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Ask Amy: Husband’s unfaithful; now he’s grounded forever

Amy Dickinson, Tribune Content Agency on

If she spends a lot of time policing you, she may also have to find other ways to fill that time with a job, a hobby, friends and interests of her own.

Dear Amy: I’m a procrastinator unless I have deadlines.

How can I deal with this?

– Practiced Procrastinator

Dear Procrastinator: You’ve taken your question to the master procrastinator, Grasshopper.

Like many writers, I’ve perfected the fine art of procrastination, although I view it differently than I used to. I now see procrastination as being a potentially positive aspect of the creative process, because I tend to get a lot of things done while I’m busy putting off getting other things done. (Procrastinating writers tend to have very tidy houses.)

 

Starting can often be the hardest part. (I call this, “Opening the envelope.”)

If you can force yourself to open the envelope, click on the email, assign a title to the word document, schedule the Zoom call, you will have started. Work will often flow from simply getting started.

And yes, deadlines help – so set a deadline for yourself and offer yourself a small reward for meeting your deadline.

Your self-imposed deadline might look like this: “I’ll start the project at 11 today. After I’ve done my work, I’ll reward myself with one episode of “Seinfeld.”

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