Procrastination came up in a recent conversation, and there were several practitioners. Some of them were even good friends. Okay, judging by their responses, you can procrastinate all the time, and it’s not that deadly. Let me just say I have spent several years of my life convincing junior high people of its evils. My students knew my rule. If you turned in your assigned work on the day it was due, you received every point you earned. If it was a day late, I gave you half, but don’t even think about bringing it to me on the third day. Of course, I made exceptions for true emergencies, but you are limited in how many grandmothers can die in a year, and I need to see an obituary. I played fair with them and returned graded papers promptly, knowing they were very concerned about their grade the day after they turned it in, somewhat concerned the second day, and bored with it all by the third.
I think I became averse to procrastination very early in life when I discovered that a difficult or distasteful task only got bigger and worse the longer it was delayed. Or it could have been from a saying my father had, “If you’re waiting on me, you’re backing up.”
This month I have been glad to have kicked that habit. On October 17, I received the final page proof of Becoming Ezra Jack Keats from my project editor with my last tasks outlined. I was to proofread the entire text and backmatter, give beginning and ending page numbers for the source notes, and create an index. All of this with a deadline of November 11. I wouldn’t call this obligation a difficult or distasteful task, but it was tedious and time-consuming. Grateful to have kicked the procrastination habit long ago, I sent the completed package back early on the morning of November 8.
Of course, for every deadly sin, there are powerful temptations. A jigsaw puzzle and my stack of books have been enticing me – two for my Mississippi book club, two written by writer friends for middle schoolers, three given to me as special gifts, one for my de Grummond book club, one to read before I give it to my grandson for his birthday and unnumbered attractions on my Kindle – while those birds from the puzzle lid behind the books join in taunting me.
So, now that I’m finished three days ahead of a deadline, what do I do? I can almost hear those birds chirping while I form the border of the puzzle with my conscience clear of any deadline tasks. My favorite chair, the stack of books, and my water bottle wait happily for me.
And should you be interested you can find Becoming Ezra Jack Keats listed on the Amazon website.