Caroline Kennedy

Pro-cras-ti-na-a-a-tion
May 8, 2007

Is makin’ me late… (think Carly Simon’s “Anticipation”)

And I can do it so well! As I have done this week because I should have posted this yesterday. Really, I was working on something else, something necessary and productive, but that was a way of procrastinating — putting doing this off.

So speaking of horoscopes … I grabbed my light raincoat as I ran out the door yesterday morning. I hadn’t worn it in sometime, and as is my habit, I stuck hands in my pockets to see what was residing there, besides lint (and ever hopeful that there might be a $10 or a $20!). What I found was another of my horoscopes that I had ripped out of the newspaper. This one focused on one of my character flaws: “There’s a tendency to over-think things, and this could cause you to hesitate or procrastinate with what you need to do. Don’t get it right, just get it done. You’re brilliant once you dive in.”

Quite true, to a point. “Don’t get it right, just get it done” is good advice so long as we don’t take it too literally. The point here is getting it right, striving for perfection, while it is a good goal to have, can stand in the way of getting the job done. And fear of failure to meet unreasonable standards that I set for myself, often causes me to procrastinate rather than just diving in and tackling the project and getting it more than adequately done. My mantra more accurately should be “Don’t make it perfect, just get it done.”

We all have a tendency to procrastinate and put off those tasks we find unpleasant, difficult or just not our favorite thing to do.But when it comes to our businesses, our jobs and/or our responsibilities, that is not the best plan of action. So join me. Take a deep breath … Dive into that project and think, “Don’t make it perfect, just get it done.”

Posted by Caroline Kennedy on May 8, 2007 | Comments (0)