I’ve been enjoying 344’s Daily Monster lately.  This man posts a video of himself drawing a monster(or creature more like) every day.  He’s up to day 12 so far.  The drawings are great and fun to watch but I stumbled upon a little gem in his notes:

The craziness of today’s work schedule proves once again that it’s
easier to get ten things done than one. The pressure of having to slog
through a long laundry list of tasks neutralizes the active ingredients
in procrastination: doubt and fear.

This is a profound truth that is so evident in my life, yet I never saw it in this light and now I can understand it.  I’ve always dreamed of being freelance or working at home, to have the freedom to work on your own schedule and to get up and grab a snack from the kitchen whenever you feel like it.  However, when I was unemployed and “working” at home I was relatively useless to humanity.  Sure I would get resumes sent out and I’d beef up my portfolio but not at much of a pace.  Thing is, when there’s no pressure those ingredients for procrastination are rampant.  I never really made the connection between doubt and fear and procrastination.  I always thought procrastination was just my laziness.  But I understand now that doubt and fear are the whole reason for not stepping up to things.  So should I just pile things on with wild abandon?  I don’t think so.  That’s where it gets tricky.  It doesn’t take long before multi-tasking and multiple priorities lag on productivity. There’s a very fine line of balance here and I’m sure it’s completely personal.  As unique to you as your fingerprints.  But now the line is more clearly defined for me and maybe I can walk it a bit better now.  We’ll see. 

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