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.
Wednesday 20 August
Tool for recovery:
- Break It Down: Break down projects into specific action steps; include preparation tasks in the breakdown.
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Recycler CI 8:05pm EST
Hi Pro Buddies!
Today has seemed so much like Thursday to me; but it has really been Wednesday all day. lol
Today: treadmill, stretching. Had been procrastinating about making dentist appt. Called today -- they could see me right away; so can mark that off my list! ;) Had a lot of interruptive urgent projects, so got those done; still need to make progress on regular projects. After work: errand, massage. Next: brush & floss teeth, get ready to go to sleep early.
Have a great night, everyone! :)
Recycler
Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)
GS CI 10:52 AM
I've actually been going pretty much full steam ahead since 7 a.m.
I set aside the first 2.5 hours this a.m. to process both my email in-box (which was unattended to yesterday since i was out of my home office) and my real in-box (into which i'd dumped a bunch of stuff when I got home last night).
That generally worked pretty well. The only digressions were productive ones--various planning emails back and forth to Mrs. GS--and my outlook in-box is now empty.
I've blocked out time slots for the rest of the MIT's today. That said, however, I've already used nearly half of the 10:30-11:30 timeslot on activities NOT on my MIT list.
I justify it as a necessary break, if I keep it limited in that way that's fine. But...
I have a lunch appt. at 11:30 and the later it gets the easier it is to justify not starting on any other task.
I'm also dithering on a decision related to my impending move of retirement $$$ from my broker to a mutual fund.
OK, there's my MIT at the moment: Decide the still-open question about that $$ move and then act on the decision.
GS 2:08
Back from a lunch time interview and a series of errands.
Feeling drowsy and at risk of drifting.
I'm going to go through my in-basket on my desk and winnow tasks until 2:30.
I will check back here at that time.
GS 1 hour late
I think it's important for me to be more intentional about checking back when I say I will. So first, apologies for not doing so.
I worked through the in-basket and in doing so had to do a series of detail drudgery. The main task was to finish my IRA transfer. That required revisiting a decision that I'd made this morning. In the end I stuck with my original decision, made the necessary phone call to complete the task, and did the necessary copying and filing of paperwork. Now I just have to mail the documents and I'm done. Or rather, now I just have to get the documents ready for mailing and I'm done.
I have a new potential project T. I'm having trouble getting started on that. I'm going to set my timer for 20 minutes and start on it. Then I WILL check back here, regardless.
GS at 4 p.m.
This time I did check back when My timer went off.. :-)
It took me a while to get going just on revieinwg project T. I know what was holding me up was a sense of dread and fear of being pulled into a swampy mess.
I think using strict timing limits and devices like that will be important if I take this project on.
The project involves reading and editing another person's work. I was offered it because I've done work in the past for the person's supervisor. I have decided I need to communicate with the supervisor to make sure that I am delivering what the supervisor expects. It's tougher because I know the direct client (not the supervisor) doesn't have a big budget, but if this project is helpful there may be more remunerative work of the same nature in the future.
Next tasks: continue reading documents for project T. Contact H, the supervisor, for feedback.
Checking back at 4:30.
Back again at 4:30
I was going to stick with Project T but I've hit a minor roadblock. I want the supervisor's input before I proceed much further. And I have a query into the client directly, Client D, to find out about the individual's comfort level with technical aspects of MS Word.
So I'll stop for now, make an appt. to spend more time on it, and turn to another task.
Lark at 9:25am, 4:37pm
It looks like it's going to be a nice day here. I'll try to send some pleasant weather to you folks (!). Yesterday I caught up with my "evasive" client and made an appointment here today. Last night after "doing my books" I discovered that this project has been even more unprofitable for me, and I won't be disappointed if the whole thing gets aborted. Please think positive thoughts for me this afternoon.
Today:
(X)morning things
(X)spiritual period
(X)finish next section of work project A
tidy workshop
tidy house
(X)kitty box
put stuff away for half an hour
(X()work two hours on project B
(X)check in around lunchtime
kromer 7:30 CI
I'm bookending 10 min websurfing/relaxing, then I'll make a plan for what I want to accomplish today.
Update 7:55 (a bit late)
Moving:
*Pick up zipcar card MIT*Email parents about staying with J+AR MIT*Pack my books
*Email SS+JB about furnitureGrad school prep:
*1 hr who I want to work w/ MIT
*
Toastmasters MIT*1 hr WM doc MIT
*2nd hr WM doc
*Email about ace2tamo
*Read a paper
Work:
*Spend 2 hrs working on setting parameters MIT
*Journal briefing MIT*Get and organize Novartis data MIT*Document 2 datasets
*Try to fix clustering
Misc:
*Costco run MIT*Look for house jobs sheet
*Food inventory MIT
*Email CC
I'm going to work at home in the morning and in lab in the afternoon. I'll start by getting, organizing, and documenting the Novartis data, since I've been putting that off for weeks. Then I'll spend an hour researching who I want to work with. Then I'll go to lab by way of the zipcar office, and check in again. (I have toastmasters 12:30-1:30 and journal briefing 2-3:15, so I need to be on campus for those at least)
Update 11--got, organized, and documented Novartis data...I was focusing pretty well, this was just slower than I expected. Also emailed parents about staying with J+AR. Now I'm going to head by the zipcar office.
Update 12:15--went to zipcar office, now I have toastmasters in 15 min. I'm going to use this 15 min interval to email SS and JB about furniture. After toastmasters I'll go to lab, get out the papers I'll need to work on setting parameters, log in to computers, then go to journal briefing 2-3:15. Check in again after journal briefing.
Update 1:50--went to toastmasters, got out papers/logged in. When I get back from journal briefing, I'm going to work for 1.5 hours on setting parameters (I need to leave strictly at 5 so that I'll have time for food inventory and costco run). In this 1.5 hours, I hope to accomplish the following subtasks:
1)Look at edge costs chosen (20 min)
2)Look at whether chooses highly connected TFs, decide whether node capacities make sense (20 min)
3)Brainstorm how to set edge capacities to avoid pinning, start implementing (50 min)
Update 3:05--finished journal club, now time to work on setting parameters.
Update 4:00--stalled out, haven't done any work in the past hour. I took a walk to clear my head, but I'm still feeling frustrated and unmotivated. I'm going to set the small goal of updating post-processing script to display edge costs and TF connectedness. I'll work in the chatbox and check back when that's done.
Update 5:00--OK, did a good, focused out of work on setting parameters. I changed the postproc. script, ran a job that will give me input data for (1) and (2), and brainstormed how to set edge capacities to avoid pinning. I also made a list of steps in documenting webmotifs and prioritized them. Finishing all my MITs today will be tricky/involve staying up late, but I think I can do it...when I get home, I'll do inventory and have a quick dinner, then go to costco (assuming Jenn got a car), then do 1 hron who I want to work w/, then 1 hr setting parameters. Ideally I'll also do 1 hr WM doc, but that's a lower priority.
kromer 9:45 CI
My morning post today turned into an essay--sorry about that!
I did costco run, and most of food inventory (but haven't gone through spice shelf yet). Costco run went late, and then I've spent 30 min goofing off. Now I'm feeling exhausted and cranky. I think the best plan is to work until 11, then go to bed and get up quite early to finish today's tasks. I'll work for an hour (in the chatbox, and using my timer to set 10-min increments) on setting parameters, then I'll finish food inventory. If I have enough energy I'll do 15 min on one of my other MITs then I'll shower and go to bed.
Ritva in the morning
To do at work
Find some papers
continue project B and ask secretary to help
To do at home
Iron for 20 minutes
start decluttering in living room
Ritva before bed time
I ironed 20 minutes and worked OK in the office today.