I am a procrastinator. I have a horrible habit of waiting til the last minute for things. As much as I hate to admit it, it is true. All my life, I've had procrastination tendencies. Pulling the all-nighter in college to finish that 15 page paper due at 9 a.m. the following morning. I once dropped a class a week before school started, because I procrastinated the summer reading assignment to the point of never even cracking open the book. Just ask my best friends and family...I can't even get to the post office early enough to mail out packages in time! (I've even explained to a then 7 yr old nephew that his birthday present would be arriving late. "If it isn't late, then it just wouldn't be me!", I told him. To which he replied, "It's okay, Aunt Tami. I know...". Even a 7 year old recognizes my procrastination and poor time management skills...) Even as I write this, I, quite embarrassed, still haven't mailed a best friend's birthday present, which was bought about 2 months ago...and her birthday was August 1st! (more forgetfulness in my currently hectic life than procrastination, I suppose...but I swear I will get it out this week!)
Well anyways, procrastination did it to me again. I've known for well over a month now (quite possibly longer) about a photography contest that I wanted to enter. There wasn't any big prize, but it was a free entry, and I thought it would be fun. Well, I went back and forth, unable to decide what photo to submit for my first ever photography contest (well, first 'grown up' photography contest). I knew the deadline was September 10th. I just didn't realize it was 5 PM on the 10th. Not until after I spent 30 minutes on the phone with my sister that evening, getting her opinion of which one I should submit. By the time I finally made up my mind, it was 9:54 PM. And, once I registered, clicked the confirmation link in my email as required, and navigated the site to the appropriate section for upload...I got the error message: No contests open. What? I went back to my email, and tried again. Same message, directing me back to the contest rules. And as I skimmed through, I saw it. Entries must be received by 5 PM on September 10th. How did I miss that 5 PM part? Well, as bummed as I was about it, I knew one thing: Procrastination doesn't pay!
The great news is, however, that I found another contest. This one, is more of a 'bigger' contest, by which I mean they are giving away a Canon 7D with a kit lens as the grand prize. But again, I'm entering for fun and experience. It will be interesting to see how my entries compare to others. And maybe I will learn a thing or two! But this time around, I have set a personal goal to have my entry in the mail by September 30th. A full 15 days before the October 15th deadline.
As for my procrastination and time management...the purchase of a dayplanner is long overdue. :)
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