And suddenly, as I checked the date to fill in a form last night, I found that there are only four days left until the end of the month. I have nine possible sets of submissions to make, and none actually finalised. After a marathon session this morning I managed to get two sets near enough done. I’ll get another couple done tonight and things will seem to look a little brighter. However, it’s a long way from the scenario of being ready in advance, which I imagined when I got the least lost sent off.
The previous few days had been spent writing articles for Facebook and newsletters, intending to metaphorically clear my desk before getting to work on the poetry submissions. By the time I’d sorted out a couple of technical hitches and spent a couple of days in Nottingham and relaxed a bit, I found I’d actually lost a week.
If I cut out all the extra writing, I doubt I’d be much better off as I’m the sort of person who doesn’t do something until they are forced to. Some call it working under pressure, some call it being lazy. It’s much the same. Having honed my procrastination skills for the last 60 years, I’m unlikely to develop a sense of urgency, or a passion for efficiency, in retirement.
In fact, I’m so committed to procrastinating I just drifted off and read an article about how to make myself more productive. I’m pretty sure it hasn’t worked.
Wood Pigeon
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Even if it is last minute work, at least you are staying busy and engaged with life, and keeping the writing going. I look forward to hearing about those acceptances.
Me too! 🙂
I know exactly what you mean about having to have last minute pressure to make you finish a job that you could have done days or weeks ago. It is a very annoying habit, but hard to shake.
The more I get away with it, the less I worry about leaving things until the last minute.
Damn short months…
My view exactly! And getting shorter.
Now you can just have fun
Fun? I’ll look into it and let you know . . .
I have often had people talking to me about procrastination and I have thought a lot about it but never actually get around to actually doing it seriously. Or maybe not.
That, I’m afraid, is the eternal conundrum at the heart of the Procrastination Problem. As soon as you begin to take it seriously, it slides from your grip. It’s a bit like unicorns, time travel and sausages – you can’t go into it too deeply or you end up altering the fundamentals (or becoming vegetarian in the Sausage Scenario). I find it’s best to make a serious commitment to doing something about it tomorrow.
And yet you manage to submit an impressive number of poems.
I’m not sure if it’s impressive or just a sign that I have an unbalanced life, and a wife that clears up after me. 🙂