Procrastination is an adrenaline rush

I was going to write a blog about procrastination but I kept putting it off.  (rim shot).  I have all kinds of jokes about procrastination.  I will tell you later. (rim shot)  There was going to be a Procrastinator's Anonymous meeting but they kept putting it off.  (hook)

Anyway, there are many reasons people procrastinate.  They don't want to do the thing they are supposed to do, they are afraid to do the thing they are supposed to do, their imagination has made the task seem worse than it is, OR they get an adrenaline rush from pushing the envelope to see just how close they can come to deadline, or crisis, and still make it.  That is pretty much where I fall most of the time.  Not always, but most of the time.

Whether it is putting gas in my car, getting ready for work, doing my taxes, or renewing my driver's license, I almost NEVER do anything well ahead of time.  Being an ADD adult, I could use that as an excuse, and it's a good one, but...it's not really true if I am honest with myself.  Take my car for instance.  I have a car that tells me how many kilometres I can drive before I run out of gas.  But I think its lying.  I think I have way more than it says.  And because my car is a hybrid, it is really not a good idea to let it run out of gas.  It's more complicated than just getting a jerry can of gas to get it going again.  It involves a tow to the dealer and a possible expensive repair. While it is true that a hybrid will switch from gas to battery in slow traffic, it WILL NOT switch to battery when there is no gas.   So...many is the time I have prayed to  a God I don't believe in to get me to the gas pump before my engine stops because I have been driving on zero km for a while. It's a rush akin to high stakes gambling.  I would imagine.

The other area where my procrastination is at it's best  is when I a getting ready to go out.  Some part of my brain thinks I only need 20 minutes to shower, get dressed and eat, while the sensible adult part of my brain knows that it takes me almost half an hour, allowing for elevator wait time and uncooperative dog business.  But I push it.  Now this is an area where I am doing my best to overcome it, because my lack of punctuality affects other people.  And that's not fair. It's okay to have a foible (isn't that a great word?) but it's not okay if it pisses off friends and family.

For the most part the consequences of my procrastination have never been dire enough for me to mend my ways completely.  I sailed through school completing major projects the night before a due date, or writing book reports in the class before my English class and my marks were good.   But I know that the things I do could be done SO much better if I took the time to do them with all my heart, rather than frantically to reach a deadline.  And I could find better ways to get that adrenaline high.  And no there is no high for me in getting things done early.   Boring.

I procrastinate a lot in my writing.  That's a whole other story though and I will tell you about that another time.