I have an issue.
Sometimes I’ll start something, work on it with huge amounts of gusto and zest, and then right before I finish whatever it is, I stop. And I can’t go any further. I have a draft of a post I wrote TWO WEEKS AGO just rotting away in my wordpress admin page… Why?
Is it because I feel like a post has to be “finished” and polished before I can publish it? Is it perfectionism? Maybe I’m afraid it won’t be up to par? Or maybe it’s one of those stupid-sounding “fear of success” things. ha.
Or is it procrastination? … Usually if you’re procrastinating, you busy yourself with other things, right? Well I’ve been super-busy making stuff lately.
I have a stack of brand new baby blankies I haven’t photographed for the shop yet.
I have a WHOLE LOT of aprons that haven’t been photographed… granted, I’ve tried to photograph them, but it hasn’t worked out in my favor (or in the aprons’ favor).
So what is my roadblock? I guess I need to figure out what it is before I can climb over it, right?
In either case, I think participating in NaBloPoMo this year will help me out. That stands for National Blog Posting Month, and the idea is that you post something on your blog every day in the month of November, even if it’s just one sentence or a picture.
I also came up with another couple exercises I need to try, to see if I can work through this habit – whether it’s procrastination or perfectionism.
- Write up a daily/weekly schedule. Include house chores, business chores, crafting goals, etc. Put input in comments for me, por favor!
- Aim to have new items added to the shop every month (maybe on a certain date, like the 1st of every month).
- A little art project I won’t share with you right now. haha. But it’s sort of a daily crafting thing that I came up with, with a theme.
What do you think? What’s my problem, and how can I work through it?
And to intentionally make this post imperfect and to bring up some procrastinatey things…
Here are some skeleton key napkins I made for myself. I thought they turned out really well, and planned to make a few more sets in different colors for the shop, but haven’t gotten around to it. Nor have I posted them here. So here they are. Do you think anyone would like to buy them if I made them?
Here are some chocolate dark-chocolate-chip muffins I made a lonnnnnnnng time ago. I took pictures, edited them, and got ready to write the recipe and my post, but I didn’t. It’s another one rotting away in my wordpress queue. What is wrong with me?!?! How can I keep these delicious things to myself!?
Another secret I’ve been unintentionally keeping? Homemade focaccia that only takes a couple hours and one bowl. It’s super easy and pretty darned yummy. We liked dipping “stick” shaped pieces in marinara sauce. mmmmm. Make me write the recipe down for you, please!!!
And the worst one???
I took some photos of my craft show essentials (this is just one of several photos) LAST SPRING… as in either February or March of 2008. Now if I could find my list that is on paper (I think I have an idea of where it is), I could write the craft show essential checklist. We’re coming up on a year for this one, folks.
Added: The sick part? I just went back and proofread this post before I could hit “Publish.” Something is really not firing in my brain, I guess.
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and brand new stay at home mom. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate on a budget, and keep a happy home. I breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
Poo about it being inherited.
I knew about the crocheted afghan… not about the dress and quilt for Jessica. Are you going to finish those for Dorsey’s wedding / Jessica’s kids, respectively? hehe.
Yeah I think, like Charlie said above… there’s more of an overlap here than we’d think on the surface.
It’s inherited.
Do you know I still have a dress I started smocking for Jessica when she was 8yrs old? And a quilt I started making for her about the same time. Lots of squares cut out and backed. (21 years)
I started a crocheted afghan for Julie when she got engaged. Her 12th anniversary is in January.
And your Wedding Scrapbook seems to be stuck on the post ceremony pictures. Maybe for your 2nd anniversary?
But I think perfectionism is a part of it. When something is just not quite on…the enthusiasm goes too. Just keep in mind all of the things that you DO complete…an enviable number of projects and postings…smile…breathe…and say Oh Well.
Those are some really good ideas, I might try them.
I found my art journal very liberating too. I’m finally learning to draw after putting it off for so long because my drawing wasn’t ‘perfect’ straight away.
(And I would like to see the foccaccia recipe too!)
I hope you do publish that recipe for homemade focaccia bread; I don’t have one and that photo up there sure makes it look tasty!!
I’ve learned the hard way that if we hit publish too early, our bad versions stay in people’s readers for a long time. If we publish completely in error, Google reader never deletes the post even if it is deleted from the blog. I blog about totally benign things, so this is okay usually, but once I blogged about my connection to a gossipy racy television show and I wish I’d never done that.
You can’t blog about absolutely everything. we have to have some projects that are your own. Also, I think for us crafty types, the planning and working on projects is part of what we enjoy, so we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves when things don’t always reach completion. Some projects just aren’t always meant to be. And I don’t find photo taking to be nearly as rewarding as crafting.
I would love to see the recipe for the Foccacia bread. It sounds so yummy. Please write that up for us!
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
Kim, I am definitely a list person too! But sometimes I think that might be part of procrastinating… haha. We make lists instead of DOing the thing that comes to mind. Not that I think lists are bad… I just know that for me, sometimes they can be a tool of procrastination.
Heather, I will definitely post the recipe soon. I can feel it in the air.
Joy! I had no idea you do the same thing!
Makes me feel a little better.
Charlie, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head… I tend to have a fear of failure. When I kept my art journals in college (for a class) it was really liberating, because I had to put SOMEthing on the paper… that was the assignment. It didn’t have to be planned or perfect in any way, and the only people who were going to see it was me and my non-judgemental teacher. It was great, and made me feel really productive. And thank you for the encouragement. I appreciate it!
I think you’re making a hard distinction where there is more of an overlap than you might think. As I’ve worked out in therapy multiple times, perfectionism can be one of the root causes behind procrastination. We often think of procrastination as laziness vs. perfectionism as somehow honorable, but an overly perfectionistic approach can easily become toxic and lead to unproductivity and anxiety – it looks like procrastination because it IS procrastination, of a sort.
I’m so proud of you for taking what you love and putting it out into the world – if there’s an occasional grammatical error here or a wonky picture there, the world’s not going to end, and you’re not going to lose readers because of it.
Charlie
Sooo, my worst procrastination evar is that I once took pictures for a day to make an A Day in My Life post, and I never put it up, but I have every intention of posting it still. The day I did? March 20 . . . 2007.
Oh, please post those recipes! I LOVE LOVE LOVE focaccia bread and have found a delicious boxed mix with which to make it, but I know that making it from scratch HAS to be cheaper than 4 bucks a pop.
I wish I could help you, but I have the same exact problem. I am constantly starting things and not finishing them. I do this just about every day. I have a cross stitch that I have been working on for over 4 years now. The best thing I have found that helps me is to just be a crazy list person. Make lists about everything, and I do mean everything. It may seem silly at first, but after a bit you will notice that you get more tasks done.
Twitter: JoyfulAbode
stormimay, What about tote bags with skeleton keys on them?
Sorry the internet ate your comment… I hate when that happens!
Augh. I just wrote you a long comment and the internet ate it.
Ok, to sum up because I have to go to bed:
I love skeleton keys. Put them on something other than napkins and they would immediately go on my wish list.
I appreciate that your posts are well-written, spelled, etc. I have missed your posts lately though. Moderation is the key!
I wanna hear what you are doing for Christmas. I bet you have some great projects in mind.
Ok. That was much more concise. You should probably be happy my first comment disappeared into the void. LOL