One of my pet peeves

Procrastination... it's one of my pet peeves. Procrastination merely delays the inevitable and causes often unnecessary difficulty for those who are the "objects" of the procrastinator's delays.

I was reminded of my pet peeve last week when hearing of the delay of the "Big Switch" to HD TV. The reasons given for the government wanting to delay the switch over was because of those who have not yet gotten their box and installed it.

Granted, there may be some who for some good reason were unable to get that box, but when I think of all the effort that others went to in order to be ready for the switch, and of all those with the box all ready to go on February 16, I must admit that in a small way my blood boiled with resentment against the procrastinators who now will make everyone, including the broadcasters, wait while they get their boxes.

And it reminds me of the procrastinators in the workplace who hold up progress of projects because they could not get their act together enough to do their part and thus make everyone else wait.

I know all those things that are said to help procrastinators feel better... and I do not totally discount most of it. One reason often given for procrastination is that the procrastinator is also a perfectionist and cannot face their imperfection. However, procrastination, in my opinion, just delays (and maybe even at times guarantees) failure. So just go ahead and at least present your best effort, which is never total failure like not doing it at all is.

Or if a person is procrastinating because he or she is too busy to get the job done on time, how about working on alleviating some of the busy-ness by ordering your schedule more carefully.

I found an article that I think is a good overview of procrastination and how to deal with it at http://www.psychologytoday.com/rss/pto-20030823-000001.html

Well, now you know... don't try to procrastinate around me!! At least not too much... I am a fairly patient person, but procrastination is definitely something I am short on patience about. We all procrastinate a little but don't make it a habit... it's a bad one to have, especially around me!