Actress and comedian Katy Brand, 42, is best known for Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show on IT V. She has also written two memoirs and a novel. With her ex-lawyer husband and six-year old son, she is currently based in London. Her stepdaughter, 22, is her second child.
My younger self was terrible at procrastinating. It was thrilling to be able to leave everything until last minute, and to stay up late in order to reach deadlines. It felt like I was setting myself a strange challenge. Then I realized that I was constantly in adrenalized chaos. It was probably related to performing and stand-up comedy — that sense of nearly failing and then pulling it back. Sometimes I didn’t pull it back, I really did fail.
As I got older, I had to admit my body just wasn’t up to dealing with that every day. You get ill and your immune system doesn’t function as well. Now I’m more measured about how I work. There’s a real pleasure in doing something properly, in the right amount of time.
Katy Brand, 42, (pictured) who lives in London, revealed how she stopped being a procrastinator who leaves everything to the last minute
I love Mary Poppins’s maxim: ‘Well begun is half done’. You don’t have to hurry to complete a chore if you start well. Get ready for bed. Make sure the nursery is tidy.
My daily routine makes it easy to realize how important it is to wake up each morning at the same time as everyone else, have a bath, and eat breakfast before I start work.
My desk should be free of clutter, as I am a writer. There were piles upon piles when I was young. I now do my paperwork in the early morning, rather than spending six hours thinking about it.
We do our dishes together before going to sleep.
I am happier now that I’m not a procrastinator. My first book was completed and I had to write a script about two people staying in a hotel room. The script was filmed in Good Luck To You Leo Grande, with Emma Thompson. With my previous method of working, it would not have been possible.
If you can spend a bit of time making your environment, or your mind, ordered, then you’ll have a lot more room for something more spontaneous and even a bit anarchic, actually.
Practically Perfect: Life Lessons From Mary Poppins by Katy Brand (£9.99, HQ) is out now.