11-7-02 Lisa Laird
Lisa's Lair
By Lisa Laird
IPS Features
Procrastii-Nation
The common trait that we share as Americans is
PROCRASTINATION. It should be
renamed “concrastination” because there’s nothing positive about the word.
It’s more than mere laziness and shunning responsibilities.
As an acceptable norm in our society, self-discipline is a dying virtue.
With so many modern conveniences available to us, we still can’t get things
done that require some degree of effort. We
want what we want now, as long as we don’t have to exert or inconvenience
ourselves.
Filing income taxes is a prime example of
procrastination at its finest. This
annual event has the same deadline year after year.
There’s no surprise; we all know the drill. For those overwhelmed by the process, God created CPAs.
However, year after year, people scramble around at the last moment,
running to post offices minutes before the deadline.
Others ask for extensions. Some
wait so long, they never file at all. Isn’t
it easier and less stressful to get it done and out of the way as soon as
possible? Of course it is. But we’ve been programmed to procrastinate.
Holiday shoppers turn into holiday monsters.
Christmas Day has been celebrated on December 25th each year,
as far as I recall. So, why are
such a large number of people
always running around like lunatics the night before?
Many are well-seasoned procrastinators, teaching their children the
tricks of the trade, so to speak. Others
are in a panic, feeling as though they haven’t bought enough and would
purchase the “For Sale” signs if they could as stocking stuffers out of
sheer desperation.
Visiting the dentist is always a pleasure…for me,
anyway. I have no cavities, so I go
solely for annual x-rays, and cleanings twice per year.
I often hear friends and acquaintances say, “I hate going to the
dentist!” The reason they despise
going is because they ignore their teeth until something so terrible happens
that they cannot continue procrastinating any longer.
Then, they must endure nightmarish ordeals.
Aren’t adults supposed to know that ignoring problems doesn’t make
them go away?
Home repairs seem to be another one of the
procrastinators’ targets. A few
years ago, friends of mine began the project of updating their bathroom.
After tiling the walls three quarters of the way, they ran out of tiles.
The more time passed, they less they spoke of buying more tiles and
completing the job. They
procrastinated for two whole years prior to finishing the task.
The kitchen project they tackled wasn’t done any more timely than the
bathroom. Words of advice:
A room looks better old rather than permanently unfinished.
If you have no intention of finishing what you start, then don’t bother
remodeling in the first place.
How about New Year’s resolutions?
If we truly want to make changes in our lives for the better, why wait
until a specific date? The concept of having this resolution does not imply that we
want to make fresh starts on January 1st; it states that we don’t
genuinely want to make the efforts now. If
we did, we would. It is actually a
socially acceptable way of saying, “I’ll do it later.”
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions.
Instead, I try to keep New Day’s resolutions.
On any given day that I think of a way to improve my life, I start to
work on my idea as soon as I possibly can.
I file income taxes on time, finish holiday shopping in advance, complete
projects I start, with or without help from others, and show up for my scheduled
dental appointments.
On time.
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