Up there on the list of worst ways to procrastinate

is 'To blog about procrastination.' Let me just warn any sympathetic soul who might be reading this that this will not be the last post about procrastination.

Yesterday was move-in and last-minute packing day. Onsite key pickup lasted until 4:00 PM and I get there at 4:00 PM. I waited until the last minute to pack and needed the help of my entire family to gather and prepare everything I needed into the back of our minivan and couldn't have made it without them. Not that I made it in the sense that I got my key at 4:00 (I didn't), but had the housing people still been there at 4:00 PM, I wouldn't have missed my opportunity. And that's what this is about. Missing opportunities.

But before I discuss further, let me just explain how I didn't get in any trouble. The housing office itself is operating on extended hours, which means the deadline was actually an unmissable 8 PM (which is why when I succeed, luck is a major factor). Had I known this, I may very well have dragged my feet even longer and have gotten locked out all night as my roommate went home after moving his stuff in.

What have I learned? Well, this kinda happens every time I move in... so let's see if blogging about it will help. I should add that I've actually read the first half of a book on procrastination. The read the parts explaining why people procrastinate and stopped after I got into the 'here's what we're going to do' part.

1. Be realistic! Although real tragedies occur if tasks with no actual deadline are then delayed or put-off indefinitely. There are always deadlines: your life is finite. If a task cannot be put off forever (obviously none can), doing it early is better than doing it late!
2. Some days your luck just runs out. Others you miscalculate how long things will take, often failing to take into account logistical and time-consuming steps.
3. The only sure way to trump luck or miscalculation is to do things earlier than they actually have to be done. That means they'll be done without the adrenoline rush and you won't get last minute help from family and friends (btw, thanks to my friends for helping me carry stuff up to my room).
   
4. Enlisting the help of family and friends can help you achieve your goals faster.
5. Simulate that adrenoline rush (or otherwise biochemical surge) if necessary. Coffee (effect too weak) and a red-bull analog (effect too strong) haven't served me very well. If you're hard-core enough (and don't have a heart condition), watch this extremely scary commercial to give you a shock and to wake you up. I'm certainly not often motivated enough to watch this video. Trust me, I fell off my chair when I saw it. (NOTE: I did not actually make sure the link worked because I don't want to watch it again. Yeah, I'm a coward, but I intend to go to sleep soon. Let me know if the link is broken or wrong. Again,please do NOT watch this if you have heart problems or you have a family history of heart problems. If you are a feed off fear, let me know if this is not as scary as it sounds.
   
6. Anything else?

It's important to make a note that chronic procrastination often stems from underlying fears —fear of success, fear of failure, or other anxieties— that would lead you to put something off. Dealing with these fears, debunking their logical foundations, and questioning their legitimacy in inhibiting your actions will help deal with the source of your procrastination problem. This is of course is much less apply if you're only lazy about trivial tasks and do not procrastinate from doing important ones.

It's called being more assertive...

Today we were at Charlie Browns with my family celebrating something for Suki and as usual I took a very long time to order. The last time we were there, Suki and Kathae being wordly and smart people ordered a 24 oz. Double Cut Prime Rib entre for $18.49 because it was the best value—the next cheapest item was an 18 oz. Charlie's Cut for only a couple dollars cheaper. That time, Kathy and Suki each paid half the bill to celebrate our parent's twenty-somethingeth anniversary and they convinced Tom to order the expensive item too.

I personally resisted their attempts to order something big (being a self appointed martyr of not ordering expensive food at the expense of others) and chose to order what I considered the best value, a 16 oz. chopped steak for around 13.99. Kathy was quite surprised that I ordered it, and when it arrived in front of me, I was informed by our server that it was basically a big hamburger. So much for value. I dutifully chomped down almost all of the 'steak', but resolved next time not to order the oversized hunk of ground beef.

Sorry for the runaway flashback, but to get back to yesterday, I held usual reservations as I propped up the menu for scrutiny. It looked just as it did last time, but with one fewer option available to me. I didn't really want chicken, because chicken was chicken. I didn't want salmon because salmon was salmon. I wanted a combo of prime rib and something else, but that entailed eating a Queen Cut which had excluded itself by declaring itself fit for a Queen. As I floundered in choosing an entre that was at once stood for value, good taste, and non-banality, Suki tried making me the next victim to fall for the Double Cut rationale. I resisted capitulating to her strength of will and internally settled for a 16 oz Sirloin steak. Kathy, sharing the Rationale followed in dismissing the choice of Sirloin.

Tommy had already settled for a Double Cut—Kathy and Suki had, expectedly, the same. My dad ordered without much fanfare some grilled chicken, and my mom had not yet voiced her choices. With our server about to make a third visit to solicit our selections, Suki repeated her proposition that I share the Double Cut with my mom. To make a long story short, I ordered the damn Double Cut but not without getting defensive about the choice. Not realizing that the plan to beat the system with sharing and splitting would leave my mom without a need to order, I informed her quite bitterly that my they (referring to my sister and her friend) insisted that she order the Salad Bar. With the server hovering and probably not that impatient, she ordered it after considering the option to not order somewhat inappropriate given our restaurant setting.

At this point, my pent up and unacknowledged frustration about not having been able to successfully order an entre caused me to blame my sister for coercing me to order the Double Cut resulting in my mother ordering the 8.99 salad bar. My anger and edged words directed against (but mostly bottled up) Kathae (and Suki) were quite unreasonable and are the subject of my post.

I feel that my mistakes in this situation are numerous.

1. I should have been able to pick an item from the menu while giving only the consideration it deserved.
   
2. If I truly wanted to make my own independent choice, I should have voiced my intention to do so. That could've avoided any pent up frustration from exacerbating any stress that had been burdening me.
3. Anything else?