Pinterest Addiction, Chronic Procrastination, and Other Maladies....

Hello! It's been eleven days since I last posted! I know, I know...bad little blogger. Everything's just been crazy busy, and I didn't feel right taking the time to put together blog posts when there was so much else to do.

via

Which brings me to today's post...can anyone relate to the title? Up until my Freshman year, I was the kind of girl who never played computer games, never went internet surfing. Once I got my own laptop, that all changed. I discovered the lovely blogging world. I started watching Youtube, and a good friend introduced me to Pinterest. It came about slowly, but somehow I ended up on the other end of the spectrum. I can no longer go a day without internet, and in many ways I'm addicted to it.

I'm going to share some startling stats at you: there are 22 blogs in my feed. Now, granted some of those aren't very active. But when they do post something, whether or not I'm extremely interested, I always feel the urge to read it. And then, "look...something from the archive. Let's follow this link. This reminds me of that other blog, let's go check it out"...and on, and on.

How about this one: since joining Pinterest in November (I think it was November...), I've made 25 boards with 2,355 pins. Yikes. Pinterest is a great site, full of inspiration...but it's so addicting. You just scroll...and scroll...."I'll stop when I finish this board....wow, that looks neat...I'll just take a quick peek...."

As if an internet addiction wasn't enough trouble, with me, it always just feeds my procrastination habit. Let's use recent 4-H Fashion Revue sewing as an example, shall we? (Note: Finally finished this dress. Pictures soon!). I bought my fabric back in early February, and had the pattern all ready to start. I planned on washing the fabric and cutting out the dress over several nights while I watched TV. I mean, Fashion Revue was months away, no need to stress. Just take it a little bit at a time. Well, I didn't wash my fabric until the first weekend in April. Then I stalled as long as possible in cutting it out. The dress itself came together in these past two weeks, with marathon sewing from Tuesday until Midnight Friday evening. 

The judging went pretty good, and overall the dress came together nicely. But I don't feel satisfied with it. I feel like it was sloppy, that I'm capable at more, and that the fit going into today could have been better. If I hadn't wasted all this time, I could have fixed all the little annoyances that only appear after a garment is constructed before judging, rather than having to go back later and fix it for prom. Not to mention there would have been less stress, and less late nights. 

I've always loved organizing things. I was the 9 year-old who had all her toys sorted into labeled boxes, which were then stacked inside the toy box. My problem is that when things are easy, I keep things in order. But when Mr. Busy jumps at me, I fall apart. Resolutions are thrown to the wayside, and I switch into survival mode.

Which brings me to another problem; as much as I complain about busy schedules, in fact, I sorta love it. In a mixed up, love-hate sort of way. I have lots of different interests, and I want to be good at a lot of different things. In the long run, though, will running to 3 million different activities actually help me? I may be well rounded, but will I be truly good at anything if I've got too much on my plate? 

I'm sure some of you reading this aren't like me. Some of you might not be interested by internet searches and/or Pinterest, and may be better at motivating yourself to get things done. Maybe you've learned how to deal with your busy schedule, or perhaps you've just decided to cut things out. Good for you! The only point I'm trying to make here is, procrastination is an evil, real-life problem. Internet addictions feed it, and busy schedules are impacted by it.

I think one of the worst parts about it, is that procrastination only makes me feel worse about myself. Let's talk about my dress again. Throughout the process, I kept asking myself, "Why am I even bothering?" and "You can't sew. Why fake it?". I was disgusted with myself. Granted, I was very frustrated with the dress, but what made it worse was that it was all my fault. It could have been avoided. If I had just dealt with the temporary 'discomfort' of actually working on a project, all the last-minute stress and anger could have been avoided.

I hate procrastination. I want to stop. I need to weed out the blogs I like from the ones I read 'just because'. I need to stop checking my Pinterest feed multiple times a day. I should stay off of the internet unless I've finished all my schoolwork. I need to make practical to-do lists, and then carry out everything on the list. I need to set realistic goals, and then work towards them with all my might. 

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of all this guilt. I'm ready to work hard, submit quality projects, and finally feel content. It's time to identify priorities and meet deadlines. So here's to schedules filled with things that will help you reach your goals, and the satisfaction that comes from putting forth your best.

Your Thoughts?: Are any of you facing similar struggles? What are some of your organization strategies? Have you more often found the problem to be procrastination on your side, or a schedule that is genuinely too full?

Thanks for reading! :)

P.S. I just want to take a minute to apologize for the lack of Disney Challenge posts. Like I said, this month's been crazy and blogging had to be put on hold for awhile. I plan on doing a finishing up post about it at some point, but I'm sorry if any of you were missing the posts. Thanks for understanding! :)