Pro-cras-tinate

That’s what the coffee cup said on it. I pulled it out of the box lot we just purchased and raised it triumphantly over my head and presented it, Vanna White-style, to my Charming Husband. Yup. That’s me. If there’s a way to procrastinate, I will find it.

Like writing this blog. We’re having a friend over for dinner. I still have to finish picking up the detritus laying around the family room: the two pair of shoes on the sofa, the old high school year book on the loveseat, the box of sheet protectors and tube of Sports Crème sitting on top of it. Of course, there is also the pot from last night that’s still on the stove. Let’s not forget the jeans that are in the dryer that need to be folded. Instead of doing any of that, I’m sitting here writing this blog.

I haven’t listed anything new in my Ruby Lane or Ruby Plaza shops today. But I did watch Nate Berkus. Yes, it was a re-run. But I watched it anyway.

Earlier I got up and went into the kitchen to finish loading the dishwasher, and got distracted by the wooden bowl sitting on the counter. It came from an auction a few weeks ago and has been sitting there, waiting for me to decide what to do with it. There’s a maker’s mark on the bottom that needs research. Do I put it in our brick & mortar shop? Do I list it online? Do I keep it to use? Still unable to decide, I put it on a shelf with all the other things that are awaiting my decision … Scarlett O’Hara has nothing on me!

Scarlett:

I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. 

Oh, and there’s that sterling and “jelly belly” brooch that needs to be cleaned up a bit. It’s been moved from spot to spot to spot for a couple months. I pick it up, walk to the laundry room to grab the silver polish and see that there’s a load of laundry that needs to be finished. So, I put the duck back down and proceed to finish the laundry. That was 3 hours ago, and Mr. Duck is still waiting for his polishing.

I have a tray of jewelry that needs to be photographed and listed online. I choose a few pieces on a daily basis and photograph them, download and edit them and then upload them to my shops on Ruby Lane and Ruby Plaza. I have three pieces right next to me, all ready to go. All they need is for me to upload them to my selling sites and write a glowing description that will bring attention to them and make a buyer breathless with desire to own them. Of course, they’ve been sitting here next to me for a few days now. I can’t seem to find those words. Maybe they’ll go back on the tray and I’ll pick some new items. Or maybe inspiration will strike me at 10 p.m. and the words will flow fluidly from my keyboard. Or maybe not.

Therein lies both the danger and the pleasure of being one’s own boss, selling on the internet, and working at one’s own pace. Sometimes that pace is as frantic as a squirrel gathering nuts to store for a long, cold winter. Sometimes that pace is as slow as a snail, leaving a trail across the forest floor as it travels to its next destination.  I can spend my day working diligently taking photographs, writing listings, promoting my shops through online venues like Facebook, Twitter, The Vintage Village and Squidoo. Or I can keep putting things off, waiting for "tomorrow" to arrive. Sometimes tomorrow just doesn't get here. All my procrastinating has an effect on my bottom line, my sales, my profitability.

I can choose my own priorities, and I can make my own success.
Or I can sabotage my success through my habit of procrastination.