Nothing gets crossed out

This morning, I mailed off an RSVP to a wedding. I filled out my name, checked off the box that said I will attend, put it in the envelope and dropped it in the mailbox that the USPS conveniently put on the path between me and my workplace. It took about 40 seconds to fill it out and put it in the envelope, and about 2 seconds to drop it in the mailbox.

When I do laundry, I always fold my clothes right away, but they tend to sit folded in the laundry basket somewhere in my living room for 3 to 4 days because this part of my brain tells me, "Look at all those clothes! It's going to take forEVER to put those away!" When I do finally get around to putting them away, it takes me about 3 minutes, and I kick myself for living a life of stepping over a laundry basket for as long as I did.

This is what infuriates me about me. Even when I know that I can accomplish something in a small amount of time, I still translate it subconsciously as a massive task that I need to formally set aside a large chunk of time to accomplish, and it just can't be done until I can set aside that amount of time that isn't too early or late in the day, isn't close to another task, doesn't come after I've been drinking, and doesn't come when one of my favorite shows is on. And even when I do figure out a time, I still usually procrastinate on it.

It's this simple, rational concept that I keep trying to get through my brain: when you see something that needs to be done, do it. It's incredible how, both at work and home, if I follow that train of thought, I can get a huge amount of stuff done in a very short time, much shorter than I thought. Even procrastinating, I can still accomplish things. I can write a letter to someone I haven't talked to in years. I can put together a web page that I've been meaning to do. I can figure out a song that I've wanted to play for forever.

I just can't seem to get that one simple concept to stick. It makes a guest appearance once every few months, but I can never make it stay.