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 29 August 2008

Recycler CI 8:50pm EST

Hi Pro Buddies!

A long day here, but made it through, so that's what counts! ;)

Today: train, stretching, work. Did deadline project. Did mailing project. Did newsletter project. Had Chik-Fil-A for lunch :) Checked on camera repair; got referred elsewhere; that's ok; today's goal was checking it out! ;) Helped coworker. Walked home. Had therapist appt. Next: winding down, so will get ready to sleep.

Have a great night, everyone! :)

Recycler

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

paralyzedinparadise's 1st check in @ 3:30pm

Hi All,

Learning how to use the Daily Check-In forum.  Today I did not wake up anywhere close to my intended time, but somehow escaped the insta-dread that almost always consumes me before I even open my eyes.

I am ready for the day and need to get some work done. 

I am going to "goal" 2 things for now:

1.  Get my emails w/ questions about my application for new health insurance out, 

2.  Respond to K's email.

I'll be back.

PiP

Welcome to daily checkins PiP!

Ah, the insta-dread!  I love that description . . . and I know the feeling, where you wake up in the morning and the first thing you think about is what a horrible person you think you are.  I am not sure when it happened that I stopped thinking that way and started believing in myself again . . .but is sure is better.  

Jo 

If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus.”  - Jimmy Maxton, Independent Labour MP for Glasgow Bridgeton

PiP's 2nd check in @ 4:30pm

So I'm gonna let myself feel good about this one.  I did not feel like it, but somehow I got right to work!.  Been steady and focused, and am about 40% done with task #1!  Got one email started and another sent out.  They aren't quick emails, so I am proud of my progress/time ratio.

 

Ravenous, so I must take a break and eat something.

More updates soon!:grin:

PiP

PiP's 3rd check in @ 9:30pm

Hey All,

So awhile ago I finished everything I could on my health insurance application.  I am waiting for replies to my emails to get the remaining questions answered.

And I just sent an email response to K.

Cycling between some unpleasant emotions; disappointment that I haven't gotten more done today, wishing I could work on the thing I really need to work on, etc.

Going to read through some more PA stuff.

-PiP

paperwork microburst

Had a microburst!  Have been needing to find, read, complete and mail a packet of paperwork for months and months and months, and just now leapt up, rummaged through the most likely places, and found it!  Sat down at my desk, did a thorough reading of 70% and scanned the rest.

I think the key was that I didn't think about it. The thought popped up, I wasn't panicking, and I jumped up and started moving.  I didn't give myself time to think, which means I didn't have time to become overwhelmed, fearful, feel guilt over not having done it before, etc.

I feel equipped to begin to fill it out tomorrow, and it doesn't feel that scary at all!

See you all manana :)

way to go, PiP!

Good to see your first check-in - and the feel-better result...thanks for sharing.

Pip's paperwork

Yep, you have hit the nail on the head.  The guilt is useless and disabling.  You don't need it.  Let it go!

Jo 

If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus.”  - Jimmy Maxton, Independent Labour MP for Glasgow Bridgeton

Journey 5:30

Well, hell, I was unable to work on MIT #4 because I left a critical folder at home!  Another thing about telecommuting that I must learn to deal with!  I have always taken notes on each project in a separate folder.  I'm switching to keeping notes on the laptop, therefore, they are always with me - unless the computer dies!  - and I'm pretty good about making monthly backups of all my data.   But in this case, it's phase II of an old project, so everything is still on paper. 

So, I did some Toastmasters business and made my budget for September instead.  Not really work related stuff, but stuff that needed to be done nonetheless.

It's amazing how the budget can seem like "fun" when I'm supposed to be doing something else!

Done for the day, off Monday, and Happy Labor Day to those of us in the States.

Jo

If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus.”  - Jimmy Maxton, Independent Labour MP for Glasgow Bridgeton

George Smiley, Friday, Noon

I spent this morning on errands and a weekly breakfast with friends, to which I took my sons. Got the car to the state DMV for emissions test, with no time to spare (registration expires Sunday). I'll need to re-up in on line today now that it has passed the test.

I got breathing room on Project R late yesterday. 

Immediate MIT is to return a phone call I just got. 

After that I'm going to get a drink of water and then try again to get started on Project R's outline.

 

It's 2:40 PM where I am

The last two hours have just been taken up by endless woolgathering.

I need to set a very specific goal: I'm going to in the next half hour try to set down a basic outline for Project R.

 

Agnus checking in 11:10

Hi PA-Pals! Hope everyone has a great day. I appreciated Journey's reminder not to bring yesterday's overload into this fresh new day. So:

  • Craft a fresh to-do list
  • Step 11 to identify the MITs
  • Fill a pitcher with today's water intake
  • Fill a bowl with today's salad vegs
  • Pet care

I will check back in 20 minutes with an update.

ag not bringing yesterday's overload forward to today

Way to go, Ag!  It's so tempting to do that, and so self-defeating when we do.

Jo

If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus.”  - Jimmy Maxton, Independent Labour MP for Glasgow Bridgeton

Ag ci 12:30, 2:10 pm, 8:30 pm

Thanks for the encouraging word, jo! My starting tasks took 3x longer than expected because I got in touch with some anger and needed to process that before I could get quiet (nothing about anyone here, my dear fellow Sensitives! Wink). There were also 2 phone calls, J chatting, dog wanting to play, etc....all my usual traps!  BUT I am back and clear on my next MITs:

  • DONE - reach out again to MO re: KC rep for webinar?
  • DONE - YAY! - chat through producing the PEP invoice; include breakdown, visualize, other PA tools
  • reward myself with 30 minutes of catching up here
  • DONE - lunch
  • POSTPONED - return call to accountant; get to-do list from him
  • POSTPONED - edit Gen Help

8:30 pm follow-up - The invoicing took all day, and I am still tweaking August. But when I finish it - tonight, no fail - this will be the FIRST time since I started my business in 2004, that I will have ever completed an invoice on the last day of the billable month. THAT is a flat miracle!

BUT - it hasn't happened yet!  I am in the home stretch of Tedium Hell, where it is very easy to burn out. But J is ill tonight so we're not going anywhere, and I have nothing else to do anyway. And I am SO looking forward to chortling with glee when it's complete! :-) So, here I go back to chatting through T-Hell...

Ag's new client invoice is DONE!

HAAAAA-lay-LOOOL-yah!:grin:

Congrats!

You're on a roll this week! Enjoy your chortling :-)

Journey 9 am Update 10:45 12:00 2:00

Off to a great start this morning!  I've been to the gym, already got my day starter done and have my MITs ready. 

I was just about to type:  maybe today will make up for the bad days I had Tuesday and Wednesday.  BUT I'm SO over that mindset.  We start fresh every day, with today's goals and plans.  If I start thinking that today I must do not only today's work, but also a bunch of work that I did not do in the past, I will be overwhelmed and end up doing nothing. 

One day at a time. 

Jo

Update 10:45  MITs #1 and #2 are complete.  Taking a break and getting to work on #3.  This one will be longer, as it's one of my "big" projects.  I want to devote a couple of focused hours to this project today.  Setting timer for 15 min break.

Update noon.  Not hungry yet, so just taking a 15 minute break and back to MIT #3 for a while.  I'm frustrated with MIT #3 because one cool thing isn't working yet, and I keep going back and trying different things to get that to work, rather than methodically going through the whole package step by step.  Here is my commitment to go back to the beginning, check what's been done so far and get back to the step-by-step install process. 

Update 2 pm.  Progress has been made on MIT #3.  I'm at a good stopping point, AND, the cool thing is working since I changed my approach.  Moving on to MIT #4.

Time to make a new post when I come back, this one is getting long and boring.

 

 

If you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus.”  - Jimmy Maxton, Independent Labour MP for Glasgow Bridgeton

kromer 8:50 CI

Got to work at 8:30, spent 10 min dealing with email and 10 min goofing off, now I'm ready to focus.

I'm going to work in lab until 12:00, then go to lab mtg, mtg with prof, lunch with classmates and safety training.  So the afternoon is nice and structured, it's just the morning and the evening where I have to worry about keeping on track.

My first tasks are:
*Look at results from jobs started last night (there are some bugs here, taking longer than I expected)
*Start randomization runs (done)
*Take notes for mtg with prof (done)
*Finish edu. plan and go talk to CB about it (done)

My goal is to get these tasks done by 10:30 and check back in then. I'll update as each of these is completed. 

kromer 11:10 CI

OK, I've been focusing pretty well this morning, there's just a lot to get done! (the last couple weeks haven't been very productive in lab, b/c of orientation/preparation for grad school, and I want to have a non-embarassing amount of progress to show at my mtg.)

In the next 50 min, I want to (I'll work on these tasks in order and get as much done as I can):
*make nice graphic for results of job (done)
*Try run on SMARCA4 dataset, look at results (no need to make a nice graphic) (done)
*Fix bug (done) +look at results for STRING interactome.(done)

kromer 5:40 CI

OK, day went pretty well.

Got all the above done, then went to lab meeting and group meeting. Despite my feelings of unproductivity over the past few weeks, prof. thinks I've made good progress and that my work is going somewhere--yay! Safety training was deadly dull, but at least it's over :-)

Plan for the weekend: tonight and Saturday are crunch time for getting reading for the semester, then Sunday will be my day off (I'll go to church and do a little moving but minimal work), then I'll move all day Monday.

Things that must get done tonight: Deal with most recent 50 emails, clean off computer desktop, take notes from mtg with PF, have dinner with J+AR
Things I would like to do tonight: email CC and RH, make a long-term (semester-long) plan for finishing my paper, make a schedule for next week, finish WM FAQ.

Immediate plan: Clean off computer desktop, pack up stuff, bike to J+AR's house, take notes from mtg (either before or after dinner). 

kromer 9:20 CI

Cleaned off computer desktop and dealt with some emails, had dinner with J+AR, goofed off a bit.

Now I'm going to deal with some emails, then take notes on mtg. Should be done by 10.

Update 10:15--done! (a bit late) I'm tired, so I'm not going to get too much more done today. I'm going to send a quick email to RH, then take a shower, then microburst schedule-making (ie get out paper and write days of the week on it), then go to bed. 

From: newbie To: vet

Hi Kromer!

 Just wanted to say congratulations on "Got all the above done."  It's really helpful to see your progress!

PiP