Work avoidance

No matter how my sinuses ache, my neck spasms, or my muscles hurt, I have to get down to business today and hole up in my office and get to work. I've got end-of-year stuff and tax prep to do for R's and a couple of other businesses and I just need to get moving on it. No more excuses.

Maybe I can entice myself with a promise of french fries for lunch. Hmmmm. Sounds like a plan. And I think I should stay on top of the aching as much as I can with ibuprophen. I always forget about pain medication unless it's really bad. Okay, done. And pizza is on the menu for supper so that will also be good and will force me out of the office to make the crust. Wish I liked beer...that sounds like it would be better with my pizza than white zinfandel. Oh well.

In case it isn't abundantly clear, I like to practice a little thing called work avoidance. I imagine myself doing the work, I imagine how I'm going to get through the day and what little incentives I'm going to provide in order to keep going, and I imagine finishing up later on, exhausted but accomplished. Problem is I'm imagining all of this and not doing it. Sometimes when I'm practicing work avoidance, I think I need to finish an entirely unrelated project first, like doing dishes or cleaning the refrigerator coils, so I can get down to business with a clear mind. Or I know I'd work better after a bath, or nap. Or a trip to Kohl's. Because how can I concentrate on my work when I really need a new purse?

Fortunately I'm also an early riser so I can get my work avoidance tactics out of the way and get down to work at about the same time as most people. Unfortunately, I'm an early-to-bedder as well so I'm pretty worthless in the evenings.

I used to wonder about the possibility of working from home. The number one roadblock is I don't think I could make enough money and certainly wouldn't have enough benefits (other than pajama commuting), but I also know that it would be a constant struggle for me to keep motivated and stay on task. When I think I have a lot of time, I can find lots of ways to waste it. My mind wanders and flits around and before I know it I'm in the basement searching for spackle because I just want to touch up those nail holes in the living room so they'll be dry and ready to prime and paint on Saturday. And I really want to try the new laser level so I gather enough batteries and then I realize it's 10:30 and I haven't even made it upstairs to my office. Might as well take a shower and start the job feeling clean and fresh. But I'm feeling a little hungry and I don't want to stop right after I get started so let's just break now for lunch and then get down to business. After a nap.

Work avoidance. That could actually be the title of this blog, not just this post.