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.

Friday, March 28, 2008

what is that.... it's a bird... it's a plane.... it's Chatbox E... Chatbox E... able to sort papers in a single mound... faster than a link.... more powerful there than when she's without a motive...Chatbox E!!!!!
/files/images/superwomanflies.gif

c bookending pa.org time

11:55

c b.e. pa.org time--1hr

so that's getting to where it should show up on my list of things to do.  It's fun, rewarding, helps me deal w/ my tasks, but it does take an hour.  took e an hour this "morning" too.

how much time the rest of ya spending here?

I think there is delightful irony in procrastinating at the procrastinators-anonymous.org website.

I have one more thing to do before bed, so i probably strictly speaking did not have the 1hr to spare.  But i think i'll accept that and move on from here.

Grail CI, 3.15pm (Saturday)

So far I've:
* Rung aluminium supply store, no answer, so they're probably not open (therefore, won't be picking anything up)
* Rung doctors

To do:
* Get dressed (!)
* Pick up anti-histamine prescription
* Drop off Bike at Bike Repair place
* Txt friend with jig-saw, and see if they're available to drop it off this weekend

If I'm home in the evening,
I'll try putting a song on and just doing a room pick-up while it's playing (what song? *headdesk*).

Ok, it's actually 4.10pm now, haven't done anything yet - really need to move as doctors closes at 5pm!

Grail CO, midnight (Saturday)

So, I didn't get out of the house til 4.35pm, (figured bike was a lost cause), got to bus stop at 4.45 and wondered whether I should even be trying to get across town in 15 minutes (that's another thing I do - I don't give up, and I feel like I have to be doing *something* if I'm running late. Even pointless things like running to the next bus stop when I'm already at a bus stop, but the bus isn't getting there for awhile),
and surprisingly - I might have actually made it, had the heavens not just opened leading to a packed, at least 15 people in the aisle bus.
So, I got to the doctors to see them locking up, and unfortunately they'd already set the alarm. But, they can *fax* it to a chemist for me tommorow - hey, that'll be really convenient in future! I didn't know they could do that.

So, looking at where that broke down - it's the optimistic time sense again. I didn't leave until the very last minute I could *if* the trip was going to take me the minimum time. What I need to do, is not just vaguely tell myself 'you have to go now - you should have gone already!' I obviously have a crazy part of my brain that calculates just how long things should take me, decides when I should *actually* go by always throwing out the most optimistic time possible.
To counter that, I need to actually calculate it out and be more rigorous myself, in order to actually trust my own judgement that I need to leave now as opposed to my 'time/urgency sense' (that sounds schizophrenic doesn't it? Meh).

Part of my surprise at how I'm often not as behind on projects as I think I am, is that somehow, I've often been procrastinating just short of not doing the minimum that really, really *needs* to be done.
I can't actually make time estimates on how long these things should take me - there's too many unknown variables, and yet, I usually manage to give myself *just enough* time to get all the really, really necessary things done, or only a little short of it. I think that says that some part of my brain is giving a *very* accurate, but 'best possible' estimate for that also.

So, in order to counteract that, I need to actually work backwards, and give myself a more cautious and realistic time map - ie I need to get to doctors by 4.45, so I need 30 mins travelling time from bike place, I need 15 minutes to get to bike place, I need 30 minutes to get dressed and brush my teeth, which means it's 3.30pm and I need to get moving *now!*

(And actually, would have been better if I'd gotten bike to place at 2pm, and done other things for a bit, but with a flexible time limit, I always choose latest possible time *rolls eyes*).

Successes: I did get dressed ;), and I *did* do a room pickup for a bit! Unfortunately I didn't track how long, but at least 20 minutes. Mostly sorting little things rather than doing to obvious big tidying, but still making a dent.

I don't feel too bad, because hey, it's a Saturday, nothing was urgent and I'm tired, so I'm off for a nice long sleep and sleep-in.

Journey 8 pm not too bad

DONE Fix dd breakfast and ice her knee Get dinner in the crock pot - done!
DONE Feed birds
DONE give dog her medicine - mit 
Make a phone call about a bill - mit - didn't do this, will do it monday
DONE Straighten the house - mit - done!
Sort the laundry 
Fold and put away 1-2 loads of laundry
DONE Change the sheets
Make a grocery list for tomorrow - mit
DONE Level up my WoW character - mit lol!
DONE Check my work email and voice mail
DONE - well, sent an email actually Call my friend M. - mit
Call my friend J. (and ask her to water my plant!)
Check on C.'s club dues
DONE Check budget and balances - mit
DONE Start on taxes - I've got everything together, now start putting it in Turbotax - 1/2 hour today - mit
Clean out my lower kitchen cabinet
Get rid of at least one thing in my closet
DONE water plants!  - mit
DONE Exercise!  - mit

Did most of my mits, of course put off making phone calls!

Jo
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey

impressive

look at all those "DONE"s !

Recycler CI 8pmEST

Hi!

walked, gym, work, walked home.

Tonight: getting ready to be away tomorrow.  I might check-in tomorrow night or Sunday.

Have a great weekend, Pro Buddies! :)

Recycler

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

thanks pa.org

i used this site today to get dreaded and MIT tasks done.  I made progress on my big scary P task, which is my MIT so that's good.

Now off to relatives.  yea!

journey 3 pm

Had a wonderful lunch & stripped the beds. 

Now need to wash the mattress pad, put on clean sheets and take a bath!

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey

journey 4 pm

beds made, and I'm washed. 

Next - fold some laundry and unload the dishwasher.

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey

journey 1 pm - thanks for all the get well wishes!

And the same to Karen, Kromer and Pro who haven't been feeling too great either!

Did my exercises and actually enjoyed it . . . dd wanted chinese so we ordered in.  What a luxury!  This is actually the first restaurant that has delivered to our house way out in the boonies.  We don't even have pizza delivery. 

Lunch is next on the agenda.  taking 15 then if lunch is not here yet I'll start changing sheets

Jo

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey

kromer 8:45 (PT) CI

OK, feeling kinda sick today. Grrr.

I'm really frustrated with myself for being behind, but I think I need to take it a bit easy...

First task: choose a project for NESCent group. Update when that's done.
UPDATE 8:50--chose a project. Now I need to do some background reading and write a one-page proposal. My goal is to have a rough draft of this proposal done by noon at the absolute latest. I'll post back with a more specific plan once I figure out exactly what I need to get the proposal done.
UPDATE 9:00--OK, looks like the first step is to find papers on parametric bootstrapping, both in general and in the context of evol. bio, and then to read them carefully.
UPDATE 9:05--To start I'm going to read the wikipedia article on bootstrapping+take notes.
UPDATE 9:50--Finished wikipedia article, parametric bootstrapping doesn't seem too hard. Next I'll read up of CIPRES/REST, then I'll print paper on p.b in evol. bio and read it.
UPDATE 10:20--OK, CIPRES/REST/SEQGEN seem pretty straightforward. The paper is 18 very dense pages...but I still want to read it, because it's an interesting subject and because understanding it might get me a very cool summer job.
I'm going to work through it in the chatbox to keep me on task, and when I've gotten through 9 pages I'll take a break and email a friend. Then I'll finish the paper and check back in.
UPDATE 11:40--Read half of the paper and emailed my friend. Looks like the other half of the paper isn't relevant, so instead I'll look up a few more things about CIPRIS. Then I'll check back in, starting *actually writing* the proposal, and then have some lunch.

Looks like the rough proposal won't be done by noon, but it should be finished some time in the early afternoon.

kromer 11:40 CI

I need to write my proposal!
Specific steps:
*Write 1 pg on who I am and why I want to/am qualified to work on this project. Post on my website.
*Make a list of functions I think the library should have. Post on my website.
*Compose a 1/2 page email, with my thoughts/questions about the project and a brief introduction. Send to NESCent developers.

I'll work on these things for 30 min, then take a 20 min break for lunch, then get back to work.

kromer 1 (PT) stalled out...

Stopped too early for lunch, and have been taking waaaay to long a break. I'm scared of writing, and so it's always what I procrastinate on.
Now I'm back at my desk, my website-blocker in on, and I have my timer. I'm going to work on the above tasks in 7-min intervals, going in the chatbox to keep me on task.

kromer 3:40 (PT) CI

I finished! Yay for me! Now how did it get to be 3:40....?

I'm going to take a break and go out shopping soon, but before I do I'd like to make some progress on biochem. I'll start on the review paper on FAS.

Update 4:15: Finished the section of the review paper on FAS, now I'll start on the Smith paper. (I've skimmed it over before, so now I just need to go over it a bit more carefully)

kromer 10:30 CI

Spent afternoon/evening shopping, spending time with family, catching up with a friend...all really great, but now I'm a bit panicked! I fly back to school early tomorrow. Before I leave for the airport at 5:45 tomorrow, I need to:
*Pack! (including, make sure I have my PHONE and my TAX STUFF
*Write abstracts for 2 apps (and ideally, revise one of the apps, but that might not happen)
*Ideally, finish going over one of the papers

To start, I'm going to spend 15 minutes writing an abstract for one of my apps.

Karen's CI

After finding that my EBV is still active, I decided I need two lists--things I can do resting and things that are active.  I can use the list that I'm capable of doing and still feel like I'm accomplishing something, instead of just giving up and being down on myself.

Active List:
Wash kitchen floor.
Dust.
Put table to hold clothes line.
Hang clothes.
Sweep floors.

Resting list:
Keep working on taxes.
Write check for Angel Ministries.
Start Business finances.
Finish Unit 1.
Print out Unit 1 and edit.
E-mail in Unit 1.

Peace,
Karen

Feel better Karen!

Take care of yourself (and don't be too hard on yourself, I know you'll do the best you can)

Thank You!

I was feeling better after I ate lunch so I fixed the clothes line to:
Put table to hold clothes line DONE
Hang clothes. DONE

This afternoon, I'm going to rest some, watch "Elizabeth" and do some more work on my taxes.

Peace,
Karen

kaoba 10am

Today is shaping up reasonably. I am dealing with something that I have been sitting on for at least 3 months, yay! All it took was a couple of phone calls, and it might be resolved even today. It is amazing how much energy goes into avoidance, and then the tasks turn out to be no big deal after all. Argh.

Wishing everyone a productive day!

Way to Go!

Isn't it great to finally finish something that has lurked in the back of our minds for so long?

Congrats!

Karen

Lark @ 8:30am

Good morning everyone. Someone posted a year or longer about doing things differently on Friday, such as making it "catch up" day, having certain Friday tasks, rewarding yourself for successes during the week, etc. When  I think to do it, it's always better.
To do:
 morning routine
 spiritual time
 go to pharmacy
 go to bank
 pay bill
 lunch with friend
 go to car dealer
 work project A
 12 step meeting and haircut
 prepare for next work project

journey 8 am

Well, yesterday was a rough day but the worst is over.  My daughter had her knee surgery yesterday.

I'm feeling pretty tired but I have this day off work and don't want to waste it.  First, breakfast.  It's going to be warm this afternoon so maybe I'll try to go for a walk. 

later

Jo

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey

adding my prayers also

take care

Knee surgery

Hi journey,

My best wishes for your daughter's prompt recovery from her surgery. That's great that you can help her through this!

Knee Surgery Success

I'm adding my prayers for your daughter's successful recovery from surgery AND yours, too!  I know it must be draining.  Take care of yourself and your daughter!

Peace,
Karen

journey 10:20

Breakfast done -

Today I would like to:

Fix dd breakfast and ice her knee - done!
Get dinner in the crock pot - done!
Feed birds - done!
give dog her medicine - mit
Make a phone call about a bill - mit
Straighten the house - mit
Sort the laundry
Fold and put away 1-2 loads of laundry
Change the sheets
Make a grocery list for tomorrow - mit
Level up my WoW character - mit lol!
Check my work email and voice mail
Call my friend M. - mit
Call my friend J. (and ask her to water my plant!)
Check on C.'s club dues
Check budget and balances - mit
Start on taxes - I've got everything together, now start putting it in Turbotax - 1/2 hour today - mit
Clean out my lower kitchen cabinet
Get rid of at least one thing in my closet
water plants!  - mit
Exercise!  - mit

Using my timer to keep me honest, but also taking it kinda slow and easy today and realizing that dd will need lots of attention too.   and - she's calling for me now so back later.

Next thing to do is give dog medicine and then exercise. Inside or outside?  not sure.

Jo

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” - Stephen Covey

kaoba 7am

I actually didn't have time to post yesterday, but I did have a reasonable day. So, today. I have dispatched people to school and work, and now I will have breakfast, get dressed and groomed, and sit down to plan my day.

A great Friday to all!

Falcon - early Fri. check-in & confession

Oh, good, there's already a thread for Friday -- thanks, Super E!

I'm writing this on Thursday, and wanted to check in for tomorrow anyway.  I have a small confession to make. . . I really didn't focus on work at my job today, and I'm feeling unhappy about it.

When I goof off at work, I do it by reading blogs in my field, so at least I'm doing something work related.  But it's still avoidance, and it's not accomplishing the things I want to get done. 

So to do for tomorrow:

  • Get stuff done at work

As an act of penance, I probably should start the day by cringe busting!  I won't pressure myself to do that, but I am committing to actually spending the day working & getting tasks done.  Even if they're the easier tasks, I want to be doing things that will move me forward.

Maybe I'll reward myself with a sandwich from the good sandwich place at lunchtime if I spend the morning applying myself, with only a 15-minute blog break.

We'll see how I do!  I'll check in after work.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Falcon

Falcon CI - work update

Well, I can't say I had the most fabulously productive day ever -- I kind of plodded along, & didn't tackle any big scary things.  But I did work, and I didn't surf the net all day, so yay me!  (And I thought all morning about that sandwich for lunch -- apparently food is a good motivator for me.)  Smile 

It really helped that I had made a commitment here -- without that bit of accountability, I think I would have just spaced out all day, & come home feeling crummy again.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Falcon

cringe busting?

Hi Falcon:

I hope you have a productive day today at work. Now, what is cringe busting? I haven't heard this expression.

Cringe busting

Hi kaoba,

"Cringe busting" is a great concept from 43 folders:  http://www.43folders.com/2005/05/23/cringe-busting-your-todo-list  Merlin Mann talks about tackling those awful things that sit on the to-do list like lumps, never get done, and that make you cringe every time you think about them.  There are some good thoughts in the comments, too.

Falcon

c hangs head with you

i'll join you in confession.  i started 5 hours late.  then had a very good 4 hours.  Actually part of that 5 hour delay was a really blessed spiritual time.  And that has made me feel good all day.

hilarious!!

e, you crack me up. :)

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

grinning

lol

he he

e's getting ahead of herself check in

for tomorrow am....

water, meds, labtests, doctors apointment, taxes, n and V meeting?, print out group study room stuff, send over research on Dr. P, write N on problem with C, fold laundryyyyyy.....glasses for kids, mail letters, set up microsoft outlook, I's perastika note, insurance filing, driver's lisence..... more more more.....