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.

Sunday 21 December 2008

Sunday 21 December 2008

Welcome to hope!

 


pro's check-out - 11pm

Here's what I said I was going to do, and what I did do:

  • Shower, dress, make bed.
  • Water plants (must not forget - I'm killing them).
  • Make cookies for party this afternoon.
  • Continue learning to use Silverlight development tools.

I didn't work on Silverlight because I worked on our family tree instead, at my brother's request. That was the right choice for a Sunday.

And now it's bedtime - my teeth are already brushed. Good night!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.

tiptree 10:07 PM CI

k, I've planned out 67 hours of work that has to be done by Jan 5th (although Jan 2nd would be better). Tomorrow, I need to take care of 8 hours of this.

to do:
wiki pages 3 hrs
1254 done 1 hr
http/https thang 2 hrs
email re presentation states 1/2 hr (actual: 1/4 hr)
orthovita thang 1/2 hr
start grid 1 hr
additional tasks: call re insurance, library, clean office, read 25 pp., practice guitar, cancel subscription

by 01/05/2009:
3 hours -> wiki pages
1 hour -> 1254 done
2 hours -> 1075
8 hours tinymce fix + css thang
20 hours grid
3 hrs performance test of groups
1/2 hr trivial orthovita thing
1/2 email fuji re presentationstate objects
8 hours autocomplete hack
4 hours 1408 -> listener
2 hrs breadcrumb/quiz
1 hr vcu query thang
8 hours omaha
4 hours xml decl issue
2 hours http/https

6:08pm

This is the first time I've checked in for the day, I believe. I have been trying for years to do a certain list of tasks everyday, every week, every month, every few years, and it has not worked entirely.  There are however some items that i have achieved on those lists, so it makes me think it's worth holding onto in some respect.  I'm hoping to overcome my Pro by taking part in this program.  I need a sponsor.   I need an offline meeting here in OC, CA.  I am somewhat relieved that the items people put on their to do lists here are things similar or analogous to what I do.  

What makes things easier for me is when I have only one thing to do within a given time frame.  Too bad I haven't woken up early enough to be at the meetings, yet.  But I'm sure it's helpful.  I would like to have another meeting for us late-wakers.  I am now realizing that this program, or at least its teachings are an absolute must for me.  I had a talk with my new boss, who was alarmed that I had not been present on time on Friday morning.  I explained that I were ill, but that cannot be my excuse, and I'm worried...as much as I wish I could be on time everyday, I have struggled with timing my entire life, not just with coming on time to work, but everything.  I'm either crazy early or a little bit late, even if I start at a very early time.  It's disturbing.  I wish there were some way.  I need this job.  I have to be present always.  He (my boss) did not seem flexible, even though it's not like we're working in a store.  But on with the list.  I wrote an email to a professor and got word back that it was okay for me to do the paper now.  Made me wish I'd spoken to that other professor.

Today I hope to do the following:

1: go to a 12 step meeting for my other program at 7pm

2: run 3 miles

3: drink two cups of water

4: brush my teeth

5: call the dentist and tell him I cannot be present and need to reschedule, cross-reference his available times with times when my work has holidays, so that I see him on a holiday

6: read my goals and affirmations

7: brush before bed

alarms, alarms, alarms

yep i do not have a good sense of time, and can get waylaid into all sorts of things for large amounts of time. so i use timers for everything.

Getting into to work/school on time has ALWAYS been hard for me, even now. I'm doing better, but it's something i have to consciously focus on every day.

One thing i thot of when reading your post, fudo, is to keep trying. Me and others here find that it's not the making the list, or the technique that's important, it's following thru with it. This fellowship helps me follow thru. So it is important to post my failures, as well as my successes. Much harder to post failures for me.

And the re-starting, re-trying. I have now had days where i've failed 15 times in one day. But that's only because i kept trying 15 times. In the past, i would have given up and escaped after 3 or 4 failures. And in all those 15 re-tries, i get some of the work done. Not as much as i wanted / expected, but at least some. More than if i escaped. I am very grateful to have this new way of working, even tho it is unpleasant for me and i can't do it all the time.

So good luck with your recovery, and keep us posted and let us encourage you to keep at it.

-----
fall down seven times, get up eight - japanese proverb

procrastinating with time mgmt tools: http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/1114#comment-23050

fudo

 It is great to read your post. This place does help. If you know that having only one thing to do at a given time is helpful for you, try nowdothis.com: it is a way of making a to do list that will only prompt one thing at a time. I find it helps me enormously. 

It sounds like the getting to work thing is critical to focus on. I find that when I limit myself to one real goal it helps. I used to be late for everything, but when I started working in schools I realized I had to be there on time, period. I decided it was bettter for me to be early everyday then to be on time so I set my phone alarm to go off so I don't muck up. I have an alarm to wake me, another to remind me when I have to be out of the shower, and a third to tell me when I have to get out the door. These alarms have saved my butt! 

I hope this helps and that you keep posting! be well. 

 

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - William Penn

Falcon solstice CI

Hi pro buddies,

It's the solstice. . . shortest day of the year. . . and I can feel winter depression trying to get its claws into me.  Begone, winter depression!  I have no time for you!

Actually, I've been holding out against it really well this year (knock on wood!) thanks to my sun lamp and lots of exercise.  But this evening I can feel that wave of irrational bleakness washing in.  Accompanied by a desire to start surfing the web, as a kind of mental anaesthesia.  

Ha!  You stupid depression!  You can't make me do what you want!  So there!  I intend to go hang the laundry, call my friends, email another friend, and start getting stuff ready for tomorrow.  Whether you like it or not!

Falcon

Falcon Sunday CO

. . . and by gum, my mood is better after getting the laundry squared away, and connecting with people I love.  So take that, depression!  Tongue out

Good night, everyone.  And if you're anywhere in the eastern half of the U.S., stay warm -- it's gonna be chilly tonight!

Falcon

GeorgeSmiley 5:10 PM + Updates

Did a lot of stuff around the house today. Now I'm settling down to work on that old Project V.

Heading to chatbox...

Update 7:40 PM

Spent about an hour on Project V. Then helped Mrs. GS w/ dinner and ate w/ her.

Now back to finish up Project V tonight.

Update 10:40 PM

Well I got Project V as far as it can go tonight.

I need to do fact check in the AM and then I can ship it.

Good night, all!

 

 

 

The Hero's Code:

Show up. Pay Attention. Speak the Truth. Let Go of the Outcome.

Kristen CI 2:30

I finished my acting paper last night and sent it in only a day late! Very proud of myself there. Now all that's left in this semester is my decon essay. A little scary, but exciting!

Today:

- yoga
- shower

- lunch with dad
- present for g?
- bday party
- latkes
- chris
- work on english
- bed!

Yay Kristen!

Yay Kristen! 8)

Thanks chickadee! /CI 4:15

Thanks chickadee! :D

- yoga
- shower

- lunch with dad
- new library card, books

- card for G
- bday party

- chris
- work on english
- bed!

Convalaria on Monday 5.30am and updates

Still having trouble sleeping.
Raiding the refrigerator i the middle of the night is not a good way to go.
Tasks for today:

  • walk dog as as soon as it gets lightnot yet
  • take mother for blood
    test
    done
  • see MK
    MIT
    appointment made
  • book excursion and email MIT
  • work on Rubric and email
  • morning
    routine
    started
  • microburst bills
  • "beauty" appointment was late
  • have eaten a fruit lunch
  • wasted time browsing shopsFrown
  • Not a good day
  • get ready for function and go!!

9.15 check in

12.35 check in
7.15 checkin

"Recovery from procrastination means doing what you say you're going to do, when you say you're going to do it."

kromer 8:50 CI

Tasks are feeling so overwhelming this xmas break--I've got lots of christmas stuff to do, lots of work/school stuff to do, and don't want to miss out on seeing friends and family because I'm running around...

Just going to take my tasks one step at a time, and make time for fun stuff with friends and family.

Here's the plan:
I want to go to church, take my brothers out to lunch, and spend a couple hours hanging out with my friend this afternoon.

Household/xmas stuff:
*MITs:  put up xmas tree, buy mom's present and make card, cook dinner, think up presents for mom and dad
*Other tasks: put lights on tree, bake chocolate chip cookies, do laundry

School stuff:
*MITs: finish list of coregs + email, fix interactome, proofread and send email to PT, make list of WM doc tasks
*Other tasks: Read 2 papers from page lab, start scan w/ new threshold, 1 hr doc work.

OK, right now I'm going to church, then going to come home, put up xmas tree, go to lunch, hang out with friend for a couple hours, check in again.  

kromer 11 CI

Somehow I keep getting overwhelmed with household/xmas stuff, and don't make it to the school tasks, which are also important.

I went to church, took my borthers out to lunch, spent time with friend, thought up present for dad (but not mom), put up xmas tree and put lights on it, did laundry.

Right now, I'm quickly going to buy mom's bday present. Then I'm going to microburst a school task (I'm going to read 1 pg of Page lab paper...just want to make sure I stay a little bit in school/work mode.) Then I'll go to bed, and commit to getting up at 7 tomorrow, so I can get some school work done before xmas craziness sets in. 

good morning from e

 yesterday was a fairly good day, although there were intermittent periods of procrastination. One thing that seems to be helping lately is a willingness on my part to putter on tasks, even if they are not urgent tasks. Keeping a slow relaxed pace without a deadline has helped chip away at things that otherwise back up and have a tendency to make me feel irritable. 

This morning I will make a simple brunch for family in honor of C's 15th birthday. They will show up between noon and 1, so I would like to prioritize things so that they get done. 

french toast casserole: in fridge. need to do second half of the recipe. Fruit salad to make. egg dish to consider making....bacon to cook up. coffee to make.hashed browns? perhaps....

c's little present wrapped. 

dishes: emptied, but now do a few that will clean up the kitchen.

dining room: looking better, but there are some more things to put away. Already some headway was made on this and in the living room, so that feels. good. 

kitchen: move things to the basement. start load of laundry. 

bath: swish and wipe. shower, dress, meds (1 taken) water (2 glasses so far). 

snow: to shovel. 

Wake up G by 10. 

chatbox here i come!

 

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - William Penn

puttering

I think puttering away at things might go on my new Year's resolutions--the tasks that can be done in bits are, well, much less scary that way. And they get done. All part of the hope and faith that doing just a little now instead of all later works... :laugh:

e checkback

Well, I am very tired, but pleased with how the day went. Puttering is defeinately a great habit, chick, because my house looks fine, I did not get freaked out or worried, brunch was yummy, organized and stressfree. I have some dishes to clean up, that I could not finish because my back began to hurt, but otherwise I feel in great shape.

However, I still do not have an appointment to discuss C's classroom performance with his physics teacher and I am worried that with the weather that it won't happen. 

Tomorrow is G's birthday, and I would like to make a nice dinner: so I will plan that and defrost what I don't need. M and I discussed the Christmas food and I am going to do the meats. I am going to ask each person in my family to do a dish, preferably one that can be done ahead of time. M is going to make the main vegetarian dishes, but I think I may make a caserole ahead of time of penne with havarti and Kalamata olives: it is yummy and can be done ahead of time. G wants goose, but I don't know whether I can do it or not: it took forever to do the one time I made it before and I don't want to screw up mealtimes. I would like to put together another brunch, so will see if I can put a simple menu together so I can do it ahead of time. This means planning a grocery shopping. In addition, I would like to get my children parent to children gifts, which i have not taken care of. Baby K will need a gate soon, so I might try to see about that. 

Then there are things I am simply not facing again, like resume and job search things. I have been snowed in for a while and have not made it to a 12 step meeting since last Tuesday and I am getting antsy. 

Thank you everyone who was in the chatbox on and off today. 

 

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - William Penn

Chick CI


laundry load 1 in. 1 out, 2 in.
2 out , 3 in., 3 out


kitchen tidied, dishwashing done.
some bathroom cleaning done.
Paper collection done.
garbage out.

I just realized I'm travelling tomorrow instead of the day
after. Woops. Being mistaken meant I was very relaxed yesterday, which is good, since I don't like the few days before going away. But now I am going to focus on priorities--I really need to!!-- This means I don't have time for the more ambitious cleaning projects I had wanted to do. And that's a reason to really think about new year's resolutions that will help me maintain a better routine.

to-dos
book list==mainly done.return: tomorrow a.m.
rep.
present for n pack
pet food. other pet stuff
milkman some cards
suitcase
minutes--corrections and sending res

I've gotten stuck because of my misplaced blue book of lists. I had it first thing this morning. Now: I will look in the possible places. I will make sure it's not accidentally in trash. Then whether I find it or not, I need to go back to the list here! This is a classic time-waster-chagrin-negative self-talk situation..
Found :D: now I can get back to tasks! 8)

pro's first check-in - 8am (heading to chatbox)

I got to sleep before midnight last night (good!) so I got 8 hours sleep, which I needed.

Done so far:

  • Emptied dish drain.
  • Made breakfast.
  • Reconfirmed that a plastic bag on the toaster oven will indeed melt when the toaster oven is used, and cleaned up the mess. :P
  • Did weekly unemployment certification.

Still to do for today:

  • Shower, dress, make bed.
  • Water plants (must not forget - I'm killing them).
  • Make cookies for party this afternoon.
  • Continue learning to use Silverlight development tools.

It's raining, which is kind of a drag. I'll have to walk across town with cookies in the rain. Maybe it will stop later.

I'm heading to the chatbox to work. Hope to see others there! The chatbox makes work so much easier - gives you company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.

Rolzup CI

[X] e-mail dash
[X] check ticklers (file, e-mail, reader, bookmarks, desktop)
[X] morning chores
[ ] (second) breakfast
[ ] meditation
[ ] Mass
[ ] grocery shopping
[ ] Lunch
[ ] go to TT to write on H!

--Rolzup

Recycler CI 6:20am EST

Hi Pro Buddies!

I like the threadstarter, too -- thanks, movingalong! :)

Today is the day for my other Service Project for this weekend. While it is one of my favorite service projects of the year, there is still the actual "doing it" part, lol! I prepare for it throughout the year, so everything should be there. I just have to finish following through during the next couple of hours. In addition, it's raining this morning, so that is a slight complication. Well, I better get started. I'll update my CI later!

7:50am. Service Project is organized, consolidated into 7 copy paper boxes, & bagged to be protected from the rain. I've got about 30-45 minutes before I need to be putting it into the car. During that time I need to decide what to wear, clean up, & change clothes. I can probably work in one more thing during that time, but not sure what.

2pm. Back from service project event -- mission accomplished. It went as well as can be expected -- all elements aren't under my control ;) However I did my part. Next year the organization's parameters are fortunately changing -- I can still participate, but in a way that will be easier for me. Oh, and I did buy my turkey that I was supposed to buy yesterday, so fortunately I got it -- whew! :)

Nice problems to have: Current combination: clean up new condo for company this week. Wrap presents for family. Go to work each day. Find presents I've bought for work & do cards. Go to support groups. Tonight watch a favorite DVD, or otherwise by the end of the week it will be after the appropriate time! Frankly, I'm a little overwhelmed, and Imperfection is LOOMING.

Upstairs is an Energy Drink I've been saving for a "special occasion" ;) I think this is it!!! OK, I'm going to taste the drink, & shuffle around gifts for a while. Run back & forth between the rental & new condo like a banshee. Man the battlestations! Update my CI in a little bit!

2:50pm. Presents are sorted. I could use one more present each for Aunt Catherine and Dad. I could take a chance on getting it Monday night, but think I better try now! Back in a bit!

4:30pm. OK, I got 2 more presents for Aunt Catherine. I think I can squeak by with what I have for Dad, or Tuesday night I can get a box of candy for him when I buy rolls & salad greens. Also, when I got home, I ate a salad for dinner.

Strategy: I will wrap Aunt Catherine's gifts tonight while I watch a DVD ;) After the gifts are wrapped, while still watching the DVD, I will run in and out of the room while cleaning the condo in spurts ;)

Strategy for Monday: I will wrap Dad's holiday gifts, and continue with any condo-straightening that needs to be done. I need to remember to do my CI from work at the end of the work-day.

Strategy for Tuesday: I will wrap Dad's birthday gifts, continuing to press on with any additional condo-straightening.

Prediction: countdown will go down to the wire on Wednesday!!!

5:55pm. One last update. The energy drink may have been a little strong for me. I had kind of an anxiety episode. I've over it now, but it bothered me for a minute. I'll surf the net a little more, then go over to the new condo.

I probably won't update my CI again today, so have a great night, everyone! :)


Recycler

Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)

ty moving

i love that image, esp w/ that saying.

-----
fall down seven times, get up eight - japanese proverb

procrastinating with time mgmt tools: http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/1114#comment-23050

weekly P.A. 12-Step meeting in "meetings chatbox"

Procrastinators Anonymous weekly 12-Step meeting in "meetings chatbox".

Meeting is held:

  • Sunday morning in Hawaii/Alaska and Pacific Time
  • Sunday afternoon in the Americas
  • Later Sunday evening in Europe/Africa
  • Very early Monday morning in Asia/Australia/NZ

> Click here to find your timezone equivalent for today's meeting.

> Click here to find your timezone equivalent for next week's meeting.

---