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.

Tuesday April 28th 2009

Recycler CI 6:25pm EST

Hi Pro Buddies!

Oooh, I love the Threadstarter, Deej! :) Thanks! :)

This morning: up at crack of dawn, walked to gym, did cardio, ab exercises, and stretching.

At work, kind of dealt hour by hour with assignments, etc. Some potentially frustrating moments, adverted by coworker and I get along well. Walked at lunchtime; made Continuing Ed lodging arrangements, did online transaction, and ate lunch. More projects in afternoon; updated assignment list at end of day & highlighted for in the morning.

Walked home; ate salad & fruit. Next: change clothes & get ready to go to volunteer activity tonight. Have a great night, everyone! :)

Recycler


Recycler

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

rec check-in

I have another choppy day (doctor appt this AM, pcikup dd at 3 PM followed by appt for her), so will try to do a few things on a short "to do" list:

Work on GB file - call GB, draft docs
Finalize FL file - send out docs and bill
Set up TW meeting if possible
Send out waiver in MN file
Work on D and NW matter

Thanks to all for the many encouraging words on the site today!

rec

GS 10 AM

I didn't check in yesterday, but it was generally a good day.

I completed one editing project and worked a little on a writing project.

I also had a family meeting w/ my ex and our son to work out some problems the two of them were having. 

This morning I've been diverted with the very real, but non-income-producing, task of shopping for a new dehumidifier to replace the one that has crapped out in my basement. This after a futile effort to discover whether it might be able to be repaired locally.

I've got 2 editing projects underway and 3 writing projects.

And some planning for future projects, too.

I'll be using chatbox for check-in and book-ending.

 

 

The Hero's Code:

Show up. Pay Attention. Speak the Truth. Let Go of the Outcome.

babarino

Thanks for the words about inaction being the cause of fear. Its helpful when I just want to stop moving and stew in worry.

Meetings(done)
Organize info

That's it. I'm not going to ask anything else of myself.

10p update. I am not realistic about what can be done in a day.

Headache but pushing through...

Okay I woke up later than I wanted today because at the time my alarm went off at 8:30, I had a major headache so I shut it off and went back to sleep. It's now 10:30 and my headache has mostly subsided so I'm going to hit the shower and get ready for the day.

 

Here is my list of to-dos today:

-Edit and send all pics of banquet to this lady from banquet (I am a writer for a newspaper)

-Send all pics/cutlines to pics to editor.

-Write story and send to editor.

-Call college and find out how can get transcript.

-Call around for sitter for my daughter tomorrow (regular sitter has doctor's appt)

-Start and finish 1200 page paper for Shakespeare Class.

-Quick clean-through of house.

-Start straightening up daughters room.

-Henry V play at college at 7 p.m.

 

I have a very busy day today. Gotta get started! 

Striking out for land 04/28/09

Yes, I am online and it is morning BUT...after reading one (1) article about the swine flu :rolleyes: I came straight here. And after reading the other entries, I feel uplifted in knowing that I'm not alone in this struggle. So thank you all for being here. :)

On the theme of "acting as if": Last week I declared to myself, "I am a serious writer." Among the many other things they do, serious writers don't mess around on the Internet until after they've put their quota of words in. So I'm putting my list here, then I'm going to go on Facebook (no worries; I'm relatively new so I haven't figured out how to waste time on it yet) and then I'm done "messing around" until tonight. Wish me luck.

  • Wish my BIL happy birthday (on FB and via an e-card)
  • Spend two hours with my latest short story
  • Get blood work done
  • Project B at work: Check all the pots
  • Vacuum house
  • Continue vitamin regimen
  • Write 5 interview questions for Friday
  • Spend one hour in the home office tidying (this is where I'll be sleeping for two days while my friend visits!)
  • Wal-Mart: comforter sheet set

kromer 8 CI

Scheduled: Class 11:00-12:30, colloquium 4-5. 

MITs:
*Finish raw data proc. for DG's project
*Brainstorm next steps on DG's project, email SM
*Finish stats pset
*Finish notes Email TH and DR
*Start CSB presentation
*30 min NE program
*Deal w/ Scales stuff

Other tasks:
*Review 3 stats lectures
*Budgeting
*Read 1 paper for DG's project

Breaks:
*Lunch with classmates
*Call AG
*Square dancing

Right now, I'm going to do my 30 min working NE program, then finish doing raw data proc. for 1st dataset, then take notes/send emails. I need to leave for class around 10:30.  

Update 9:10--going slowly but finished my work for today on the NE program, now I'm going to work on raw data processing. 

Update 1:45--done some work on raw data processing, went to class, had lunch with classmates, now going to finish raw data processing and start presentation. 

kromer 5:30 rough time

Well, I worked on raw data processing for a couple hours, then I totally zoned out 4-5:30 (surfing, eating dinner way too early, wandering aimlessly around campus), and now it seems really tough to get back to work.

OK, deep breath, I can do this! I'm going to start by finishing up my problem set (should take less than an hour). Then, I'll take care of some small tasks (scales, notes, email TH)

Update 7:30--back on track, though moving somewhat slowing...I finished up problem set and emailed TH. Going to leave for square dancing soon, but I'm going to microburst my presentation first. 

kromer 11:30 CO

I microbursted presentation and went square dancing, called AG, now am home. Time for shower and bed.

Overall not a great day, but at least I pulled it together in the late afternoon. 

Journey 7:30 great comments this morning!

And I needed to hear them . . . everything is going pretty well right now but still I feel tired and depressed for no good reason.   I'll continue acting "as if" I'm having a great day, and avoid the "vampire of the web" and turn this day around.   I dislike having bad moods that have no identifiable source . . . but it happens sometimes and then the mood lifts again for no reason.   Do you guys have the same experience? 

I have a dr.'s appt this afternoon so I cannot sit around in my sweaty exercise clothes all day lol.   I'm going to go ahead and take a shower and get dressed in clothes appropriate for going out in public, make a fresh pot of coffee, and assume that my mood will improve as the day goes on.   

I am planning to work on Project TF most of the morning.   I have two conference calls, and I need to do some desk cleaning.   After the dr. I have another conference call and then I think I will call it a day and take it easy this evening since I am feeling tired.  This means I need to get as much done this morning as possible.  Right now, shower! Then todo list, chatbox. 

Jo

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

Continue "Acting As If"

Checking in and continue "acting as if"- that worked yesterday.

When I "acted as if" everything was ok,if I surrender to God, his plan will be ok, I was ok,everyone else was ok, everything will work out ok, I can handle what ever comes and it will be ok, etc. Seems like I was in a different mental zone and pretty soon I believed it and I had a good day and more done than if I would have stayed in my catostrophic thinking. It was not as hard to get into action and the action did lead to more action.

The 4 catagories for planning are: appts, contacts, tasks, notes. It works best if organized around personal values. I have it started- [planning helps.

Will check in later. Thanks for being here.  ;-)

 

 

what is "acting as if"?

what is "acting as if"?

acting as if

This website has a pretty good explanation

http://www.chrisdunmire.com/essays/acting.as.if.shtml

byGodsGrace todays ci

This is what I’ve been reading this week…so much I relate to, so i though i would share –  grateful to be a work in progress! This is just one part, link to article is below - so many awesome tools for reducing anxiety, self talk, how anxiety develops and increases, etc.

Facing Your Fear
The first time I was asked to be a keynote speaker at a conference a number of years ago I was afraid. Don’t get me wrong, at first I was excited, but later I started thinking about it. Maybe they don’t really want me. I’m just filling in for someone who had to cancel. The other keynote speaker is Archibald Hart and I’m not in his league. I got more and more scared.

Then I told myself, You can’t be afraid. You’ll make a fool of yourself in front of 2,000 people! If you can’t calm down then you just need to cancel. Of course, this harsh treatment of myself and denial of my fears only made me more anxious. Eventually, I woke up to what I was doing – I had reverted back to my old, destructive ways of coping with anxiety – demands on my self, denial of feelings, and avoidance of what scared me!

Instead, I accepted that as a speaker I didn’t have to be perfect, but was a “work in progress.” I started processing my feelings with my wife and a friend to find comfort. And I determined not to avoid my fear of public speaking, but to face it. What if I had chosen to reduce my anxiety by not giving the keynote address? Unfortunately, it’s easy for anxious people to make choices like this, hiding their gifts and shrinking their worlds. To face your fears, as I learned in this situation, helps you to gain confidence, which over time helps to reduce your anxiety.

http://www.christiansoulcare.com/articles/calmanxioussoul.html

wow... "avoiding...shrinking my world!" I am in this to recover and regain myself, my life as i was created to live it - no matter what!

Word and prayer for the day: Psalm 23:1-3

You, LORD, are my shepherd.  I will never be in need. You let me rest in fields of green grass. You lead me to streams of peaceful water, and you refresh my life. You are true to your name,  and you lead me along the right paths.

My to do list: 

MIT Job3 – final revisions and additions, email client for approval,  FINSHED!!

dd school 8:30, library return

confirm email ok, Prep file/Cd for printer, drop off by 1:30p 

Call jobMG  new appt - email

Call job AT 4appt - email

Call jobAB

Email job FS proof

Ribbon color list, call for samples, Box order cc info?

Final proof at printer, pick up playdate, dd school 2:30p, play, dd st 5:15

Thank you notes, photo cds, Bills/budget

Hope-Faith CI 5:08

Good Morning all, List is ready now to get moving. Day starter to remind me that today is a very busy day but it is a fun day  HAVE FUN - Believe in myself.

  1. AM
    1. CI/Update Post/Blog (15 min)
    2. Reboot/feed animals ( 5 min
    3. E-mail (10 min)
    4. Update Financials (3 min)
    5. Exercise (20 min)
    6. Dishwasher (8 min)
    7. Breakfast/weather/coffee (15 min)
    8. Hang out clothes (10 min)
    9. Help DH load goats  
    10. Jump Drives
    11. Kids up by 7:30
    12. Breakfast Kids
    13. Homework in progress DS done
    14. Me Ready  in progress done
    15. Kids Ready
    16. make beds later
    17. Swish & Swipe  later
    18. Loaded Pics from camera Loaded pics but it was the wrong memory card
  2. Preapre for Livestock show. Must leave at 9:00 Not going to make this goal, but I will keep trying but not at the expenice of me leaving my happy spot.
    1. Clean out van
    2. Show clothers, belt, boots, jeans, shirt will have to by dd and ds new jeans and ds new boots
    3. Work clothes, rubber boots, bibs and T-shirt
    4. Paper work
    5. Pack cooler
    6. Ballett Stuff
    7. Ticket Money Write check when I get there
    8. Gear for the Goats, brushes, shampoo, towels, halters, collars, leads 
    9. Camera

All done and we are on the road in about 10 min I will be 1.5 behind but I think that is the story of my life. No matter how organized I try to be. The problem is that my organization always come to late in the game. I will forgive myself, I will be proud of my accomplshments, and I will belive that I will continue to fight this beast. I am encouraged. All who may read this please say a pray for my dd and ds today. My dd has a very mean goat this year and I am worried about her getting hurt. Will let you know who it all goes.

  1. Leave by 9:00
  2. Buy pants
  3. Get goats ready
  4. Show
  5. Work concessions
  6. Ballet
  7. After Show
    1. Home
    2. Fly
    3. 15 min P/C try to do before I go to bed
    4. Update AAW spreadsheet
    5. Load Pics from camera Loaded pics but it was the wrong memory card do this tomorrow
    6. e-mail pics

hope-faith

hope it went well with the

hope it went well with the goats, h-f and especially for your daughter.

(a 'mean goat' sounds like it could become  new term of abuse)

 

Sarito Cl 10h00

Hi Everyone,

I am having a slow start to my morning.  Thought, I'd make my cl to jumpstart my day. 

class (done), class (done), coaching (done, mostly productive & useful), exercise, choose one so topic to review, 2-3 hours practice

Yesterday, I had a bit of a slumpy day but... still managed to practice 4 hours and make some serious headway.  Didn't exercise and still wasted time, but perhaps I needed the down time from traveling and getting in so late the night before?  Not sure, but letting it go now...

Today is a new day.  And as I've read in other postings, I can always start anew at any moment.  That is now for me. 

Signing off,

Sarito

okay, slightly annoyed that

okay, slightly annoyed that electronic device i need to work is broken.  effects practice. 

can't seem to get motivated to exercise.  somehow, i end up in a slump from all the stressing from class and coachings.  when i get home, i just want to cocoon.   

i think i need to put limits on internet as others have mentioned today.  no more surfing.  just quick email check in the morning and that is it.  unnecessary to check news headlines since i have cnn turned on while having morning coffee.  just turns out to be addictive since one headline always leads to a link to another and another and another....  how much do i really need to know about swine flu esp since there hasn't even been a single case found in my city??   

grateful at least that i am no longer into fb...     

2 hours practice done. 

2 hours practice done.  feel very, very good about it.  concentrated work, got through everything i wanted to, fixed a lot of things.  a lot of progress!!  this time, it wasn't like pulling teeth.  i had a clear mind... it was pleasurable even to work. 

still didn't manage exercise.  but. as they, say "progress, not perfection."

also happy i made it to the first optional morning class.  was very, very tempted to stay home... but i didn't.  very happy i showed up. 

i would like to manage exercise tomorrow morning.  so, i will put out my clothes and sneakers ready to go.  that sometimes helps. 

chick CI-web addict throws throws out the bottle

project l

email

household

small steps

Today I want to find my own strong motivation and enthusiasm for what I am doing and wage the 'war of art' (Pressfield) against the vampire of the web, which drains time, energy, focus and accomplshment. Since 'do's work better than 'don't's I am turning to HP and looking at these quotes:

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities!
Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you
cannot be successful or happy.


Norman Vincent Peale 

Action is a great restorer and builder of
confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear.
Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different
action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better
than no action at all.


Norman Vincent Peale 

Well-done, chickadee!

And every day is a chance to start over.

I like "any action is better than no action at all" and it sounds like you are taking not just any action but a good action.

 

The Hero's Code:

Show up. Pay Attention. Speak the Truth. Let Go of the Outcome.

awesome chickadee!

wow - throwing out the bottle -so awesome, you are overcoming!! your plan and the inspiriation of those quotes is so great. I had been thinking of the very same topic - throwing out whatever drains me and is a form of avoidance - in my prayer time and journal today.

I actually went back to the days when alcohol was one of my avoidance methods of choice... and how God found me and showed me to escape in him and i am repeating the same method of recovery now! I often compare the urge to avoid as the same as temptation to take another drink. Here's some of what i wrote in my journal earlier  (i think you too will find that the more you replace your bottle with your HP, the less you will want or find satisfaction in the bottle):

I drank a few more times but by His grace, it no longer "worked" for me - i had found better escape and wanted to be aware and experience life - good and bad for the first time... so now i am fighting with another addiction - this same habit to avoid, escape...the true root of which alcohol, for me, was only a symptom -  and i have been following the same path, seeking God,and day by day i have relied less on avoidance and more on Him - i even started choosing to give him my time - if i was going to avoid and waste the time, give it to him instead! This morning I turned to a familiar method of avoiding feelings, tv, but i realized quickly into my "break" that it wasn't "working" like it has in the past - where can i go from your spirit? i stuck it out hoping to feel nothing, but just like before, now that i have found the true remedy to this root problem, the crutch that is needed - you - the fleshly crutches no longer work the same.... and i know how the story ends once that starts, i am free from alchol and many other things and i will be free in my life from avoidance too. Not that i won't be tempted or even fall, but I am walking out this recovery one step at a time in You.

thanks bGG it's really

thanks bGG

it's really inspiring to read what you shared. It gives me hope and inspiration :) .

Love Mr. Peale!

Hello chickadee,

 I gathered lots of strength from reading your post - and from reading Mr. Peale. Never heard of him, definitely have to look him up now ...

Want to get back on track. Last four weeks were very unpleasant, though it was me who made the choice to make them unpleasant. Haven't taken any action for weeks. There is no future, there are just "nows", a chain of moments right here, right now.

"Any action is better than no action at all"

Constance 

-------------------------------------

"if i feel guilty about my procrastination, i will get LESS done, if i dont feel guilty, i will get MORE done." - Clement

 

wb back constance. good to

wb back constance. good to see you back. strength and solidarity to you.

vampire ofthe web... i like

vampire of the web... i like that.  lol.

 

Deej CI 28/04

Some carry over from yesterday which I expected but I must finish this today (and some).

Organise for 2 field days which will take some breaking down

  1. call Ian and see if Thursday is possible
  2. prepare and fill in organising information sheets - first one finished
  3. prepare information fliers
  4. facilitate flier distribution

Well item 2 ain't going so well against distractions but I've an idea to list all of the items I need to consider and then fill in the details. Will do this til 1500.

Took til 1630 but finally got item 2 finished. 3 & 4 tomorrow then I guess. Didn't have such a good day with distraction and perfectionism. Not my favourite task as requires negotiating with others but I'd already put this off for a week or more and it would have been another 2 weeks without book-ending so its a positive result