Hey friends, how are you doing? Can you believe September is here already? I am flabbergasted! In less than four months, if the Lord allows, January 2020 will be here.  In 2019, we have already lived life for a little over eight months.  It seems like just yesterday, I made plans for the new year, yet time treks on and if I’m not careful, I could easily be stuck in yesterday.  Although I don’t want to end the year with regrets and disappointments, these are inevitable, aren’t they? it’s impossible to live life without these emotions at our sides, but we can attempt to minimize the number of times they visit our lives, with the help of our Lord.  Time moves to the drumbeat of our Heavenly Father, thank God, and we are in His Hand. 

Eight months already, I just can’t get over that.  Time certainly waits for no man or woman for that matter.  I used to think time stood still, when I was a child, but now I am convinced time moves at the speed of light.  What are your plans for the next four months? How do you want to to end the year? 

Have I already said here and here that balance has usually eluded me? I’m either doing everything or doing nothing. This flaw has been very evident in my life during the past few months.

Procrastination is an attitude that frustrates me, when it is displayed in others and yet I seem to suffer from the same malady.  This usually affects me, when I am swamped with a million tasks to accomplish and I therefore feel overwhelmed.  My life feels chaotic and disorderly and I just can’t handle so I escape with a novel and pretend the problems don’t exist.  I do know, of course, that the tasks are still there, but somehow the belief that ignoring my responsibilities makes them magically disappear, persist. Perhaps I believed for a moment that I was in control or had some control and now that this mountain of responsibilities has proven yet again that control was a figment of my imagination; the feelings of inadequacy and weakness leaves me totally overwhelmed.  How did I get there?

 Well… I guess you could say, it’s a vicious cycle.  It’s that procrastination’s fault.  I intended to complete that task, but I thought I had more time, so I decided to take a break and work on my fall decorations, except that task had a deadline and my fall decorations did not, and… you get the point. When the girls were younger, they began to display that same annoying trait toward their schoolwork and chores.   I told them over and over again, ‘do what you HAVE to do before what you WANT to do’. But what I want to do is usually more fun than what I have do, right? Surely, I’m not the only one in this dilemma. Well, one would think as an adult, I would have acquired that character by now, but sadly here I am.  Still struggling with this very frustrating trait. I do know what I have to do, I just need to do it.  Procrastination always, always inevitably leaves me feeling overwhelmed and out of sorts and I want to do better before 2019 comes to a close.   I know the Lord wants me work on that and David had this to say, although, perhaps, it was not as a result of procrastination: 

Here are a few steps to doing better:

Surrender my tasks to the Lord.  That’s usually the easy part for me, believe it or not.  

Leave it at His feet.  Now that’s the part I struggle with; when will I believe in the absolute goodness of my God? 

Write down the tasks and responsibilities that must be accomplished.  

Set daily goals and a time frame toward the completion of the goals, be realistic with time, the key is to ensure I am not overwhelmed by completing small, doable sections at a time.  

Say no? Yes… it’s a real word with a real meaning.  (I’m trying to convince myself of that). 

Stay on task… Dear God, help me.  Pray for me; especially when the end is in sight, I tend to slow down; let’s just call it what it is… procrastinate.

Surrender the tasks to the Lord (did I say that already?)

Leave all in His safe and loving Hands.  (Yep; definitely needed to hear it again)

Do you struggle with procrastination? What are your tips and advice to curbing this very real problem? 

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