Procrastinate…Who Me?

I don’t think of myself as someone who procrastinates. So I ask you, why, when I went to write my blog today, I accidentally and way too automatically, clicked on Spider Solitaire? The cursor seemed to go there by itself, but I have to confess to clicking on the spider icon myself.

 The game window opened. Any non-procrastinator would think, “Oops, wrong application,” then immediately close it down and continue to the blog. But the cursor did not automatically go to the little X box that closes the page. It went to File, Open New Game. Once again, I did the clicking. I played two games.

The only credit I will give myself for this blatant act of procrastinating (which, ahem, I don’t do) is that it inspired me with a blog topic. The whole time I played Spider Solitaire, I was wondering where my time-management ethics went astray. In my past life, I was a great project manager. I knew how to get things done on time. So was this deterioration (for I think of this procrastination as a true deterioration of my core values—that can-do kind of girl that I am) a slow process that crept up on me—something I acquired after I’d quit working in business for someone else? After all, there they paid me for doing things on time. Or is it a case of, “What may be done at any time will be done at no time,” (Thomas Fuller quote)?

 I don’t like either of those scenarios. They just don’t fit with the image I have of myself. And just to prove that it is not yet time to re-evaluate that image, I closed down the game.

 Feeling so much better about myself, I began to write this blog. Now I’ve convinced myself that today’s procrastination was only a temporary thing. Surely, I should just give myself a break. It is Monday. The puppy is sleeping. I haven’t had a moment to myself in days. Spider Solitaire is relaxing. Well it is supposed to be . . . but I had work to do. Okay, but now I’m done blogging . . . oh . . . don’t touch that spider . . . I’ve a novel to write.