It is a little known fact that today is International Procrastination Day. All over the world, you can therefore be justified in not doing the things you set out to do. Indeed, you can mess up your "to-do" list and feel fully justified in lounging around and engaging in not very much.
In order to fully mark the event, it is perhaps important for hard-line non-activists to list all of the things they should have been doing, the list no doubt underlined and decorated with a colourful border. They can then have the list to hand whilst guiltlessly deciding to flick through a magazine, watch daytime television or line up pencils from darkest to lightest, before then regrouping them according to the HB scale.
Remember, it also has an international dimension so any needless browsing should be done on an international scale. Instead of your usual play it safe "Google search", today is the day to try the "I'm feeling lucky option" and explore different websites across the globe. You may find an endless supply of unexplored trivia for you to while away those delicious hours of liberty.
Today's event should not be confused with the rather longer National Procrastination Week, which ran from 1-7 March. The week's Wikipedia entry lists it as a national holiday whose goal is to "leave unnecessary tasks to be done at a later time." There may also be health benefits by "providing a mental and emotional break causing a decrease in stress and anxiety." Apart from differing in length, leaving you more time not to get involved, this milestone is recognised only on a national level. Many of us may have been blithely unaware of this important festival, and may have adhered to its customs without even realising. Some of us probably didn't get around to commemorating it as we couldn't quite fit it in.
There are also a couple of counter movements including Anti-Procrastination Day listed as 14 January 2015 and Fight Procrastination Day due on 6 September 2015. Both of these days are designed to stir people into action and get the things done that have been hanging over. As one of these days has already past, we can justifiably tell ourselves that all the things we put off today, we can have every intention of completing them on September 6. Telling ourselves that we don't have to do those unwanted tasks for six months will provide many with a psychological boost of immeasurable effect.
The recognition that we do procrastinate may in itself be enough of an incentive to give us a kick-start now and again. At the same time, we should on occasion allow ourselves to switch off from the ever-increasing demands that are put on us. It reminds me of going into a friend's house as a child. There was a poster hanging on the wall, which I didn't fully appreciate then. The poster had as its title, "This is a round tuit." The message in the poster informed the reader that the person would only get on with a task in hand as soon as they got "a round tuit." Now that they had one, there should be no excuse. I was going to get one for our house but I never quite managed it; there was always something getting in the way.
