This is a follow up post to Top 5 Excuses that Keep Me from My Artwork. If you want to read it first, check it out here.
Procrastination is the number one killer of dreams. Ideas are formed, plans are made, now it’s time to put my words into action…. And then, I do what comes naturally. I wait… and wait… and wait. For what? I’m not quite sure. For motivation? For inspiration? For the excuses to quit forming in my mind? Why do I allow procrastination to rule my dream? Why can’t I do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done?
Last year as one of my new year’s resolutions I decided to finish. And by finish I mean finish all of those pesky little projects that I had started and had good intentions on finishing but never got around to it because the little procrastination bug infected me. I made a list because that’s the number one task for a seasoned procrastinator to do. It was a long one. And every time I looked at my list I sighed because I knew that I just didn’t “feel” like doing it that day. Finally, I realized that I’m never going to “feel” like it enough to finish it because it’s on my list. I put a reason behind each task. If the reason wasn’t good enough, I gave myself permission to take it off of the list permanently and to quit feeling guilty over not getting it done.
By putting reasons behind what I wanted to accomplish, my list gained new life. For example, one of my unfinished projects was the Princess’s baby book. Ok, she’s 12 now… um, yah, I know. I kept passing it by on the list because it took so much time to finish and I dreaded filling the pages with things so long ago that I may not remember them. But my reason for finishing was outside of myself. I wanted her to have a book of her first year to look back on for the rest of her life. This was really important to me and reason enough to motivate me to get myself into gear. I broke down the project into small, manageable pieces: select and order pictures, write captions, select layouts, find fun quotes, arrange and attach pictures and writings, etc. Now I could manage one part of the bigger task much easier and I got it completed in about a month’s time.
One by one each of my tasks were eliminated, either by actually completing the project or by cancelling the project. By the end of the year I didn’t have any old tasks unfinished on my list. Of course, I have added many more since then, but that’s beside the point, right?
When it comes to my artwork, to eliminate the procrastination bug, I have to once again incorporate the same strategy of clarifying my reason for wanting to get the work done in order to pursue my dream of running my own art business. I make a list, decide a reason for each item on the list which clarifies it and erases all of the nonessentials. Then I break down the bigger tasks to manageable pieces. Every day I complete at least one task that brings me closer to being the creative entrepreneur I want to be. Oftentimes I find that by doing just one task motivates me to complete another… and then another.
One verse that particularly resonates with me is Philippians 1:6, which says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” We do nothing alone, God is with us, helping us to do the good work that he purposed for us to do. That provides me with courage and comfort to work hard with what God has gifted me.
I also often repeat to myself a mantra that a good friend got into my head, “Din, din, din!” When I first heard it, I thought she must be hungry? But no, DIN is an acronym for “Do It Now!” This and remembering my vision helps me fight against the urges to let even one day slip by without working on my dream, my purpose.
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