Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
That proverb has long been a part of our cultural vocabulary and is one that reminds us not to procrastinate.
In other words, it’s best not to put off intentionally and habitually a job because we think it might be easier to do that task in the future.
I consider myself lucky, as procrastination has never been a problem for me. In fact, I’m wired more the opposite way.
Putting off a task that I know needs to be taken care of would cause me more stress. Instead of trying to delay doing the job, I’m more likely to plan ahead or dive in right away.
One of my roles at the high school where I teach, for example, is to help our students plan big events such as proms and semi formals — annual celebrations that involve almost 1,000 students.
I tried a couple of weeks ago to put in an order for some catering we’ll need for an event later this spring only to gently be told by the venue that I was reaching out a bit too early.
There is one task, however, that seems to bring out my procrastination side — a job that needs to be done about every six weeks.
It only takes about an hour to do this job, but it’s always the one task I never look forward to every sixth Saturday of the year.
I used to do this job at home but stopped almost two years ago when the drenched golden canine in question somehow managed to escape from the bathroom and make a few laps around the house before I could catch him with a towel to dry him off after he had already shaken off most of the water.
Bathing our 4-year-old golden retriever Santiago is a task I never look forward to and one that I put off until the last day of the last week — and sometimes even a few days beyond.
Getting the 110-pound pooch into the car is a piece of cake, as he loves car rides more than I love not being a procrastinator. And getting him into the pet store we now go to so that we can use their facilities to bathe him instead of our bathtub is as easy as pie.
The first time we took him to the store in the summer of 2022 so we could bathe him there instead of at home, however, our sweet Santiago who has never met a stranger turned into a deadweight lion as he ceased to cooperate.
Trying to get an uncooperative golden retriever a few feet off the ground into the self-serve dog wash turned out to be more difficult than I thought.
We have been back about 10 times since that dreadful first visit, and each time Santiago cooperates a bit more. That first time, however, has made me dread each visit since and turned me into a procrastinator when it comes to bathing our dog.
This past weekend was supposed to be Santiago’s trip to the spa (a.k.a. the self-serve dog wash). When we arrived Saturday, however, one of the two wash stations was broken and another pet owner was using the other.
“It might be 20 minutes or so,” the employee told us.
It’s about a 10-minute drive each way to the pet store from where we live. Waiting 20 minutes would have been the logical thing to do.
Instead, I looked at Jen and said let’s just come back tomorrow.
We returned Sunday afternoon only to discover that the one functional self-serve dog wash was being used.
“It might be 20 minutes or so,” another employee told us.
We should have just waited after making a second trip but you probably know where this story is going.
We put off until next weekend what we could have done Sunday.
It makes no sense. It will be another 10 minutes there and 10 minutes back Saturday, and we will have spent more time driving back and forth to the pet store than it actually takes to give Santiago a bath.
At the time, however, procrastinating sounded good.
All was not lost, though.
Our car needed washed even more than our dog after January’s nasty weather. The car wash just happened to be right across the street from the pet store.
At least something that was in need of a washing got it this weekend.
And you know where I’ll be first thing Saturday morning.
jdpeeper2@hotmail.com
