Procrastination cat is not amused

For any of you that don't already use Gmail, or even for all of you that do, here's a video you should watch:

Gmail Theatre

I love it! Puppets make me smile.

I believe my levels of procrastination recently reached an all-time high. Last spring, I attended a library-related weekend workshop, worth one credit hour. I didn't really need that one credit hour, but the workshop sounded interesting. I really enjoyed it, but once I came back I put off starting the post-assignment. The assignment was just a 5-7 page paper - nothing fancy, nothing that difficult, nothing I shouldn't have been able to churn out in an hour or two. But, being the ridiculous master of procrastination that I am, and given that the deadline for the paper was arbitrary (the instructor gave a date for the deadline, but later said it didn't matter when she got it), I put the paper off until after finals. Surely, I would have plenty of time afterwards to write it up and send it off - at least that's what I told myself.

Note that this was last March. Almost an entire year ago.

"So," you're probably wondering, "when did you write the paper?" Well let's see... I took three classes over the summer, so I didn't make time to write it then. Fall started up almost immediately, and that led into all kinds of family issues by year's end, so I didn't write it then. During these months, I had started the paper and added to it several times, so it wasn't as if I ignored it completely. However, it wasn't until last week - Thursday night - that I finally just forced myself to go to a computer lab and write the damn paper. I sent it to the instructor, tail between my legs, hoping that she would accept it. She did (thank you thank you thank you), and I would have screamed in pure joy if it hadn't been 8am when I got her email response.

The moral of this whole story is this: Procrastination only works when you actually finish the thing you're putting off. And in no way was this a successful procrastination attempt. This paper plagued my mind for months, and each time I thought about doing it, I was overwhelmed with the realization that it was so severely overdue that I couldn't possibly think of any logical reason why I hadn't finished it. As time went on, working on it became an increasingly harder and daunting task. Surprisingly enough, I was actually pretty happy with the end result, so I guess that's a good thing? Eh.

Never again, my friends. Never again.

It's a good thing I'm not like this at work. When I'm there, I'm so focused and driven. And organized! God, I wish I could be that organized at home. I'm not sure why that is - aren't organized people supposed to be organized in ALL aspects of their life? I'm creative, I problem-solve, I get things done quickly - too bad that doesn't translate very well into my personal life. I guess that's a goal to strive for. At least, for now, my mind is free to focus on other things. And I promise I'm going back to my normal, "healthy" levels of procrastination.

It's more like Milkshake Day for me anyhow.

Thanks for the web comic suggestions - I found a few that I enjoy looking at and subscribed to them in Google Reader. As if I didn't have enough to look at with Boing Boing posts alone.. sheesh. (I love you, Boing Boing, but it's hard to keep up!)

So here it is. Valentine's Day. Usually I either love or hate this day - depending entirely on whether or not I'm single. But this year, I'm apathetic. I don't think I'm really getting any "traditional" Valentine's gifts.. Jared and I would rather celebrate our anniversary (the 13th) than v-day. But I do enjoy my romantic stuff, and I think we're going out to dinner and a movie sometime soon to celebrate. Right now there's so much snow out that we really can't do anything except hang out in the apartment anyhow.

There used to be a time when I was hell-bent on hating this holiday, regardless of my relationship status. However, I would like to tell all of those wishing to hate this day a few reasons NOT to:


Hate reason #1: It's a Hallmark holiday! It's just a ploy by the card companies to make more money.

Me: Of course it is! Just like St. Patrick's day is a ploy by the beer companies to get us to drink more beer, and Independence day is a ploy by the fireworks' companies to get us to blow our limbs off, so is Valentine's day a reason for us to buy cards out of necessity. But we enjoy getting drunk and blowing ourselves up, don't we? And let's be honest - if you weren't required to send cards for holidays, would you? I enjoy getting cards and gifts, and I also like giving them to people who appreciate them. So, if I'm okay with other commericialized holidays, I'm okay with Valentine's day.

Hate reason #2: You don't need a day set aside to be romantic - you should be romantic and remind your partner you love them every day.

Me: Oh sure, in a perfect world maybe. But seriously - does that happen? If it does, then great! Good for you! But for the rest of the world, it's kinda nice to have a day to remember how much you really love the person you are with - or how much you appreciate the friends you have in your life. I'm okay with that.

Hate reason #3: But it reminds me of how single and lonely I am!

Me: I've been there, so I know how it feels. All these happy couples around you, kissing and exchanging gifts... it makes you sick. Honestly, even though I'm in a happy relationship with someone, it STILL makes me sick to see these couples. What I would suggest is to take the day as a chance to do things for yourself. Enjoy your favorite hobby or go out with your friends. There's more love in the world than just romantic love, and enjoying the activities and people you love should put you in better spirits. Just avoid expensive restaurants with gross couples having dinner - unless one of your favorite activities is mocking them. In that case, go for it!


As for me, I'm going to spend the day doing the one thing I love most of all - nothing!