My brother texted me a question earlier this week.
Did Mom often speak about the evils of procrastination or was it just with me?
I was a little surprised by his question. I didn’t think it was a secret that we have a whole family of procrastinators and we definitely inherited it from our mom. He asked me if I have ever written a blog about procrastination. I was sure I must have as it is part of the fabric of my being, but when I checked it didn’t look like I had. My brother made the point that I must be putting it off.
The morning after our text chat, I saw this posted on my son’s Facebook page.
And there we have confirmation that the procrastination gene has been passed to another generation. When my son was a teenager living at home, he HATED when I would call him a procrastinator. You’d think I accused him of being a sociopath the way he would deny it. And to be fair to him, it is super irritating when someone tells you not to be a procrastinator when you’re busy putting off doing something.
When my own mother would ask when I was going to get around to cleaning my room, and I promised I would do it on the weekend, she would break down the syllables and put the word to an annoying little tune. “Pro-cras-ti-naaaaa-tion!” Funny how I never heard her sing that song when she was putting off baking cookies for the church bake sale.
But let me make something clear, not only are procrastinators good people, they DO get things done. Just not in the order or the time frame that makes others (or even themselves) comfortable. Have you ever heard anybody say that they work best under deadline? They are probably a procrastinator. Mom might be baking cookies at eleven o’clock at night or seven in the morning, but the cookies would be done for the bake sale. I might be standing in a three hour line at the Secretary of State office on my birthday and hating myself for it, but I WILL get my tags on time.
Yesterday, as I mulled over thoughts for my blog, I texted three male family members who have DNA received from my mom.
Tell me three reasons why you procrastinate and whether you think men are bigger procrastinators than women.
None of them have gotten around to replying to me yet. I think I have my answer.
Once Upon a Willow 
Hi Sue. Great topic! I’m going out on a limb and observing your mom must have been the sole female of her generation in the family who inherited the procrastination gene!! 😂 My mom, Aunt Polly and Aunt Rose certainly didn’t have it!
Am I a procrastinator? Nope! The onus of pending tasks far outweighs the satisfaction of putting it off. My sense of self-satisfaction upon completing any task…major or minor…makes me feel accomplished and proud of myself. It all has to do with taking care of my mental and emotional health. I don’t do the “worry” thing either! And I am timely in tasks so I don’t reach that point of being frazzled.
Are my brothers procrastinators? I would venture Ron and Rich are not and Gary and Pat were (“No problem…I’ll get around to it!”)
So that’s my take on your topic. Enjoyed being drawn into thinking about it. Wishing you and Marty well.
Hugs…..Nan
On Sun, Aug 15, 2021 at 12:32 PM Once Upon a Willow wrote:
> skester219 posted: ” My brother texted me a question earlier this week. > Did Mom often speak about the evils of procrastination or was it just with > me? I was a little surprised by his question. I didn’t think it was a > secret that we have a whole family of procrast” >
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Nan, I don’t feel like I have enough first hand observation of Aunt Polly and Aunt Rose to say that myself, but I would be apt to agree with you on those sisters. I would also hazard a guess that Aunt Marie was no procrastinator either.
Fun to think about and compare notes. I’m sure it will be a topic on our sibling Zoom call tonight. LOL
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Not for me- never dealt with procrastination in college. Helped when I was given an incredible piece of advice by an English teacher- “just write, don’t think about it”- as in dump-trucking- that really helped me get through papers, and gave me time to get help from the writing center
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Writing is definitely one of the areas I procrastinate! I have it in my head, and I want to get it out, but I avoid sitting down and doing it. Great advice from your English teacher. Thanks for sharing.
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At home I am known as the QUEEN of procrastination – Due tomorrow? Do tomorrow.
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I love that tag line! Maybe I’ll get that put on a t-shirt… someday.
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I have a thought on this subject…I’ll get it to you later ;0)
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LOL. Something tells me I shouldn’t hold my breath.
Thanks for the comment. 😊
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