list. Naturally, the least desirable tasks were put off to tackle “upon my return”. I figured there was no sense in getting worked up or stressed right before vacation time. This constructive procrastination takes a smaller toll on you mentally to be in the right mindset for your well-earned vacation.
Procrastination Afterwards Disappears
So, fast forward to post-vacation. I look at the list of tasks, and low and behold; I can blow through them in record time. What I had envisioned as a horrible task turned out to be not so bad after all! I have no idea why this phenomenon exists, but it is more common than not. As a matter of fact, there were tasks that I was looking at post-vacation that I had no idea why they were there. This procrastination had given me the opportunity to re-prioritize things.
The reality in the fundraising world is that we always have more to do than time to do it. By definition, I will push some stuff down the road. It is the very essence of procrastination. And, every now and then, it can be seen as a good thing.
Welcome to 2022.
L’chaim,
jack
