Grown Up Embarrassment

You know how when you’re a kid and if you put something off, it would somehow magically get done? That doesn’t happen when you’re a grown up. I’ve heard tales of women whose spouses may spontaneously unload the dishwasher without being asked, but, generally, as an adult, if you don’t do something, it doesn’t get done.

I’ve noticed that putting off things like doing the dishes, or the laundry, only ends up making this worse. They don’t get magically done when you ignore it and by the time you actually do it, there is MORE work to do. Obviously, this has lead to the conclusion that I need to just “git ‘er done” (as they say in Dillon, TX). I try, and am moderately successful at keeping on top of daily tasks. However, you know what I am terrible at?

Projects.

The not-so-regular, don’t actually need to be done on a timeline but still need to be done eventually kind of projects. I’ve got TONS of them. This past weekend I was thinking about doing one and I thought “I really need to get that done.” And then I laughed at myself because there was absolutely nothing stopping me from getting it done right then and there. Not one thing stood in my path. Is it done? Nope, but I did waste time having that mental conversation with myself.

So, fine, I’m bad at projects. BAD. I ignore them until I can almost forget I need to do them at all. But it’s a bad habit. They will never get done unless I do them, so I either need to do them or decide they don’t need to be done and live with it.

However, this is what prompted the blog. I was looking for something on my blog. Something specific. I did a search and a few results came back. I clicked on a couple and read them trying to find the info I was looking for. (I did find it). Then I read a blog post entitled “Randomness“. It was pretty random. It did not contain the information I was looking  for, but it did contain this sentence.

“My bathroom light burned out. I haven’t yet figured out how to remove the cover to replace the bulb. Judging from the size of the cover, I don’t have the right size bulb anyway. Another fun thing about being a homeowner.”

And I sort of seized up. I scrolled back to the top to check the date of that post. September 20, 2011. Over TWO YEARS AGO and, guess what? That light is still not fixed. I’ve still never opened the cover to find the right size bulbs.

What is wrong with me? This is absurd. And embarrassing. Well, it should be embarrassing, so I’m posting it here. I will leave work tonight, go to the library, go home and check that light. Tomorrow I will stop and buy a bulb and fix it. No more putting this off. It will be done.

It will.

Or you need to all swing by and heckle me. A burnt out bulb for more than two years, just because of procrastination? I’m ashamed of myself.