Procrastinator's Club: Cardholding Member

A friend posted the following as her status on Facebook: “I don't know if there is such a thing, but I am a member of the procrasinator's club. Can anyone relate?” I have seen similar threads on Facebook and on the forum that I frequent, with various fun answers.

 I thought about joining, but put it off.
 Your membership dues are late
 When is our next meeting? I think we should put it off for a few more days, don't you?
 Yeah I still have the application lying on my kitchen table... One of these days....
 I was going to, but then I thought of something else to do first
 I haven't had the time to get around to it yet. I'll try to squeeze it in....
 I'll join when all the flowers in this vase are wilted... (*Places a vase of fake flowers on the table*)

While it is fun to joke about procrastination, for some of us, it can get us into serious trouble. I am by no means an expert on how to overcome procrastination, but I do recognize a few things in myself in this area.

I tend to procrastinate on some things and not others. I can find all sorts of reasons to procrastinate on housework, yet find plenty of time to communicate with friends via the computer. I can clean a room that I want to start using in a different way, when the most commonly used room in the house needs to be cleaned also. This selective procrastination is proof of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” So, where really is my heart? Are my priorities in order? Do my actions match what I say is important to me?

When I find myself procrastinating on things that I claim are important to me, I need to realign my priorities. For the most part, the key is motivation. I need to find within myself the motivation to do the things I want to do. Someone once asked me which came first, motivation or action. I found it an interesting question because one needs motivation to take action but once started, the progress itself is motivation to keep going and to finish. The person who had asked me said that his psychology classes taught that motivation comes from the action. People are motivated once they start. In order to get motivation to do something, one must first start it. I am not sure I totally agree with that. As a cardholding member of the procrastinator’s club, I need motivation to start. Yet I have often found the very concept of action creating motivation to be the motivation that I need. I can convince myself that by simply starting, I will gain the motivation I need to continue and to finish.

While housework and other tasks are important in the here and now, there is one area that it is extremely important to not procrastinate, our spiritual life. When my kids mention dying, I remind them that we will all die unless Jesus comes back first. The thing is, none of us know which will happen first or when. We may have a few decades or a few minutes left on this earth. Are we prepared for what comes after, whether in death or in His Second Coming?

For those of us who do know Him as our personal Friend and Savoir, how often do we spend time talking with and listening to Him? Can we really consider Him to be Lord of our lives if we never converse with Him, never seek His Wisdom in our everyday circumstances? If we never read His Word? Can we consider Him our friend if we never talk to Him? These are the areas in which I never again want to find myself procrastinating.

I have to go. I have housework to do and dinner to make...