Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Join 1,800 of your fellow swimmers and coaches and sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.
While putting off going to the pool this morning for my daily date with the lap swimmers at my friendly neighborhood YMCA, I found myself procrastinating. A lot. I’d hit up Facebook to check… I don’t remember. I’d go into the kitchen – and even though I’d already eaten my designated pre-workout combo – decided I needed to fuel up a little more. And then I thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if I wrote up a list of ways I do this, so that I can further procrastinate. Haha I am such a dummy. Wait, what?”
Whether it is adjusting a playlist (my favorite), or indulging the sudden need to research something on the internet, here is a list of ways that to procrastinate on getting your butt to the pool.
1. Create, adjust and edit my “Drive/Walk to practice” playlist. Now, do I wanna go full blast on the Eminem as I am pulling into the parking lot, or do I want to come down a little bit? The walk into the pool is very critical as well, so I need to think of something to put on the iPod for then. If only I liked one of the 11,000 songs on my iTunes. Yeesh.
2. Facebook. Zuckerberg nailed this one so good. Whether it is getting caught up in internet arguments, clicking off-site to a video with a variation of the click-bait post title “This Married Guy Is Dating Another Girl, What Happens Next Will Absolutely Change Your Life” or checking to see what everybody else thought of Richard Sherman’s rant on Sunday, there is always something to burn your attention.
3. Ain’t nobody got time for a soggy suit. Suit is marginally wet? Better put it in the dryer. Boom, just bought yourself 20 minutes. No? I bet your towel is. Still no? Better put both in there anyways.
4. Make a list. In fact, make a list about the lists you are going to make. Planning and list-making trick you into thinking you are being effective with your time. When you are making a list (guilty!) you feel like you are getting something done. The sense of being productive without actually having to do anything. Sweet!
5. Clean stuff. Your room and kitchen will go days without attention, but when it comes time to head out to practice suddenly the need to fully embrace your inner OCD conveniently appears. I believe the scientific term for this occurence is “procasticleaning.”
See Also: Swimming Goggles: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know
6. Right after I am done doing “_____.” Before I go to the pool I need to get the laundry going, clean up the supplement corner, walk the dog, check out what time Maury is on, finish watching Sportscenter, and so on. The options truly are endless here.
7. Internet research. I just need to look up this one thing on the web before I can go workout… What was it again? Oh yeah, pool hours. Derp.
8. Nap. The oh-so-glorious nap. Just for a second, just to see how it feels. We have been lied to all of our lives – time traveling does exist. It’s simply called napping.
9. Food. Must. Eat. Food. More. Now. The internal monologue generally runs along the lines of, “Well, I cannot go to the pool under-nourished so I better eat something… And then wait, like, two hours, cause I don’t wanna swim with a full stomach cause that’s bad. It’s science!”
10. Worry! Sitting around and being anxious about all the training coming your way is so much easier than actually doing it.
11. Check up on the weekend’s swimming news and results. When you are reading about swimming, it comes close to passing as training… am I right?
12. Over-analyze a physical symptom that may or may not resemble a symptom belonging to a mild, mysterious illness. Isn’t that so weird that just before practice that tiny, barely-there symptom or ailment that hasn’t been bugging you all day suddenly puts you on full sickie alert? “There has been a little knot in the depths of my stomach for the past 15 minutes… Can’t quite place it. Hmm, might be West Nile Virus. Better stay home. Don’t want to infect anyone. Safety first!” Symptoms generally clear up by the time your allotted practice time ends.
Got any procrastitips (trademark!) you wanna share? Let me hear ’em in the comments below!
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AB
Pretty good advice