{"id":757,"date":"2012-06-26T13:32:05","date_gmt":"2012-06-26T20:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/?p=757"},"modified":"2012-06-26T13:32:05","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T20:32:05","slug":"productive-procrastination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/2012\/06\/26\/productive-procrastination\/","title":{"rendered":"Productive Procrastination?!"},"content":{"rendered":"
I don\u2019t know about you, but I have to plead very guilty to the charge of procrastination. \u00a0That old quote, \u201cnever put off until tomorrow what can get done today,\u201d has taken a new form in my life. \u00a0I may not say it verbally, and it\u2019s generally not even a conscious thought but often I act more like, \u201cwhy do today what I can put off until tomorrow?\u201d<\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
With summer upon us my to-do list has doubled. \u00a0I have clothes to be packed in addition to laundered, BBQs needing side dishes, wedding presents to be wrapped and swim suits to be hung up to dry. \u00a0It almost feels overwhelming, but in my time since discovering the skill of productive procrastination it seems like my home and family are a well oiled machine.<\/span><\/div>\n

\n<\/span><\/div>\n
For those of you who don\u2019t know, productive procrastination is by definition \u201cdoing things to keep busy while avoiding what needs to be done.\u201d \u00a0Students and parents alike are pros at productive procrastination, the room may be dusted and the laundry ironed but what needed to be done in that hour was actually an essay on our founding fathers (plus, we generally don\u2019t iron jeans). \u00a0What I have begun to do is actually add things to my to-do list. \u00a0Here is an example with things added in italics:<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  • Vacuum<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Make Gift for Baby Shower<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • Paint Trim<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Mop Kitchen<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Clean Bathroom<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Create Weekly Menu<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • Make Baby Shower Invitations<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • Get Wedding Gift<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Prepare for Sunday Lesson<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Read Chapter in Lost<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • Veggie Tray for BBQ<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n

    \n<\/span><\/div>\n
    When my to-do list is small I tend to procrastinate more, I simply feel I have more time to spare, thus a longer list tricks my mind into thinking, \u201cI just don\u2019t have time to check up on my high school friends on Facebook.\u201d \u00a0The longer list makes me keep moving, it also encourages me. \u00a0I enjoy creating and designing so if I put a few things on my list that may not need to be done for a few more weeks, but give me the opportunity to create it encourages me to keep going, like a prize for getting my other work done. \u00a0It also gives me options and variety, rather than simply a day full of cleaning I feel the freedom to vacuum, then maybe work on baby shower invitations, and then clean the bathroom. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

    \n<\/span><\/div>\n
    Of course there are times that something needs to be done now rather than later and it comes time to simply get it done. \u00a0I, though, find that rather than getting away from my to-do list to get on Pinterest, I keep up with my to-do list and read a chapter in my new book and then can go right to what\u2019s next on my list I end up getting a lot more accomplished. \u00a0The key is to understand what motivates you to get things done. Look for ways to use productive procrastination, not just as a way to avoid some dreaded task, but as a way to encourage yourself to keep being productive!<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I don\u2019t know about you, but I have to plead very guilty to the charge of procrastination. \u00a0That old quote, \u201cnever put off until tomorrow what can get done today,\u201d has taken a new form in my life. \u00a0I may not say it verbally, and it\u2019s generally not even a conscious thought but often I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,1],"tags":[105,74],"class_list":["post-757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-informative","category-uncategorized","tag-informative","tag-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":760,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions\/760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}