I wouldn’t normally think of joining a car club, but I’ve recently come across one that suits me perfectly - the Junky Car Club. After reading what this club is about, I couldn’t not sign up.

According to their website:

“Junky Car Club members are learning to live with less so we can give more. We’re a bunch of happy drivers who are politely rebelling against consumerism by driving junky cars. We encourage our members to use their dough to support social justice causes instead of making fat car payments. We believe in environmental stewardship and hanging onto things a little longer. Junky Car Club members sponsor kids living in poverty through Compassion International.”

I love the thinking behind this - it seems so logical - but I related to it mainly because it describes what I’ve already been doing. I’m still driving the same car I bought nearly 22 years ago, and have been sponsoring children through Compassion Australia for much of that time.

While I’ve kept the same old car to save money in general, not specifically to sponsor children, the money I’ve saved by not upgrading to new cars has made the child sponsorship possible … and much more. I’ve not spent a cent on car purchases or repayments since I finished paying off mine in 1989. This has meant more money to spend on things like travel, paying off the mortgage earlier, and feeding and educating children in Ethiopia … all more worthy causes than banks, car manufacturers and car salesmen.

Speaking of sly vultures, most car salesmen will tell you that running an older car is uneconomical, but that isn’t always true. In my case it has proven cheaper to run in its old age than when it was young (I wrote about it here). My car does have some quirks and small defects, but nothing that can’t be lived with, or patched with duct tape. It ain’t fancy, but it’s got character!

Nothing lasts forever, even with duct tape, so eventually my beloved vehicle will wear out and need replacing. When that happens, I’ll hope to look after a new car well so that it also will last a long time, and become another old car. You see, I plan to be a Junky Car Club member for a long time.

We’re often told that “winners never quit, and quitters never win”, and exhorted to perservere to the end. Winston Churchill famously advised “never, ever, give up”. While striving to succeed is a good thing, there are times when quitting may be wise, as I’ve discovered.

The reason I’m reflecting on this now is that today is the tenth anniversary of an incident which led me to give up skiing. Prior to then, snow skiing was a passion, and the only sport I was any good at. Living a few thousand kilometres from the nearest snow was an obstacle, but with some dedication I managed to become quite competant and ambitious.

Temptation to quit came while skiing at the delightful resort of Fernie, in the Canadian Rockies. A high speed crash saw me with a torn knee ligament (ACL), mild whiplash and numerous cuts and bruises. It was during the humbling journey off the slopes via stretcher and ambulance that I started wondering about the wisdom of continuing to ski.

Feb 1998: Pondering what can
go wrong when hurtling down
a hill strapped to two planks

Skiing is a sport where falling over is virtually unavoidable, and I’d suffered minor injuries before (concussion being the worst result). The better I got, the faster I went and the slopes I skiied became more challenging. Although I was falling over less, the potential for serious damage when I did fall became greater. Also I wasn’t as young and rubbery as I once was! Continuing to ski didn’t appear very compatible with my aim of living to a ripe old age without disabilities. I decided to retire from the sport before I did myself too much damage.

I sometimes miss the exhilaration of skiing, but I’ve found that most of what I enjoyed about it - the pristine alpine environments and wintry conditions - can still be enjoyed without flying down obstacle-strewn snowy hills at reckless speeds. The time and energy I devoted to skiing has been redirected into hiking, and a whole new world of recreation has opened up. Despite the negative things we are told about quitting, I have no regrets about pulling the pin on skiing. In fact, as I start to feel the wear and tear of ageing, I’m grateful for the injuries and pains I’ve almost certainly avoided by quitting when I did.

This is just one example of when quitting something can be good. Other examples could include quitting an ill-suited job or course of study in order to pursue something better. Have you quitted anything and, when later looking back on how things turned out, felt glad that you did?

Last June I wrote about how one of my toenails came off due to squashing on a bushwalk (see Goodbye Toenail). I’d read that a new nail takes about six months to regrow, and was hoping this was true.

Not everything you read on the internet is accurate (gasps of disbelief erupt from the audience), but I’m happy to report that in this case it was about right. My toenail took seven months to regrow to the point where it resembled a normal closely trimmed nail, and has just had it’s first trim (pictured). All is right with the world again!

This may not seem important, and it isn’t compared to people starving in Ethiopia. But in this era of technical marvels it’s all too easy to lose our sense of wonder at the seemingly small intricacies of the natural world. I think the automatic regrowing of any body part is an example of how cleverly and remarkably designed our human bodies are - right down to the details of our little toenails. This is something to be thankful for … I know I certainly am!

A week is a long time in politics, as the saying goes, and this week it has been illustrated by a dramatic transformation of personal character which is nothing short of miraculous.

It involves Troy Buswell, who last week was deputy leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, currently serving a term in opposition. Along with speculation about his leadership ambitions, there were news stories about his unprofessional conduct. This included things like being drunk in parliament, undoing the bra strap of a female colleague, and making sexist and inappropriate comments to another female colleague.

His dramatic transformation is summed up as follows:

Jan 11th
Troy Buswell tells media he will not be challenging for the Liberal Party leadership, as he is not ready to lead the party due to lack of maturity and experience.

Jan 17th
Troy Buswell challenges for the Liberal Party leadership, and is elected as leader by its members who think he is worthy of becoming premier of Western Australia.

This means that in just six days, Mr Buswell has somehow gained all the previously-lacking maturity and experience needed to lead his party - which could see him leading the state of Western Australian if the Liberal Party wins the next election, due within a year. To become so mature and experienced almost overnight is a truly remarkable achievement, something which would take the rest of us mere mortals many years. After all, years of experience normally takes … years!

It’s laughable, but in a way it’s also sad. In a society where the miracles of the bible are ridiculed in the media, we are expected to believe the miraculous transformation of a politician as reported in the news. Sorry, Saint Troy of the Bra Strap, I don’t know if we voters have enough faith in a politician.

News stories:
Why Troy Buswell’s leadership dream is in tatters (Jan 12)
Buswell new WA Liberal leader (Jan 17)

I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. My postal voting forms arrived today, and I just had to do some scanning and make a digital “enhancement” to one of the ballot papers. The result appears here.

The ballot paper is for the impending Australian federal election. Aussies have become very cynical and weary of our politicians, and I suspect many voters would love to see the last box on a ballot paper labelled “None of the above”, as my modified version does. This would provide a legitimate way of expressing dissatisfaction with the candidates on offer; better than writing rude words and thereby invalidating the vote, as some do.

If a ballot paper like this were to be real, the last box could even get the most votes. Perhaps someday we’ll see a candidate change their legal name to “None of the above” and appear last on the list, preferably without being linked to any political party. If not victory, it would at least guarantee a head start.

Frivolity aside, being able to vote in democratic elections is a privilege denied to many, and not to be despised. Even if many politicians deserve our cynicism, they could be a lot worse (as they are in some countries). I’ll be making my vote count … even if it might be a little tempting to add another choice to the ballot paper.

I normally prefer to write about more positive things, but feel compelled to indulge in a brief whinge after the latest display of hypocrisy by Channel Seven’s current affairs program, Today Tonight.

I felt irritated a couple of weeks back, when Today Tonight aired a story about half the contestants in the finals of Australian Idol being Christians. They made a big deal of this, as if there was something sinister or wrong about it, and alleged that the pastor of Hillsong Church had encouraged its members to vote for some of the Christian singers competing on the show. The allegation was unsubstantiated, and denied by the church, but the truth apparently wasn’t important to the story.

Bill Muehlenberg wrote a witty response in his blog (see Danger! Danger! They Are Taking Over!), highlighting the anti-Christian bigotry often shown by Today Tonight. He points out that in a recent census 64% of Australians identify themselves as Christian. Also, Christians sing a lot in church, increasing the likelihood of developing their talent. The fact that some of those doing well in a singing contest are Christians is therefore a perfectly logical outcome, not a scandal.

And even if a church did encourage its members to vote for certain entrants, they wouldn’t be alone. Clubs, social groups and even businesses do exactly that. Last year an Australian Idol contestant from Albury-Wodonga had the local pub raise money to pay for phone votes, but Today Tonight didn’t run a story on that. Even Today Tonight has been known to promote individual contestants, as they did with the Perth couple competing in “My Restaurant Rules” a few years ago. The couple won, thanks in part to the free promotion Today Tonight gave them.

What pressed my button though was last night’s program. There was a story having a go at a group of Christians hoping to influence the approaching federal elections by expressing their opinions to politicians (how dare they use their democratic rights, like everyone else!). This was followed by another reference to churches “stacking votes” in the Australian Idol contest.

Immediately following this was a story about a Perth dancer doing well in the “Dancing With The Stars” TV show. Apart from being shameless cross-promotion of one of their own TV shows (which was to air later that evening, what a coincidence!), it stongly suggested that Perth viewers support (ie vote for) the celebrity paired up with the Perth dancer. So it’s okay for Today Tonight to solicit votes in talent contests, it’s okay for other groups to do it, but if they think a Christian group might be doing the same thing … it’s a scandal, worthy of a critical “news” story.

It is often said that churches are full of hypocrites, and they have their share. As a church member I can readily admit we’re not perfect. My observation, however, is that more hypocrisy can be seen outside churches than in them, and Today Tonight is a shining example (see this article for more details). They’ve lost one semi-regular viewer, and if Christians are anywhere near as numerous as the census suggests, they stand to lose a lot more.

Now that I’ve got this off my chest I can forgive Today Tonight’s hypocrisy and turn the other cheek … while turning to another channel.

You don’t often hear “good customer service” and “bank” mentioned in the same sentence. In Australia, banks are commonly viewed as greedy and heartless organisations which ruthlessly bleed their customers dry. Sometimes this sentiment is justified, and bank-bashing is popular. Today, however, I was pleasantly surprised to receive good service from my bank in spite of its public perception.

I was depositing a pile of coins, and only had to queue for about two minutes. Not content with just being prompt, the teller was observant enough to notice that my home loan interest rate seemed higher than she thought it could be. She asked if I’d like to talk to a lending officer to see if they could work out something better for me, and I agreed. Another very helpful and knowledgeable woman appeared within minutes, and she went to some lengths to understand my circumstances and see what the bank could do to make me better off.

Having previously compared banks and accounts, I’m familiar with assessing fine print, fees and charges, and am good enough with numbers to weigh up benefits with costs. That’s why I hadn’t already changed to a cheaper home loan - usually the savings are offset by disadvantages and higher costs in other areas, such as credit card and transaction accounts (these came fee-free as part of a package with my existing loan). The woman I saw today was able to sort out a combination of home loan and other accounts which really do work out cheaper for me. I felt she wasn’t merely doing a job; she appeared genuinely keen to do what was best for the customer.

Saving money obviously pleased me, but equally impressive was the way two bank employees took the time and effort to provide very good customer service … not what we are conditioned to expect from banks. Especially in a busy bank, on a friday.

It got me thinking about the negative image of banks, government departments, and other large organisations. Much dissatisfaction stems from procedures, policies and prices: things determined by management. Customer service problems often arise through lack of staff or training: something management is responsible for. The bulk of the employees, who do the work - the ones we deal with - are regular people trying to do as good a job as they can in their circumstances.

Today’s experience was a reminder not to let an organisation’s bad image prejudice our judgement of its staff. Good customer service does exist … yes, even in a bank!

(For the curious, the bank I refer to is the Dianella branch of BankWest)

Spring has arrived, and my regular walks around Perth’s Lake Monger are less comfortable. There’s more sweating, the pollen in the air requires hay fever medication and eye drops (for me at least), and the flies have begun their annoying return. It’s not all bad though, as the lake at this time of year has some treats.

One delightful sight is all the freshly hatched baby birds that start popping up at this time of year. Yesterday I found the duck in the photo taking her new chicks for a swim, which they seemed to be enjoying. The pitter patter of other tiny webbed and clawed feet should arrive soon, including the fuzzy brown balls that grow into black swans. It’s hard to imagine anyone not finding them cute.

Lake Monger in March 2007 (left) and October 2007 (right)

Another pleasant sight is the healthy rise in water levels. Back in March the lake was drier than it had been for many years, with large areas of mud, algae, and exposed lakebed. A winter of near-average rainfall, consistent enough to maintain good runoff, has filled the lake again. The surrounds are green and lush, and there’s a feeling of abundance that was hard to imagine just six months ago.

I may not enjoy the walking conditions as much in spring, but I can appreciate the lushness and baby birdlife. As the young ducks grow up during the coming dry months I’m sure they too will be grateful for the extra water in the lake this summer.

My regular readers (hello to both of you!) may have noticed I haven’t written much lately. But I can explain.

I’ve recently put career number two (information technology) behind me and embarked upon full time study for career number three (library and information services). The course is not hard yet, but switching back to full time study mode has not come easily. Absorbing new learning and juggling seven subjects at once - with homework - may have come naturally when I was young, but as a mature-age home-owner stuck for many years in the routine of work, some mental readjustment has been needed. And it’s not just my mind that’s being stretched - I’ve upped my exercise level and joined a gym too.

Consequently my internet habits, which were already modest, have been taking a back seat. I will continue blogging because I still like to write, but my regularity will probably remain low and inconsistent for a while, until being a student becomes as routine as my previous life.

The toys of the rich, such as flashy cars and yachts, are normally thought of as being good and desirable; something worth aspiring to. However owning a luxury yacht may not always be a good thing … and I’m not just saying that because I can’t afford one!

I was prompted to think this way by some of the weather we’ve been having lately here in Perth (the photo here shows Cottesloe Beach on a day not suitable for swimming). Strong cold fronts, winter gales and rough seas have produced the sort of conditions that occasionally result in boats breaking loose from their moorings and being damaged. Although I haven’t noticed any recent news reports of storm damage to yachts, it does happen, and if I had a yacht moored out in the open I think I’d be a little concerned about it in squally weather.

Then there’s the cost. According to a West Australian newspaper story (here) boat ownership in Perth has risen massively but the number of parking places for boats hasn’t, and with demand outstripping supply the fees for yacht moorings have skyrocketed. This must surely be a concern for people who bought a boat with an inheritance or a lotto win, but don’t have an ongoing high income.

When I woke in the night recently to the sound of destructive winds and heavy rain, for some unknown reason I visualised luxury yachts being tossed about and breaking loose from their moorings. At that moment I was genuinely glad that I didn’t have a yacht of my own to be worried about.

It made me think of a Bible verse found in Ecclesiastes 5:12 - “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep“. With that thought I rolled over and fell asleep.

You may have heard it said that men can only do one thing at a time, whereas women can do several things at once (if you have, it was probably a woman that said it). Even if it’s true that doesn’t mean men are inferior. On the contrary, an article in the Wall Street Journal executive career site suggests that doing one thing at a time is more efficient.

The article, titled “Juggling Too Many Tasks Could Make You Stupid“, reports on scientific research which shows that doing several things at once - multitasking - can be less efficient than doing one task at a time, and comes with a cost. Here are some pertinent quotes from the article:

• “People who multitask are actually less efficient than those who focus on one project at a time, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. The time lost switching among tasks increases with the complexity of the tasks, according to the research by Dr Meyer and others.”
• “Managing two mental tasks at once reduces the brainpower available for either task, even when these activities engage two different parts of the brain.”
• “If the tasks require the same parts of the brain, such as two assignments that both draw on language skills, it’s going to be extremely hard to succeed efficiently”
• “Chronic high-stress multitasking also is linked to short-term memory loss”
• “It doesn’t mean you can’t do several things at the same time,” says Dr Just, co-director of the university’s Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging. “But we’re kidding ourselves if we think we can do so without cost.”

I’ve often felt that I can work more effectively by doing one thing at a time, and doing it well, rather than trying to do several things at once and doing none of them well. Finding research that supports my belief is gratifying. Now if I hear a woman complaining that “men can only do one thing at a time” I’ll view it as a compliment … a sign that we men are just working more efficiently!

Some time ago I started writing about times when procrastination can be good - but I never got around to continuing with the subject. Recently my interest was renewed by reading a blog article by John Wesley, titled “14 Ways To Procrastinate Productively“. Just the sort of thing that simply must be read when you ought to be doing something else!

In describing how procrastination can be productive, he divides it into two categories. There’s Structured Procrastination, where the desire to avoid an important task can act as motivation for doing other valid tasks - like getting organised, networking, planning ahead, unresolved odds and ends, meetings, errands, getting up to date, and assisting others.

That makes sense to me; the last time I was a student and needed to study for exams, my procrastination led me to do vacuuming and other household chores as a means of avoiding studying. Necessary chores got done, which may not have happened if I’d had nothing to procrastinate about. Similarly, unblocking the gutters is a necessary task I usually put off, but given the choice between unblocking gutters or starting my tax return, I somehow find the motivation to go up a ladder and get my hands dirty.

Then there’s Unstructured Procrastination, which John Wesley describes as a way of recharging creative energy and allowing the unconscious mind to work on difficult problems. He includes examples like lunching, exercising, walking, relaxing, coming up with great ideas, and reading good books - in other words, using downtime (while procrastinating) to rest and refresh the mind. An example of someone flat out recharging his brain (at Lake Ohau, NZ) is pictured. If this means returning to the original task with renewed vigour and fresh ideas, then it could indeed be productive.

If you’ve got other more important things you should be doing but want to avoid, then you’ll probably appreciate John Perry’s Structured Procrastination website as well.

You’ve probably been told - as if it was a proven fact - that cars beyond a certain age cost more to repair and maintain. This, allegedly, makes it more economical to trade up to a new car rather than keep an older car running. When speaking to several car salesman recently (for research only) they implied I was throwing money down the drain if I didn’t replace my old car immediately. Being a curious fellow, and they being salesman, I wondered if it is really true.

In the spirit of the Mythbusters TV program, I decided to put it to the test. Since buying my car over 20 years ago, I have kept track of every dollar I have ever spent on it, and most of the numbers were already in a spreadsheet. I did some calculations, made some charts, and the result was clear.

(Continued)

The world is full of coincidences, and I found this one interesting. Two men, on opposite sides of the world, both former politicians turned lobbyists, both convicted of crimes relating to their times in politics … and both named Brian Burke.

Brian Burke One, who has his own Wikipedia article, was the Premier of Western Australia from 1983 to 1988. During that time he conducted what were to become known as some shady deals, and allegations of improper conduct led to a royal commission. In 1994 he was charged with various offences including travel expense rorts, and served seven months of a two-year prison sentence. In 1997 he was imprisoned for stealing campaign donations, but this conviction was later quashed.

Brian Burke Two, a former state senator in Wisconsin, US, was convicted of misconduct in 2005. He was sentenced to six months in prison for using taxpayer funds to pay aides to solicit cash for his state attorney general campaign, and for altering records. The gory details are in this article.

Further similarities are revealed in the image on the right (from the WisOpinion website). The text on it reads “How Brian Burke’s reckless ambition and a political system where breaking the rules became commonplace conspired to end his brilliant career”. This was written about the Wisconsin Brian Burke, but could be applied just as well to the West Australian Brian Burke. Even the expression on Burke Two’s face - that innocently pleading “Who, me? I never done it!” look - has a lot in common with pictures I’ve seen of Burke One.

Speaking of which, photos of the West Australian Burke are suspiciously absent when doing a Google image search. I wanted to include one which showed the similarities in their expressions, but I couldn’t find one, which is remarkable considering how often his face has been gracing our TV and newspapers recently. I suppose that’s one thing the Burkes don’t have in common.

My sympathy goes out to all the other Brian Burkes of this world who really haven’t done anything wrong!

I went for a walk recently at Lake Monger and was saddened to find that it’s drying up. It’s normal for Perth’s smaller lakes and wetlands to dry up over summer, but not Lake Monger - it’s one of the largest lakes in the area, and although the water levels rise and fall with the seasons I’ve never seen the levels as low as they are now.

The first photo shows the shallower western side (the wooden posts are normally under water), and the second shows what is normally a channel of water surrounding a small island. The sign advising not to enter the water looks a little out of place! While most of the lake still has water in it, much of this is alarmingly shallow - one bird I saw standing in the middle of the lake had water only up to its knees (or the part of its legs where the knees would be if it had them).

Why is it so? The lake occurs in a low-lying area where groundwater reaches the surface, and so groundwater levels affect the lake depth. A percentage of Perth’s water supply is pumped out of the ground, and this percentage has increased over the last 30 years. Combined with a doubling of the population in this period, and a decrease in rainfall, it’s not surprising that the lake level should be abnormally low. It wouldn’t have helped that last year was our driest on record.

With still another two months of warm weather to get through before the brief rainy season, Lake Monger will undoubtedly get even drier - hopefully not too dry for all the bird life that depend on it when other lakes have dried up.

Have you ever been irritated or annoyed by the culture you live in, or felt discontent with human society in general? If so, it could be a sign that you are sane and well-adjusted! That’s what is suggested by these three quotes from very diverse sources:

• “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” - Jiddu Krishnamurti, philosopher
  

• “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. … Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”- Bible, Romans 12:2 (MSG Version)

• “If you aren’t grumpy, that means you are content with the world.
  And who the *#@!* could be that!” - Bob Geldoff

The Bob Geldof quote is from the book “Grumpy Old Men“, based on the BBC TV series of the same name. When I read the book recently (a great laugh, by the way) his words reminded me of the other quote and also the Bible verse. What I liked about them is that each, in its own way, points to the same idea: that our cultures and societies are far from perfect, and that it’s not a good thing to be satisfied with this imperfection or try to fit into it.

What sort of people would we be, if we saw that the world was going down the toilet but didn’t think there was anything wrong with that?

So if you feel a bit cheesed off with the world around you, don’t feel ashamed; a little grumpiness is to be expected among thinking, discerning people in a faulty world. The trick is to not become over-critical and judgemental whingers, and to this end there are plenty of good things in the world we can choose to appreciate, if we look for them among the irritations.

Things we do can make a difference in the lives of others - but we don’t necessarily get to see, or hear or know about it. This truth is pointed out in a book I’m reading:

… we need also to unlearn the idea that our unique mission must consist of some achievement which all the world will see - and learn instead that as the stone does not always know what ripples it has caused in the pond whose surface it impacts, so neither we nor those who watch our life will always know what we have achieved by our life and by our mission. It may be that by the grace of God we helped bring about a profound change for the better in the lives of other souls around us, but it also may be that this takes place beyond our sight, or after we have gone on. And we may never know what we have accomplished, until we see him face-to-face after this life is past.

This is from the epilogue of “What Colour Is Your Parachute” by Richard Bolles, a classic book about career change and finding the right occupation. In this bit the author is talking about finding our mission in life - our purpose for being on the earth, rather than merely what job we do. He makes the point that we should not be discouraged if what we are doing does not appear to be achieving anything or helping anyone. Doing something worthwhile may not consist of any particular activity or accomplishment that others can see. We should do and be what we are made to do and be, enjoying any recognition and feedback that might come … but not depending on it.

There’s a story in the Bible (Luke 17:12-19) of Jesus healing ten lepers and sending them away; only one bothered to return and thank him. The other nine had just as much reason to be thankful, but Jesus got no feedback from them. Nothing much has changed: few people, when helped by someone, go to the efforts of thanking the person who helped them and explaining how they were helped. But lack of feedback doesn’t necessarily mean people haven’t been, or won’t (later on), be impacted by what you’ve done … like unseen ripples in a pond.

In 2000 a retired dairy farmer - Pete Ondrus of Michigan, USA - realised that the Guinness Book of World Records had no record for the fastest cow. In response he founded the Mid-Michigan Cow Racing Association and the World-Wide Cow Racing Association, with the motto “Don’t milk them, race them”. He held his first cow race that year, and it appears to be an annual event although his website has not been updated since 2004. Most people would not be surprised to find that such an event began in America, but did it?

Pete Ondrus was apparently unaware of the Compass Cup, a cow race which has taken place every year since 1974 in the town of Mt Compass in South Australia. As far as I can tell, this was probably the world’s first organised public cow racing event. It began when a 12-year-old Guernsey was called in for milking and ran full speed for the milk shed. This fired the imagination of a Rural Youth Adviser, who formed a committee and organised a cow race as a fund-raising event for the town. Its popularity grew, despite the challenges of getting any cow to go fast, and the 34th annual Compass Cup was held last weekend.

If you picture people sitting on dairy cattle and trying to make them race, and making a big community event out of it, the phrase “only in America…” may be a normal response. So for me it’s strangely satisfying to think that Australians can lead the world in this delightfully unconventional activity.

Photo credit: CompassCup.com.au

Another time when procrastination is potentially a good thing is when “warming up”. This could be when getting up in the morning and launching into the day, or when arriving at work and starting on the day’s tasks.

Some people can dive right into things - being alert and busy within minutes of waking up, or reaching their full speed and productivity within minutes of arriving at work. Others, like me, are simply not built to operate that way; we need more time to get mentally into gear, organise our thoughts, and build up to full productivity. For the latter type of people, trying to “hit the ground running” prematurely can be counterproductive, whereas we work much more effectively after a warm-up time, which others may view as procrastination. Both approaches may achieve the same end result, but in different ways.

An article at lifehack.org - Are You Just Getting Warmed Up by Tony Clark - explains the warming up type of procrastination well:

“I’m honestly not procrastinating in the traditional sense, but need some time to ramp up into my day. How do I know I’m not just slacking? Because when I jump right in, most of what I produce is crap. But if I give myself time to get warmed up - have some coffee, check some feeds, read some mail - when I do get to work, I’m way more productive. I’m also much more focused.”

He draws an analogy with warming up a car on a cold morning - scraping off the ice then leaving it to idle while the engine warms. This warm-up time improves the performance and the life of the car … and some people need this idling and warm-up time too! You just have to be careful to know whether your procrastination is the legitimate warm-up time you need to function at your best, or just slackness. We are all different, so only you can judge that.

To procrastinate - to put off till another day or time; defer; delay - is usually thought of as a bad thing. Indeed, some dictionary definitions allude to “habitual carelessness or laziness” as causes, or describe such delay as “needless”. I don’t think it’s a black and white issue. While most procrastination may be counterproductive, there are times when putting things off can be good, and I’d like to share some examples.

1. As an antidote to impulsiveness, particularly impulsive shopping.

Have you ever bought something on impulse and later regretted it? More procrastination when shopping can avoid this, as it gives an opportunity for reasoning to overcome impulsiveness. This may not matter with something like a tub of yoghurt, but with expensive items it can be very important indeed.

In my line of work I’m exposed to a lot of expensive computer gadgetry, and read magazines which heavily advertise such gadgets. I also read outdoors magazines and frequent shops which sell all the latest hiking and camping gear. Gadgets and cool gear can be tempting when shopping, so on the odd occasions when I see something that I just have to have, I deliberately procrastinate. Even if I feel that buying an item is justifiable and the price is good, I usually put it off - the higher the price the longer I’ll put it off.  After several days or weeks and some contemplation or research, if I still think that buying the item is justifiable then I’ll do it. More often than not, I’ll realise that I don’t really need the thing, or that something cheaper will do. The result: deliberate and purposeful procrastination when shopping has saved me a lot of money.

I’ll share some more examples of good procrastination  … when I get around to it!