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Putting off projects and taking on more projects than humanly possible is in my blood. No matter how hard I try, I can never do one thing at a time, tidy up and move onto the next. It can sometimes make me feel pants, taking so long to get something done.
Well, I refuse to feel pants about myself so I'm writing this anti-pants blog about how putting off projects and having too many projects can make you awesome.
My short story of feeling pants
I was asked several months ago (and then some!) to upholster a chair for my sister-in-law. It is technically for one of my adorable nieces so obviously I said yes. I had, what felt like, a million craft projects on but I knew I could enjoy this one so I added it onto my imaginary list.
I then added several more projects to this list. This happens a lot. Little comes off my list!
I started the chair quite quickly but the material I'd picked wasn't working. It was a red PVC material with white polka dots. Perfect for a wipe clean kiddie chair I thought. It was thin once pulled though and looked see-through when stapled around the chair. By the time I got the right material I had moved to another project.
My niece then grew up and forgot about this chair. My sister-in-law forgot about this chair. I forgot about this chair.
I decided that if she is to have any hope of getting her derriere into this small chair I needed to get it done. I was also lucky enough to be gifted with yet another niece who can take on the responsibility of loving Auntie Gemma's masterpiece. So I set aside Monday nights to finish it off - no matter what!
When I finished the chair I felt more guilt handing it over then pride in my work.
(N.B: this is not my niece)
To counteract this feeling of disappointment, I decided to crank up my positive thinking and look on the bright side (always look on the bright side of life, do do, do do do do do do)
Disneyland wasn't built in a day
So Rome wasn't built in a day but they were laying bricks every hour. Your bricks are the times when you sit on Pinterest or staring into the air thinking about how to finish off a project.
It's not procrastination, it's research darling! It's time to let the idea grow.
This time spent and dedication given makes you awesome. You wouldn't give a half-arsed approach to completing something. The world can count on your full dedication. Yes, dedication, that's what we'll call it!
Breaks lead to breakthroughs
I know that your time distracted from a job isn't always because you are over thinking how to finish it off. You could be doing something completely different; like Facebook or eating cake.
Research has shown that doing an unrelated task will help you to get that eureka moment.
It's a shame though that we can often spend more time doing the unrelated task than the task at hand. NO! Shh! Let's not tell the world that. We will tell them:
This makes us amazing because we know, maybe without thinking about it, that this time is us becoming empowered to come back hard. Relaxing and refreshing is a warrior skill.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
You are simply building excitement for the final project. We should reward you for making the world crave the outcome of your skills. It's better late than never and you intend to complete it at some point...but only when the world is sufficiently ready for it (aka bored of waiting).
Practise makes perfect
Sometimes a project can take so long because the first attempt goes wrong. If your finished results look like a 5 year old did it (or new born in some bad cases) you aren't rubbish, not by a long shot. This isn't a failure. It's simple an accidental genius scheme to practise until it looks outstanding. You are practically a Jedi in training. It's an elaborate plan to save the world...honest ;)
Supporting businesses
You could say that I went wrong with the chair which meant I had to buy more material than I needed. I would say however that I was simply helping out my local fabric supplier. I wouldn't want their shop closing, resulting in a sad community without a fabric shop. 'Mistakes' like this make you a hero. I bow down to you for every time you had to waste money; I mean spend money, to keep local businesses going. You should be proud.
Summary
Procrastination is so yesterday. We're working on a new style that we call pro-craft-the-nation.
The next time you feel pants about taking 'too long' to complete something, remember this article. You are epic and every delay only makes you more outstanding as a human.
Let me know if anything else about craft or organisation makes you feel shitty. I have my positive sarcastic hat on and I am ready to take on the planet!
p.s. I feel like I could be the leader of this pro-craft-the-nation epidemic. It took me 3 months to write this article. Life takes me a while in general!
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