Family Matters
Do you call it procrastination or distraction?
By Ka'ohua Lucas
I think we are all guilty of procrastination.
How many times have we delayed cleaning out that one drawer in our kitchen that we struggle to open because it's crammed with everything under the sun from pencils to napkins to outdated menus to a chip clip or two, an old address book and a screwdriver.
Or we've decided to postpone filling out that five-page questionnaire sent by our insurance company.
Or thought to ourselves, "Hey, that knocking in my engine can probably wait for another week or so before I fix it."
Yes, we are all guilty.
But is it indeed procrastination, or is a better definition "distraction"?
I decided to test my theory by collecting data in the manner of a researcher who carefully observes her participant in his own environment.
Case Study 101
Participant: my husband.
Site: garage.
I began my field study with a simple statement to the participant. "Please clean out the garage."
As I observed his every move, I began to take scrupulous notes.
9 a.m.: Participant sits in folding chair, head thrown back, arms dangling at his side, gazing at the moving clouds.
9:30 a.m.: Participant has moved from his sitting position. Is now watering plants along driveway.
10 a.m.: Participant is standing near entry to garage, surveying its contents.
10:45 a.m.: Participant sits at desk in garage, gluing the arm of a wooden statue to its torso.
11:30 a.m. Participant hollers for children to help sweep out garage. Participant loads recyclable materials in vehicle.
Noon: Participant returns to kitchen for lunch and shares with researcher details of his exhausted physical state.
12:30 p.m.: Participant turns on television and reclines in lounger. Participant naps.
2:30 p.m.: Participant engages in a wrestling match with his two sons.
3 p.m.: Researcher reminds participant that garage needs to be cleaned out today.
3:30 p.m.: Participant limps out to the garage. Participant clears picnic table of all accumulated items. Participant reminds children that sweeping is not yet complete.
4 p.m.: Participant begins to set up machine for grinding kalo, or taro, into poi.
As the researcher, I decided to end my observation when the participant returned to the folding chair and lit a cigar.
Now, some of you may think that the participant in Case Study 101 did indeed complete the task assigned.
But to place this all into perspective, you must first realize that our garage looks as if it had been hit by Hurricane Iniki.
Or maybe a more apt image is that in the old sitcom "Sanford and Son" — a junkman's paradise.
Just the other day, my neighbor giggled as I apologized for her having to hurdle over a laundry basket and tiptoe through a puddle of water without stepping on several articles of clothing that were strewn across the garage floor.
Essentially, I do not think my observation resulted in any conclusive evidence.
However, I do believe that oftentimes procrastination can be misinterpreted as distraction.
I am reminded of the 'olelo no'eau: "O ka makapo wale no ka mea hapapa i ka pouli."
Translated, it means, "Only the blind grope in darkness," referring to someone who is a procrastinator.
Maybe my example is not procrastination at all.
Maybe it is indeed a case of distraction.
Which reminds me, I've been meaning for the past year to sew a few missing buttons onto my sons' comforter covers.
Maybe tomorrow.
Ka'ohua Lucas has an 18-year-old daughter and two sons, 11 and 7. She hold a master's degree in education curriculum and instruction, and works as an educational consultant on Hawaiian curriculum.
Lucas and fellow Hawai'i parent Lynne Wikoff take turns writing the Family Matters column. If you have comments, questions or suggestions for future topics, write: Family Matters, 'Ohana Section, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; e-mail ohana@honoluluadvertiser.com or fax 535-8170.
