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.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Hi, I'm Thomas.
Because just about everyone on this list but not on the Pacific Coast has probably gone to bed (I don't know of anyone from Alaska or Hawaii on it), I have decided to start the Tuesday thread. It's 9:44 p.m. here in Sacramento, California, 70 miles from the Pacific Ocean, but it's already 4:44 a.m. in London--Rexroth will be getting up soon. If it's late at night here on the Left Coast, and I still want to post about something I'm avoiding, nobody will read it unless I start the next day's thread. If pro or anyone else says it's a bad idea, I won't do it again, but I thought I'd try it.
The thing I'm avoiding doing, procrastinating on, doing other things instead of, is the bills. And that's why I want feedback. It's bad this time.
Some of you may remember that last week some of my "to do" items were to balance the checkbook and pay the bills. I still haven't balanced the checkbook, and unless I know how much money we have, it's no use paying bills. So I have to do both of them.
And I don't want to.
I don't want to find out we don't have enough and that I have to juggle. I don't want to then do that juggling. My wife gets paid this Friday, and so do I, so it shouldn't be too bad. But I still don't want to do ANY juggling.
And I hate the actual tasks. It takes time, and it's boring. I don't want to do it.
Finally, if I were to do what people in DA call "the envelope system," it wouldn't be so odious. I'd know how much money we have, because we wouldn't have much. The envelope system relies on using only cash after paying your bills, and on putting amounts of cash into a variety of envelopes, each labeled for something (groceries, gas, etc.). You don't use a debit card, so there's no pile of receipts to sort through. And you bump up aainst your limits. When the money runs out, that's it--too bad.
But even though I know about it, I don't do it. I'm not sure why. Is it that my wife and I might get into a fight about it? Or is it that I don't want that limit on myself--and limits on her are secondary?
I don't know--they're issues best left for a DA meeting, or sponsor, or list. But I procrastinate on the cash (or envelope) system, too, thus setting up a huge hassle whenever we get paid.
I really hope that when I log off here, that I go to our bank's website and find out how much money we have.
Thanks for listening.
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To do for tomorrow
Haven't posted here for a long time, but I had such a wasteful day today that I feel I must. It was a beautiful sunny warm-but-not-too-hot day and I spent it on the couch watching TV and on the computer, when I should have been gardening, cleaning the house, doing laundry, buying groceries, even reading my book outside would have been better.
OK for tomorrow:
up at 8:30
make bed
put load of laundry in washer
put patio planters outside
eat breakfast and read (on the patio if nice enough) - DO NOT TURN ON THE TV TO WATCH TENNIS
put laundry in dryer
make shopping list
wash hair/face/get dressed
go shopping - groceries/plants/tomato rings
put groceries away
get mail
phone w about tree
eat lunch
put together remaining containers
plant annuals around fountain
make supper
do dishes
bath/get ready for bed
Agree with Gmarie
I, too, would like to see a discussion about why we procrastinate. Are there 12-steps for PA? Could someone suggest a set of 12-steps that might apply?
Perhaps that is a discussion for another thread...?
In any case, I have completed:
separating mail
hanging clothes
grocery shopping
return books to library
work stuff
Still have to finish applic--the thing I'm avoiding most. Will attempt to do so tonight.
12 Steps for PA
Hi pityspatt,
The website has the 12 steps for PA at the following link:
http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/files/PA_Steps.html
scarlett CI 3:25 pm EST
I have about an hour left at work. Energy pretty much gone at this point, but I think most of my scrambling has been successful. Someday I'd like to *not* play things so close to the edge.
Next up: blue emails - let's say 15 minutes.
Already done:
Take pill
Dishes
Talk to R. re: carts
Check voice mail
Call KC
Call Joan (LM)
Call MS re: carts
Email MK
Email SL
Email BT
Update reviews
Print out BC
Get folder for first reviews
Call LB
Pay car tax bill
To do:
Update master to do (started)
Plans (blue emails)
Follow-up Nash
Pictures to PK
Postponed:
Do reviews
Work orders (w/f)
good day overall
lots more to do where that came from, but a healthy start.
scarlett CI 12:20 pm EST
Okay, that's done. Next thing is updating master To-Do list, also a cause for freaking out. I figure that will take me until about 1 pm. Right now I'm going to take a 5 min. internet break - I'm setting a timer.
Already done:
Take pill
Dishes
Talk to R. re: carts
Check voice mail
Call KC
Call Joan (LM)
Call MS re: carts
Email MK
Email SL
Email BT
Update reviews
To do:
Update master to do
Print out BC
Get folder for first reviews
Do reviews
Work orders (w/f)
Plans (blue emails)
Follow-up Nash
Pictures to PK
update
Well, my break took a little longer than I had planned, and then a couple of other things came up. My list has plenty to keep me busy for today, anyway. I'll work on it more later. Right now my priority is:
Print out BC
scarlett CI 12 pm EST
Current priority: Update reviews - I am freaking out about this, b/c I know I'm going to see how behind I am, and it'll be another round of scrambling to catch up and apologizing for missed deadlines. But I have to get a clear picture of where I am before I can fix anything. So I'm working on this and will check in again at 12:20 pm.
Already done:
Take pill
Dishes
Talk to R. re: carts
Check voice mail
Call KC
Call Joan (LM)
Call MS re: carts
Email MK
Email SL
Email BT
To do:
Work orders (w/f)
Update master to do
Plans (blue emails)
Follow-up Nash
Pictures to PK
scarlett CI 11:15 am EST
Making some progress. I'm in that phase where you keep remembering more and more stuff you haven't done. Trying not to freak out.
Already done:
Take pill
Dishes
Talk to R. re: carts
Check voice mail
Call KC
Call Joan (LM)
Call MS re: carts
Email MK
Email SL
Email BT
To do:
Work orders (started)
Update reviews
Update master to do
Plans (blue emails)
Follow-up Nash
Pictures to PK
scarlett CI 10:10 am EST
Already done:
Eat breakfast
Take pill
Dishes
Talk to R. re: carts
To do:
Check voice mail
Work orders
Update reviews
Update master to do
Today is going to be rough. I'm going to be trying to dig myself out of my current hole at work. Can't do it all in a day, I'm sure. Just going to try and make slow and steady progress. Next check in will be between 10:30 and 10:45 am.
Mark CI 10:00 AM EST
If your bank provides a web interface, then use the debit card and log in to keep on top of what money remains, maybe.
Next action:
test signup feature
the next top 7:
dinner
test outreach feature
Fuji - parse out title
diagnose animated gif issue
email Fuji re authentication
design enterprise search integration
integrate custom attributes and saved search
completed tasks:
morning dog walk
cook breakfast
watch 2nd half of The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums
water plants
fix font irregularities in UI
guitar lesson
Thomas C., 10:02 p.m. PDT previous day
Wow, that really sucked. We have less than I thought. Man, I hate that.
Again, we get paid Friday, so we will be behind, but not badly behind. But we're rarely caught up. And that's what I hate about procrastinating. We're rarely caught up with bills. We get caught up, we fall behind; caught up, behind. A seemingly endless cycle. And it's right now mostly my fault, because it's my responsibility to do the bills. But my wife does most of the spending.
When we move, I hope that changes. She will have enough time to do it, that's for sure. But she sucks at it worse than I do, so we have this bastard system.
Anyway, I didn't procrastinate about it. And now that the shock has set in, I will get a bunch of stuff together, find out how many checks/debits are outstanding, get a new balance (even lower) and figure out what to do.
Me too.
You are certainly not alone in this behavior. I have medical bills that I have the money to pay that have been languishing in my planner for weeks.
I wish you luck and strength. Good for you for facing up to this challenge.
Interesting post.
You sound pretty frustrated, and I'm often in similar straits. Posting where we procrastinate is a wonderful idea. It may work better if we put it in a new, non-bookending forum spot, but it's okay with me (for all it matters). At least alot more folks'll see your idea, and we may be able to start a new section or something. I put off paying bills because I get selfish, and want to keep the money as long as possible. The amount of money I make is dependent on how hard I work, and how quickly I finish. When I start to go into procrastinate mode, I have little control over it. Only a power greater than me can stop me there. I know little of DA, but am sure it would do nothing but help me, but what you write about it sounds like good sense. It seems debting, procrastinating, and_____all seem to have a basis in not living in the here and now. Sometimes I feel I borrow time from the future when I procrastinate, and seldom pay it back--or in tiny payments. We're talking of on-line meetings here, so you may keep up on that. Also, if you, or anyone else, sees when I'm on the site, mention it, and we could probably go into the chatbox for a mini meeting. Take care.
For Tuesday:
focus on work project again
morning routine
get ready for next work project
trash day routine
clean routine
Why we procrastinate
I, too, would like to explore the where and why we procrastinate questions. I am fed up with myself.
Hang In There...
I can really relate to your problems paying bills, Thomas. I tend to let them pile up until I "feel" like paying them. The only problem is that I never feel like paying them. I haven't actually balanced my checkbook in about two years. Instead, I, too, call the bank to figure out if I have enough, which is a very risky way of handling matters. Not responsible by any means.
It sounds like you're pretty hard on yourself about your procrastination, which I can relate to because I, too, have a lot of shame and guilt about this slacking problem. One thing I'm beginning to see, though, is that when I beat myself up, I want to escape the pain of reality even more. For what it's worth, I appreciate your honesty about your situation, it has helped me today not to give up in this--not to think I'm all alone. I wish you the best in this fight, it sounds like you are on the right road.
For today:
hang up clothes
grocery shop
bring books back to library
dispose junk mail
work stuff
fill out applic.
Thomas C., 10:11 a.m.--THANKS
Thanks, Lark and Pityspatt, for the kind words.
I did calculate a balance that I think is accurate, but I need to follow it for a few days to make sure.
In the meantime, I am paying SOME bills. I did not develop a spending plan. I decided what I could avoid until Wednesday, and what I absolutely had to do today. And what I have to do today I'm ready to do--I brought the paperwork in my briefcase.
There will definitely be juggling, but I'm feeling a bit better about it, now that I at least have a balance and have opened all the bills. (Ha!)
However, I stayed up really, really late to get all this done, and some of that staying up was pure procrastination. So I'm REALLY tired.
As for a discussion about this, I'm not sure. I'm so used to a DA list-serve, where everyone just talks about everything. And I know that this site doesn't do things that way, but I'm not sure how to do it otherwise.
In the meantime, today...
- write rest of lecture
- deal with bills
- go over other lecture, give it