BORING SHIT, GO AWAY, COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY

 I found myself procrastinating today. I do it so much, it's probably one of my biggest bug bears and one of the things I fight daily, every hour of every day. 

I found out recently that my child has ADD. It has gone undiagnosed her entire childhood, I have helped her deal with it, manage it so to say. Turns out we have a strong ADD gene. One of my  nephews has it, and another appears to have it as well. 

For those who know me professionally and personally, it may not surprise you to learn that I recognise the features in myself.... 

But I manage it. I guess maybe that is why I missed it in my own child and just helped her manage it. I thought it was normal to be this distracted by your own brain all the time. It is normal for me and I function perfectly well....although it is debatable how tolerable I am at work and at home with my idiosyncracies. It may just be that these traits are genetic traits we all have and have absolutely nothing to do with ADD. Who knows? I'm no expert. 

What I do know is that my daughter has benefitted enormously from medication and is on a good path for her and is learning how to deal with her distractions, and her stress levels are so much lower now that she doesn't have to stress about focusing all the time. 

I procrastinate so much. In fact, I am doing it now. 

I would so much rather do something I enjoy ahead of other stuff that needs doing. I detest being an adult. There's all this boring shit that needs doing that invariably needs to be done again tomorrow, and the day after. You can literally spend your entire day doing boring shit and never get time for non boring shit that you enjoy. So, I can spend an entire day lying in bed watching netflix and feeling bad about the pile of laundry, the stinky dogs, or the crap I have left lying around. Because I do. 

One of the things I know about me: I unwrap something and I would rather not put the wrapping in the bin. I just put it down where I have unwrapped the item. Not because I don't know where the bin is or because I am a hog, but because I can't be stuffed right now. Having people over later today or knowing my kids are home and I will inconvenience them is a strong impetus to put the bloody thing in the bin!

It's so boring! I struggle withe being bored all the time. 

I have made sundays my housework day. But I have to trick myself into finding it fun. I play music, I make a list and I have fragrant candles, a nice drink, and make a pact with myself that we will do something fun after! That is the only way in which I can get it done. 

I have to go from room to room and look around and write down what needs doing by visually identifying the pile of shit and then writing down what needs doing. 

If I try to simply do it as I go, shit gets forgotten. Why? Because my brain is distracting me every step of the way. I start doing the cat litters, and half way through I notice that one of them is really stinky on the outside, so I disassemble it and put it in the bath to clean out. As I am doing that, I leave it there to dry and then remember that I bought shampoo and that it is sitting in the front room. This is because I have seen shampoo bottles in the bathroom. So I go to the front room and start putting away the shampoo bottles. However, as I do this, I notice that the yarn I bought has not been put away. So, having put one of the three shampoo bottles away, I start putting away the yarn. As I enter the craft room, I notice that one of the craft kits I bought is still in there and I haven't started it, so I take it out and place it on my work table in the lounge room for later so I can start it. Maybe that can be my reward for doing housework today. And then I have to pause and chastise myself, because I now have three tasks that I have started but not completed. 

So, back to the cat litter tray. And so it goes. 

So, I write a list. I tell myself like a child to finish one thing before I go to the next. 

And so I procrastinate. This process takes so long, and takes so much mental energy. It is exhausting. 

I have a detailed list that has things like "Put new toilet paper in the bathroom", because even though I know it needs doing, I will get distracted and forget to do it, until I need it next time I'm in the toilet!!!!! I cross out each task as it gets completed, and get my little dopamine hit from doing it. 

I think one of the biggest contributors to procrastination is not allowing yourself the time to have fun. 

I ensure that every day has a bit of fun added to it. Being an adult and having responsibilities does not mean you are not allowed to be playful. I cherish it, I look forward to it. I know those of you who know me or have worked with me are aware of this. It can be annoying, I know. 

But it keeps me focused and interested. Otherwise, I get bored and annoyed. 

So I move jobs a lot, I change my timetable from week to week. I keep it interesting. Routine bores me to tears, and I love something new happening every day. So I have heaps of pets that surprise me, and I play lots of different sorts of music. I just keep it interesting. 

If you do not allow yourself to have fun and promise yourself leisure time, you will procrastinate when you have to do the boring shit. 

There is always time for fun, even if it's just five minutes collecting  a flower from the path, blowing a dandelion, or avoiding the cracks in the path. That's how I cope with the mundane. It's never mundane in my head, I tell ya. I wish sometimes it was. But it's not, so I embrace it, I go with it rather than against it. 

That's enough procrastination. Back to the grind. Today's soundtrack courtesy of the 1975.