I have a bad case of procrastination at the moment.
I often fall into a hole like this after sending off a book to the printers. I think perhaps its due to a feeling of loss that the BIG project is no longer there to be worked on. When there’s a big project to be worked on, its always easy to know what to do: something towards it. But when there is no big project on the go, it is much harder to get motivated.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots to be done, but they’re all little things compared to a book, and I’m having trouble sorting out their levels of priority.
But really, I have no good excuses. I need to get myself into gear.
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White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations quality needlework books and embroidery products.
Ever think of taking a break? Not that sort of person?
No. A few years ago I did a course called “Living your strengths” (or something like that!). It was all about identifying your strengths and playing to them, because when we do the things we love and are good at, we tend to thrive. By doing an online questionnaire, it gave you your five top strengths.
My top one was “achiever”. Now, not just because it told me that, and therefore I have to believe it(!), but also because it rings extremely true, I have come to accept that that is one of the “things” about me. I guess it validated something I had been already coming to realise about myself, but because of its connotations with “workaholic”, wasn’t really sure that I wanted to accept.
I have a need to achieve. That was partly why CFS was so difficult for me. What can you do, sitting on a lounge all day, not physically ABLE to do anything? (Answer: you think a lot, which happened to come out as another one of my strengths. However, when your brain is mushed up with CFS, even that is hard to do.)
I usually write my posts for the blog the night before they are posted, before I head off to bed. After I wrote it last night, I decided that I needed to get myself into gear. The thing I decided to start off with is my difficult and unusual stitches sampler. So I’ve done some more preparatory work for that, and assuming the proofs for the right-handed book don’t turn up first thing this morning and require my immediate attention, that is what I will be working on today.
So hopefully I have already put an end to my procrastination.
That’s quick! I get to the blog, find you say you’re procrastinating, and then read the comments to discover that you aren’t any more! Well done!
so are you not-procrastinating now?
Hi Megan and Rachel,
No, I am no longer procrastinating. I started actual stitching on my sampler yesterday. I also received the proofs from the printer, checked them, and sent them back. I’m a lists person, so last night I wrote a To Do list. Now all I have to do is work through it.
I think that I had to admit that I was procrastinating. Doing it publicly shamed me into getting some work done!! Just what I needed. Hopefully it will continue…