Minutiae (or, Attack of the Chores)

I'm a procrastinator. Yes, I admit it. And I think it's genetic, or at least congenital. I've been putting things off since early childhood, usually because I'm way too interested in whatever I'm doing at the moment to bother with doing anything else, even if the something else is what I ought to be doing instead of whatever I am doing. (And if you can follow that, you may be one of us.)

Some people equate procrastination with laziness, but I don't think that's necessarily true, certainly not for everyone. My particular problem seems to be one of focus, rather than motivation. You see, I will work hard on something that interests me, something that has captured my attention and focused my thoughts. I will enjoy it, too. It's just that it might not be the thing I really need to be doing at the time. Thus, I may be blogging or doing online research while my dinner dishes sit in the sink, waiting to be rinsed and put in the dishwasher. Which, of course, can't happen until after I empty the dishwasher of the clean stuff that's already in there. But I will happily track down references to an obscure quote or study up on the formation of quasars, the history of the Maine Coon cat breed or the development of the electric guitar right up until I get hungry, at which point I will discover that I haven't a clean pot to cook in because they're all in the sink waiting to be washed. I may then wash them. Or order a pizza.

It's not that unloading or loading a dishwasher is hard work, certainly no harder than - and perhaps not as hard as - online research or writing. But it isn't interesting. (Oh crap, maybe my problem is motivational, too.) So it winds up at the bottom of my priority list, while I focus on things that capture my interest. Unfortunately for me, things that capture my interest tend to hold onto it for inordinate periods of time. I don't know if that means that those things are particularly strong, or whether my interest is simply not interested in escape. I suspect it's the latter, because I've never received a ransom note from Google, Space.com, the Cat Fanciers Association website or the manuscript of my latest story telling me that my interest is being held hostage against its will and that if I will only cough up a million dollars, a dozen dust bunnies or some clean silverware it will be returned to me.

Take today, for example. My house - well, okay, the middle apartment in a three-family house - is a mess, I have errands to run, phone calls to make, a domain name to register, a website to build, and a litter box that is desperately in need of attention. I also have laundry to wash, dry, fold and put away. Before I can do that last part, I need to go out and get a closet organizer, which brings us back to the errands I haven't run. Then the thing needs to be installed, which puts it onto my ongoing list of household projects, and since I need the organizer in place before I can do a proper job of putting the laundry away, not only does it bump the installation project to the top of that list ahead of all the other things I need to do, but it backs up the laundry in the process so that I have baskets of clean laundry sitting in my spare bedroom. Those baskets add to the house being a mess, and since I don't have empty baskets to carry clean laundry up from the basement laundry room, nor to carry it down to the laundry room, my clothes hamper overfloweth with dirty laundry. Have I mentioned that my house is a mess?

Of course, if I'm to go out and get that closet organizer, I'll need to take a shower first (hmmmm... I wonder if I still have any clean towels?) and change clothes (hmmmm... clean underwear?) and it probably wouldn't hurt me to eat lunch before I go (crud... no clean dishes) and while I'm out maybe I can get the other errands done too. Which puts me back at home far later in the day than just getting the organizer would, but at least I'd have some of the other items I need to do while I'm out crossed off my list. Though this means I'll be up until all hours installing a closet organizer and doing laundry and maybe if I'm lucky I'll find time in all of that to take care of those dishes. Or I could just order another pizza.

At least I won't disturb my neighbors if I'm registering domain names and building websites at 2:00 AM. But I think they might object to my waiting until then to reconfigure my closet space with new shelves.

Hmmm. Maybe writing and research are easier than all this other stuff. In any case, here I sit blogging about what I should be doing rather than actually doing it, and then wondering why I feel so overwhelmed. On top of that, one of the cats just puked, so add "clean carpets" to the list of Things To Do.

*Sob*

(x-posted 1, 2)