An Ode To Resisting The Real Work

Roxana Bouwer
4 min readMay 27, 2020

Procrastination and the art of sitting down and doing work that matters.

Credit: Pixabay

Last night I did something revolutionary for an adult human with a ‘shoulds’ list just as long as yours. I went to bed early. Was I exhausted? Yes. But I cannot count the times I have pushed through heavy fatigue to squeeze in more doing. I didn’t retire because of the exhaustion. It was because of the ache. Not a superficial, sore foot ache but a sub-atomic ache to create and ship my work into the world.

I haven’t figured out how to do that while I am asleep. I imagine that only happens when you turn pro. But for now, I know enough to understand that if I can wake up refreshed and rested tomorrow, I am setting myself up for a worthwhile day of doing what it takes to do what I want to do.

I woke up at 6am to the dark light and ice air of winter. Honestly, I feel like I should get more praise and admiration for this. Someone (anyone!) should take more notice. But my waking up and getting up will never be validated by anyone but me. This is great training for entrepreneurship. And large parts of adulthood.

I am up. I have even zenned myself with a morning process of journaling and meditation. I have woken up, life! I have done it again. Can you see? I have also managed to dress and brush my teeth. I’m doing. Reward me?

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