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 25 March 2009

          A single step at a time, going forwards, with a goal in mind...

 

wisdom    serenity    courage    hope                           I can take the next step

oops posted on wrong day

jo

Cl 7:45 cando

hey there ,

I had a ruff weekend(no more gf) but now it seems things are getting better(emotionally), 

for tonight, I want to work on my homework 45 minutes straight, i'll use the timer, it seems to be the only way I can work.

 I'll come back in an hour with a succes I hope

re: no more gf

sorry to hear that, cando!  Emotional stuff can easily throw us off track, so I'm happy to see you posting and using your timer.  Hang in there!  hugs (((cando))))

Jo  

You won't reach your destination by pretending you're somewhere other than where you are. - Steve Pavlina

thanks a lot, I did not

thanks a lot, I did not came back beacause I was not able to do 45 min of work...

I'll stick to 30 minutes now

we post failures

cando, just wanted to say that i, and several others here, find it extremely helpful to post our failures as well as successes. Perhaps even more important to accept ourselves when we fail, because that is the path to trying again.

i personally find it extremely difficult and uncomfortable to post failures, but also very helpful,so i try to do it.

----------
the touch of the master's hand: http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/1898#comment-27748

"fall down seven times, get up eight" - japanese proverb

re: posting failures

that's a yepper!   I totally agree with Clem, it's hard to post failures but sometimes for me it is the key to getting back on track.  One reason I resisted the chatbox for so long was that it made me "too accountable" lol, but it really does help.  You will often see me post in the chatbox that I've been goofing off - somehow that confession instantly gets me back into the groove.  

Jo  

There is a proper balance between not asking enough of oneself and asking or expecting too much.  - May Sarton

Recycler CI 7:25pm EST

Hi Pro Buddies!

I have various things going on, and still need to run over to the rental condo tonight. I feel scared! What will I find there! Maybe after I can get back, I can update my CI! Hopefully everything will be good! :)

Early this morning, I did some cleaning at the rental condo before going to the gym. At the gym, I only did part of my cardio, but I did all the ab workout and stretching :)

At work: I had to finished all the deadline things so I can be ready for my vacation tomorrow. I just kept plugging at it, and not letting myself get over-hyper, etc. Summary: I did get all deadline stuff ready, yay! :) I've updated my assignment list so it will be ready for Tuesday when I get back in the office. Ready for me to add lots of projects from New Emails that is, lololol. Oh well. Lunchtime: had lunch with acquaintance and got to talk a bit.

After work, I topped off the gas tank of my car, and got another Book On CD at the library so that I will have 2 for my trip. I don't know if I will listen to either or both or them, but at least I have them. I also bought a lightbulb to take over to the rental condo. Wrote 2 emails to friends.

Next: It will be dark soon, so I better go over to the rental condo. We'll see if I have time to update my CI when I get back.

8:20pm. I replaced 2 lightbulbs at the rental condo. However, the one I bought was too big, so I will have to get a different one next week. The other person hadn't been in the rental condo (due to rain), so I emailed them that it was ok and if they can do things by Monday that will help. Next: time to make some sandwiches for the refrigerator so I can take them on my trip tomorrow. And do other last minute things before going to sleep! I am going to miss you, Pro Buddies, while I am on my trip! I hope to have a safe trip so I can talk to you next week!!! Hugs!!!

Have a great night, everyone! ;)

Recycler


Recycler

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

Travel blessings to Recycler!

 

CI Do It Now

To Do:  Not all for tonight

Plan,

meeting tonight plan

go to 1st meeting

maariv -when

next tax step

clean other car, office, bks

do something - get a notebook

pt jb  apply to WHRH

get transcripts 

study!!!                 RR and JS

CI Dotnow

did next tax step om Thurs

went to meetings 

Ag ci 4:40pm

Stayed up til 3am with pre-trip anxiety; got up at 7am, had chiro care and drove to airport. Now at hotel, lots to-do (MIT/MUTs) and too tired to do any of them.  Host and colleagues will be calling soon to meet for dinner but I am already really hungry; all I want to do is eat and sleep.  Eating now would be a slip in another 12-Step recovery, so I'm going to set the timer for 40 minutes and nap. I will check back then.

 

Ag 8:50pm

Had a nice nap, quick shower and lovely dinner with colleagues. Lots of laughter, good for the soul. Thank you HP. I have several choices now: I can work on the SOC proposal, or I can collate my handouts for tomorrow, or I can study my presentation for tomorrow, or I can veg with the tv and panic about the other stuff tomorrow. The latter is a default setting, and I choose to recover today. God, please help me choose the next right thing to do...Ag pauses for prayer...

OK, under HP inspiration I set a goal for myself: I will create my outline for the SOC proposal tonight. Going to chat...

isabo ci 315 pm

Today started three hours before my alarm set off.  Actually, it never did go off as I ended up turning it off 8 minutes before time.  Ah well.  My daughter had a sour stomach, ending in a vomituous mess.  Can't help that but to be there for her.  As a result though, I ended up catching up on my sleep all this morning...then did computer time as well as lunch, p/u'd son, started to do some cleaning and ended up here.  I need to do lots to get the house in order for supper and evening to be relaxing, so I am here to get myself in gear.

Timer and will...check!  Off I go :)

Nothing is worth more than this day  - Goethe

Pyrotecher CI 10:45am PDT

Previous Post was Mon 3/23/09:

 http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/2009#comment-29414

Major item came up then:

"might have a chance to pull together a proposal for a new contract (the lifeblood of the contract research firm I work for), one that I thought was just about dead. So now I get to see if I can revive it. Due in the wee hours of Wed so probably won't check in again b4 then. "

I was indeed up to the wee hours. I've done this before but experiemented with keeping the check-in chatbox open and had very helpful encouragement from several others as I checked in. Main challenge there was not letting it slow me down, but I'm starting to get the hang of it and the reinforcement was definitely welcome. Thanks to all for the online support.

I did make the deadline, just barely. I checked in and told those online about it at the time. The whole story is probably worthy of a separate thread so I'm tasking myself to write it up tonite.

-------

Now, as for today. The late night work messed up my schedule badly so just getting up now. My boss is forgiving about work hours in such cases but I want/need to get back to the office to do real work for at least some time this afternoon.

So how quickly can I get to work? Steps to get past:

"Indulgence" - Exercise (helps with recuperation). Part of it with the dogs (not an indulgence for them.)

Feed the dogs

Late Breakfast for me

Shower/dress

Drive to work.

Based on best estimate, think I can get to the office by 2pm.

Pyrotecher 6pm PDT

Good news - I suppose - is that I got everything on my pre-work list done.

Bad news is that my estimate of how long it would take wasn't even close.

Finding other tasks that should have been on the list didn't help, but that's my fault.

Finding tangents on several of these tasks really didn't help. Most of it was useful but timing was bad.

Classic example of priority setting. I had a goal (get to work by a certain time) and let a bunch of other tasks get in the way. I got more and more upset with myself for those decisions, too, as I let the day slip by. But I wasn't changing my action pattern.

Fortunately, because I worked so late today I had a lot of slack at work.

Allowing it to happen other days, that's another matter. Luckily my work has flex time but allowing my schedule to get out of whack one day just propagates the trouble of getting back on schedule and catching up with the work.

Also, I don't expect to be writing the longer post tonight. As a result of my wacky schedule I'm already feeling tired. Just getting through the basics tonite will be tough enough.

Tomorrow my schedule is difficult before I even start. I have a task at home that will either make me late in the morning or leave work early. In the middle I have to take off an hour for an appointment. I'm figuring to go for the late morning since I probably won't be fully recovered from today yet.

So my goal is to get to work by 10 am tomorrow, which is the best I think I can do.

@pyrotecher re: time estimates

Difficulty estimating the amount of time and effort required to do a task seems to be a common theme for us - I know I often greatly over- or under-estimate.  I'm getting better, thanks to this site, but it's still something I struggle with.  I try to put a time estimate in my todo list and do a sanity check but I don't always include that step.  

Glad to have you on board, I don't think I ever sent you a welcome, so here it is!

Jo  

You won't reach your destination by pretending you're somewhere other than where you are. - Steve Pavlina

SAM 12:35

1. go to the gym

2. study Can studies

3. send resumes

   jobank  

  workopllis

   govt jobs

 

SAM 12:35

1. go to the gym

2. study Can studies

3. send resumes

   jobank  

  workopllis

   govt jobs

 

Sammy ci :: 9:30 am

Feeling lots of anxiety about filling out a job application this morning. I absolutely DESPISE the process, especially making the phone calls to references, etc.

moving forward....

Today I am thankful for the new friends I made this weekend. 

u can do it sammy :-)

I know that anxiety! Prayed for you :-)

I sometimes use a mental cheat...since its easier to do for others I act like I am doing the resume or invoice, etc for someone else -added bonus we are usually a lot kinder and forgiving with others so you may make yourself sound better too! (in my case charge better rates)

Other tip - music, helps take focus off of myself and stress of situation!  One of my favorites, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwsvqVmFV6Y

 

Sammy ci :: 10:45 pm

Thanks, ByGodsGrace. I really like Casting Crowns, too!

Although the process took me 3 hours longer than it should have, I DID finally contact all my references, get the application filled out and dropped off, and some other things into the mailbox.

Had a SUPER productive puppet rehearsal tonight. A newspaper reporter came to our practice tonight to take pictures and interview some of our puppeteers for a "feature article." I'm very thankful for the interest, but I sure hope that the article brings glory to God's name, instead of just telling about us as puppeteers. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished project.

I'll check in first thing tomorrow. I have lots to get done before class at 3. 

journey 10:30

Good morning!   Technically, I'm off work today for working over the weekend but I have so much to do that I'm going to work a few hours anyway.

I've been to the gym, visited Dad, and cleaned out my nasty filthy car.   Now I'm gonig to post my calories to Calorie King and make a todo list for the day.   I know I have two work tasks to do, I need to put dinner in the crock pot and do some laundry, and I want to get a haircut and color my hair.   I'm kinda dithering about that because I don't know which to do first, I guess I should get a haircut first even though they will wash it and I'll have to wash it again when I color it but wth. 

I have a virtual lunch date with a friend online, so I'd like to have the work stuff taken care of before then.  See you in the chat box later.

Jo 

You won't reach your destination by pretending you're somewhere other than where you are. - Steve Pavlina

babarino 8:52 ci

Do invoice (done!! this was very resisted by me for some reason)

Gr

wpv follow up (done)

Research long (done for now)

Phone meeting (done as modified)

K follow up(done)

Rk follow up

CL mantra day 14

i'm going to not be perfectionistic and if i mess up the day number it doesnt matter from an eternal perspective.

"in the uncomfortable place, look for god, not an exit"

i had to use this today and it's not even 10am.

and it worked again. Seems to always work.

----------
the touch of the master's hand: http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/1898#comment-27748

"fall down seven times, get up eight" - japanese proverb

Diz ci 9:05a

Today is another day spent working on a report that I need to have finished now. Pressure is building so maybe I'll just whip it out and get it over with. I don't really have much of a choice at this point. How inspirational.

For me, getting to work and staying there is like some sort of mental game. In the mornings I'm generally more focused and have resolve to get things done. But then, by the afternoons, I start to convice myself that b/c I've been productive, I deservce to take a little break. What's unforturnate is that little break almost alwasy turns into the end of my work day. I have such a hard time getting back to work after that!

Here's to staying mentally connected to PA and the tools therein.

Falcon CI Wed.

Hi pro buddies,

Here is what I need to do at work today:

  • Figure out what to do with stuff on credenza
  • Clear inbox
  • Finish writing printer doc.
  • Do a sweep of stuff on shelves

This evening I need to do a quick grocery stop, and make a bunch of lunches to go in the freezer, since I won't have time to shop & cook this weekend.

Falcon

Falcon CI Wed. evening

Hi pro buddies,

I didn't do too bad at work today, even though I was a bit bored and was sleepy (gotta get to bed early tonight; I seem to be needing sleep.)

I didn't do the stuff on the credenza, but I did the shelves, which look much nicer, finally did the printer doc., and at least took all the stuff out of the inbox & looked at it.

Tonight I need to make lunches, email J, check email from M, and get to bed early.  Doing frozen pizzas & sandwiches for the lunches, so I'm going to head to the chatbox & start prepping the pizzas. 

Falcon

Falcon CO Wed.

Yay, got everything done!  And I have a stack of lunches ready to go in the freezer.  Not getting to bed quite as early as I wanted, but still pretty early.

Good night!

Falcon

Goals for Today

1I will spend now no more than 15 min cleaning my room.

2.I am going to put up the Flyers for my anxiety support group all over town.

I may add more goals later- and  I will check at the end of the day goals accomplished vs what I wrote here.

 

Shmuel

Chick CI & intentions

 

I'm going to try the MF approach today, avoid lying to self about what is plan and what isn't by writing and plan plan now. One big goal is very clear. Now I need to make steps and stints.

 

late confession:

When I approach the day thinking that better systems will eliminate fear or apprehension I am wrong. That's the p. approach. The goal is to face the discomfort. I see how much I need clem's mantra alongside any systems I might try. 

so true

I completely understand and agree.

Even though I have made great steps in coming up with a new way to approach deadlines on paper this week -I know that

#1) I wouldn't even be able to figure out new system with out God - it overwhelmed me and only by prayer and one step at a time in faith did it start to come together for me - (a lesson in itself for me today, following the steps theme...  as long as I thought of how to figure out a whole plan I was stuck, only when i took each next step by faith did the next step become clear for me, not beofre.) 

#2) Any system I use will fail without God's help (clement's mantra = perfect illustration) because the habits and emotions and weakness in my self remain, all my days require his super added to my natural.

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”  Corrie Ten Boom

  tx... I'm learning a

 

tx... I'm learning a lot from your posts--I really need to think and absorb now: back to the first three steps, without them, no plan works, it seems...

 

 

 

 

byGodsGrace todays CI

Thanks for the wonderful starter chickadee!  Speaks to my day perfectly -

Woke up too early, but felt grace to work, so here I am early again.

Word and prayer for the day again: Proverbs 3:5 the message 

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.”

Reading to put into practice again:

“If you want to be free, just start doing what God wants you to do, one step at a time, and you’ll eventually walk out of your messes." Joyce Meyer 

Soundtrack of my day: Natalie Grant 

My to do list: 

Read Bible/Pray

Read something about planning/lists http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/1658#comment-29451

another thanks 2chickadee, this summary really helped me - I still have questions, but also answers and closer to a solution that will work for me

dd school by 8.30a

call job3

plan jobs1-4, backtiming for mar/april  Almost done!! more done! finishby 2nite

job3  env.inv. email  WHEW!

call post office if needed

ink? Job3: print envelopes, mail 

dd school 2:30p

church 7p  So glad God helped me overcome resistance and go, felt better even before I got there and had a really great time of praise &worship and breakthrough prayer (all prayer is great, sometimes there is a special release you just know tho)

pray, open pkg from j, respond (sitting there for over a week, take a step at least)