Procrastinators

If it isn’t important, I don’t feel obliged to make it a priority.

I decide for myself what is important. Others are welcome to make their own choices.

That’s about it. My mother used to say I’d be procrastinating. Give me a deadline, then get out of my hair. I can manage my own time.

As an adult, I don’t think about whether or not someone is procrastinating. I don’t care. I care about results. I don’t need to see someone chomping at the bit, nor do I need to see busy work. I just need the results I want, when I need them. It’s the performance, not the process. Success can be at the last moment, failure can be quite early on.

For myself, much of my work is “thinky.” I’m fine with letting my mind percolate and prepare, then knocking things out when I’ve reached that part of the process.
 
There are lots of reasons people procrastinate that have absolutely nothing to do with laziness. People with anxiety, depression, or ADD/ADHD procrastinate all the time as a coping mechanism.
 
Seriously, I procrastinate all the time. But it also helps me get some of my best results, because putting things off often gives me the time to think of a new angle or perspective and make what I deliver better. It's driven some of my previous bosses a little nuts, but the good ones have realized what I bring and that my process plays a big part in that. When I took my current job, my boss said, "I want you on my team because you think different. You don't just plow ahead and do things the first way that comes to mind." It's all in what you deliver.

Slightly different example - I'm not a neat freak. I've tried to be a little better, but I'm still not. At one of my old jobs, I had stuff all over my desk all the time. And at one point, I was sitting next to a neat freak, no walls between us. She bitched and complained constantly about my desk, and repeatedly asked our manager to let her clean my desk because it drove her nuts. Our manager finally said, "Look, here's the deal. When I ask you for something, it takes you 20 minutes to find it. When I ask him, his eyes roll up into the back of his head, he reaches out and grabs it. You may hate it, but it works for him, and that works for me. Leave it alone." And in fairness, I did clean up my desk once a year. Usually.
 
"I love Deadlines

I love the sound they make when they go whoosing by"

Douglas Adams ;)


Em7 has been a grumpy chord lately, Em.pathy is better?



Meeting deadlines with good work is alright, everyone's different & has their own process. I like a bit of fizz to get me going too.

I am more envious of true multitaskers ie most women, I get in the zone with singularity of thought
 
About the only useful thing I've learned after attending decades of seminars is "Don't just do something, Stand there!!!" (as opposed to "don't just stand there, do something"). Important decisions and actions require appropriate consideration - take as much time as you can afford to ensure you're making the best decision. "Multitasking" and "thinking on your feet" are nothing more than poor excuses for bad management. The most important question in most situations is "when do you need a response".
 
Procrastinators used to bother me until I changed my mindset. I now plan on doing everything thing myself and if I get help it’s a bonus. If the person’s procrastination only effects them then it’s out of my control and doesn’t effect me. Once I changed my mindset expectations are always met.
 
Well, to let everyone in what prompted this thread, I have been in the process of settling on a house. To say that the lender put me through the meat grinder is an understatement (I have more money at stake than they do, which is insane). If I would have known that getting through approval was going to be this painful, I would have cashed in some of my retirement savings to cover the bank's portion of the sales price and paid cash. I purchased and sold three houses before purchasing this house and I cannot recall the process being this excruciatingly painful. I feel sorry for first-time home buyers who are financing most of the price of a home. I can only imagine what they are put through.

Specifically, what pissed me off was that the underwriter took forever to reach the "clear to close" stage. I am not a struggling younger person with a 600 credit score and loads of consumer debt (I was young once and remember how difficult getting started can be). What should have been completed in a day or two took an entire week and left me with minutes in the business day to wire the funds I needed for closing (the law office handling the closing required the funds to be wired). I had to plead with the bank officer to stay late and perform the wire because I had drive to a different state the following morning to close. The entire process was a cluster. I retired to get away from procrastinators who dropped their share of a project in my lap at the last minute because they knew I would get it done. I sure as heck do not expect this level of stress when I am the customer.
 
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