I had a bit of a revelation today while at work.
I was thinking about how I'm always gung-ho at the beginning of something, yet I rarely complete anything. I think it's because once I start something, my mind has finished it and is moving on to something else. For example, my mind considers doing laundry as the act of gathering it and putting it in the washer. Of course, there's a few more steps until the laundry is really done — into the dryer, folding, putting away, etc. &mash; but my mind dismisses the task as over. It's why Marcus usually ends up putting the clothes in the dryer or has to empty the dishwasher. When it's up to me, I put my clothes on out of the dryer and once the dryer is empty, it's time to do laundry again. I'm like that with my creative endeavors, too. Take my blog designs. I have an idea in my head what I want them to be and I've even started a couple of them, but since my brain sees the finished result, it considers it done. When I have a craft project in mind, once the supplies are bought, the project rarely goes beyond that.
I don't know when this practice started. I know I've been doing it at least since college, so probably all my life. Why did it take me so long to realize what it is that I do? I've always chalked my behavior up to procrastination, but it's really more than that. It's not even that I'm avoiding anything, my brain is just finished with the task at hand.
Well, now maybe that I see what I'm doing, I can take steps to correct it. Maybe it's time to revert back to childhood and put up that chore chart that I never had as a child. Give myself a star when (and only when) I totally COMPLETE a task.
I was thinking about how I'm always gung-ho at the beginning of something, yet I rarely complete anything. I think it's because once I start something, my mind has finished it and is moving on to something else. For example, my mind considers doing laundry as the act of gathering it and putting it in the washer. Of course, there's a few more steps until the laundry is really done — into the dryer, folding, putting away, etc. &mash; but my mind dismisses the task as over. It's why Marcus usually ends up putting the clothes in the dryer or has to empty the dishwasher. When it's up to me, I put my clothes on out of the dryer and once the dryer is empty, it's time to do laundry again. I'm like that with my creative endeavors, too. Take my blog designs. I have an idea in my head what I want them to be and I've even started a couple of them, but since my brain sees the finished result, it considers it done. When I have a craft project in mind, once the supplies are bought, the project rarely goes beyond that.
I don't know when this practice started. I know I've been doing it at least since college, so probably all my life. Why did it take me so long to realize what it is that I do? I've always chalked my behavior up to procrastination, but it's really more than that. It's not even that I'm avoiding anything, my brain is just finished with the task at hand.
Well, now maybe that I see what I'm doing, I can take steps to correct it. Maybe it's time to revert back to childhood and put up that chore chart that I never had as a child. Give myself a star when (and only when) I totally COMPLETE a task.
Name: LaDonna
