Call it a Sabbatical

Well, if you haven’t noticed…I’ve been procrastinating lately.  The book on procrastination was almost done – I felt like I crossed the finish line already – then I just stopped working on it.  Whenever I thought about working on it, I would quickly find some other urgent, import matter with which to divert my attention.  My procrastivities included playing solitaire, staying on top of my laundry, and planning vacations I can’t afford – none of which were/are urgent or important.  There was really no explanation…so I needed to create one.  This one, I call the Procrastibbatical. 

A procrastibbatical is a sabbatical where you accomplish nothing.  When you’re getting burnt out and need to unwind and get back to basics and get a fresh perspective, you need a procrastibbatical.  You could take a sabbatical, but that sounds like more working and less unwinding and you will inevitably put more pressure on yourself upon returning from your sabbatical.  Why put yourself through that?  You need to really, really unwind.

Before my procrastibbatical I was wound up pretty tight.  Several years of interrelated conflicts will do that to you.  I’m sure there are ton of people trying to piece their lives back together right now after a trying couple of years.  My particular unwinding was like tearing the cover off a Titleist 100 golf ball and letting the mile long rubber band loose – a lot of wild flailing around followed by a huge mess and possible concussion protocol – fun while it lasted but now it’s back to work.

I could tell you that I meant to do that, like Pee Wee, but in reality, I just recognized what happened for what it was and relabeled it.  I’m thankful for the experience but also to be on the other side.  So next time you take a mental health day and don’t know how to tell them you didn’t do anything while you were gone, call it a procrastibbatical and get back to work.