It’s NaBloPoMo Day 4!
Today’s confession: I will spend more time avoiding little projects I hate, than it would actually take to get them done.
We all have the little necessary projects we need to do throughout the day to keep things the way we want them. The end result is great, but it’s no wonder that these projects are the embodiment of their nickname: chores.
For me, it’s a chore just getting up the motivation to do them!
I’m a perfectionist, so it’s no surprise that I like things to be just so, but that doesn’t mean I’m not casual about it. I will let the dishes sit in the sink for a day. I will keep the clean laundry hidden from view, it’s unfolded mess mocking me from behind the laundry room door. I will avoid completing these tasks for longer than it would actually take for me to do them.
Why is that?
I love the feel of a clean kitchen, the dishwasher unloaded or quietly running with its next load. My thoughts can flow easier when the mail isn’t cluttering my dining room table. Knowing that the laundry is not only sorted, washed, dried and put away, makes my heart go pitter-pat.
So, what’s the hold up? These things make me happy, so why am I so good at procrastinating the small stuff?
Is it because I don’t procrastinate the big stuff? I may have a momentary, “Wow, this is gonna be big! I’d better get my act together!” thought before jumping into a big project, but I’m not the procrastinating type. I’m usually the, “Okay, guys! Let’s get this show on the road! What are you waiting for!?” kinda person.
But you can’t tell that by my dishwasher. It sits all day, bursting at the seams with clean dishes while the dirty ones pile up in the sink.
You can’t tell that by my dining room table. Show up unannounced, and you’ll see all the mail for the week, piled right there. (Well, you won’t find the bills or important documents there. I am a perfectionist, after all, and those will go straight to the file in my office. I’m not completely uncivilized. I’m talking about the magazines, newspapers, ads, and junk.)
Do you know how long it takes to unload my dishwasher? I can do it in less than 3 minutes. I kid you not. I timed myself one day. (Okay, truth be told…Claire was in the time-out corner, and I needed something to do while I was in the kitchen.)
Do you know how long I’ve spent fretting about not unloading the dishwasher? All day.
None of this is surprising to me. I am a perfectionist, so the fact that I’m worried about these things fits my personality. I know that I’m trapped in this cycle. I know how this story ends, and yet I go ‘round and ‘round. I know that these chores take mere minutes from my day, yet I spend hours avoiding them.
Now, if you’ll excuse me; I think I hear the dishwasher reaching the end of its cycle. It will be time to unload it soon…
…or not.
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