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.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Recycler CI 9:36 EST

Hi!

Oh my gosh, it was definitely a MONDAY!!!! Arrrrr!!! ((deep breath)) ((deep breath))

Today: elliptical, stretching, sorted things, work, did newsletter draft, did announcement draft. After work, chiropractor, shopped, ate dinner, support group, met with sponsor. Yet still didn't deal with all my issues!!! Even gained a new one!!! Arrrgh!!! ((puts on Rescue Rememdy Cream, takes 1 aspirin)). There are reasons I'm qualified for more than one program, I tell ya!!!!

Tonight: read recovery literature. I may have to stay up for a while. At least tomorrow night I have another meeting; and my therapist later this week.

Anyway, I'm ok; just tired; just checking in ;)

Have a great night, everyone! :)

Recycler

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

ritae update 2pm-ish

course editing this morning turned up probs with the content that will require client decisions b4 i can complete, so i will have more time. challenge: the client might ask me to do the research to resolve the question (i am cheaper than their sme's) but my time is limited this week. will i say yes anyway? god pls help me. all i can say for sure is, i won't commit b4 checking in again here.
used plane time well to craft new State reports tool. i like it and will use this one more regularly. still need to transfer info from the cumbersome .xls for the big states, and create new simpler .xls for tracking hard numbers.
my parents in the burbs have a water crisis - broken mains, thousands w/out h2o. they are elderly and freakin. i invited them to my downtown hotel (unaffected area) so if their prob still exists by dinnertime, i will have company. which could be fun but for how much work i was planning to get done in the wee hours. i realized on plane that if they come, i need to plan an all-nighter to prep for tomorrow's mtng. yikes. hp help!
next step: check in at hotel. call team mates. unpack. plug in. print docs needed to review during subway ride to 'burbs. call Mom. meet wherever. meet team at 8pm. checkin here later.

update 4 pm

This part about asking HP for the timing on stuff minute by minute is very fruitful!  I called some trusted advisors when I got to hotel: committed to meeting with my team tonite no matter what, and to praying (actually on knees! humbly) for boundaries with parents. Even tho my sister's place has water and she is glad to take them for the night, I want to be the hero and SAVE THEM! - my addled brain says this will feel SO much better than simply keeping my word to do the work before me...thus begins procrastination...so I prayed and voila, by the time I called them, their water was back on and they no longer need to be rescued. Sigh. Thanks HP. I'm headed out to take the subway to their place for dinner. Meeting team at 8, no fail. Printing the SOW now to study on the subway en route. Thanks for listening and sharing. This site really helps.

You are doing great!

Hi!

You are doing great! Good luck with all your stuff!!

Recycler

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

RitaE final check-in tonite

Thanks, recycler. Back atya.

Just after my 4 p.m. post the skies opened up with a wild thunderstorm and the rain continued for a couple hours. I guess because I am more focused on HP's timing now, I was inspired to just call Mom and say, why don't we rain-check for tomorrow night, this rain is just too hard to walk 7 blocks to the Metro.  And of course she was great with that (ever the Mum!).   Team meeting went great, I got some more work done on Status reports at a relaxed pace. A little worry: Never heard back from the course-edit client. Possibly they are out of the office today? I'll turn this one over...so far that's working pretty well today!  Off to bed. G'nite, PA-pals. Smile

busy day RitaE

Glad you didn't have to pull that all nighter!  Sounds like you did a LOT of work today!

Jo 

"The sooner you get behind, the longer you have to catch up." - Steven Wright

daverun Check In

My Check In at 1:30pm EDT:
I need to (yes, AND Choose and Want to) Do these next MIT's:

-- complete a final version of CL for EPhys pos; poss. by 2pm (almost done now).

-- complete a final version of CV for EPhys pos.; poss by 2:45pm (also almost done).

-- Go over online appl and complete any missing info.; allow 30min max.

-- Try/check that the CL and CV paste on appl works okay.
-- Can hold appl till tomorrow if want to review CL tonight tomorrow am; --otherwise submit by 4pm today.

daverun Check In 2

-- It's a bit painful (but I feel necessary) to post this, but I'm just starting CL at 2:05pm (vs. having completed at 2pm); so now I'm aiming to have CL done by 2:30pm. I hope the others using the site today find some accomplishment. Thanks will check back, dave in nj.

drun big step

i think it's a big step to post your failures here. I do it. I can, because people here understand, which still feels unbelievable to me here.

I have done just what you did. Post "i'm going to do this" then 2 hrs later "i didnt do it, rather i ...[some form of procrastination]..."

second that, drun and clement

Yes! Yes! Yes! Thanks for affirming that it's OK to rat myself out here without worrying about being chastised or corrected or, heaven forbid, shamed. I've been looking for support like this for decades. Even in my other recovery support groups, people mocked me for my lateness and procrastination and tried to shame me into changing. That hurt. I LOVE that I can be honest here about this stuff.

third that, rita, clement, and daverun

Yes, it's wonderful to have a place where we can be honest.  After a lifetime of making up excuses, it's nice to be able to say "I procrastinated", forgive yourself, and move on.

Jo  

"The sooner you get behind, the longer you have to catch up." - Steven Wright

ritae update

made plane w 20 mins to spare! day is already fluis due to water main breaks where i'm headed. may need to host my family at my hotel since they have no water. that shd be um...intersting. more when pda can be turned bck on.

Journey 9 am & updates 10:00 1:15 2:00 3:30 5 pm

Good morning!  

I have my coffee and I'm at my desk.  Off to read the 40 unread emails in my inbox, set my MITs for the day, and check back here. 

Update 10:00  10 minute break, planning for on call week starting tomorrow, hardware planning meeting, then check back. 

Update 1:15  oops guess I missed that last checkin huh?  had toastmasters at noon, still working on oncall planning, but for now - lunch!  I'm starvin'!

Update 1:45  lunch over.  I need to make FOUR phone calls today.   I hate making phone calls.  Bookending the easiest one now.

Update 2:00 phone call made, back to planning.

Update 3:30 Had a meeting at 2:30, STILL working on planning, the new change management product has got me stymied.  Need to ask for help.   

Update 5 pm meeting was reconvened for another hour argghhh.  need to finish up this change request before I go home.  need to do another one, but no way I can finish it tonight, so I'll do it in the morning. 

So, I'll finish up this change request - I did ask for help so now I know what to do - then take off.  It's been a fairly stressful day, but I was reasonably productive so it's all good.

Too late to make the rest of those phone calls lol!  too bad!  At least I got one of them out of the way, and started on FAFSA (which is now 7 weeks late) at lunch.

Tonight, stop by library to drop off books, make a quick dinner, do dishes, and put away some clothes from the dryer.  Have a nice evening everyone!

 

Jo 

"The sooner you get behind, the longer you have to catch up." - Steven Wright

Lark at 8:53am

Good morning everyone. I feel lazy today. That should improve after crossing off a few little things I don't want to do. Most are returning phone calls and little favors. I'd been procrastinating picking out a color for my kitchen for weeks, and set a deadline for yesterday. White was the choice. Does anyone else put off decisions like color choices, clothing styles, etc?
To do:
morning
spiritual period
return phone calls, A, B, C, D
focus on project A
finish paint stripping metal thing
work one hour on project B
check in here around lunch

putting off making aesthetic decisions

Lark, I absolutely put off making any kind of aesthetic decision: my spouse is an architect and so every little thing is a huge issue. Partly because these decisions are difficult, partly because I feel that I will be judged by our friends (also architects, interiors people) and partly because I am indecisive, this is a major struggle. (We once waited 2 YEARS before we found the "perfect" kitchen trash can. And then of course, it constantly broke! What a bunch of hoooey!  Now I find that I let myself off the hook more easily, but sometimes I find myself up against my perfectionism.

 

I need to pick the perfect...

It's taken me a year to pick white for my kitchen, and basically a few days to narrow it down to "just white". You may recall my experience a while back with "way too much" turquoise paint. Well, it'll be used to do several more items, like picture frames, and it'll look okay with just white, just like my '50-60s era kitchen should. I once painted my heat registers the "perfect brown", only to have them look purple inside. Then I sat something red beside each one, so they'd look more brown. Of course that was before I joined a certain 12 step fellowship which begins with "A". Life has been better since, I must admit. The funny thing with aesthetic decisions is it takes so little time to carry the process out, once we decide! What a waste of time. Thank you for making me feel "not alone".

fellow aesthetic perfectionists

I think others have referred to this as the'Martha Stewart Syndrome': I think she deserves her own 12 step program!

RitaE checking in

Tight day; need HP's grace for the many transitions, which are often procrastination-traps for me. Have an 11:50 a.m. flight. Must leave for airport by 9:45 to arrive by 10:20 (even tho I'm checked in and have boarding pass, Monday morning Orlando security can be a 1-hour-plus nightmare on a Monday morning).

Wake husband and eat breakfast now, then pack. (:45)

Print off course ppt text; Listen to online course and compare to ppt text (:30).

ON way to airport: Call Ann and apologize yet again for not having the course edits done; eta on course is now Tuesday morning.

On plane: create new Status report format that I will love using, and begin entering data. Estimate remaining KRA hours.

Upon arrival: subway to hotel, check in. Use hotel printer for Status printouts and SOW printout. Call Mom. Review SOW and Status reports on subway.

Dinner and visit with Mom and Dad. Return to hotel at 8 p.m.; meet with team to prep for tomorrow's meetings.

Bedtime 11 a.m. - must be fresh for tomorrow!

e's g'morning ci

most productive week ever... hmmmm... for me, if I take it one moment at a time, that is perfectly plausible. The only task that counts is the one right now.

So, for right now: check my schedule on outlook at find appointment. Then call Bill back to confirm dinner.  

e's chatbox time

kay, did the checking and the phone call: 

To the Chatbox! 

sister

Wouldn't it be great to make this the most productive week ever? I'm going to try.... 

Today: 

-eat healthy lunch and take vitamins

-plan class

-leave at 3:45 for class

-do revisions for book 2

The most productive week ever?

I like that idea. I'm also going to try to have the most productive week ever. And eat healthily (no chocolate while I'm procrastinating) I hope you manage to do all you've planned, sister!

Here’s my no nonsense plan for today

  1. 8 a.m. breakfast
  2. put washing on
  3. Tidy up kitchen/ help kids prepare for school etc.
  4. Check email and online news
  5. Phone re OM’s appointments
  6. 9,45 start reading through chapter 3 of thesis, making corrections and taking notes
  7. 10.30 coffee
  8. Food shopping
  9. 12.00 continue reading chapter 3
  10. Lunch
  11. Take daughter to buy track suit
  12. 3 p.m. Start outlining chapter 4
  13. 4 p.m. break
  14. 4.30 one more hour preparing chapter 4
  15. check work email, update website, etc.
  16. 6 p.m. get ready for gym and workout
  17. 8 p.m. make dinner, spend time with kids
  18. 10 p.m. get things ready for tomorrow
  19. 10.15 make OM’s dinner

TPB

oops procrastination trap

Everything going fine, but then a few extra tasks delayed me a bit. Big problem now is facing ch 4 of thesis. As I don't know where to start, and it seems so big, it's easier to be "busy" doing something else. I've been trying to get the outline of this for weeks, and never got there. I'm going to try:

  1. Free writing about chapter for 20 mins
  2. Guessing a few chapter headings (I can change them later)
  3. Systematic plod through notes (the bit I don't like) to pick up research references, evidence.
  4. I will reward myself for every half an hour of systematic plodding with something nice. 

 TPB

update

Well, I've done a couple of hours, not very solidly, few games of free cell in the middle, but at least I kept going back to it. This is a hard phase, and I just have to work through it.

I'll carry on tomorrow. Later for an hour if I can, but my brain turns to butter at night.

TPB