I don’t procrastinate, I put it off until later

I have been accused of procrastinating, even though I do not think I do. Sure, there are times when I put things off, but it’s only because I don’t want to do them or they tend to be negative matters, which I try to avoid. To clarify, something I view as negative, may not seem the same to others. I recently discovered Margaret Atwood is a self-proclaimed procrastinator. She admits it, and goes on to say that most writers are. Now I am starting to feel better. I decided to take on the task of finding out why people procrastinate, and how to possibly avoid it. First of all, it is important to note that procrastination is not a sign of laziness, unless you spend most of your time sitting on a couch. It merely means you have more exciting things you would rather be doing, or perhaps, you have too many things on your plate. Like most people, I have a list of things I have to do, but unfortunately it is never near me when I need to add something to it. I enjoy crossing things off the list, but I find the thrill of creating the list is far better than doing the things on it. One thing I am trying to do is tighten my schedule. Instead of working 5 days a week I have cut my time back to 4 days. Surprisingly, I am still getting everything done. This proves the old adage, the tasks you have to do are equal to the time you have to do them. Shorten the time and you become more efficient. This reminded me of the old proverb, if you want something done quickly; give it to a busy person. One of my downfalls is the internet and social media. When I post something on Facebook or Instagram, I inevitably find myself scrolling to see what other people have added. Before I know it, half an hour has passed. I now have an app that tells me my screen time each week, and do my best to shorten it. One way is to dedicate only 30 minutes each day to reading the latest dinner selections, wine choices and pics of the dogs of my 5,000 best friends. Once I refine this new working model and prove how efficient it will be, it could give me that extra day added to my weekend, I then plan to package it and market it. From there I will bring it down to 3 days, and who knows what the future holds. Most of us have the ability to earn money we may have lost, but I have not met anyone who can reclaim lost time. Jonathan van Bilsen is a television host, published author, award winning photographer and keynote speaker. Watch his new show ‘Jonathan van Bilsen’s photosNtravel’ on Rogers TV, the Standard’s website and YouTube.