Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Procrastination, procrastination - it's making me wait...

Hi everyone:

Anticipation Procrastination!

Okay, if you're old enough to know who Carly Simon is, you'll get the title reference - with a minor change!

It seems like the more I have to do, the more I procrastinate. Pattern instructions to type up - I think I should do some baking. A project just needs to be quilted - I think I'll watch the next chapter in that Craftsy course I started. Blog posts to do - well, I think you can see where I'm going with this. 

I have at least 3 dozen of these pumpkin cranberry
muffins in the freezer - not that I'm avoiding work at all.
I'm not sure why I find it easier to delay projects, because it would really be quicker to just do them, but that's just the way I am (a personality trait that my husband just can't understand). I really do work better under pressure and need firm deadlines to keep me on track. 
I'm also one of those quilters who has several projects on the go at any one time. 
I admire quilters who can start one project and see it through to completion before starting the next quilt, but I don't think I'll ever be one of them. UFO's are the standard, not the exception, in my studio. 
A few of my projects in the works
I love designing the pattern, choosing the fabrics and even cutting up the fabric, but the enthusiasm starts to wane partway through the piecing and by the time I've come to the quilting part, well... This dwindling enthusiasm may be the reason that I have several drawers full of quilt tops and bins of partially completed projects. 
Teeka inspecting some of my UFO's
I need to conquer this procrastination so that I can be more productive, especially in finishing and publishing patterns. 
Winter patchwork and stitchery pattern partially completed
Here's how I'm going to do it:


  1. Make a list of patterns that are pending.
  2. Determine what remains to be done for each pattern.
  3. Determine the appropriate time to publish these patterns. Ex. Christmas patterns should be released in the early fall.
  4. Start to work on the patterns that I want to release next. 
I also find that I'm easily distracted by new design inspirations. I feel that I must work on this new idea immediately or I'll forget about it. Dropping what I'm currently working on - and may be almost finished - to focus on a new idea isn't very productive. I'm now writing down any information about the new idea and then putting it in a file folder where I can refer to it in the future - after I've completed the existing project.
New idea folders
I now have a plan - and can hopefully stick to it. I also need to limit disruptions and distractions, so am not checking my emails as frequently and am trying (!) to minimize my Facebook reading. Boy, do I find that difficult to do. 

So, if you don't hear from me or are wondering why I'm not commenting as much as usual, you can assume that I'm quilting or working on patterns. At least I'd better be...

If you have any hints for avoiding procrastination and focussing on one project at a time, I'd love to hear them. 

4 comments:

Lee D said...

oh and those muffins are soooo delicious!!! its not procrastination it's distractions that gets in the way...which boils down to life of a family...which gets in the way of what we like to do for fun. I think there is a lot of us out there that are in the same boat. Still need help organizing your studio? I am available after next week. A clean studio is a productive studio!

Unknown said...

It is so hard not to get distracted. I always seem to be working to the next deadline. Once it is past I worked to the next deadline. It would be nice if we could create more time.

Cathy (Corbin) Keevill said...

PAPER FILE FOLDERS???????
Isn't there an App for that?

Like you, I admire anyone who can do a project from start to finish. Lately, I'm not even finding the inside of my studio. I shall take a page from your book and try to procrastinate less.

Chatterbox Quilts said...

Glad to hear that I'm not alone in getting distracted and having more than one project on the go at a time. Cathy, while I do most of my work on the computer, I still find that I need somewhere physical to file ideas and projects in progress - I still write most of my instructions and fabric calculations on paper. I do use Evernote to keep track of information that I've found on-line, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do it all on the computer - just like I still prefer to read paper books, rather than ebooks (although I do have many of these).
Now, off to work on some real fabric!