Procrastination is my game

A long time ago a friend of mine gave me a card.  The quote on it is my daily motto (so much so that I mentioned it in my speech to my daughter at her Bat Mitzvah).  It defines me in every sense of the way:

If you leave things to the last minute, they only take a minute to do.

Even when I swear I am "not going to procrastinate THIS time" I still manage to do it.  In fact, as I type, I should be showering and getting ready for school.  I should be eating breakfast.  I should be AT school.  But, alas I am not. It will all get done, just in a quicker fashion. Sometimes I am "fashionably late" but, honestly, never to school.

Last night (the night before the due date, mind you) I submitted my application for the Bill Morris Seminar.  The funny thing is that I knew I was going to apply months ago and the woman who wrote a reference on my behalf sent it to me hours after I asked her.  I didn't do it all summer long, even though I could.

I even wrote on all my notes and lists that it was due September 1 (really September 14) but I thought I could psych myself out to get it completed ahead of the night before.  But alas, I still waited to get it done two weeks past "my deadline", yet on time.

Fast Forward to this evening...

Now it is 5:49 pm.  There's dinner to make.  A book to read.  Emails to respond to.  Laundry to fold. Bills to pay. Classes to plan. The Sunday NYT to finish.  And yet I am sitting here re-listening to the Ted Radio Hour.  Tim Urban seems so comfortable with his procrastination.  It slows him down.  It sounds healthy.  For me, I just do all these other things instead and then get more stressed out. And yet, I never change. But maybe I can try and look at things differently.  Being in control of my procrastination could actually have a positive effect on my health.

"Be in control and to know that it is smart to slow down and to do that 

in a controlled, intentional way."-Tim Urban.

Adam Grant's excerpt also fascinated me. How creative are pre-crastinators, procrastinators and chronic procrastinators? Since I actually thought about the Bill Morris Seminar application all summer long, I'd like to think I'm not a chronic procrastinator (one who truly leaves things to the very last minute) and have a little bit more of that extra creativity in my blood than those pre-crastinators.


My list keeps getting longer and longer.  I've got lots of new exciting projects on the fire that I need to dedicate some serious time to.  Will I?  Eventually.  Will the projects be awesome?  You bet.  I promise not to chronically leave things to the last minute but will wait enough time (not really by choice) to spark that creativity for the benefit of all my students.

Fast forward again to late evening...

Some of my best projects have been planned the day before.  The teacher and I will sit down and within the short amount of time we have, a lightbulb will go off and we got it.  This happened a couple of times just this week and countless times over the years, including the original idea for our annual gala. Just think of all the hours we saved--

If you leave things to the last minute, they only take a minute to do. 

Now go procrastinate, take advantage of all that extra time you have and then CREATE!

ps-My glasses are Warby Parker.  Coincidence? Doubtful.