This procrastination ends today, as soon as I get around to it
Episode 20Play
Procrastination is one of these things that’s hard to pin down. While Kevin “Boss” Ross has had moments where he was focused, driven and motivated, he too struggles with not staying on task or putting things off. This episode allows for him to be transparent about a character flaw he wants to change from within. And by talking about it, hopefully you’re inspired to tackle procrastination in your own life as well.
FULL TRANSCRIPTION BELOW:
You are now listening to TheGrios black podcast network, black culture amplified.
Hi, I’m Kevin Ross. And this is The Podcast. This Procrastination Ends Today As Soon As I Get Around To It.
None of you, of course will be able to relate to this. But if I were to name one thing, I most definitely need to improve on. It’s procrastination,
you don’t understand, see, I have it down to a science. You want something done, I’m your guy, but I will procrastinate the hell out of the assignment until the last possible second.
In preparing for the show, I read an article that mentioned how people usually don’t procrastinate on fun things. It’s more about tasks we find difficult, unpleasant, stressful, boring.
Yet even with the things I find fun like traveling for instance, or that I enjoy, like doing these podcasts. I’m always packing my bags just a few hours before the trip
and I’m literally going back and forth about what my episode will cover before it finally needs to be submitted. Which is why I chose this topic, to procrastinate means to unnecessarily postpone to delay decisions or action.
Do I become overwhelmed before I leave to go somewhere? Hm, sometimes do I get anxious whenever I’m working and being creative? Sure, but that’s normal, right? Turns out maybe not
having done some research I realized that continuously procrastinating could be masking, depression, low self-esteem, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD or a host of other things, aside from simply being lazy.
Take taxes from multiple years needing to be filed, late fees and penalties are adding up yet, you just can’t seem to get the taxes done.
Was this behavior at home you observed while growing up?
Or you finally have health insurance, but you keep forgetting to make the appointment to get your physical, over and over and over again. After a while, the question starts becoming one of what fears are blocking your wellness?
A new job, is the way out of a tough financial predicament. There’s never any time however, to update that resume, let alone forward it to a prospective employer. Why? Are you not worthy of carrying a lighter load? I genuinely want to know.
Or another year has gone by. You’re, you’re still not happy in your relationship or with your body, you, you keep saying you got a plan to change it, but the plan continues to go activated. What is it going to take for your actions to line up with your words?
I believe it all boils down to two things. First, what is the deadline? Is it a trip with a set date, is it a milestone birthday, a high school reunion gathering, a cut off period for enrollment that can’t be extended? Come on, come on, you gotta have a deadline.
And two, What will motivate you to meet the deadline?
Will you lose money if you don’t go through with it?
Ha Have you told others to hold your feet to the fire in terms of staying the course of whatever the task is?
Can it be done with another person so you’re not going at it alone? I say that because neither you nor I are competing with anyone other than ourselves.
We’re competing with our egos, our distractions, our bad habits, our self doubt, and we’re paying the consequences for that. When I was in college, I kept saying I wanted to continue my education and one day become an attorney.
But the first time around, I underprepared for the law school admissions test and I also let most of the deadlines pass. In hindsight, I wasn’t ready. I needed a break due to burnout.
So after college initially, I worked at Macy’s in Athens, Georgia in sales. Then came back to Los Angeles and sold wine and spirits to grocery stores for a year. During that time, a dramatic TV series called LA Law debut with actor Blair Underwood, playing a black character that I really identified with, my determination in becoming that person in real life
is what caused me to get serious about a legal career. That’s the God honest truth. Seeing myself represented on television motivated me.
I reapplied, quit my job and became a full time graduate student. Now with college and law school, I was $120,000 in debt. This is back in 1990. It took me years to get out from under that amount of money.
And since I knew I wouldn’t have much of a life, it was also during this time, I stopped procrastinating about getting braces on my teeth.
Three years later, not only did I have my Juris Doctorate degree, but my once crooked scary looking grill looked 1000% better and I was embarking on a career as a criminal attorney and later an elected judge.
So there have been moments in my life when I was on task, they were tough, but being disciplined, being disciplined, being disciplined is what got me through.
Since then, I’ve found myself unfortunately falling back into old patterns, which is why I want to be inspired to remove procrastination from my vocabulary and be inspirational to others seeking to do the same.
If there’s a book, someone’s written, a podcast or website that you swear by. Let me know please, I’m all ears. See life for me right now is about getting better, becoming wiser and utilizing my time to the fullest extent possible for whatever reason I’m occupying space on this earth.
What I know for sure, is that procrastination does not serve that purpose at all. It ain’t even in the same area code.
See, procrastination is a cheap date. It, it steals time. It robs us all of the joy and satisfaction of doing So, I’m calling it out in my own life. And if you promise to hold me accountable, I promise to do the same for you. Are we ready folks? Then, Hey let’s roll.
I’m Kevin Ross and this is The Podcast powered by TheGrio. Follow me @IamBossRoss on Instagram and Twitter. Thanks for listening. See you next time.
