Procrastination: Synonymous with Summer?

If you are like me, some or all of the following conditions may be true at this very moment:

1. You are very busy getting courses ready for a demanding audience
   
2. You look outside every 20 minutes and long to be out of doors
   
3. Your list of things to do grows, while you list of accomplishments does not
   
4. You close your eyes and relax by remembering the wonderful weekend you had at the cottage, camping, gardening etc.(and open them 20 minutes later with slobber on your chin and eye sleeps left over from your trance)
   
5. You open your email to send important messages to your boss, but when you see the sun outside your cubicle you decide to email your friend for lunch instead
   
6. You have the best intentions of getting everything done, but you don't have enough hours to do them
   
7. Your desk is a disaster area waiting for the next big storm to clean it up…could be October before that happens
   
8. You walk to the mail room to drop off packages and check your inbox and on the way you stop at reception to stare at the visitors, you hit the lunch room to fill up your coffee/tea/water (again), and since you don't want to be rude, you say hello to everyone you pass along the way and get details on everyone else's holidays
   
9. You keep putting off until tomorrow what you didn't have time for today – and that list grows and grows AND GROWS
   
10. Fire – did someone say Fire – you deal with constant interruptions, misplaced priorities and something I like to call the Summer Sizzle
    

So let's start with the fun stuff: Summer Sizzle. Yes, the Summer Sizzle is what occurs when other people want to look as though they have accomplished all their goals while on the golf course. They dish their work to everyone else and turn up the heat until you produce the results they should have worked hard for while you your buns sizzle trying to keep everyone and their brother happy (often this means you are also trying to keep your job).

Even with events like the Summer Sizzle, I can't help but feel that I just can't say no to those people holding me over the fire. My desire to make others happy often gets in the way of my common sense.

I have found that these things generally happen only over the summer. I want to do ALL kinds of work, get loads accomplished. I don't feel depressed because the sun is shining and it's hotter than a sauna in here, the air is on the fritz again and I'll be right back because I have to find a fan to help move the air around.

Yup – it's summer and who wants to be in the office working away on eLearning projects, planning, having meetings, doing design work? Not me, I want to be outside, in the sun (or rain as it happens to be today). I want to be walking down the street, playing with my dog, enjoying a BBQ, and reading a trashy romance. I want to be anywhere but where I am right now. It's sure hard to beat the "I'm in the office all summer" summertime blues.

To lift the spirits, and because I truly like to share, I'm going to share a couple of things that help me deal with the procrastination associated with working during the summer.

• Create a to do list that encourages items to be completed
  
  • I work with the hardest item and make time commitments – I will work for 20 minutes on this item before I go for coffee
    
  • I don't list too many things…if I listed everything I had to do, well that's just too much. I try to keep my list to 8 – 10 items I can accomplish in the day
    
  • At the end of the day/week/month celebrate your successes and accomplishments
    
• Be accountable to someone besides yourself
  
  • When I have to let someone know how I spent my day, even if it is just a friend, it makes me realize that I can't daydream the hours away
    
• Bring your lunch to work and walk around the block, trail, down the road so that you can enjoy the weather, get some fresh air, and soak up that vitamin D
  
• Ensure you take your breaks – but not too many
  
  • I find when I don't take my breaks away from my desk, I don't feel as relaxed as I could/should
    
  • I also find if I don't take my breaks, I want to get up and wander around the office looking for an escape
    
• Don't work evenings or weekends unless it is part of your schedule or work agreement
  
  • If I take work home with me *few exceptions occur where I have to work in the evenings or weekends* I get the time back by leaving early on a Friday afternoon. I have to enjoy my time away from the office and feel like I not only accomplish my work tasks but my personal goals as well.
    

So – I hope your summer isn't filled with the kind of procrastination and longing that occupies my every waking, sun-filled second. Get out there – enjoy the summer, but make sure you earned it!