The Right Time - May 28

Does procrastination actually exist? Or is it more accurate to say that things get done when the time is right — and that might not be on the timeline you set for them. In today's 5 Minutes In Nature, Liz reflects on something that took 30 years to complete, and in doing so, realises that procrastination was never really at play — it simply happened when the time was right.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott. Oh I'm a little bit damp up here on Dartmoor. It's very squally showers at the moment. They just suddenly rush in, Come and then go and I thought I might get away with it on this walk not wearing my waterproof trousers so I left them at home and my jeans, I'm looking down at them, They're absolutely dark blue with watery rain and it's a cold wind so my legs are going to get very cold very soon but I'm on my way home now so I thought I'd pause and just have a little chat with you as the rain continues to patter down on the hood of my coat as I'm speaking to you. Today is a real reflection on procrastination. It's something that I've been reflecting on for myself and I used to think that I knew what procrastination was and now I'm not so sure and I'd love your take on what procrastination means to you. I mean for me it used to be quite straightforward really there was a task that I thought I should do and then I kept putting that task off and then I wouldn't do the task at all or I'd do it right up to the deadline or I'd be late so for me the procrastination bit was the putting off of something that I needed to do and I've kind of been reflecting more and more on procrastination recently because there's a couple of occasions when I've realized that without the story that I need to do something what I tend to find is that a task gets done at the right time and it might not be in the time frame that I originally thought. So for me procrastination doesn't exist. I might do a task think that I need it done by next week it doesn't get done for a year but it wasn't that I was putting it off it just wasn't the right time for that task to be done. I'm going to give you a couple of examples just see what you make of them but one of them was something that took me nearly 30 years to do so I'll tell you about that in a moment and the other was much more recent which was just a gardening little gardening project where I've been meaning to dig up my vegetable patch it's quite late actually for doing it at this time of year and it's just not been the right time. Now the difference is that probably in the past I would have beaten myself up I would have thought I'm no good I should do this lots of shoulds I should do this I should dig over the garden here everybody else who is a good gardener digs the garden at the right time of year I should be putting manure on I should be planting vegetables now I should I should I should and I haven't had that story accompany me this year and what I've noticed is that last weekend was the right time to dig the garden so can you see that the right time is the time it happens so was it procrastination I was putting things off or did things just happen when the time was right and the other occasion I want to give and I just want to say apologies if you can hear the pitter-patter of rain on my hood it is it's coming down a bit harder now I thought it was just about to go away but I'm sheltering so I'm fine as I speak to you but the other occasion which took 30 nearly 30 years is that when my nephew was born in the first year of his life I had this idea I used to work as a BBC reporter and I had an idea of recording some messages from his grandparents and during the first year of his life and I duly went ahead and recorded these messages and my intention was to create something that probably I would give him on his 18th birthday or maybe his 21st birthday anyway his 18th birthday came and the technology I'd use which was reel-to-reel tape was no longer in use so I couldn't find a way of playing back these tapes and then editing them into something it just I didn't have that urge to do it and then his 21st birthday came around and nothing seemed to happen then and then I kind of forgot about them for a few years and then it just suddenly occurred to me that I might be able to contact one of my old BBC colleagues and they might be able to transpose or transfer these tape recordings of these messages from the grandparents onto a digital format which I'd be able to use and I contacted somebody and they did it and then last week it suddenly occurred to me that now was time to create a message for my nephew and I edited some of these messages together and curated something very short for his wedding it was his wedding that we went to at the weekend messages from his grandparents and bear in mind that three of those grandparents have now passed on so this was a really special thing he he said when he listened to it he he was very emotional when he listened to it he said but he didn't know the voice of one of his grandparents because she died when he was very very young so there we go 30 years late was that procrastination or was it just doing something when the time was right it felt like the time was absolutely right now so in my book that isn't procrastination but I'd be very curious to know your thoughts on procrastination what do you make of it what is procrastination to you

Reviews

I fully hear your take on procrastination versus things getting done at the right time. And I believe that to be true in my life as well. However, there are a number of things I procrastinate on, that do have hard deadlines (like taxes, packing for a trip or a move) and I tend to postpone doing those things until the last possible minute. In those cases, I firmly believe it’s procrastination!

I love this new take on procrastination! I completely relate to this, and will ponder some more! I have a feeling this have a lasting impact on how I think about it. Thanks Liz 🙏

Loved the sound of the rain tapping on your hood…
Things bloom in their own time it seems.
And different tasks … like the dusting, dishes or cleaning the fishbowl… also have their best times. Digging the veg patch is a different task.
But sometimes I do the dishes in the morning vs right after dinner and my arthritis in my hands love the hot water. My younger self would not have liked that untidyness. But then again I had wee ones at home then, no arthritis and a much more hectic morning. So dishes in the a.m. are ok niw but might not have been so then.

And once I planted fall bulbs way late in the season (June instead of Nov) and had Irises that were stunningly beautiful and tall as I am. Late late into our coolish summer. When all other blooms had finished in the neighborhood. So the right time may just be when you are BEST able.
And I bet your veg patch will be producing its glory in its own time.

So there it is… my two cents worth!

Thank you Liz, I have a similar view. I have beaten myself up in the past about procrastinating, usually about work tasks but also declutterring at home. I realised that I was lacking either the know how or the motivation or the energy to start these tasks and once I had what I was lacking in I could begin them as the beginning was generally the rate limiting step. At work I thought the things I struggled with were easy for everyone else but I came to realise that everyone has different strengths and areas of ability and often it was the open ended tasks or non specific tasks I would struggle with. These days I give myself more grace as I can see that the self-castigation only makes it harder, not easier and doesn’t help my self respect. So I agree with things being done at the right time 🙌🏻

I just loved today’s wander along with you (sorry you got so damp). Procrastination …… ahhh yes. My darling and highly organised mum used to call me Miss Put-Off-Ski and so I grew up with a rather negative feeling about the way I approached life and tasks. But about a decade or so ago I came to understand deeply that things do happen in the right time and if I try to function to other peoples timetables the result is never what I wanted. And of course the changes in my understanding came about at that life changing and life affirming time in a women’s life of menopause. Being and older woman in so very freeing I have found.