Hi, I’m Elenora and I’m a procrastinator.
There really should be an organization for procrastinators, but I’m sure there isn’t. Why? Because we procrastinators would never get around to forming it.
But, yes, I am a procrastinator. I’ve always lived by the philosophy, “Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?” It’s been a lifelong failing, but lately it’s getting worse. And it is affecting my writing. The past several days I’ve been trying to do a bunch of things that I’ve put off, but to do them I’ve had to put off work on the novel I’m writing.
Yes, the things needed to be done. My work area really did need to be cleaned and organized. I needed to throw things away. I really did need to take my dead laptop, nonworking printer, dead desktop computer and monitor (well, the monitor wasn’t dead, but it didn’t do me any good without the computer) to the electronics recycling facility. And I did need to try to figure out why I couldn’t transfer photos from my digital camera to my laptop. The laptop refused to recognize the camera. I spent hours on the phone with Kodak Easy Share trying to resolve the problem–hours I’d intended to spend writing. The problem still isn’t solved. But the last tech I talked to advised me to give up trying to connect the camera using the cable that came with it and instead get a memory card reader. That meant I had to go to amazon and find one and order it. Yes, I could have simply gone to Best Buy or Walgreen’s or somewhere, but there were a couple of books I wanted to order from amazon, and by adding the card reader I could reach the $25 I needed to spend to qualify for free shipping. And of course all of that took time. And then there were emails to answer, Facebook messages to read, and …
Well, you get the picture. Today I had to go for dogfood. Not an optional trip. The doggies have to be fed. But while I was out, I might as well go to Home Depot for some potting soil and some advice about what to put on the brown spots that are spreading in my back yard grass. And that entailed a conference with two HD associates, who told me I needed to check to see whether the grass that had died still had roots or whether it came right out when I pulled on it. If it still had roots, that would mean the problem was fungus, but if it pulled right out because the roots were dead, that would mean insects. So I got the potting soil and some pots but nothing for the brown spots until I had done the assigned homework. I’ve just come in from doing that. The results were a bit inconclusive, but apparently the two problems require different treatments, so I have to make a more accurate diagnosis. I also potted two milkweed plants for my monarch butterfly caterpillars. And of course there are always phone calls that need to be made.
Yes, I need to do a much better job of time management. I’ll work on that–tomorrow.
E. Rose Sabin 