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 17th December 2006
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pro's last check-in for "Sunday"
I can't even bear to write the time it's so late.
I washed the dishes, wiped all the splattered grease from cooking dinner off the counters and floor, took out my contacts, brushed my teeth, and pulled out my bed. I was going to take a shower, but then I got entranced with a Web site I found with the original Chinese version of the Tao Te Ching, which is why I'm still awake. Bad, bad, bad. This does not help my quest to get my hours straightened out - bed earlier, wake earlier.
technical question for pro
Hey, seeing as I'm somewhat technologically challenged, can you tell me how you copy your CI lists and move things from todo to tada without appearing to have to retype the whole thing each time? Or whatever it is you do with your lists. Thanks.
cut and paste
I cut and paste from the previous list. I'm able to edit the previous message so I can copy the source code - I don't know if everyone can, or if I just can because I'm the site administrator. If you don't see an edit link, just maintain a text file in Notepad with your previous list. I've done that, too.
It's almost 4am and I am still awake, playing with the Tao Te Ching files. I'd really like to create a local copy of the full text with the original Chinese, in case what's online goes away. I looked for hours some weeks ago, and there is no book in print that has this.
But right now I MUST go to bed. I can continue doing this a bit at a time, over a period of days. I don't have to do it all at once! (That's my procrastinator's tendency towards time bingeing.
I'm actually ready for bed - I just never got in it.
re: editing
We users can edit as long as no one has replied to the post. I maintain my list in a Notepad type application and cut and paste.
pro's CI - 12:25am (MONDAY!!)
I applied for five more jobs today (more than five, actually), but it took so long that I couldn't do the other things I had on my list. My goal is five per day, but I don't see how I can do that and get anything else done.
I forgot to take my pills again today. :(
Ta Da~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Do~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rollover~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blown Off~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
iwant2workharder - CI 20:00 GMT
Meeting preparation progressing.
Strangely the bit I feared wasn't difficult!!
So the fear of the difficulty got me to procrastinate
on something actually easy!
But I am now stuck on some silly stuff.
Going for a break ( long one) and will get back to
it later on.
To Do
- IT meeting to prepare : 26 steps
- sites 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ( new one but not completely
good as they have a heavy discount- I really need
to talk again to the sales guy)
- financial report
- personal accounts
- bills to pay
- reflexions about why and how I landed where I am now
pro's CI - 3pm
I went to a meeting - just back.
Ta Da~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Do~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
jj 11:45 am CI
Done:
eat breakfast (husband made breakfast and did dishes)
water house plants (yeah - finally!)
wash sheets and make bed
read
load and start dishwasher
I just feel like reading all day, but I have a very busy week ahead, so if I don't do stuff today, it won't get done for a long time.
I'm trying to space out the work in between reading, but maybe it'd be better to get all the work out of the way first and then read.
jj's goodnight CI
Additional done:
wash hair, face, brush teeth
get dressed
go for coffee and read
check store for present
read and make notes on chap. 1 of "Procrastination"
nap!
wash towels
eat supper and tidy up
watch Survivor
Not done:
dusting
clean bathrooms
select and wrap white elephant present
decide on food to bring to staff mtg.
(I read my book on procrastination instead of doing these tasks!)
All in all, it was an OK weekend. Accomplished some things I hadn't planned on, but didn't do a few I aimed for.
doitnow - 9:45 AM; 11:00 AM
Let's see if this works, or at least provides temporary relief. Anti-procrastination strategies tend to work for me only temporarily, while I'm enthusiastic about them.
MORNING:
+coffee/breakfast
+shower
+teeth
+gargle (sore throat or something)
+minor cleaning (bed, dishes, clothes)
WORK:
read the paper (12 pages, 2 column, estimating 2 hours)
study the related python code for at least 1 hour
LUNCH/REWARD:
check in
if all the above is already completed, go out for lunch, otherwise eat at home.
WORK:
study the python program for at least 1 hour
code and/or plan it for at least 2 hours
EVENING (~ 7pm)
gym
shower
dinner
teeth
gargle
check in
FREE TIME, IF ANY
in bed before midnight
doitnow - 1:31 AM (next day)
The second (after lunch) work block was bad. I just procrastinated (surfed the www, etc) and wasted about 4 hours. I had an awesome workout today though, but obviously I'm 1.5 hours late for bed. I can't seem to get into the habit of cleaning my teeth after dinner or before going to bed.
doitnow - 4:00 PM
Mixed success so far. Had to drive to the library and get a different paper, had lunch and did some shopping.
AMMENDED TODO:
put groceries in the fridge
WORK:
look @ the new papers
study the python program
code / plan
EVENING (~ 7pm)
gym
shower
dinner
teeth
gargle
check in
FREE TIME, IF ANY
in bed before midnight
iwant2workharder - CI 17:20 GMT
meeting preparation is going ahead.
I am working 15 minutes and 15 minutes 'thinking'.
From Pro's comments, I might thinking again about
going freelance.
To Do
- IT meeting to prepare : 26 steps
- sites 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ( new one but not completely
good as they have a heavy discount- I really need
to talk again to the sales guy)
- financial report
- personal accounts
- bills to pay
- reflexions about why and how I landed where I am now
pro's CI - noon
Ta Da~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Do~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pro's CI - 11:15am
Ta Da~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Do~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
jj 9:00 check-in
Up until 1:15 am, but woke up earlier than I had alarm set for today - 8:50. Husband still sleeping, but I figure he deserves it as he's up at 5:00 am every weekday! I lay in bed stewing about the scratched windows again - somehow feel it's my fault, I should have been able to have the foresight to prevent the guy from doing it.
TO DO TODAY:
eat breakfast
wash hair, wash face, brush teeth
get dressed
dusting
clean bathrooms
select and wrap present for white elephant gift exchange
decide what to bring to staff xmas lunch
water plants (poor plants - how long can they stay on this list?!)
go for walk
read
watch Survivor finale
jj - re worry
The serenity prayer - said at almost every 12-step meeting:
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
Don't waste your energy worrying about something that happened in the past. You can't do anything about the past.
All physical things eventually break - it's just a window.
It bothers me when...
...people dismiss someone else's concern by saying "it's just...whatever". People who struggle with procrastination usually aren't helped by others offering pat answers such as "you're only hurting yourself; it's gotta be done; just do it and you'll feel better after." Likewise, people who struggle with anxiety, such as myself, aren't really helped by others telling them "not to waste their energy worrying; you can't change the past" etc. It's a little more complex than that.
Add to it the FACT that it's not just "a window", it's all the windows in my home, which in the space of 2 hours went from being fine to being permanently damaged and looking like a car windshield after it's had frost scraped off it continually for a few winters. I don't know of anyone who would think this was a minor concern and easily dismissed.
I'm not trying to be contentious here, but this really bothers me. Thanks for listening and letting me vent.
sorry, jj
I was trying to help, not annoy. Take what you like and leave the rest. If my response wasn't helpful to you, just ignore it. But please know that I didn't mean to dismiss your concerns or minimize them. I was just trying to help you to feel better.
I should also add that I don't think my response was generally and objectively "bad". People are different - different things are helpful to people at different times. I don't know you at all, and my only contact with you is through the limited context of a message board. For somebody else, it might have been just what they needed to hear. For you it wasn't. Sometimes people can say something to me and it annoys me massively, and then they say the same thing to me two weeks later and it helps me - it depends on my state of mind and my lens on the world.
And then of course, there are some ways people try to help me that would annoy me massively in any context, but they don't know me - they have no way of knowing this. I get annoyed by some "helpful" responses I receive here. Sometimes they feel meddling, or like people have only skimmed my message because their suggestion is so off-base. I've been working on not snapping at people when their intentions are good.
pro's first check-in - 10:10am
Yesterday was devoted to finding a job. Today will be devoted to back accounting.
Ta Da~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Do~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why are you looking for a job
Hi Pro,
I didn't follow all the posting for the last 2 weeks:
since when have you decided to go for a job ?
are you giving up your freelance activities? why?
iwant2workharder
job search
>I didn't follow all the posting for the last 2 weeks:
since when have you decided to go for a job ?
are you giving up your freelance activities? why?
Simple answer to that: I'm dead broke - zero dollars in the bank. I no longer have the luxury to pursue a freelance career.
I'm also very tired. Freelancing - having your own business - is a lot more work than simply having a job. I need a break from the worry and stress.
But the urgency for money is the #1 reason - I'm in very bad shape financially.
when I think I was thinking of going freelance as well..
I was actually thinking of going freelance in 2007!!!!
May be I should reconsider?
freelancing
I have unique problems in my current situation that you don't have. Freelancing isn't right for me right now, but it was right for me for over a decade. And just because it isn't right for me right now doesn't mean it isn't right for you. What's happening in my life isn't relevant to your career decisions. You are the best judge of whether you have the contacts and enthusiasm to successfully pursue a freelance career.
Rexroth 14.20 GMT
Todo Today
up prayer and reflection
bath wash hair trim beard a bit
post this
check site
wash up in kitchen
vacuum through flat
email friend
clean up in kitchen
prepare work for this week for friend
prepare todo this week for me
and what else I wonder?
journal
prayer and reflection
bed and sleep
Rexroth 21.35 GMT
Well I've got a lot done and I didn't feel like doing it. In fact I feel grumpy, fed up, angry etc. Also I've been in this room for a week with the furthest trip out to put some stinking rubbish out that I didn't want to wait for my friend to do. I am beginning to appreciate how fortunate I am that I have generally good health and am grateful for that. Lawyer friend says I don't have much of a negligence case over my injured foot. I don't give a toss. I would so much rather have a functioning foot than a legal case.
Now for some prayers and try for serenity.
Night night Regards Rexroth
iwant2workharder - 13:50 GMT
Working on meeting. Went for a break.
Now back on. A bit annoying as redoing and redoing same
thing in a way.
I am dreading the part which is
difficult, as I am not sure I know how to really do it.
I'll do my best for now. One truth faced with this job.
The job is actually quite hard. Our 'team' was actually never a
team as I was the only one not for 'each one for itself'.
I should have known better.
Most important: get all the job done and finished by the end
of the month. Think about how and why I got into this whole and draw up a plan to get out of this whole.
Back to work as I am procrastinating by thinking.
May be to avoid arriving at the difficult stage?
To Do
- IT meeting to prepare : 26 steps
- sites 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ( new one but not completely
good as they have a heavy discount- I really need
to talk again to the sales guy)
- financial report
- personal accounts
- bills to pay
- reflexions about why and how I landed where I am now
iwant2workharder - CI 08:50 GMT
Tidied up a bit of the pile of paper.
That's a slow moving into work, but why not.
Now starting IT meeting: step 1: go through what
I did 2 weeks ago.
To Do
- IT meeting to prepare : 26 steps
- sites 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ( new one but not completely
good as they have a heavy discount- I really need
to talk again to the sales guy)
- financial report
- personal accounts
- bills to pay
- reflexions about why and how I landed where I am now
iwant2workharder - CI - 07:00 GMT
Having well procrastinated these last weeks,
I am back to work. I will also have to stop
and think hard about w-h-y and h-o-w I finished
where I am now.
For the moment, got work to do. Just want to get the
work out of the way, then think hard about these as
2007 can't be the same. Ideal would be to get 3 or
4 days before the end of December for that.
To Do
- IT meeting to prepare : 26 steps
- sites 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ( new one but not completely
good as they have a heavy discount- I really need
to talk again to the sales guy)
- financial report
- personal accounts
- bills to pay
- reflexions about why and how I landed where I am now
iwant2workharder - a suggestion
I have the impression that you are time bingeing. That leads to later procrastination. It's a cycle - you overwork because you're behind, giving yourself no break, and then you overdo the break and procrastinate because you make the work process so unpleasant for yourself. Here's an article about it on the site:
No Time Bingeing: Key to Ending Procrastination
going to read it
Thanks.
going to read it.