An ode to procrastination...

All of us have that project lying about that we can never seem to finish. Started with so much excitement and confidence, yet there it is still, often years later, unfinished, unloved and unbelievably depressing. When you reach this point of subjective entanglement it can mean only one thing. Procrastination. We all do it. Some more than others. I suppose there may be those special individuals whose procrastination is fleeting and are never known to hesitate. A marvellous existence it must be always on the front foot. Just pray a red rambler doesn’t come by too often.

Like you I have read all the articles about procrastination. Its causes and its remedies. How it can be the result of trauma. How it should not be confused with laziness. How it could be a fear of failure, or maybe a lack of motivation. Are we all trying too hard or not hard enough? Who knows? Everyone is an individual, and the subconscious remains ever out of bounds.

I have also been a long-term contributor to the temple of procrastination. One offering that springs to mind is an occasional table I started way back at the end of the last century. We wanted a large low table that we could sit around on the floor to eat, in line with our bohemian lifestyle at the time. This piece needed to be light so it could be moved about our small house easily. And it needed to be waterproof as there were weans about with a strong interest in water play.

It wasn’t complicated. Solid Jarrah upper frame with box jointed corners for strength. Tapered legs set directly to the frame with rounded feet so to glide easily over any surface. Measuring 700 by 1400 by 450mm high, I had the whole thing together within a week and there it stalled. What to do about the top?  Was it to be glass? I had already rebated the inside edge of the table to accept such an element, but no, glass smears too easily and didn’t seem right. A slab of white marble maybe? Cool. I had a spare piece left over from a kitchen reno that would do just nicely. But no, marble was too heavy for such a mobile piece and black currant juice tends to stain. Wood then it would be! Mmmmm I figured watching the three-year-old mix flour and water to make an edible paste. I don’t need that many water stains in my life. And so the piece was abandoned. Taking up residence leaning against the shed wall waiting for the solution to appear from an outer orbit.

Inspirational solutions are everywhere

Twenty-two years later. Enough time for glass tables to come into fashion and out again. Enough time for two high school graduations. Enough time to be so done with it and ready to chop it to pieces and start again. A breakthrough! The solution came one fine day walking through downtown Fitzroy. There in the window of one of the ubiquitous vintage stores was a mosaic tile coffee table, just the thing.  And though colleagues questioned this solution as “retro”, bloody hell, what isn’t retro these days? A month later the piece was done and delivered home. My small contribution to the great conversation of procrastination was complete.

My strain of procrastination boils down to two fundamentals. Distractions - easily distracted that is. And perfectionism, which is a drag as most things I do are nowhere near perfect. I am always thinking of the next project before the last one is done, and the last one isn’t done because I believe it’s not good enough. As a result, the projects pile up and I come to a grinding halt. A situation purely the product of an overactive mind. But forget self-deprecation, that only makes things worse. What is important is how you deal with procrastination.

Experimentation creates solutions

When I’m met with a piled-up roadblock, I have found that taking the almighty “I can do this on my own”, or “I am an island and need no one” approach tends to fail dismally. No. Now that I am more mature, it’s best that I change the conversation in my head to “How can I do this?” or “What do I need to do to get this done?” thereby breaking the challenge into manageable parts, manageable even by my popcorn of a brain. Turns out that resolving this table was simple in the end. Came down to accepting a little inspiration from another source (how can I do this), and trusting that it didn’t matter that it wasn’t perfect, what matters is that it’s done (What do I need to do to get this done).

Collaboration is another effective strategy to defeat procrastination. Forget your island and get down to the docks working with others for a common goal. Seek their guidance and input and break through the challenge together, supporting each other along the way. Genuine collaborators will understand when you need assistance. Those who let you fail are best left marooned.

A proper deep dive into the study of procrastination is way beyond my pay grade and the scope of this little story. Yet as I sit back in my lounger and rest my condensation-soaked G&T directly on my tiled table, I am glad I found a way through and finished this piece. It has met all its design goals – large, light and waterproof, and as a bonus, free of smearing glass and ugly white rings. Would have been handy to have back in the day, but as the old saying says, better late than never.

It's not perfect, but it works and is done