Tomorrow is Always a Day Away

Today’s blog is about not blogging. And about not writing, not exercising, not dieting, and in general just not doing. The past few months I’ve been juggling so many hats and projects and lately I feel like I’m always on the run, always working on something, or something is always hanging over my head as something else that has to be done in short order. So those precious times when I find myself with an evening or even just a few hours during which I don’t absolutely have to be doing something, I’ve been pushing off the things that, while they have value to me, aren’t on that list of absolute requirements and doing a blissful amount of nothing instead.

For instance...

I really need to start exercising...

I really need to finish writing that chapter of ‘Tilt’...

I really need to finish woodburning the dragonfly clock...

I really need to update my blog...

I really need to organize the stuff from the move...

I really need to de-cat-hair the Catio

I really need to finish the book trailer for ‘Alice Will’...

I really need to cook a healthy casserole for lunches this week...

But I can do all of that tomorrow and enjoy tonight, right?

The "Catio." My writing studio, Fortress of
Solitude, and Bat Cave. Oh, and it has cats.

Wrong. I’ve been consciously lying to myself for weeks now by deciding to do something on the morrow -  and YES, it is a lie because I know I’ll probably go through the same song and dance again the next day. And the next day. Tomorrow is the day that never comes and I’m going to have to start making myself do what I know I should be doing today, not tomorrow.

Now that was Part I of confession time today. I’m a slacker hobbyist and I know it. But Part II is that I know I’m not going to change overnight. Or maybe not even overyear. Sure, there are lots of passive incentives for getting these things done (along the lines of “I’ll feel better for having done this”), but there are plenty of those for sitting my lazy ass on the couch and reading a great  book, too. I think my solution might lie in negative incentives for NOT doing them.

I’ll start small... All of those things listed above are things that I could do every night and any night when the chores and whatnot are complete. Maybe I need to pick one totally at random per night and spend at least an hour doing it. The negative incentive? I'll do exactly what Mom did when I was a kid who wouldn't do my homework: I don’t get to read/eat ice cream/watch Battle Star Galactica until I’ve spent that hour in productive mode. I may even have to rope Steven in to be my conscience and keep me honest in this endeavor, although there is the danger that he might enjoy the role of task master a bit too much. Granted, this may end with me spending some nights staring at a blank wall because I can’t motivate myself, but I think maybe I’m on the right track.

And you know what the best part is? I’m going to start tonight. Because tomorrow will always be a day away.