Procrastinators Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from chronic procrastination.
Gwen D on Mon Mid Morn
At my new full-time job. Getting overwhelmed. I have a BIG print project I need to schedule and map out. I have no management at the moment. It's the best time to do this. I have one small thing I should do before I get started, just add a standard header to a form in Illustrator then optimize it with form fields in Acrobat and upload it.
Then I HAVE to start to work backwards from an ideal print date for this big project and start thinking about worst case outcome so I can ward it off with good scheduling. (How ironic). I also must look at the original file to see what the nature of the beast is going to be.
My delinquent freelance job must wait until .... an evening. But I got over the shame block enough to at least deliver login info to them so they could do something themselves.
Maybe if I make progress on my reality check for this big print job, I might be able to remember how to work and apply some energy to the freelance web job.
SO....
I will do the form before lunch in 45 minutes.
I will go to lunch for no more than 40 minutes
I will begin to place events in my digital calendar based on all the clues I know about so far
After that I'll check in. Accountability. --Thank you!
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Gwen, if you're feeling overwhelmed...
...keep saying to yourself, "I can do this!" That has helped me a lot at times. Sometimes my procrastination comes from a fear that I can't do what's required, or can't do it well enough.
Keep checking in - let us know how you do!
progress
Thanks pro. That does indeed help. It's really helped to write this down and put it out there!
Where I'm at: Half hour behind and form is not perfect. The tab order of fields has to be worked out. But it's better than it was, and I am going to move on to my other more important thing when I come back from eating. Though it's hard to stop before it's perfect. Ergh.
Gnothi Seauton ~ Know Thyself
wow
Formatting can take hours :) But you're getting it done 8)
I really get bogged down w/that. I have a little note - "Progress, not Perfection." posted.
I'm so glad you're posting.
If you'd like, you can post on the topic dated for the day. It took me a little time to figure it out. But it's easier for everyone to support ea other when we're all on the same topic :P
Oh, NOW I get it!
So we're all bookending for the day on one thread? Sounds good.
Gnothi Seauton ~ Know Thyself
Bookending on the same thread
Yup - just do your first Check In as a comment on the original post, then after that do your CIs as replies to your own post, then they're all grouped together with your most recent near the top of your block. Clear as mud? Try it - it works much better than the way we originally tried it (separate thread for each person).
method for everyone bookending in the same thread
Yes, that was my original idea. I thought we could have one thread for each day, then each person could have their own section within the day thread. So it would work like this:
1. First person to log in on a particular day posts the day thread. (Personally, I love it when someone who knows how to use those cool graphics does it, but I'm just a baby. I love opening a day thread and seeing "Good morning" in rainbow colors, but that's not necessary. If you're here first, open the day thread!
2. Then to create your own bookending section, click the "add comment" link under the original day post. I like to call that post "pro's bookending section" or something like that.
3. Your bookending posts will all be replies to your "bookending section" post. That way they're all together and stacked up on each other so you can see your progress.
4. If you want to encourage someone else, visit their section and reply to one of the bookending posts (e.g. "fantastic job, Gwen!!!!") And sometimes when you come back for your next bookend, you'll see a reply from someone else cheering you on.
Make sense?
I should promote this post to the first page so it doesn't get lost (if it's possible to do so). The more I use this content management system (Drupal) the less I like it. The design is vomitable, and it's very hard to administrate.
Re: Bookending on Same Thread
Perfect. Thanks for that.
Yes let's pop this info up to the top of Forums someday, WHEN YOU'RE NOT AGAINST DEADLINE.
STOP READING!!
Gnothi Seauton ~ Know Thyself
Snap!
:)
p r o g r e s s
A slow lunch. It was so nice out! Does anyone else remember that Disney short about the Grasshopper and the Ant? I always feel like the grasshopper.
I am going to put my head down now and think about scheduling tools to use for this project. Wait. Yes. Right now I'm approaching this program too broadly! I need to make deadlines for what to do TODAY! There are many different phases to scheduling.
Define Scope of Project
1. Set a drop dead date to the printer and make space for milestones in iCal
2. Make a list of all the tasks that have to be scheduled, accomplished
---like getting proofed copy from all the content owners, designing a cover
--- like "nice-to-do's" like redesigning the callouts
3. Assess dependencies --things you need before you can do other things
4. Assess time tasks might take in days -- create all day tasks in iCal that take up that amount of time
5. Use iCal like a GANTT chart and drag tasks around to see overlap and multitasking days
6. Assess where you are and refine to stay within time before drop dead date
7. Set milestones for team to get copy, accounting for deadlines that will be stretched, and draft requests
Okay -- I know I won't do ALL this today. But I'll check back in two hours and let you know what I did. Thank you.
Gnothi Seauton ~ Know Thyself
It's exactly two hours!
Are you there Cinderella? Hopefully you've got so stuck into the project that you're too busy to post.
WTG on getting your first priorities sorted :)
It was a start.
Hi Normy!
Yup. I did get lost in the project. I was all over the map with it, though (and incidently had to respond to other minor tasks here--gonna be a standard condition, I think). What I did: I read a lot about the production cycle for the other issues before this one. I looked at files. I ran into a program crashing problem that kept me from looking at the big important file. I now know I have to resolve that tomorrow first thing. I began brainstorming design, and I put some tasks in a calendar. It resembled time bingeing because I'm not walking away with anything concrete. But I know I made a good effort to assess the reality of the situation. I'm a lot better off than I was two hours ago.
Thanks folks, for being here. This is really hard for me. But now it's time to pack up and go home. Sometimes I have trouble LEAVING the WORKPLACE. Same disease, different symptom. So, here goes!
Gnothi Seauton ~ Know Thyself
LOL! BTDT!!
And it's nearly two in the morning here - I've taken to overriding the auto-shutdown on the PC - oops! I've been CUOP and this is my last one, so I'm going to get off quick before I see another one!
WTG on getting started Gwen - that's often the biggest hurdle.
Night night!