Silly Doodle by Michelle Micalizzi inspired by Tim Urban.
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Tim Urban’s TED talk describing procrastinators is just hysterical! Please take a moment to listen to it – it’s totally worth it!
I can completely relate to the reality of procrastination. Yes, indeed we all are familiar with the “Instant Gratification Monkey”, The “Rational Decision-Maker” and the “Panic Monster.” What I am best at is replacing the “Panic Monster,” that Urban so wonderfully illustrates, with the “LET’S GET SHIT DONE! Fairy,” the character guide who gently takes your but firmly says, “Okay now, come on, let’s do this and this, and then this together, and look? POOF – All done!” I have built my business around the idea of being that person who understands “it” and delves into your business, shoulder to shoulder with you, to execute the projects that have been stuck on your To Do list for far too long. This is what I do!!
It’s not that I do not go through the same process that Urban describes in his talk. For example, I currently have three panels sitting on my studio wall that are supposed to be focused on the entrepreneurial trait of “Passion” for this very blog. They have, in truth, been there for at least a week too long and not yet finished Today, I drew one of Urban’s inspired stick figures on a panel for this post just to make myself laugh! Eventually, I will paint over it for the Passion post but enjoyed the ironic timing between the two themes; passion and procrastination. Interestingly, it has now become a relevant back-story for that post.
The point is, I most certainly do get it. I just refuse to give up and not do the dance! I won’t let forever go by and simply NEVER get shit done. I refuse to look back at my life and say “OOPSY – I freakin’ ran out of time and missed my life and crap, I never became the woman God put me here to be.” AND I want to help as many people as possible with the time I am given. You see, this is what I am passionate about because I completely and whole heartedly understand how we all get stuck! I am not immune, that’s why I am good at being the Get Shit Done Fairy – I am a fellow sufferer – I just tenaciously get shit done regardless! So there!
Urban’s illustration of how many weeks a ninety year-old person has is very telling. I might would also add that I believe procrastination, and wandering, as I like to call it, are a necessary and BIG part of the entrepreneurial process that should not and cannot be avoided. It is during the times when we wander that our mind is released to accidentally stumble upon the big ideas and then regenerate to get to the final effort that makes shit happen! I have found, as Julia Cameron encourages in her book, “The Artist’s Way,” that “art dates” or as I prefer to call them “play dates” (or even “cry sessions”), can sometimes not be scheduled. Sometimes they inconveniently intrude and that is where the accidental magic actually happens. So I say procrastinate and wander away…. And then RECONNECT WITH YOUR PASSION; CREATE DEADLINES AND GET SHIT DONE!