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.
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.
CL ci
Hi new people! I wish you hope in the long road of recovery.
I have to do a task i dont want to do, so this is my way of getting over that resistance.
12:10 (15min) : part a done.
12:15 (5min) : part b done. now part c.
12:30 (15min) : part c done. now part d. dont wanna.
12:40 (10min) : part d partially done--couldnt do the whole thing. i'll do it later, because i have growing confidence that HP will give the strength in the moment so i'll be able to do it later.
Happy New Year everyone!
-----
fall down seven times, get up eight - japanese proverb
procrastinating with time mgmt tools: http://www.procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/1114#comment-23050
kromer 6:45 CI
I just got back from crazy cross-country drive (5 days, 3800 miles, helping a friend move), and am leaving on another (previously planned) trip for a week. So I have a certain amount of packing etc. that needs to get done.
I got home to find the my landlord was renovating my apartment (which is nice, but it would have been even nicer if he had told me about it :P ). So I need to stay away from home until 10 tonight, then I can go home, pack and sleep, then I need to go to church and deacons meeting tomorrow morning and then get my behind to the airport.
I have a limited amount of work that needs to get done tonight, but I'm checking in to make sure it *actually* gets done. I need to:
*
Take care of budgeting for last week (figure out how much money I have for trip!)*Take care of other financial stuff...pay rent, pay credit card bill, balance checkbook
*Unpack and repack
*
Print ticket and email with flight info*Order bday present for A
*
Write down important phone numbers*Talk to parents
*
Go through email from last 5 days*Make bday card for P (if time)
*Look up confusing terms from papers (if time) (done for 1 paper and part of the second)
OK, this is a long list of tasks, but each one is fairly doable. I'm going to work through the list in the chatbox, starting with financial stuff.
e on the pitty pot
it was another day of failure for me. I felt badly because an acquaintance was in town from Greece, but I did not want to go see him with my spouse. Culturally, that is unacceptable, but I convinced myself that I would get my resume revised if i did. That did not happen: the kitchen is cleaned up, but the resume and the paperwork have not been touched. This position that I would like to apply for has a deadline of the 5th, which means it is now or never to apply. I am afraid of not being quite qualified for it, but know that with a minor amount of training I could do it and do it well. I also have been putting off calling G for a reference for the position, because I have not spoken to her since I moved home, and am embarassed to do so for initially to discuss a favor.
C'est la vie for a procrastinator.....
for now, my intent is to make little hoists up by my bootstraps.
laundry, cook chicken, clear off sofa, keep kitchen sink clear of dishes.
pick up A from work at 11:30, or have G do it.
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - William Penn
Hang in there, e
Hi e,
Sorry to hear you're feeling down in the dumps! You have a really great track record of picking yourself up when you fall down, and I know you will find a way to keep moving forward till you succeed.
Falcon
thanks, falcon
I was able to make some progress by working in the chatbox in a private meeting with someone working on a similar project. Once again, this fellowship amazes me, both in coming in here to find your words of encouragement as well as the miracle that we can overcome these compulsive behaviors one microburst at a time.
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - William Penn
Journey 3pm
Back from all my errands and visiting mom and dad. I feel good that I returned something to Sports Authority instead of letting it sit around for months. I don't know how much longer Mom is going to be able to take care of Dad at home. He's getting pretty feeble and senile. Sad :(
Kids will be here for dinner in 3 1/2 hours. I gotta put away groceries, clean out the fridge which is full of leftovers some of which are probably from Christmas (yuck!) straighten and dust the dining room, and make dinner. DH will cook the meat on the grill, and I bought a dessert so it shouldn't be too bad. Also need to put the dirty dishes from the sink into the dishwasher, which is empty :). The house is still pretty clean from New Year's Eve. The dog stinks, but there's nothing I can do about that today except spray her with doggie deodorant. I'll go do that now.
Headed to chatroom.
Jo
"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
- George Eliot
Going to bed and getting up early
Hey Journey,
I haven't been on for a long time, but I have have really been trying (not succeeding-just trying!) to work on going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. I know it would make my life a lot better and less stressful but it seems that going to bed late and getting up later is an extremely difficult pattern to change. I read in one of your posts from a couple of months ago that you were working on this but that you were letting it go until after the holidays. I'd like to partner with you on it if you're interested by posting my goals and checking in when I get up. I think it would help me to know that someone else was working on this too. Let me know if you're interested. Hope you had a good Christmas and a happy New Year!
Julie - early to bed and early to rise
Yes, it's time to reactivate that plan! I really, really want to be at the gym at 5:15 every morning weekdays.
Next week will be my first full week back at work, so it's a good time to start.
Let's do it!
Jo
"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
- George Eliot
Falcon CI -- I'm ba-a-ack!
Hi pro amigos,
I'm back from a week of travelling, and looking forward to catching up on everyone's posts!
First, though, I need to get some things done today:
Whoa, that's a lot of stuff, now that I see it written out. And I've got a friend coming for dinner. I'd better get to work!
Check in with you soon,
Falcon
Falcon CI -- whoops!
Well, I got as far as eating lunch, then curled up in the sun and slept for an hour and a half. Yikes! It felt really good, so maybe I needed the rest, but it wasn't quite what I'd planned.
If necessary, the thank-you notes & email can wait till tomorrow (hey, LittleWonder, can I come to your note-writing party? Sounds like a great idea!)
But I need to get the other stuff done today.
I did some exercises to wake myself up, and am making some tea with plenty of caffeine. Now back to work. . . I have enough cash for the cat sitter, so I'll call her next and get moving on the stuff in the freezer.
Falcon
Edited to add:
O.k., I left a message for the cat sitter. The ice-cube tray is draining, and I got some of the stuff out of the freezer. But it turns out I'm out of garbage bags, so the rest will have to wait till I've been to the store.
Next up: Empty the dishwasher and start on the tidying. . .
ETA:
O.k., dishwasher is emptied, tidying is underway (I can see the surface of the kitchen island again!) The gift is wrapped, and while tidying I got the sweater that needs to be returned all packed for the mail.
Onward. . . time to take trash out, then complete the tidying.
Check In Saturday morning
I almost always have grocery shopping hanging over my head on the weekend and it feels GREAT to have it done. Today I am going to
1) Do some teeny tiny bit towards updating my electronic budgeting/checkbook system. The structure is there as well as 90 percent of the behavior. This should have a big Happiness Return on Investment. HROI is my new acronym :)
2) Schedule thank you note dinner. (This is when I have a special meal and have supplies ready and children write thank you notes for christmas while we are together. It is a tradition that started by eating out with each child after their birthday and we wrote while we waited on the food.)
3) Make cleaned up stairs more appealing - hang pictures, etc.
4) Find a better storage area for tote bags that I use for sewing, knitting, etc.. Many have half done projects in them :(
5) Get my sewing room cleaned up
Reward: A little fun sewing project, like a purse to put travel patches on.
first day of pa
okay, this is a huge issue for me and is pretty much ruining my life. I am willing to try these tools.
i have a huge list of things to do today and am already worried that i'm not going to do them!
mainly, it's housecleaning stuff that i avoid. so, today i want to:
10:05 - 10:20 put away laundry, empty suitcase from trip
10:20-10:45: vacuum floor
10:45 - 11:00 clear up crazy pile in bedroom
11:00 - 11:45 mop floor
11:45 - 12:00 clea of kitchen table.
12:-1:00 shower, dress, bring away a large pile of books to library
1:00 - 2:30 do just a 1/2 hour of filing
2:30 - 3:30 bring laundry to laundromat, weekly grocery shopping
okay, see you at 3:30!
ds - careful of too tight a schedule
Hi ds and welcome!
I get nervous when I see a schedule like you posted. I'm afraid the person is setting themselves up for failure - if you don't stick to it minute by minute, you get discouraged.
Generally check-ins work best when they are frequent and related to one task at a time. Just a suggestion. Hope to see you here often!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.
welcome ds!
Keep posting, you will find a lot of support here. Don't forget to plan some rewards and fun!
Jo
"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
- George Eliot
you are so right!
you guys were right; i did put way too many things on my list for today. And I also discovered that things take much longer than I think they are going too (and then, sometimes, things take much less time than I think they are going to!).
In this case, however, I'm still proud of myself, even though I only got through about 1/2 my list.
here's how it went down:
10:10 - 11am put away laundry and empty suitcase
11: - 11:20am breakfast
11:20 - 1:25pmclean up pile in bedroom
1:30 - 2pm break
2:00 - 3:30 vacuum and mop bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom floor
3:30 - 4pm shower, get dressed (uh, a bit late in the day, I know, but whatever).
4pm: hang out with friend, grocery shop
You know how they say 20% of a job can give you 80% of the satisfaction? that business about "cleaning up the pile in the bedroom" took wayyy more time than I thought it would, and it was not fun, but I did get it done and it feels GREAT. (I'd been putting it off for 2 months!).
now i don't have to do anything but relax. tomorrow is another day. this business of bookending really helped me today. thanks!
Congrats, ds!
Hi ds,
Glad you found the bookending helpful! Congrats on everything you got done -- especially on clearing away the dreaded pile!
Falcon
Journey 8 am
Good morning! My Wednesday morning yoga class has been moved to another time boo. So I"m going back to the Saturday class. I stopped going because I "didn't have time" but I wasn't using that time for anything constructive anyway, so I'm going back. I want to increase the amount of exercise I'm doing by a couple of hours a week, to see if that will jump start my weight loss program, and this is a good way todo it!
See you'uns later after yoga, shopping and visiting mom and dad. (my hillbilly heritage showing there) Say hey to yore mama and them.
Jo
"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
- George Eliot
Never too late
Hi Journey,
Thanks for the George Eliot quote -- I really like that one!
Falcon
wb falcon!
"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
- George Eliot
Hope-Faith CI 6:50
Today is another one of those busy days that I fear I will not get accomplished many of the task that I would like to accomplish. Plan for the next 2.5 hours. Today my mom, children and I are going to town, clothes shopping hair cuts ect.
hope-faith
chick CI, yesterday's confession, today a new day
Thanks for the nice starter, Recycler. And Happy first week of the new year all.
I think that while I am away I get a kind of clarity about the
motivations and habits that constitute my procrastination; then back in
familiar surroundings and routine, I want to change completely all at
once for the New Year, but I don't stay aware in the moment and slip
right back into the old ways--habits reinforced by surroundings. And I
know by now that it's a set-up for failure to set excessive goals,
whether about projects or about not procrastinating.
For tomorrow, I am telling myself: change comes--not one day at a time, but one minute at a time. Take it moment by moment!
And I am wondering whether it would help to post
some little cards with affirmations and reminders in various places in
the house? Will they help or be nags? Will I have to race around taking
them down before visitors?
[] I have started the Saturday morning big clean/beginning of new routine. One minute at a time....update--still at it, steadily but unsystematically. Onto next group of tasks now.
--checking back: have done quite a long stint, had a break, now ready to microburst kitchen and office
--have done a lot in many areas, no single area complete and perfect though. However, my progress makes me feel : I can do this, I can do more :)
Recycler CI 5:45am EST
Hi Pro Buddies!
Some friends will help me move furniture to the new condo today. Another friend needs to tour my old condo to consider renting. I need to do errands. Veering toward unmanageability already!!! lol
Serenity Prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." HP, you know how today & the future weeks & months will turn out. Please help my friend John to find out which combination of possibilities will be best for him. Help us both to know if my old condo will in any way not work out for him. And also if we get to the point of needing to consult with my landlord, please direct what he may think/decide. Thanks, HP!
Today it may be a while before I get to update my CI. Or, by the end of the day, I wonder if I will be too tired! ;)
4:30pm. Whew! I made it through everything! Everything good, but what a gauntlet schedule, oh my gosh!
Next: meltdown, unwind, destress. "Thank you, HP, for helping me through everything today, and please stay involved with everything else that is happening."
I need to eat at some point. But at the moment, I'm not overly hungry. Maybe in a little while.
Several issues to decide on. Should I try to do a few things around the rental condo? Should I try to do a few things around the new condo? OK, maybe work here first for a while, then eat dinner, then go out to an activity tonight.
Have a great day! :)
Recycler
Recycler
Thank you, gals & guys, for being here! :)