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 17th July 2008
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'This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.'
(Douglas Blake)
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Rita ci
To Recycler's comment I would add: ahh the luxury of just plain being HOME! :-) The trip had some highlights but there is debris: I picked up a nasty bug, and I procrastinated a bank transfer before leaving home, then could not get a secure Internet connection when away. So I earned $250 in penalties and must negotiate for mercy tomorrow. I spent some time today reconciling 5 months' software entries against the pile of little debit receipts I sorted last week. I hate this but I have hope that as I practice PA recovery, I will develop new habits and not keep doing this.
Intended to go to a 12-Step mtng but J didn't return with car in time. So I went next door and played with area kids on a 2-story inflated water-n-soap suds slide my neighbor rented for her son's birthday party. J and I are sort of the resident older folks in the neighborhood, so they really got a kick out of me joining them on the slide, and they all wanted me to ride with them. In light of eternal realities, it was possibly the most constructive thing I've done in weeks, actually. Too bad the bank won't give me credit for it tho! ;-)
Recycler CI 6pm EST
Hi Pro Buddies!
Ah, the luxury of being home in the evening :) Ahhh!!! :)
This morning: took car in for routine maintenance, rode train to gym but didn't have enough time to exercise, got ready for work, had breakfast, worked, consulted coworker then gave approval for car brake repair. Walked at lunchtime, did projects in afternoon, rode train to pick up car & pay for car repairs, fortunately can tell car is driving better after repairs. Arriving at home, started water to boiling to cook more vegetables :) Goal: by next summer (or sooner) I will buy a steamer for vegetables.
Tonight: do small projects around the condo to amuse self. Maybe edit the post later as I get things accomplished? We'll see! ;)
Have a great night, everyone! :)
Recycler
Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)
Journey 1:30
Back from the airport. Didn't get a lot done this morning, spent more time than needed on email then didn't really get started on anything else before leaving. Now finish up MIT #2
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
JOurney 2:15 Update 5:15
I am still reading and responding to email instead of working on my MIT. Bookending 30 minutes of focused work, then I can take a few minutes to make up beds and put some clothes in the dryer.
UPDATE 5:15 Yay! MIT #2 is completely finished! I have been working, and in the flow, for 3 straight hours! Now for a break - get stuff organized for dinner, and then work on MIT#3 for an hour or so.
Jo
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
To do today...
Hi Gang,
Today, I learned, is a day for honoring gurus
of which I have had a few...In a moment of
reevaluation and reconsidering where this
renunciate path has led me to in mid-life,
when many friends are RETIRING and I
am starting OVER! Time to reevaluate
and reassess my spiritual path...and
see whether my family of origin path
I rejected may have more to teach
me from which I early on rebelled!
OH WELL!
Today:
1) journal writing
2) p.o- mail some letters
3) write a letter and drop off to old
client's mgmt office
4) write and mail letter to another
old client
5) retype testimonials
6) make copies
7) call Alex : re asking for techno
help
8) meetup group tonight...1 new client?
9) finish cleaning/paperwork in kitchen
10)call jerry...
blessings to all and thanks for being here!
kromer 10:25 CI
Feeling somewhat down this morning, so having a hard time getting going.
My main tasks is still to implement basic multicommodity flow:
1)Get data input working
2)Write constraints file for solver
I also want to check what's going on with WM and finish processing easy dtasets.
Finally, I have a few non-work tasks:
*Look through latest craigslist postings
*email SS
*email IA
*between me and SS, get in contact with 4 potential landlords
*Talk to MO about check
I'll start by checking on WM. Then I'll work on multicommodity flow data input (what I was working on yesterday). Updates every hour.
Update 11:45--I worked out what was wrong with WM, re-ran failed job, emailed about this. I also finished making stratified graph, and am now working on figuring out weights for gene->sink connections. I'm going to spend 15 more minutes thinking about this, then email my coworker (LR) to ask how she chose weights for her preoject. Then I'm going to go take care of some non-work tasks: talk to MO, look through Craigslist, email SS, email IA.
Update 1:20--Emailed about gene->sink connections, turns out what it was done was not very principled and just worked well in practice. So for now I'll stick with the same thing, and work it out more carefully later. MO is on vacation, but left a note for him and was told he'll get back to me next week. Looked at listings and emailed SS. Emailed IA>
Now it's time to get back to work...I'm going to add command-line options and change gene-sink weight assignment. Update when that's done.
Update 2:20--added command-line options and changed gene-sink weight assignment. Now I need to write code for reading in source-coreg connection datafile. This should take about 30 min: back when it's done.
Update 3:20--wasted a whole bunch of time, but this is done now. I can't face any more boring work right now, so I'm going to figure out how to write kirchoff and capacity constraints, which should be challenging but interesting. That should take an hour or so: back when that's done.z
Update 3:40--to be able to do the above, I'm going to need to review/learn some more about AMPL. So I'll work on that now. Deep breath, no need to rush. Updates every 30 min or so.
cl ci
20 min of perusing this site--DONE ;)
quiet time (w/ god)-30 min. See you at 10:49 ;)
10:39am: bit of a side track. back on track.
10:45am: had to kill off another distraction. It was HARD.
11:11am: went 5 min over (after accounting for interruptions) Now assess and choose MITs.
AVACAL 9:31AM CI
pretty much the same as yesterday
MIT
*EXCEL EXPORT PAGE --people are counting on me here, I can't afford to futz away my time
GOT ONE OF TWO PAGES WORKING - NOW GO TO FINISH THE OTHER AND THE POLISH
GOALS
65% of the day in productive work
73%- WOHOO 9.5 HOURS A GREAT DAY
Use journal to log work, distractions, meetings, etc.
YES
make a significant dent in the excel export page
YES
thanks!
--Pete
Journey 7:30
Good morning! Working from home today and taking my daughter's guest back to the airport later. I'm not good at working from home, although I am getting better at it. My company is considering allowing more telecommuting due to the higher gas prices and higher cost of office space downtown, so hopefully I will be working from home more often.
First thing, exercise. Second thing, organize work area and set up laptop. Check back at 9. By then I should have read my email, set my MITs for the day, and be ready to start on MIT#2. - MIT #1 is exercise!
Jo
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
My Quote for the Day ... or so
It’s not the sentiments of men which make history but their actions. -- Norman Mailer
Convalaria Checking in at 5.09pm Thursday
Back from doing Mother stuff, feeling anxious about the confrontation on Monday , knowing that I will have to prevaricate and not sure how to structure the rest of the day.
I need to:
HELP!!!!! where do I start????
I want to know how to prioritise and set and accomplish MIT's. I do not want to be in this situation again.
praying for convalaria
I admire you for taking such good care of your mother. That is a gift from you to someone you love. Love lasts into the afterlife, i believe.
But taking care of your mother also makes it so much harder to get everything else done. I do not think i could do it. I cheer you, tho, from the sidelines. Go Convalaria!
Setting and accomplishing MITs has been something i've struggled with all my life. I will tell you what has worked for me recently, in the hopes that some of it may help you:
1. write them all down. One of the problems i've always had is forgetting some. Or not writing down the ones i dread. (you seem to not have a problem with this, given that you list them here)
2. prioritize. This has always felt overwhelming. But to my surprise, when i sit down and sort thru my 100 tasks, often 2 or 3 rise to the top.
3. pick randomly. when i have 2 or 3 or even 10 tasks that are all equally important, i have always striven to figure out which one is MOST important. I've taken extra effort to trade off each task from the other. But i believe this is false. If they are so close, IT DOESNT MATTER which i do first. I am shouting here at myself, because i still dont always follow this.
4. go and do. Even when i've done all the above, and i finally decide on a task, there is often with me a great wall of dread that i have to get thru to actually get off my duff and do it. There have been on this site several recommendations on how to handle this. For me, personally, what has been working is just doing it. Just letting myself feel the dread, or feel like i'm going to die, and just do it anyway. The strength i get to plunge into this unpleasantness comes from the surrender to God that i renew each day (well, ideally, really "most days"). Once i've given my will and life to God, it's not so hard to die (or feel like i'm going to).
As they say in AA: "Take what you like, leave the rest."
Where does Convalaria start?
Good morning Convalaria!
I think you've started already by posting your todos here. Here's to an enjoyable and productive day for all of us!
Jo
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams
Convalaria Checking in at 8.05am on Friday Morning
Thank you clement and Jo.
I will try your strategies!
Problem for me at the moment is that past 'procrastination sins' coupled with my mothers ilness have combined to cause a very unplesant and highly visible situation at work. I have always managed to get by, but this time ........my unprofessionalsim is evident.
I will be at work next week facing the music and then I have to have some minor surgery that will keep me from work for 2 weeks.
Sort of a new start when I return.......
I hope.
Last night I was tired from the early start and all the anxiety. Did not finish list.
buy dinner for mothercook dinner for sonBookending 20 minutes for house and self care
Then another 20 minutes on THE BACKLOG
Then 9-12 .30 Mother buisness and will take care of some administrative stuff then.
12.30-2.00 THE BACKLOG
2.00-500 BIG DENTAL APPIONTMENT
and then???probably rest and recover and check in.....
Checking in at 2.00 pm.
Mothers errands and various admin tasks have taken up all morning.
Dental appointment from 2.30-till 5.30 coming up.
G called
Doggy do picked up.
Will vceck back in the evening.
small suggestion on convalaria's backlog
If your backlog is like a huge stack of paper, it might be helpful to pick out a small stack of 10 or so items and plan to just face those 10 today. Then, if you finish those 10, allow yourself to feel proud and have a sense of accomplishment!
I know if I look at a giant mass of stuff to do and do a little of it, then I don't feel I've made any progress. But if I can bite off a small bit, and finish that small bit, it really helps my attitude. Once you remember what it feels like to FINISH something, it's easier to move on to the next bit.
Good luck, i can see that you are making progress.
Jo
"In our minds, we seek to be divine; but in our hearts, we know it's party time." - Rondo Bros in Aquarium Dreams