When I have less than 24 hours left to meet a writing deadline, I am as jumpy as a kangaroo rat in a room full of cats. Ideas tumble around in my head like bingo balls in a metal cage as I mentally kick myself for procrastinating again.

I don’t procrastinate quite as much in the winter as I do in the spring, when blue skies and balmy breezes tempt me to take long walks at the marina where I can watch the great blue heron fishing along the bank or the rowers skimming across the lake. I also enjoy sitting on my back deck observing the nuthatches, chickadees, and goldfinches. The only thing I don’t enjoy this time of year is parking myself at the computer and writing.

Part of my problem is I write over 50 columns per year, so a deadline dangles in front of me almost every week. I do press releases for the Oak Ridge Playhouse, humor columns for two magazines, and miscellaneous articles for other publications. If I didn’t have deadlines to motivate me, I don’t know if I’d ever write anything. But deadlines don’t prevent me from procrastinating. [Read more…]