Later gator

Polity: A particular form of political system or government.

I am the opposite of a procrastinator. Hmmm, so, what do we call such persons? I found no antonym for “procrastinator” in the dictionary. When I posed this conundrum to my friend, Gypsy Dave, he suggested “anticrastinator.” I kind of like that.

I have found that putting things off usually ends up simply causing me to worry about whatever it is that I should have done in the first place right up until it finally gets done. And sooner or later, I am going to have to do it anyway. If I leave a dirty dish in the sink when I retire for the night, I have not the slightest doubt that it will still be there in the morning. When I was in college and had a term paper assigned at the beginning of a semester, I would typically have it finished by the end of the first three weeks. My dear wife, Christy, on the other hand, epitomized the procrastinator. In the same situation, she would not give that term paper a moment’s thought until two days before it was due. Then she would be up half the night working on it. She said she worked better under pressure. Not me.

One area where procrastination can actually be beneficial is in the workplace. For those of you who hold, or may have held, positions that require the supervision of others, likely you have had situations where a subordinate has come to you with a problem, fully expecting you to magically fix it for them. In my experience, though, I have found that sometimes, if you wait long enough, the employee will become frustrated and resolve the matter himself. Job done. Definitely not a management solution that I would normally promote, though.

On a personal level, some things get put off because we know they are going to be painful, like breaking up with a boy or girl friend. And I admit that I am sometimes inclined to drag my feet when I simply have not yet figured out exactly what might be the best course of action in certain circumstances. But putting things off seems often to simply make them worse. Here in Florida, not spraying for chinch bugs at the first sign of infestation can result in a wiped-out lawn in just a few weeks. What about that little lump in the breast?

On a national scale, our federal government keeps putting off any effort to realistically deal with our nation’s entitlement problems. Or the national debt. The solution, or solutions, whatever they may be, are most assuredly going to be, well, unpleasant. And the longer they wait, the worse it’s going to be. We know this. They know this. Yet, many of us pretend otherwise.

With regard to the latter, it is obvious that Congress has Christy’s ability to ignore problems until they are at their doorstep. Although I am fearful that the leadership of this august body will have neither the will nor the ability to handle them nicely at the last minute, much less have the sense to even know when that last minute has arrived. Or passed.