It can wait until tomorrow…

This was written in response to Writing 101, Day 5: Let social media inspire you and a delayed dare I say procrastinated response to Writer’s procrastination − a hidden virtue?.

I can't decide if procrastination kills creativity or is essential to it.

— Grant Snider (@grantdraws) April 28, 2014

Procrastination and I are no strangers to each other.  We are, dare I say, great friends.  Our relationship is one of the longest lasting relationships in my life, rivaled only by my relationships with my three sisters.

Procrastination or P-Dubs as I like to call him is a reliable and dependable friend.  When my friends and family are busy and Dedication and Discipline are nowhere to be found, P-Dubs is consistently there to hang out with me.  It’s like Boca says in Mr. 3000, “… I could always count on you to do your thing, you know? You’re consistent.  You’re always driven.  And you’re always for yourself.”

P-Dubs likes to spend time with me and do the same things I do.  We play candy crush for hours, take long naps together (don’t worry my other half has met P-Dubs and he’s cool with it), watch Netflix in marathon sessions and lose track of hours pinning recipes on Pinterest.  Sometimes P-Dubs and I do other things together like go grocery shopping and run errands, usually when I have a deadline for something else I should be working on.

The thing about P-Dubs is he is intoxicating – there’s always the promise of tomorrow with him.  “You’ll do it tomorrow,” he whispers in my ear. “Come watch Season 2 of  The House of Cards with me.  Write that tomorrow,”  he says luring me to the couch.

Hanging out with P-Dubs is like hanging out with the really cute boy in the fast car your parents warned you not to – it can end well with you having fun and not getting caught or it can end horribly wrong.

Sometimes P-Dubs helps me write an essay or post.  The distraction he provides can help get my creative juices flowing. This piece was written after spending an entire day with P-Dubs because I didn’t know how to respond to the prompt.  The funny thing is if I’m working on something with an imminent deadline, he always pulls out the draft due in a week.  He smiles and says, “You know, you’d rather be working on this.  Save that for later.”

P-Dubs has taught me to push the envelope, to relax and enjoy myself.  “You work better under pressure,” he laughs.  I’ve learned the value of giving a task your all and doing what it takes to get something done in an inordinately short period of time.  Sometimes this works, I get to hang out with P-Dubs and write a decent post in an abbreviated time frame.

Sometimes, it doesn’t.  Some things never get completed.  A review of my draft posts last week showed twelve posts started and stopped; currently there are eight.  I deleted the posts that will never be written because they are no longer relevant.  Some of those half written posts were actually good.

There are times P-Dubs and I battle and he keeps his distance while I entertain discipline and dedication.  It never lasts for long, he stops sulking and he is my kryptonite.

But if you’ll excuse me I’ve got to run, P-Dubs is stretched out on the couch waiting to start binge watching the first five seasons of The Walking Dead before season 6 starts in October.

Image courtesy of nenetus at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.