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.
Thursday 10 July 2008
Thursday 10 July 2008
Ever dig yourself into a hole?
Well, watch ... as the panther climbs out ...
We can climb out, too !
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Recycler CI 9:45pm EST
Hi!
Made it through today. Will try to check in tomorrow.
Have a great night everyone! :)
Recycler
Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)
Convalaria at 7.31am Friday feeling anxious about THE BACKLOG
It is Friday morning here and I feel too anxious to start the friday thread. I am in deep trouble. I am returning to work on Monday and THE BACKLOG is still alive and kicking. I can only imagine the consequences of not completing my tasks.
I have had 17 days and it is still there.
For the past 10 days I have the responsibility of caring for my mother and the 'pleasure' of dealing with an abusive younger sibling who has started administrative tasks related to mother's care, given me the impression that things were in hand and organised and then yesterday dumped the whole thing in my lap due to his own pressures and worries. I had to start from scratch and will have to continue with this today.
I guess what I am saying is that for the past 10 days I have not been procrastinating .....I have been busy with other things. Yesterday I was busy from 7am untill 9pm mostly with mother and about 4 hours out of that were taken with visisting my doctor for an appointment that I had been waiting for for over 6 weeks and then ....dare I admit it ? I had a manicure....perhaps I could have spent the 90 minutes of that on THE BACKLOG.
Today is going to be busy with mother and her needs again. I also need to visit my own GP for some new medication scripts....and THE BACKLOG?????
This is the list of tasks for the day.
and THE BACK LOG????
I guess I will have to face the consequences of previous procrastination........?????
I do not know how to dig myself out of the hole....
Rita ci - folo 4:25
Late start today...SO much less pressure now that the big DIY MIT is done. But my inner procrastinator wants to have a field day. And, I committed to some play time with a beloved family member this afternoon. Despite the love, it feels like interruption. I have procrastinated long enough and need grace to be fully present. Just because I must stop at 3:45, does not mean I should not even start!
Already today I addressed an EP crisis, 2 conf calls, some laundry, pet care, meal prep, some health stuff, and spiritual time to ID today's MITs. Next up:
Thanks for being here!
cl ci
my task that i scheduled for 1/2 day mon, is still going 4 days later on thu. It was harder than i had predicated, not just because of my perfectionism. If i had made more bare bones / shortcut choices maybe i could have done it in 2 days.
But i'm entering a dangerous period for me, because the task has turned the corner and its success is pretty much assured. So what do i have to do now?
follow thru and finish it.
Unfortunately, i have another small task that has was requested yesterday and is MIT and has to be done today.
So i have to switch between two tasks, make sure i get the one easy one done, and not lose focus in finishing the big one.
All these things are my areas of weakness.
I should post. And i am.
And i should pray/meditate on god. but i dont want to because i currently feel oriented toward my task and focused on doing them, and i know that praying will take my focus off that and re-orient me "upwards". All that means that to decide to pray is to decide to let go of these things. And i'm attached to them.
But i've been down this road too long to renege now. I'm like Neo in The Matrix when he first is "kidnapped" by Morpheus's crew. As he's looking down a street in the Matrix, someone says to him, "you know that street, you know where it leads," encouraging Neo to join the rebels.
me and journey: co-pros
well, i went to the computer to look up a passage from my favorite spiritual text, and i wont tell you want i looked up in case it might spark your interest and you dear reader suffer the same fate.
But, the accountability of posting here, with its anonymity and non-judgmentalness, is helping me limiting this diversion. This 1.5 hr diversion :( Gotta own up.
ci ci 3
yeah, so another 3 hour of pro-ing. Trying again...
I could NOT focus during my prayer time. My reading did get done, but i do not have an perspective-aligning feelings from my prayer time like i usually get.
I feel very "step 1" today. I can acknowledge step 2. Step 3... I suppose since i can't get myself to focus today, i might as well give up and trust in the hope that thru some miracle it may work out. So i'll try to get back to work with that in mind.
task-toggling
I sympathize, c. This sort of thing trips me up alot - b/c my work (and life) often has unforeseen "short" MITs that crop up amidst high-focus projects. You've been in pro-recovery longer than I have so you prob'ly already know this but just in case: I find it helpful to chat myself through even these "short" and allegedly simple MITs. Sometimes there's a teensy-weensy little block within them that can stall me for hours.
kromer 8:20 CI
My meetings last night went very late (didn't get home until 12!), so I didn't get any work done last night.
I have some busy work to get done today, so I'm going to start work at home, then go to lab and do some more.
*Look up datasets for 5 coregulators (Done)
*Look up some general terms (Done)
*Bike to lab
*Look up datasets for 5 more coregulators (Done)
kromer 10:45 CI
OK, ended up doing work at home, but I've been pretty productive and gotten most of by boring work done.
Now, looking over my to-do list for the week, I realize I have lots of urgent and fairly important non-work tasks.
I need to clean the bathroom (was supposed to do that yesterday) DONE
Then I'll call SWE, email TH, email house and post sign
Then I'm meeting my brother for lunch at 12:30, then after that I'll go to lab and stay late to get my work done.
kromer 8:25 CI
A bit late (because of some web-flipping :blush: ), but I'm back now and reading to read about affinity clustering! Will probably take me about 1hr-1.5 hrs, so I think that's all I'll get done before the movie.
kromer 7 CO
Work has been going slowly today!
But I finally accomplished all my MITs, plus I checked STRING license and emailed KM about mtg.
Now I'm going to go home and get some dinner, then work some more 8-10, then go see Wall-E (yay!).
Tonight, the main thing I want to accomplish is reading affinity clustering paper.
I'd also like to post 2 expts, if I have time.
Back at 8ish to start some evening work.
kromer 3:40 CI
I left a message at SWE, will check messages every 30 min (so at 3:45, 4:15, 5:15, 5:45, 6:15)
I also finished network flow reading and researched pseudocounts. So I'm making progress on my MITs!
Next I'm going to look through GEO datasets I found, then email my advisor. Should take about an hour.
After that I'll take notes from Harambee planning meeting. This means I should be done with all my MITs by 5! Then I can spend 5-7 working on my SMITs (second most important tasks ;-) )
kromer 2:25 CI freaking out about phone call
I cleaned bathroom, emailed TH, emailed house.
I didn't call SWE--they didn't send my scholarship money, and I've got a sinking feeling it's because I forgot to fill out the renewal form. So I'm terrified about calling. Deep breath, if I don't call I *definitely* won't get the money, whereas if I call I *might* get the money. I'm going to give myself until 3, then make the call.
Had lunch with my brother, got to work at 2, did 20 min of (reasonably) focused work).
I'm going to stay at lab until 7. 5 hours in lab+2 hours of work this morning + 1 hr at home after dinner will get me up to a full workday, which is what I need.
I've been having trouble prioritizing the past few days, so I have a prioritized to-do list for the rest of the day and am going to commit to doing the MITs FIRST:
MITs/things that *must* get done today:
*
Call SWE(left a message)*Look through GEO sets, choose a few best, email advisor*
Finish network flow reading*
Research pseudocounts*
Notes from Harambee mtgThings that *should* get done today
*Catalog datasets from senior thesis
*Post 2 expts
*
Carefully read affinity clustering paper*
Email KM about mtgThings that *ideally would* get done today
*Post cranky signs around house
*Post 2 more expt
*Fix STRING graph, find degree
*30 min researching who I want to work with
*
check STRING licenseFirst up: Finish network flow reading, research pseudocounts, call SWE, check back in.
avacal201 8:00 AM CI
Hello All
MIT
Goals
Trying to exceed 60% useful work for the day
Use work tracker
Keep detailed notes on progress
Thanks!
--Pete
hi pete
welcome. I see you're checking in. I hope you find it as beneficial as i have. Keep it up. We all love to hearing from new folks.
And now you can't edit your reply anymore. the way the forum works you can only edit your reply until someone replies to it. then it's read-only. Sorry. But i did want to say hello and welcome so i thot it was worth it.
take care
thanks for saying hi!
Thanks for the wave hello.
Today was productive 59% anywa, according to my little spreadsheet. I have trying to keep track of fifteen minute increments, and take notes, anything to keep my head into work and not into work/avoidance/surfing.
I got my CAC card and was able to stay focused enough and present throughout the day, which was good. Now I have to get that 59% up into the eighties!
c ya
--Pete
Journey 7:30
Good morning! I'm working from home today, after picking up DDs friend at the airport at 9:00. Bookending 20 minutes of yoga. I hurt my back at the beginning of the summer picking up my grandson and swinging him around lol. That was 7 weeks ago and my back has been fine for a couple of weeks now. Time to get back to yoga!
Jo
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
Journey 10:30
k, I'm back from the airport and I now need to get at least six hours of work done from home. DD and her houseguest have been forbidden to interrupt for anything other than emegencies, of which they have already had two:) To work!
First thing is to do a little desk organizing. There is plenty of room on my desk for my work laptop but at the moment it's covererd with assorted crap. Back at 11:30 with an organized workspace and my list of MITs. I plan to do some configuration which should be interesting and take most of the day, so that's a good work-at-home project.
Jo
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
journey 12:30
i organized my workspace and then promptly went off track for an hour. I turned on my personal computer just to listen to music and then, well, you know. Back to work!
Could be worse, look at what happened to Jesse Jackson. That's pretty funny. In case you haven't heard, he was caught on an open mike talking about removing certain body parts from Barack Obama.
I'm still unsure about Obama, I know he doesn't really have a realistic plan, but he's just so darn likable. And you gotta love that wife of his, and those adorable little girls. OK, this is not getting my work done. Later!
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
Journey 10:30
oops duplicate post
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
Edge's CI - 11:26am
Today I HAVE to wash the litter box. I can't postpone it for another day. I always procrastinate on it but when I finally get around to doing it it doesn't take me more than 10 minutes to finish washing it. I shouldn't hate this task so much. It's not as bad as the procrastination beast within me makes it out to be.
MITs:
- send H meeting materials
- wash old litter box
- finish and send work log
Other:
x vitamins
x hmed 1/2
x fmed 1/2
- blue med
- confirm BBQ with T
- kitty litter
- fold laundry
- hmed 2/2
- fmed 2/2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action - Walter Anderson
Edge's CI - 5:40pm
MITs:
- send H meeting materials
x wash old litter box (the cleaning lady did it *evil grin*)
- finish and send work log
Other:
x vitamins
x hmed 1/2
x fmed 1/2
x blue med
x confirm BBQ with T
x kitty litter
x fold laundry
- 8:00pm concert
- hmed 2/2
- fmed 2/2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action - Walter Anderson
Edge's CI - 1:28am (Friday)
MITs:
x send H meeting materials
x wash old litter box (the cleaning lady did it *evil grin*)
- finish and send work log
Other:
x vitamins
x hmed 1/2
x fmed 1/2
x blue med
x confirm BBQ with T
x kitty litter
x fold laundry
x 8:00pm concert
x hmed 2/2
x fmed 2/2
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action - Walter Anderson
Edge's CI - 6:25pm
That's it. I don't want any more ridiculous time wasting. I'm going to write up the meeting materials email now. I'm going to spend 10-15minutes on it MAX! And I'm going to send it as soon as those 10-15 minutes are done! Here we go.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action - Walter Anderson
cat litter
For some reason, that's a chore I don't mind. Perhaps because I've had cats since 1975. My daughter hates that chore, although it's really "her job". Which works out great, because I can trade it for a chore that I hate. Like cleaning behind the toilets.
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
re: cat litter
Lol, ouch! I empathize and sympathize with your daughter muchly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action - Walter Anderson
movingalong's Thursday plans
Plan: Start day with 20 minutes of Most Important Task at home.
Arrive at work 5 minutes EARLY!!!!! and start workday with 20 minutes of Most Important Task at work.
Focus!
Take healthy breaks!
-- movingalong
You can do it, Moving!
:-D
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action - Walter Anderson