I’ll do it tomorrow

As I write this, there is a Shaolin Monk on my TV. That may seem like an unnecessary bit of information for you there but stay with me. Also, I don’t mean he’s stood on my TV, he’s on the BBC.

Not only has it given me a flashback to a Shaolin Monk show I watched in Florida when I was 12  and had completely forgotten about (no, I’ve got no idea why I was there either), but it’s made me realise how bloody undisciplined I am.

I couldn’t even be bothered to go pick up the monkey stick, let alone start holding my body in the air with it.

Imagine spending years and years dedicating your time to studying scripture and martial arts. The poor fella has to learn 200 pages off by heart. They looked like a font size 11 too, so he’s not even getting off lightly.

I say poor fella, but is he? Is it me who is the poor one?

These men have spent their time working towards their goals. Dedicating their lives to it. 11 years of training. What have I done over the last 11 years? Not mastered doing ‘monkey climbing up a tree’. I couldn’t even stick with learning Italian on Duolingo.

I’m what I like to call a ‘top shelf procrastinator’. Not one of those fake ones. Like a real star of putting things off. I think we all can be. Some to a deeper degree than others, but try to think of a time when you’ve just cracked on with everything and not found yourself scrolling on your phone or filling your time with other activities to avoid another.

It might be trivial, but it might not. Maybe work related, maybe health.

Letting a candidate know they were unsuccessful. Guilty.

Booking for your Pap test. Guilty.

Letting your petrol run below 0 miles on the regs. Guilty.

Not being bothered to send something back to ASOS then you’re stuck with 3 ill-fitting items in your closet after 28 days. Guilty.

Not asking for help with mental health difficulties when needed. Guilty.

I think a problem I have is wanting instant gratification. If I can’t have it now or in a short time, I’ll just ignore it. If it’s quite a big task and I’m not going to see instant results, how easy is it to put off? I’m not very rational with things like that.

Putting things off through pure laziness (or ignorance in some of my cases) is one of my biggest downfalls. I put something off for so long that last week I ended up having a really hideous week. Everything just happened at once and best believe your gal couldn’t handle it. Had I have done a combination of things I’d put off over the last few months, it may have been avoided.

I’m actually quite good at handling things, I think. But I’m better at putting on a front, so even when something isn’t going well and I’m not handling it, I often don’t even see it myself.

But doing it for too long will come back to bite you.

If you need to book something, do it.

If you need to pay for something, pay it.

If you want help, ask.

If you think something isn’t right, check it.

The sooner we stop putting things off, the quicker things will heal, fix or be over with. Or the opposite, the sooner you’ll be happier, clear and less pressured.

M x