"Never leave your homework til the last minute." I don't know how many times in the last ten years I've given that particular piece of sage advice, but apparently not enough for it to sink into my own head. Or maybe that's unfair. It's not that I don't start things until the deadline, it's just that - what? I've landed myself with too many things to do? I set myself unreasonable and unrealistic targets? I'm inherently lazy and want to watch tv and not work in the evenings or at weekends?
Procrastination is a curse. We (that's we teachers, we writers, or we busy people, by the way) know this only too well. And yet.
According to Flylady (life coach par excellence for those struggling with domestic pressures, whether as full time employment or in combination with paid work), procrastination is a form of perfectionism. It's a crippling kind of perfectionism that whispers "you'll never do it well enough, so why bother?" I definitely see a grain of truth in this, and recognize the fear that paralyses and prevents any kind of progress.
I'm kind of regretting starting this blog post now, because I don't have an answer. What I do have is a terrifying to-do list and the certain knowledge that I'm not good enough.
How do you get past that rabbit-in-the-headlights stage of looking at your workload?