Rebellion

Lately, I seem to have developed a love-hate relationship with deadlines. I meet them, but it’s not a pretty process.

When I have a deadline, like the one set for tomorrow, I take out my writing project and then go through the following steps:

• My mind thinks of at least two or three new writing projects that I would like to start, so I begin an outline for each new project.
• I decide to check all of my blog feeds, multiple times.
• I then check my email, multiple times.
• And at the end of that, I try to go back to the project with the looming deadline. At least for a little bit, until I decide to write a blog post (like this one) or the urge to surf the internet hits again.

Inherently, I like the idea of deadlines because it means that a task will get done and that I can check it off my to-do list. However, in order to meet a deadline, I can’t be complacent; I must take some action. That’s the part that I seem to have trouble with. Not that I don’t want to do the task per se, but that I don’t want to do it on someone else’s timeline. (Yet, with this deadline, I even had a bit of a say in setting it.)

All of this behavior boils down to rebellion. And rebellion, at its root, is a failure to submit to authority. Not a pretty picture.

So, I’m going to try to get back on task and rebel against my rebellion, if that’s possible. While I’m doing that, consider what you rebel against. Do you have trouble meeting deadlines, obeying speed limit signs, complying with library or DVD rental due dates, or submitting to authority in general? I’d love to hear what causes you to rebel and how you combat it.