Let me say right up front that I’m sort of horrible with deadlines. I’m a procrastinator. Well, I create in my head my idea of the perfect atmosphere in which to do a task, and I wait and wait and wait for that perfect time and then that perfect ideal never happens. Huh! On top of that I take my commitments very seriously, which seems at odds with my mad time-management skilz, but there you go. It all leads to a lot of sleepless nights. I leave things to the last minute and then drive myself crazy worrying at night when I’m supposed to be sleeping, at a time when there’s nothing I can do about it.

And now we know how stress is born: created out of thin air! I’m magic! Yay me!

I’m writing under a deadline right now. Oh, I have a few more hours to bang out this post (and Nataly is really understanding and forgiving when there’s something going on and I can’t make deadline), but my youngest is home from preschool today sporting twin snot-rivers that require constant wipage, and vegging out to “Clifford” while snacking on his third meal of the day (and it’s not even 9 am). So I know there will be interruptions. Like every couple of minutes, because pretty soon he’s going to wander away from the babysitter TV and start dumping out his Duplos so he can wear the bucket on his head, and maybe after that he’ll head upstairs and take all the blankets off the beds. And then things will come sailing over the balcony railing. And then he’ll need adrinkandanotherdrinkandanothersnackandhisnosewipedagain.

And I know I’ll manage this post just fine despite the inevitable interruptions, but I’ve also got four clients to do some channeling work for, and their work needs real actual silence.

So they get put off another day.

(But you know, I’m kind of enjoying taking a mini break here so my son and I can make faces at each other.)

So I think what’s important to keep in mind about deadlines and pressure and procrastination is balance and perspective.

Balance.

Like I said, I tend to want to wait until things are in perfect order before I do them. Is this so things never actually get done? Maybe. But striking a balance is more sensible. Does my bathroom really need to be clean before I write that column that runs tomorrow? Can I carve out a few minutes of time later when all the kids are home from school to do some of my work?* And can I be okay in insisting I take care of ME (and my clients) some of the time instead of always attending to everyone else?

Karen Rani wrote about letting go of the mom-guilt and being a little selfish to take care of yourself. Same goes with work, and well, with everything. The kids will “get it” eventually.

*For the record, I was a procrastinator also back when I worked a “real” job and had a desk and an office with a real door that closed. There the interruptions were coworkers poking their heads in or my secretary needing to decipher something she was typing for me or my boss asking questions about some report from last week. Of course, sometimes it was nothing more than the lure of the new Far Side calendar page or bagels in the copy room, but whatever.

Perspective.

At the same time, what’s the big deal about some of these self-imposed deadlines? Some are non-negotiable, but the other ones…well, let’s just say that some days, making faces with your kid is more important than getting certain things done.

I figure it all evens out eventually. And if I find myself lying awake and thinking about all the things left undone, I get up and make a list and then just let it go.

Because it will all still be there in the morning.