Have you ever procrastinated on something for SO long… only to realize it took you 30 minutes to finish… and you wasted way more than 30 minutes putting it off day after day after day?
Yeah, me too!
At the very beginning of the summer (like almost 4 months ago) my Dad brought us his power washer to use on our deck. He didn’t necessarily have a use for it, so he said we could keep it for a while and test it out.
There it sat in our garage, and almost every weekend, we put “Power-wash the deck” on our to-do list.
Our deck is not big (maybe 12′ x 12′) but it was very dirty… so we figured it would take a while to clean, even with a power washer. (The pictures below give you an idea of how small and dirty it was!)
Week after week, we THOUGHT about power washing the deck, but always assumed it would take too long, so week after week, we never actually DID any power washing.
We went the entire summer with a dirty deck and every time we walked out on our deck, we were reminded of the fact that we still needed to break out that power washer and get to work.
Finally, last weekend, we decided to tackle this project… and about an hour later, we were finished!
That was it!
In 60 minutes, we had a sparkly clean deck — just in time for the cold snowy winter weather 🙂
As you can see, we all procrastinate (even those of use who make a living telling others not to procrastinate!) And as you can see, procrastination always wastes more time than just buckling down, biting the bullet, and doing whatever it is right NOW.
If we had taken just 1 hour to power-wash the deck at the very beginning of the summer, not only could we have enjoyed a clean deck all summer long, we also wouldn’t have had to put it on our to-do list every single week!
Lesson learned.
What’s one thing you’re procrastinating on right now?
Take a lesson from my procrastination and just do it today!
Pressure Washing Cleveland says
I also own a pressure washing company in the Cleveland Ohio area. Next time you do the deck mix some oxyclean and water together, spray it on the deck and let it sit for about a half hour. After that give it a rinse with the pressure washer and you’ll be amazed how much cleaner and how much less pressure you will need.
Jimmy Jackson says
I own a pressure washing business in Caruthersville Missouri http://www.jhpwllc.com . I’m telling you this because ironically I sometimes procrastinate to clean my own house! It’s crazy because I’m pumped when it’s time to clean a customer’s property. I guess we all procrastinate in our own ways. Great job on the deck. Next time consider staining it, it will look five times better and last a lot longer for you. Semi-transparent stains are the best for appearance and protection.
Debbie D. says
I’ve been procrastinating cleaning that ‘dead space’ above the kitchen cupboards. Why-oh-why didn’t we just have the cabinets run all the way to the ceiling?! Crazy how much dust and kitchen ‘grime’ gets up there. It’s not a hard job…it’s just getting the gumption to climb up there and do it.
MaryEllen@ImperfectHomemaker says
That is exactly why I have been posting a year-long Anti-Procrastination Challenge on my blog! I get so sick of the things I don’t do that would have been a whole lot easier if I would have just done it instead of making lame excuses! Why do we do that?!
Carrie says
Organizing the kids’ toys. They’re organized into those wonderful bins that you can put in the 2×3 cubby spaces, just not actually organized. When they dump out a bin, you never know what’s really going to come out. Plastic? Stuffed Dinosaur? Magnetic Alphabet letter? I know it won’t take me more than 20 minutes at the most, but it’s just the thought of starting the project that keeps me putting it off. 🙁
Donna G says
I am procrastinating filing all the receipts in their box on my desk. And the three file trays above it. Well, really only two, cuz the top one has supplies in it. But I need to find somewhere for those supplies so that tray can be empty except for the file for the month’s correspondence that is processed at the end of the month (it’s a business file).
Katherine@YeOldCollegeTry says
What am I procrastinating on? Easy- organizing and backing up my iphoto stuff. It’s a mess!
Lisa says
Now that you’ve power washed the deck, don’t forget to seal it before winter!
Lisa says
Chels,
I stopped going to Craigs List to buy because it lacks a quality search engine and there is no “policing” of bad sellers. Set up a quick and free Ebay account with an Ebay store. They will take a small percentage of each sale, but you read a larger audience and you have more protection from bad buyers.
I also live in a very restrictive HOA which I love because I no longer have neighbors with yards full of junk, but it hurts to only be able to have a garage sale on the one weekend a year they designate so Ebay is my best option for “cleaning house”.
L.L says
do u have to set up a paypal account to sell on ebay?
Chels says
I’ve been procrastinating on cleaning out the garage full of junk. It costs $100/month to rent and we can’t fit the car inside. It’s a product of being a pack rat and moving to a smaller apartment and needing to downsize.
Slowly but surely, we have organized a little, donated a little, sold a little on Craigslist, and thrown out some junk. We are also nearing cooler temps with Fall and Winter… and more excuses to not just get it done.
I’m a little stuck on wanting to just make a few dollars and have a little extra cash to save for our vacation this December. It’s so frustrating we can’t have a yard sale at will. Craigslist is a good outlet, but amazingly some items just don’t sell, even when I sell items at a real bargain. My husband asked me to pick a date, so if an item is not sold in 3-4 weeks, we agree to donate. (and will have the paperwork for our tax return next year).
We’ve been sick, took a vacation, had company, and I’ve recently had surgery, so there are “good excuses” sometimes. Whether you go through one box a week or have a yard sale then commit to donating the leftovers, I know having solid GOALS to achieve are helpful!
kara says
You were remodeling a kitchen and all your other normal tasks i think you had a good excuse.