Procrastination – Another Word for Lazy and that Pretty Much Sums Me Up

The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.

– Proverbs 14:1

I am a planner by nature. I love making lists. I have a list for housework, grocery shopping, projects to complete, pictures to take, blog posts to write, and so on.

My problem is I’m not very good at checking things off the list because I am a procrastinator.

Here are some things I procrastinate:

• Doing the dishes. I can think of 101 “more important” things to do than get the dishes done.
• Transferring laundry from washer to dryer. At least the laundry is clean, right? I can always do that later.
• Cleaning Samuel’s high chair. It’s just going to get dirty again.
• Starting dinner. I would hate for Mark to be running late and for it to get cold.
• Finishing a book. I will pick up this other book for now. I can finish that later.
• Making a phone call. You never know how long a phone call will take, and I would hate to be rude. I’ll make it later when I have more time.

I can procrastinate with the best of them. I really can. It is foolish. I am not guaranteed to have another tomorrow, let alone to do something later (James 4:13-17). Procrastination is folly that tears my house down.

Fortunately for me, God has not left me to myself. As I have been studying His Word and His desires for me as a wife, mom, and homemaker, He has clearly revealed my sin of procrastination to me, or said another way, I have been convicted of my laziness.

Over the last several months, my procrastination has robbed me and my family of joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness; this is only the tip of the iceberg of the areas procrastination has affected.

Procrastination leads to chaos.  I’m constantly running behind, and I’m never on time for anything. My lists continue to build one on top of the other, never accomplishing anything. I have experienced chaos where chaos should not exist.

The ugly truth about my labors at home can be illustrated by the following sentence:

I am constantly working so I can just go sit down. I just need to sit. I’m so tired. If I can finish this, I can sit.

What is it with all this sitting? Why the desire to sit so badly?

Recently, I was reading in Proverbs 31 using Elizabeth George’s devotional, Discovering the Treasures of a Godly Woman, and a light bulb went off.

The Proverbs 31 woman works with a willing heart. Other translations say “with delight” or “joyfully.”

Am I working with a willing and joyful heart? Am I embracing the work God has for me, or am I only working so I can have what I want – a break?

It was a humbling thought. I was not willingly laying down my life for my family. I was only doing my duty, and that’s certainly not loving or Gospel-promoting! I was only working to accomplish tasks because I wanted to be able to sit down guilt-free.

In toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Proverbs 14:23

This proverb is a warning to people like me. It is a rebuke against people who are always talking and planning but never accomplishing anything {ESV Study Bible Notes}.

As I seek to grow in this area, God is pruning my heart, and for that I am grateful. I have seen much grace over the last couple of days as I have endeavored to work diligently and with joy. I pray for continued growth in grace as I seek to care for my home and make it a place where it is impossible to not think about God.

What about you? Do you struggle with procrastination or laziness?

Other posts you might like:

• How to Stay Motivated in the Mundane
• My Weekly Planning Routine

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