Maybe later.

I saw a teen wearing a great t-shirt at the beach.

The top 10 reasons to procrastinate:

1.


Love it!

I didn't used to be a procrastinator. Although my school homework was usually left to the last minute. So maybe I did have a trait that was waiting to emerge. But I married a procrastinator. And I think that I caught it off him. Put that with running around after kids and my ability to evaluate what is urgent and important was last seen about 6 years ago sitting somewhere between Dr Brown and Barney. I guess I'm still in my ticking-over stage of life.

Procrastinating is seen as a bad habit. And indeed, we have personally encountered the cost of putting off tasks or commitments in ways that have made us state that things need to change. And they do for a bit. The bigger things aren't a problem - but it's the routine and mundane tasks that usually slip by the wayside.

But maybe there are some positive sides of procrastination that we've never thought about. And yes, I probably should have been doing something else whilst I was thinking about these.

1.  Health  benefits.
I know that the downstairs bathroom needs to be cleaned. So I'll use the upstairs one instead for the whole day - cardio training.  The fully-loaded and completely clean dishwasher (my nemesis) is staring at me. So I'll wash the breakfast dishes by hand and put them straight up into the cupboards, stretching and toning as I do. And I really don't want to stand in the long line at the post office so I'll go to the gym instead and swim my usual 50 lengths. Voila - I've used up an extra 300 calories today doing anything other than THAT TASK that needs to be attended to.

2. Creativity is unleashed
I'll go and do something else instead. Look, I've repainted the basement today/vacuumed the car/alphabetized the kids books. I've put photos into frames and re-folded the towels to Macy's standards. I've discovered organizational skills I didn't know I had, and given my house a cost-free makeover. There's fresh banana bread on the counter. But still - I haven't put the trash cans out.

3. Get to know your neighbors.
Those trash cans have been rolling around on the pavement for 24 hours. I've driven past them 4 times but I always seem to have my hands full when I go in to the house, and then it's been raining. When my exasperated neighbor has put them into the driveway, it's a perfect opportunity to take some of that banana bread round. Have a chat and get to know them.

4. Encourages one to dream.
Maybe someone else will do those things instead of me.

And now please excuse me whilst I go and water the plants. Because the garden is in the opposite direction of that dishwasher. Still full. Still clean. And still my nemesis.