I committed to writng a Monday blog because it is a great way to communicate with people. A blog allows me to share my experience with clinical depression and postpartum depression with an unlimited audience. I posted the first IPO blog entry on July 25, 2016. I am thankful. This platform has not only allowed me to share my personal experiences with others, but it has also helped me to shine a light on some personal issues I need to work on. So far, the most important thing the IPO blog has taught me about myself is that I have a major issue with procrastination. It’s interesting. I never knew how fast a week goes by until I began writing my blog. The weeks almost seem to run into one another. At first, I was getting the blogs out first thing Monday morning. And, if you are an avid reader of the blog, you probably have noticed that the post are going up later and later each Monday.
I had to do some self-reflection. Because I battle with depression, I am always aware of how much stress I put on myself. I am careful to notice when I am being overwhelmed and when I am working too hard. I have learned to carefully monitor my interactions with people, places and things as to be aware of anything that might trigger a stressor. The past several weeks, I began to slowly pull back my interaction with the blog. I would work on it less and less throughout the week, and would find myself scraping by to meet my Monday deadline. Why? Because I didn’t want writing the blog to become overwhelming or stressful. That would contradict the meaning of my efforts. The problem is that I began to confuse trying to manage my stress with procrastination. I have recently learned to ask myself, “Sonya, are you being smart or are you being lazy?”
I am using S.J. Scott’s 23 Anti-Procrastination Habits: How to Stop Being Lazy and Overcome Your Procrastination to help me draw the line between managing stress and being lazy. (I actually purchased the audible. I prefer listening to self-help books instead of reading them.) The book depicts exactly what its title implies. It gives several helpful hints to get up and get moving. Many of the strategies are not original to the author but are tried and true methods to help push pass procrastinating. For instance, he cites Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 Rule. This principle states that you get 80% of your results from 20% of your efforts. “You can apply this to procrastination by only focusing on the actions that generate a significant result and proactively ignoring the rest.” He also encourages the use of the 43 folder system created by David Allen the author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and renamed by Merlin Mann. This is an intelligent folder system that helps one remember upcoming tasks. I can’t wait to begin implementing this habit. I am actually curious to discover if and how I can incorporate this method into the use of my Happy Planner. (Trust me. I will write about my Happy Planner soon.)
I have to say, going through these 23 habits has taught me how much more I need to organize. I have started to implement these strategies into my daily life, and I will update my progress on the blog. I’m telling you…the struggle is real! Help me as I continue to negotiate the thin line between healthy and lazy, and as always, let’s press on together!