March 31: Crunch Time

No, this is not about doing crunches (thank goodness).  But rather about what happens when we wait until the last minute to get things done.  I'll admit, I am the kind of person who gets a sick kind of thrill from the rush of doings at the last minute.  Though it stresses me out, it can be kind of fun to gamble away time, hoping things will come together at the last minute.  Most of the time, thankfully, they do.  But is it really worth it?
     According to Wikepedia: no.  "Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning."   
     Geez, calm down.  I mean, what's the big deal, right?  The dishes will be there tomorrow, there's plenty of time to (insert thing you don't want to do here) later...  Except that the contrast between starting early and waiting until the last minute when preparing for something important (like a test, a talk in church, anything) is so huge that it shouldn't even be a question.  However, today I rode that little rush of pressure to catch up on my overdue dailies of the month, and boy, was it effective!  I caught up a weeks worth of reading scriptures, a weeks worth of walking, and almost an entire months' worth of working on my book, all in 1 day.  Ah... the things we can accomplish when under the wire...  I'm so glad I finally did those things, and I'm not sure why I put them off for so long....

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.  ~William James