There’s always so much to do. Before the pandemic, I always thought that I didn’t get things done because I didn’t have enough time. Well, that turned out to be completely untrue because when you’re locked in your house for months on end with nothing to do, these things still don’t get done. I’ve been lying to myself. There are so many ways to procrastinate.
You’re probably lying to yourself too, because you’re here reading this post instead of doing whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing.
But why are you procrastinating, and how should you go about doing it?
Why are you procrastinating?
Procrasticleaning
For most people, they are avoiding whatever they’re supposed to be doing. Mundane tasks like report cards writing tend to bring about procastacleaning-where you would rather steam clean your carpet or scrub a toilet than sit down in front of a computer to write those comments. Nobody is judging because teachers will be the first to tell you how they’ve cleaned their houses during report card time.
Perfectionism
Perfectionism is another reason for procrastinating. Some people just can’t get going until they know they can do it perfectly. If you’ve been a reader of our blog for some time, you know that this is not the case with us. Typos slip through, but we are not stuck by perfectionism. But, this is a serious problem for some people. They would rather not take the risk and be looked at as “not perfect” than just not do something in the first place.
Boredom
Yup. It seems counterproductive that boredom is the reason for procrastinating, but when the mind is bored, it’s not really interested in anything. If you’re really bored, maybe you want to read about an escaped hamster?
Mental Health
Medical problems like depression or anxiety can be debilitating for some people. If you think your procrastination is getting in the way of your relationships or work we encourage you to reach out to a medical professional.
A Stress Mess
Disorganization can also take a person down. When a person is disorganized they don’t have a clear path to getting things done. If you think you need a little help, you should get our weekly planning pages from our Resource Library or get them emailed to you when you sign up for our email list. It’s a simple one page plan where you can write the things you need to get done-so maybe you can get some of them done.
Here are some completely useless ways to procrastinate
This is always a great way to spend a few hours of your time. Fill up those boards with great ideas that you will always wish you had the time to do! If you’re not already following us on Pinterest, you’ve been missing out because we pin SO many things every day, but we call it working because it’s teaching stuff. We love to follow teachers, too, so be sure to let us know who you are.
Live vicariously through other people who get out, do things and take photos of it. The latest craze has been Facebook groups where you can chat with fellow procrastinators. We have a Facebook page for Brain Ninjas, but we’ll be the first to admit we don’t really use it as much as we should (other than sharing cat videos and teacher memes).
Feel free to post on our Facebook page. You can always link worthwhile blog posts, cat videos or other great ways everyone can waste some time. We’d love to see what you’re posting these days.
There can never be enough time to look at people’s pets dressed in human clothes or plates of food. We spend most of our social media time on this platform and we’ve become known for our “Overheard in Our Classroom” posts which are silly things we hear during the school day. You should definitely waste some of your time there. Follow us to join in on the fun (and if you’re a real teacher we’ll probably follow you back).
We also love to post teachers using our products, so if you take photos and post them to your account, be sure to tag us. We love to see what your students are doing and you might even get a shout-out. 🙂
Netflix or Other Streaming Sites
There’s time to binge-watch an entire series but not time to write ONE BLOG post in a two-week school break (not that one of the ninjas learned this from experience). Everybody binges on something from time to time, but now that there are so many streaming sites it’s easy to get sucked in and watch a weekend vanish into thin air. If you have any binge-worthy suggestions, be sure to reach out and let us know. 🙂 We’re always looking for suggestions.
Some of our best binges: Game of Thrones, Cardinal, The Queen, Bridgerton, Schitt’s Creek, and Modern Family.
TikTok
It’s a bit of a problem. Hours seem to disappear on that one.
Here are some more ways to procrastinate, but have some sort of benefit
Clean Out the Utensil Drawer
Nope, there’s not an app for this, but it is amazing that when there’s a tonne to do, that is the best time to sort out the knives and forks and vacuum out the drawer. Warning: This can lead to cleaning the vacuum and regrouting the tile in the bathroom.
If you’re looking to do a deep clean, you should read Clean the Clutter. It can help you clean things out for good (and you get the benefit of a clean house when you’re done).
Decorate Your Planner
At least if there’s nothing in it-it will look GOOD. Nothing makes me feel more accomplished than having a beautifully decorated planner that I won’t have time to write anything into and if by chance I do, won’t actually use.
Truthfully, my planner is a disaster of scribbles, plans, changed plans and random thoughts, but it does get used. Decorating sometimes helps it look a little more organized, but not always.
We love the stickers from Happy Planner but usually wait until they go on sale at Michael’s Canada.
Move Furniture
Instead of writing lesson plans, reorganize the living room. And make as many people in the household as possible join in on the fun. You can spread procrastination everywhere. When you’re done in the living room, flip all your bed mattresses, paint the basement and build a shed. 🙂
The physical work of moving furniture around is healthy. If you move it enough, it’s similar to going for a jog or working out. Exercise is a great thing!
If you don’t have a piano to move, consider piling all your furniture in the middle of the room for fun.
Cook or Bake Something
It looks like organization, but it means you can stand in front of the stove for hours and look busy (while watching Netflix). Think soup. It takes hours and doesn’t actually require a lot of work once things are chopped and thrown into a pot.
And as a benefit, you get to eat what you cook, so there’s even a side benefit to this one. You can even make up school lunches or a dinner.
Clean Out Your Purse or School Bag
This will give you a whole other list of things to do and if you’re lucky you’ll find the thing you were looking for last December. School bags and purses easily become dumping grounds for all kinds of things.
But if you find the assignment from the one kid who swore they handed it in, but you didn’t believe them-burn it. No one ever needs to know.
Maybe You Need This Instead of Ways to Procrastinate
If you’re like us and having a little trouble getting back into the swing of things, take some advice from us. Turn off social media. Turn off your phone. Put on some energetic music and get to work. Enjoy the people around you because soon enough you’ll be tired and cranky and everything will still get done.
If you’re looking for some ways to maximize your productivity, you should take a look at some of our other more serious posts on the matter.
- The Keys to Teacher Wellness
- Less is More-Teacher Wellness Strategies
- Teacher Tired Habits to Break.
If you love to read, we have got the book for you. Erin Falconer’s How to Get Sh*t Done was a game-changer for us. We aren’t putting in a link because we believe you should support your local bookstore. Erin is a prolific blogger and her book was so enjoyable. It was eye-opening and really helped, but it’s not actually a self-help book.
Now, we wrote this post because we were procrastinating on schoolwork. Our report cards are due soon and I find that’s the best time to write several months worth of blog posts all at once. It was meant to be a silly post to give people a laugh, but in all seriousness, if procrastination is impeding your life, please reach out. It doesn’t have to be such a struggle.
Many teachers deal with procrastination. As a teacher, it drives us crazy when our students, coworkers or partners do it, but sometimes we’re our own worst enemies. It doesn’t have to be.
It’s Time to Get Back to Work
Now, before you get back to work (because we’ve inspired you to dig right in), get yourself a nice drink, a comfy seat and dive into whatever it is that you’ve been avoiding. If it’s taxes or jury duty we are so sorry.
Let us know your favourite ways to procrastinate or the ways you overcome this in the comments below. We love you ninjas!
