You need to get a round 'TUIT'

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

My dad had a small collection of funny gadgets. One in particular was a little, circular disc with the letters “TUIT” printed on one side.

He pulled it out sometimes when one of us mentioned that we had been putting off something or hadn’t had time to get something done. “Here, it sounds like you need to get ‘a round TUIT,’” he would say, which always brought a smile, if not a chuckle.

That was what Dad was all about; trying to get people to lighten up.

The “round TUIT” topic came up during a conversation I had with my friend, Lynn Garside, while we were walking together a few days ago. She told me her dad also had a “round TUIT,” and the thought that both our dads had one made me smile.

My friendship with Lynn has spanned the last 25 years and her support, loyal friendship and her many talents are a real blessing to me. She is musically and artistically inclined, bold in her faith and a real encourager. I don’t know what she likes about me, but for some reason we have always felt connected. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we were both raised by dadsthat liked gadgets like round TUIT’s.

Being such a good friend, Lynn is very tolerant of my inclination to analyze things and even does her part to help me when I ask.

“Just why is it so easy to put off starting something that needs to be done?” I asked her during one of our laps around her circular driveway. I was curious to see if our thoughts on the subject matched at all.

As we compared ideas, it became apparent that we procrastinate for different reasons. I dread starting something because of all the other things that have to be put on hold while I work on the new project. For my friend, it is more a matter of not having a clear idea of where to start.

Lynn shared that when she feels the wheels spinning, it helps to talk to someone to get ideas about how to get started. I told her my strategy is trying to get everything else done before I begin the new project, which doesn’t work well because I am always a job or two short of reaching that point.

Then I remembered reading in Readers Digest several years ago some tricks people had used to stop procrastinating. One man who had new next-doorneighbors kept thinking he would go ring the doorbell and introduce himself but he couldn’t get up the nerve. After several days, he was determined that he would stop procrastinating and follow through, so, while in the backyard, he tossed his hat over the fence. He walked around front, rang the new neighbor’s doorbell, introduced himself and asked to retrieve his hat from their backyard.

Another example told about a woman who found a way to finally get started painting her kitchen. To give herself the boost she needed, she invited friends over for the following week to eat dinner and to see her kitchen with the new paint job.

Lynn and I laughed about the clever ways some people have found to get themselves motivated when they have been putting off doing something, and we’re glad to know we’re not alone in this challenge.

Figuring out the reason for procrastinating is a good first step in winning the battle. And from that point, the tactics can be as unique and creative as they need to be to get the job done.

Neither my friend nor I are quite sure, however, of the benefit of owning a “round TUIT.”

Annette Rowe is a freelance writer from rural Gentry and a speech-language pathologist at Siloam Springs High School. She may be reached by e-mail at awalkinthepark50 @ yahoo.com.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 09/28/2011