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.
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.
Mollie's CI 8:40pm
I finished that section of stuff. But I'm not feeling very good about the day. I'm so far behind and I didn't work very efficiently. So I got a piece of work done, but it's a small piece compared to what remains. I know that not letting myself feel good about the accomplishments, of whatever size, is unhelpful. But I'm also unsure how to make myself appreciate what I've done. Guess I'll ponder that a bit this evening.
One Way
Maybe it would help to think of the alternative. What would it have been like if you hadn't done some of your tasks at all, or put them off until another day? The idea is not about what you've achieved overall, but that you've achieved them today. Think in terms of time. That usually does the trick for me :)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Thanks, Edge
You're absolutely right. And the day before yesterday, I didn't do any work on those projects, so it's not hard to imagine. Thanks for the helpful reframe!
Mollie
Mollie's CI 7:55pm
I've gotten thru a good chunk of stuff more. Trying to focus on what I've accomplished rather than what's left. Feeling kind of overwhelmed by the latter. Still, I really think that checking in here today helped. And I so appreciate the support! Thanks all. :grin:
I'm gonna work a bit longer to try to get to the end of a section of stuff.
Edge's CI - 12:40AM
X Create to-do
X Shower
X AP
X Facial scrub
X Clean room
X BH (L)
X Sort closet
X Do something fun (?)
X Call Suzy (10PM)
X FH
X DCS
X Check NT
X Check OT
X Prepare tomorrow's To-Do
X Dishes
X Prep tomorrow's lunch
X In bed by 12AM (Hardy har har! More like 12:40 :-()
Night everyone :-)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Congratulations Edge!
You did everything on your list!!!
Ha!
Heh, don't be fooled, Mollie :-p The things I don't think I'll have time for I cut from this list and put on tomorrow's list, so what you're seeing is just a modified (and slighly emptier) version of what I started out with :blush: It's less depressing this way :)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
It's good to be realistic
Sounds to me like you're a realist, which is a good thing! I'm the queen of the incredibly long list that can never be completed & thus leaves me feeling a failure--no benefit to that. And besides, that was a pretty long list--you did a lot!
Mollie's CI 5:25pm
2nd procrastination dash got interrupted by important phone call, then had to go to post office, just feeling off track since then. So, gonna try it again.
Takin' a breather
Sometimes we just need to walk away from things a bit, huh? I was expecting an important e-mail all day, and was distracted somewhat from working. Then I used it as a reward for doing a part of a job, and then checked my inbox. It was there, so I read and replied, and had a productive day. Rewards are nice--especially when we deserve them.
Rewards
I notice that whenever I come up with plans to deal w/my procrastination that involve rewards when I do a good job, I always either literally forget to reward myself, feel really uncomfortable doing it, or just don't experience the thing I'd planned as a reward. I'm more likely to feel guilty that I'm doing something fun because I think I should keep working. :-? I'd like to make some progress on that one. But in the meantime...a bit more work.
Thomas C., 2:20 p.m.
I have been avoiding action on family finances for a long, long time.
However, I absolutely HAVE to pay some bills today. If I don't we will lose car insurance and possibly some utilities.
So...
* meditate
* call insurance, pay
* call wireless and internet provider, pay
* call power company, pay
* balance checkbook (never finished!)
* spending plan for rest
Edge's CI - 11:38PM
X Create to-do
X Shower
X AP
X Facial scrub
X Clean room
X BH (L)
X Sort closet
X Do something fun (?)
X Call Suzy (10PM)
X FH
X DCS
X Check NT
X Check OT
X Prepare tomorrow's To-Do
X Dishes
- Prep tomorrow's lunch
- In bed by 12AM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Mollie's CI 3:45pm
Procrastination dash was a success! It got me focused. I did some good stuff. And now I'm gonna do it again. :)
Mollie's CI 2:40pm
I'm making very slow progress. Having some trouble staying focused. I work well for a little while, then get distracted by whatever. And the distractions seem to last longer than the periods of work. Think I'm gonna try an hour of procrastination dash--10 mins of work, 2 mins of break, times 5. Here goes.
Edge's CI - 9:10PM
X Create to-do
X Shower
X AP
X Facial scrub
X Clean room
X BH (L)
X Sort closet
X Do something fun (?)
X Call Suzy (10PM)
X FH
- DCS
- Check NT
- Check OT
X Prepare tomorrow's To-Do
X Dishes
- Prep tomorrow's lunch
- In bed by 11:30PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Edge's CI – 5:53PM
Back :-)
X Create to-do
X Shower
- Clean fishbowl
X AP
- Oxy
- FH
X Facial scrub
- Clean room
- DCS
- Check NT
- Check OT
X BH (L)
- Sort closet
- Do something fun (?)
- Sit outside for 15 minutes
- 15 mins guitar
- Call Tara
- Call Suzy
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Welcome back, Edge!
Nice to see you here. I hope things are going well.
It's great to be back,
It's great to be back, Mollie :-D
Things have been a bit hectic, but thankfully they're settling down again. I've been keeping a small "to-do" notebook with me to keep myself going. Sometimes it works great, other times I conveniently misplace it and stagnate }:-) But I always come back! There's no getting rid of me! Tenacity is key :-p How've things been with you? I see you've been on a small break as well :)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Mollie's CI 9:30am
Did my morning routine except for reading & my leg exercises. I'm still supposed to be doing the exercises 3x a week from PT from 2 mos ago. I've really slacked off the past couple weeks. So I'll do them later today when I need a break from work. And the reading, hmmm, maybe I'll do that on another work break later. But I wanted to try to get started at a reasonable hour. Feeling kind of anxious about how the day is going to go and hoping I can stay on course.
Don't worry about it, Mollie
Don't worry about it, Mollie :) Even if you just get most of what's on your to-do list, it'll be a productive day ;)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Thanks Edge!
You're absolutely right. If I get a majority of the stuff done, it'll be great!
Exactly! The trick is to
Exactly! The trick is to keep moving :) Don't let your perfectionist side get you down ;-)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Slaying the Perfectionist Monster
I like the image that calls to mind. Think I might work on developing a clear picture of this monster, the better to excise him from my life. }:-)
Heh
We already have a snapshot of it:
;-)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
I love it!
That's really great. In lots of ways. Part of what I like is that it's such a child-like drawing & I'm convinced that that perfectionist part of me developed when I was a child. Thanks, Edge.
Very fitting representation!
Sometimes it's difficult to understand what we're battling, and your picture is as good as any. Thanks!
Check-in for Lark, 8:40am
Still really cold here, so nothing outside planned for today. A good day to do some housework during my work breaks.
Today:
(X)morning routine
meditate and reflect
(X)finish current work project (A)
(X)call client again re. yesterday's (B)
clean and sort out workshop a bit
(X)do next work project (C)
(X)when done, focus on "D" for one hour
call next client to schedule "E"
Mollie's CI 7:22am
I haven't posted any check-ins for awhile. But I'm gonna start again, in a modified form. At least today. One day at a time. I have a favor to ask. I'd be grateful for supportive feedback if anyone feels moved to offer it. I would prefer, at least for today, no tough love or even constructive criticism. My reaction to some of the feedback I received previously was to lurk rather than post. That was OK. But right now, I'd like to feel free to post in comfort.
I'm not going to post a list. That just didn't work well for me. Instead, I'm planning to check in here periodically to just say how it's going. I'm also planning that if I hit snags today, I'll journal about the snags as a way to identify and solve them in order to move forward. I may do the journaling elsewhere or maybe here. Many thanks and hoping everyone has a good day!
Mollie
Good luck today
Hope today is good for you. Something I've found that helps is to keep a little list on a piece of paper each day, even if it's only got a couple items on it. Different colored ink somehow works well on it, too. Sometimes I'll even put a colored ink mark or letter on my hand to keep me reminded. It works really well.
Thanks, Lark!
I've gone through a zillion different methods of to do lists. Now I use a computer program called My Life Organized, and I have a daily list as well as a list of repeating tasks that comes up each day (like writing in my journal and washing the dinner dishes). Sometimes I also take from the daily list a short list of just five things which helps me focus. One thing I used to do that I liked was putting a to do list on a big piece of newsprint-type paper and hanging it on the wall so it was always in front of me. Posting the actual list didn't work that well here b/c w/the type of work I do, I need to keep stuff confidential and it got too cumbersome coming up with codes so I could post stuff here and still know what it was. So I'm gonna experiment today with updates about how it's going rather than the specific tasks. It's really nice to hear from you! :)
Mollie
Rexroth 07.33 BST
Todo today
Take it easy its a holiday
up prayer reflection meditation
deal with emails and phone messages
do craft project I do mean this!!!!!! I have been putting it off for so long I forgot how much I used to enjoy doing it.
tidy up a bit and prepare for friend visiting tomorrow
relax rest
prayer and reflection
bed and sleep
Regards Rexroth
Hi Rexroth
I noticed that you recently did some organizing of your craft project stuff. Good for you for taking that step! I hope the day is going well.
Mollie
Rexroth 22.50 BST
Thanks Mollie, the day went very well. I did some work on my craft project for the firt time in months, then a friend phoned unexpectedly and we went for a long walk and drink afterwards, then home to cook lunch for a friend visiting tomorrow.
And so to bed.
Night Rexroth
Goodnight, Rexroth
Sounds like a really good day. :-) Glad to hear you worked on the craft project. If you're ever comfortable sharing, I'd be very interested to know what kind of craft it is. I have various crafts I used to work on and really enjoyed--now they're in drawers and closets in different stages of completion--needlepoint, cross-stitch, beading. I'd like to go back to them at some point, but I know how hard it is once you've been away from it for awhile. And then there are the things I'd like to learn to do--pottery, jewelry-making, stained glass. Maybe some day.
Hi Mollie re 'what kind of craft'
Wish we had a PA face to face meeting. I don't disclose most of my details on the net because I want to preserve my anonymity. Problem is people can search the net and accumulate info on people. Wish there was a secure way to share.
Thanks for your good wishes.
Regards Rexroth
No problem, Rexroth
I am also very careful with what I disclose, so I totally understand. And I know what you mean about all the info people can pick up and piece together on the 'net. It's a bit scary. I wish we could have face to face meetings too!
Mollie