On creating thread starters for the daily check-in thread

From pro (added before movingalong's message):

You can link to graphics you find on the Web, if you want to. But even without graphics, you can make thread starters eye catching and pleasant by using HTML to make the font large and colorful, like so (which took me all of 5 seconds):

Good morning!!

Here are the Daily check-in board instructions in brief:

1. Every day someone (whoever gets to the forum first) starts a thread
   for the day. The first message is just a general welcome for everybody -
   not a personal check-in. Lots of times people like to use graphics to
   make the opening message welcoming. If you look to the left, you'll see a
   link for "Graphics for Forum Posts". If you don't want to do that,
   that's fine. I'll add a pretty graphic when I log in.
2. Make the subject of the thread starter the full date - day of week, month, day, and year.
3. After the day thread is started, all check-ins are added as comments
   to the day thread. You should put your username and the check-in time
   somewhere in the subject so people (you and others) can see what what's
   what when scanning the "Recent Comments" list.

movingalong's thoughts on the "daily check-in" threads ...
http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/forum/6

In my opinion, fancy thread-starters are optional.

(Just my opinion).

They are welcome, and appreciated, but optional.

All that's needed is a simple greeting to start the day.     Remember to put the date in the title.     And then, for the "body" of the message, type something to greet everyone, (instead of your own personal list).     (You can then reply to your own thread by "adding comment" that gives your personal task list).

For the "body" of the thread-starter (opening greeting) ... I think that it's perfectly okay to simply type a few words,
such as:

"Welcome to Thursday!"
or
"Have a pro-active day."
or
"Just start."

Images and poems are optional!

This is good to know when you are in a hurry -- that it's okay to post a simple imperfect thread-starter.

And knowing that ... will prevent us from spending time finding the perfect thing.

In the past, I've spent hours creating the perfect thread-starter. I don't do that anymore.

At the same time, I wish to acknowledge and thank those who have posted creative/inspirational daily thread-starters for the daily check-in threads through the years. Your awesome service is always greatly appreciated!

For those of you who can create fancy greetings quickly, that's great!

If you gain joy, energy, and focus from posting a graphic and/or poem/quote, wonderful! Continue if it works for you!

But for someone like me who struggles with writing and graphics, I have to be careful that I don't get carried away spending time doing that.  It can become a form of procrastination for me.  To counteract this tendency, I have to give myself permission to do things imperfectly. 

I do have four thread-starters that I've used in the past. Saved -- with their formatting -- on my harddrive. When I want to start a daily thread, I use one of those.

Or ... I just start a thread with the word: "Hello".

Just a suggestion. To help those who *dread* starting the "daily check-in" thread.

Just an idea. Feel free to ignore it or adapt it, as you see fit.

I guess that each of us has to find our own balance ... between service and imperfection. And each of us will find this in a different way.

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