Greetings everybody – I normally get my inspiration for what I’m going to write on a particular day in the morning but today, strangely, nothing came so I decided to devote myself to fiddling around in the garden, preparing the lunch, watching another excellent Richard Vobes video, wondering if my garden tools were going to make it through another year.

I know I’m 80 years of age but gardening keeps me fit and I enjoy doing paid work which I do mostly for people who are similarly retired.  I will continue with gardening so long as my body permits.

This is an image of a new way of presenting a starter courtesy of Françoise. She is a fish person and I am a life long fan of the four legged (or two legged) animal appreciation society.

I have to admit that vegetables go down very well particularly sweet potatoes and such a lunch followed by possibly a soup and bread in the evenings more than does me for the day. For breakfast I have a coffee and one slice of toast.

Are weather apps reliable?

We had for the most part of sunny day in spite of the weather app on my Android assuring me that it would be clouds. I do wonder how accurate these apps are especially as the one I’ve got covers the whole planet. It seems a bit ambitious.

I’m getting a bit sick of the Daily Express and the Mirror talking about 400 mile long walls of snow that are going to engulf Britain and it seldom happens but then Somerset normally escapes the worst

I do occasionally listen to Radio 4 but my prime loyalty lies to Radio 3 and the wonderful music particularly night sounds, anytime after 10 pm tuning and you will get some lovely music to send you to sleep in my case dozing on the sofa. There was an amazing program after the six o’clock news about dieting, Kier Starmer, and procrastination. That was the trigger or the incentive (I hate the word trigger for obvious reasons) that’s started me thinking on procrastination so here goes

The meaning of the word procrastination?

It means ” putting off to a future time, putting off from day to day, to put off till tomorrow, to defer, to delay which comes from the Latin word ‘forward’ pro–  and crastinus “belonging to tomorrow”. A jocular 19th Century term for a procrastinator was ‘tomorrower’ a word that does not sit well with common English usage these days.

Quotes about procrastination.

Do not put off till tomorrow what can be put off till day-after-tomorrow just as well.
[“Mark Twain,” “Advice to Young People,” 1882].
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone – Pablo Picasso
Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill Christopher Parker
Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone Shannon Alder

On the surface the word looks fairly obvious, we are putting something off that could be done now however that is a bit disingenuous and I can say deceptive.

Breaking down variants

You can be a dilatory person who tends to delay doing anything.

You can shillly-shally which is to vacillate, hesitate, or act in an irresolute manner, or you can hold something up perhaps while you consider the appropriateness of the action

Related to this is the word deliberation which is from the  Latin deliberationem ‘ the act of weighing and examining’.

So we might get frustrated by someone who is apparently procrastinating but we do not know what is going on in their minds or whether doing what they plan to do is going to happen at another time. I suppose you could ask them.

Getting the right mindset

I need to get my mindset right here. I was worried about not having my normal sense of purpose when I arose this morning and spent most of the day in lassitude as described above but maybe this was nature’s way of telling me to take some time off. I tend to define myself by what I do rather than what I am.

I’m a great believer in inspiration being given to you when you need to act on something. In other words it’s time dependent so if you get an idea that you should call someone it may be that they are in need of help and need your support, and this is the universe speaking to you.

When Françoise says that she wants something done around the house my inclination is instead of thinking about it is to do it straight away.

Am I really procrastinating?

I procrastinate or appear to procrastinate when someone suggests something and all does not feel well so I make a mental note of it, revisit it, and if I’m drawn to something like dust is drawn to a vacuum cleaner than I will do it.

Back in the day I remember as a boy I would ask my father what he thought about something and he said that he would give me an answer tomorrow. I do not regard that as procrastination because he wanted, I now see, to go through certain mental processes perhaps making inquiries before giving me the answer that I was looking for.

There is a nasty side to procrastination where for example you bring things up before your Member of Parliament, some wrong that you want to be investigated, and they will put it off. I’m not sure whether that is more than procrastination if it is a deliberate policy to ignore something. Any views anyone?

A local council can procrastinate with a new venture because the cost is too great and no one wants to man up and make a statement in public that they don’t have the money. There is a deceptive element here

I admit to procrastinating when I’m a bit nervous about something for example I wanted to change my service provider for my mobile phone SIM only and I was worried whether I would have a breaking service or whether I could open up my phone and insert the new SIM card. Perhaps more suitable word would be prevarication.

Am I procrastinating when I pause before jumping into a cold swimming pool? if I felt it was right that I jump I would hesitate. In this case the word procrastination is too heavy and hesitation reflects the normal nervousness of the acute stimulus of cold water but deep down we know it’s OK

I definitely procrastinated when calling Sky TV to have my Sky+ Box upgraded changed because I’m so fed up with waiting 45 minutes to get through to someone from India and I was not relishing the experience.

Is procrastination a weakness?

Yes and no,  it depends on the motive. If something is time sensitive particularly if it is something like an accident or a dangerous situation procrastination within my view be irresponsible.

If I am going to take a motor car journey and the weather shows signs of deterioration I would delay, and you can call that if you like procrastination to make sure that I’m not involving myself in an action that would be risky.

My  goodness there are so many synonyms for this word you could go on forever but such is the delightfully rich nature of the English language. All the following words have slightly different meanings:

dally, drag, lag, linger, loiter, pause, prolong, protract, stall, stay, tarry, wait

I like the word procrastinate because it’s a good umbrella word and is a good opportunity to examine your motives for doing something, your self discipline, and your lifestyle