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, 15th of August, 2006

slider's CI 9:15 pm--more relaxed

Done
--morning routine
--laundry
--started a forum on Procrastination as Gambling
--went through piles of crap pertaining to taxes and sorted it by year, culling stuff obviously not needed (they had already been gathered from the various places they were crammed last week)
--call accountant for appointment
--wait for CPA to call me back
--got appointment for next Monday morning
--wrote appointment in planner
--added appointment to cellphone calendar with chime
--reward myself by taking DS out to lunch
--take DS to band at 1:15
--get gas, check tire pressure
--cuop
--check church email
--visited other websites
--played some simple computer games while waiting on stuff to download (actually, it was just as boring as waiting)
--feed and water cats & chickens
--Take a break!!!!! I just realized that since I have two appointments this evening, this afternoon ought to be my free time. I haven't wanted to do anything else; now I realize why! I have an hour till my first meeting to do whatever I want!
--leave for meeting at 5:15 to be on time at 5:30
--be back at church by 7:00 to get ready for 7:30 meeting

I did forget to end my last meeting by 8:30 so I could pick up DS from band, :O but he managed to get a ride home.

You know, the taxes were amping up my anxiety level to sky high. I'm allergic to anxiety. It drives me nuts. I know lots of people who live their whole life full of anxiety--and I don't know how they can stand it. (In case of extreme anxiety, I shut down into severe depression just to stop feeling anxious!) In fact, part of my procrastination is clearly about avoiding the things that make me anxious. It's about escapism from things I don't like and don't want to face lots of the time (I manage to do all five kinds of procrastination, though). Examining myself while going through this anxiety helped me face it and get through it--but it also elicited all kinds of squirrely behavior. Hmm. Guess I will have to show a little more sympathy to all the high-strung, annoying and, yes, squirrely people I deal with! I think I'll see if I can copy this paragraph and post it in one of the forums so I can come back to it again some day.

pro's CI - 9:30pm

I did this:

  • Took shower and put on clean jammies (no point in putting on street clothes at this point).
  • Brushed and flossed teeth.
  • Washed all dishes and wiped down kitchen area.

That feels a little better. :P

okay - I'm really going to take a shower now!!

Ha ha!

Love that graphic. It says it all, doesn't it?!

slider's 4:30 CI

Done:
--get up (at 8:15 instead of at 7:00, but at least I'm up now)
--loo
--made coffee
--had health shake for breakfast
--got online to address my procrastination
--sorted through clean clothes never put away for clean undies
--spritzed wrinkled clothes and stuck in dryer
--wondered whether that was procrastinating about showering
--challenged myself to finish my shower and be dressed before the dryer finished
--thought about this bet while I showered
--got dressed
--started a forum on Procrastination as Gambling (I may be procrastinating here, but I didn't want to lose the thought, and I needed to write it down and get it out of my mind)
--put away dewrinkled clothes
--went through piles of crap pertaining to taxes and sorted it by year, culling stuff obviously not needed (they had already been gathered from the various places they were crammed last week)
--call accountant for appointment
--wait for CPA to call me back
--accepted first appointment available(BOO-- not till next Monday)(was dumb to accept without checking calendar, but I checked afterward and I am free)
--wrote appointment in planner
--added appointment to cellphone calendar with chime
--reward myself by taking DS out to lunch
--take DS to band at 1:15
--get gas, check tire pressure
--cuop (maybe shouldn't have--will stop now!)
--check church email
--visited other websites
--played some simple computer games while waiting on stuff to download (actually, it was just as boring as waiting)

I choose now to :
--feed and water cats & chickens
--Take a break!!!!! I just realized that since I have two appointments this evening, this afternoon ought to be my free time. I haven't wanted to do anything else; now I realize why! I have an hour till my first meeting to do whatever I want!

--leave for meeting at 5:15 to be on time at 5:30
--be back at church by 7:00 to get ready for 7:30 meeting

See? Told you...!!!

Today was a different day, wasn't it?! One bad day doesn't mean you have failed altogether, even though that's what we tend to tell ourselves (we are so good at beating ourselves up, aren't we?!).

Well done!!!!

slider's CI--2:30 pm

Done:
--get up (at 8:15 instead of at 7:00, but at least I'm up now)
--loo
--made coffee
--had health shake for breakfast
--got online to address my procrastination
--sorted through clean clothes never put away for clean undies
--spritzed wrinkled clothes and stuck in dryer
--wondered whether that was procrastinating about showering
--challenged myself to finish my shower and be dressed before the dryer finished
--thought about this bet while I showered
--got dressed
--started a forum on Procrastination as Gambling (I may be procrastinating here, but I didn't want to lose the thought, and I needed to write it down and get it out of my mind)
--put away dewrinkled clothes
--went through piles of crap pertaining to taxes and sorted it by year, culling stuff obviously not needed (they had already been gathered from the various places they were crammed last week)
--call accountant for appointment
--wait for CPA to call me back
--accepted first appointment available(BOO-- not till next Monday)(was dumb to accept without checking calendar, but I checked afterward and I am free)
--wrote appointment in planner
--added appointment to cellphone calendar with chime
--reward myself by taking DS out to lunch
--take DS to band at 1:15
--get gas, check tire pressure
--cuop (maybe shouldn't have--will stop now!)

I choose now to :
--check church email
--think about needs, projects, appointments
--prioritize and make a plan for rest of day, including breaks and fun (remember appointments at 5:30 and 7:30)
--follow through

way to go!

That's a lot of stuff done.

todayfirst 3:15 PM

Well, my plan for project X (my most avoided project in the past few months) failed but it was worth testing because it would have saved me lots of time. Guess I will have to dig in and do it the long way. Seems like it MUST be less efficient to be swapping back and forth between 3 separate projects like this, but maybe it's ok.

Done:
- Weekly review
- Draft of mission statement
- Look into problem with an existing application
- Research next section of program (30 min)
- Meditate (10 min)
- Test planned technique for Project X (60 min)
- Relax (10 min)
- Work on my program (30 min)
- lunch
- Continue test planned technique for Project X (60 min)
- Play with new stuff (30 min) - Actually closer to 50
- Meditate (10 min)
- Get a second opinion on my program
- Work on my program (30 min)

Todo:
- Relax (10 min)
- Reevaluate - now!
- Documentation for Project X (30 min)
- Work on my program (30 min)
- Go home and clean

pro's CI - 3pm

Continuing to indulge in old, bad habits (but not entirely unproductive), I haven't showered or dressed yet, haven't taken my pills, and haven't thought about my day plan. What I have done is this:

  • Continued to learn how Joomla works (important - I can make money off customizing this for people, and I have an interested client).
  • Created banners and buttons for one of my Web dev businesses, posted a "link to us" page on the site with the HTML, and sent a link to the page to a friend with a very high traffic site who said she'd display a banner ad for me.
  • Tweaked a couple page names on this same business site so it would rank higher on certain search phrases.

freeform

Sometimes I think you need some free-form time to be creative and learn about other products/ideas. That's what this sounds like to me. I haven't been "planning" for this but I wonder if I should, because it happens anyways. Besides, if I knew that Wednesday afternoon (or some other time) is for playing and discovery, then I might be able to delay playing with something that has caught my interest until then and prioritize what I really want to learn about. Just a thought... on the other hand, I can't schedule EVERYTHING.

Experimenting Stage

According to the new book I have this is one of the stages at which procrastination occurs - either from not experimenting at all, or spending too much time on it and not making a choice. It's a very interesting book - I'll post it up in the Book thread over the weekend.

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interesting idea - planning exploration time

You're right that I need to do this. I'm blowing some stuff off, but I'm not procrastinating. I have serious money problems, and I could expand my Web development business quickly and substantially by learning these CMS programs. I just received a request for a bid and I want this job.

I have historically hand-coded everything, and that's not efficient. Some stuff can only be hand-coded, but to hand-code stuff that is available in a package is plain dumb, and it means I can't be competitive in bids.

I like the idea of setting aside one day a week for career development - learning new skills, etc. If I'd been doing that all along, I would be in crash study mode right now so I can bid on this job.

it's a value question

You are doing useful and valuable things, pro. You're not being lazy, you're just doing something you enjoy. Are you procrastinating? Well, you don't HAVE to take a shower and get dressed if you don't want to, but you said you feel better if you do and you made it a goal. Have you changed your mind about that goal? You're free to do so if you wish. (For me, I don't personally value it every single day, but since I am on-call 24/7 I would do best to keep on top of it). What do you value here? The time to keep binging because you find it enjoyable, useful and meaningful? Or taking the time to bathe and dress because you value the activity, the disicipline, and the structure that you have been working on?

(It might be that it would be good if you take a break, tend to some of the other things on your list, evaluate, and then get back to it if you still desire.) Or is there something important that you KNOW you're avoiding? Maybe beyond the bathing and dressing? Something you need to address? If not, what's the big deal? As you said, hyperfocus isn't always bad.

crash study and "sharpening the saw"

I'm not procrastinating. Really what I'm doing is crash studying so I can bid on the job someone's approached me about. I guess the closest parallel is studying for a final that's in a week and you haven't opened the books yet. :O

I like TodayFirst's idea of scheduling one day a week for career development - learning new stuff. This is a concept that Stephen Covey talks about his in his books ("First Things First" and "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"). He calls it "sharpening the saw". He says that people don't tend to schedule time for this because it falls into the category of "Important but Not Urgent", but you should schedule time for it or otherwise you'll never do these things. Other important but not urgent tasks that are often put off are exercise, or any kind of personal development. Basically, we put off our dreams.

I'm the other way

I spend so much time sharpening my saw I don't always get time to cut the wood!

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slider back on track--noon

Done:
--get up (at 8:15 instead of at 7:00, but at least I'm up now)
--loo
--made coffee
--had health shake for breakfast
--got online to address my procrastination
--sorted through clean clothes never put away for clean undies
--spritzed wrinkled clothes and stuck in dryer
--wondered whether that was procrastinating about showering
--challenged myself to finish my shower and be dressed before the dryer finished
--thought about this bet while I showered
--got dressed
--started a forum on Procrastination as Gambling (I may be procrastinating here, but I didn't want to lose the thought, and I needed to write it down and get it out of my mind)
--put away dewrinkled clothes
--went through piles of crap pertaining to taxes and sorted it by year, culling stuff obviously not needed (they had already been gathered from the various places they were crammed last week)
--call accountant for appointment
--wait for CPA to call me back
--accepted first appointment available(BOO-- not till next Monday)(was dumb to accept without checking calendar, but I checked afterward and I am free)
--wrote appointment in planner
--added appointment to cellphone calendar with chime

Don't have to:
--copy taxes )they will scan originals and give them back

I choose now to :

--reward myself by taking DS out to lunch
--take DS to band at 1:15
--get gas, check tire pressure
--check church email
--think about needs, projects, appointments
--prioritize and make a plan for rest of day, including breaks and fun (remember appointments at 5:30 and 7:30)
--follow through

todayfirst CI 12:19 PM

Ok, I stayed on task this AM. Now I just got some additional stuff that I really want to play with. Got to work this in without completely sidetracking the projects I've already got some momentum on.

Done:
- Weekly review
- Draft of mission statement
- Look into problem with an existing application
- Research next section of program (30 min)
- Meditate (10 min)
- Test planned technique for Project X (60 min)
- Relax (10 min)
- Work on my program (30 min)
- lunch

Todo:
- Continue test planned technique for Project X (60 min)
- Play with new stuff (30 min)
- Meditate (10 min)
- Get a second opinion on my program
- Work on my program (30 min)
- Relax (10 min)
- Reevaluate

How ya doin'?

I see your time frames. Hope you can stick to 'em! Great job this morning!

pro's CI - 11:35am

I cut my finger at the grocery store the day before yesterday - sliced it on the metal thing above the fruit bins. It bled profusely at the time. I've had to rebandage it half a dozen times because the bandage comes off when I'm washing dishes or showering. When I was at the store recently, I couldn't find the waterproof finger bandaides I was looking for, but I saw some new type of finger bandage that I bought without thinking much about it.

It's extremely weird - there is no pad - you put the tape directly on the wound. The material is transparent so you can see the cut beneath it, and it's so flexible you can't even feel it on your finger. It's supposed to be completely waterproof, lasting for days (you can keep it on until the would heals), and it's supposed to "provide the ideal environment for rapid healing". Putting something sticky on an open wound seemed a bit counterintuitive to me, but I'm trying it. :?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Ta Da~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  • Wake up: 10:10am (UGH).
  • Morning Routine
  • ----Empty dish drain and wash any dishes from previous day.
  • ----Make bed (convert futon back into couch).
  • ----Make and eat breakfast, wash dishes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~To Do~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  • Morning Routine
  • ----Shower and dress.
  • ----Take pills.
  • ----Review to-do list and make a plan for the day.

same bandage we tried

We got the biggest size of those available for DS's injury. They were wonderful in that they offered protection to the raw nerves and reduced the pain. It was truly like a layer of skin over the wound. The oozing was supposed to turn the gel white and be contained, but because his wounds extended beyound the ends of the bandage, they leaked. Otherwise, we'd have keept using them! Hope it works better for you.

extremely cool new bandage

Yes, it's just like a second skin! I like it! It has survived dish washing and showering, and I can't even tell it's on. The cut on my finger is small but deep, so this bandage is perfect for it.

slider off-track

Done:
--get up (at 8:15 instead of at 7:00, but at least I'm up now)
--loo
--made coffee
--had health shake for breakfast
--got online to address my procrastination
--sorted through clean clothes never put away for clean undies
--spritzed wrinkled clothes and stuck in dryer
--wondered whether that was procrastinating about showering
--challenged myself to finish my shower and be dressed before the dryer finished
--thought about this bet while I showered
--got dressed
--started a forum on Procrastination as Gambling (I may be procrastinating here, but I didn't want to lose the thought, and I needed to write it down and get it out of my mind)

I choose now to :
--put away dewrinkled cothes
--copy taxes (if it takes more than half an hour, I will divide it up into batches)
--call accountant for appointment
--check email at church
--think about needs, projects, appointments
--prioritize and make a plan, including breaks and fun
--follow through

let's get back on track together, okay?

If we work together on getting back on track, I'll bet we can do it. Things are so much easier when you have a buddy doing it along side with you.

I'm tempted to not take a shower now, but I know that getting dressed is important. I feel crappy when I don't.

yes, let's!

Yeah, pro, for heading off to the shower! Yeah, me--I have the txes organized and I have clled the CPA (dammit, she wasn't at her extension, so I am waiting for her to call me back!).

I have decided to take the whole kit'n'caboodle to the accountant. I am not going to copy anything. No way I was going to copy all the receipts, anyhow, so I guess I can trust her not to lose the forms we already filled out, etc. That does seem irresponsible to me--but I figure that these forms are actually far safer with her than they are with me in my current state. I dunno, though--what do you think? I think it will take a freakin' long time to go through and copy all that, and I'd probably just procrastinate more. Do other people just hand over their stuff to their accountant? I've never done this before (perfectionism chiming in?).

Can't afford an accountant

I do it myself, but I've not heard of other people copying their receipts.

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pro dragging in late...

Yesterday I went back to my old time-bingeing ways - my preferred approach to learning something new, for some reason. I'm learning different CMSs in preparation for bidding on a couple Web development jobs. The one I learned first was Drupal (the one we use here).

Drupal isn't completely useless. It has some powerful features. It's just that it's forum is weak (unfortunately what we use most here), and it's written in a very opaque way so it's hard to modify. I'd have to spend too much time figuring out how it works.

Last night I set up a site using Joomla, and created a custom template for it. I was up most of the night doing this, and then slept past 10am. There's another one I want to check out today (DotNetNuke), but I'm not doing to time-binge my way through it. I guess I wanted to see how it felt to do that again, and it doesn't feel that good. :P

I didn't wash the dishes last night - all my routines collapsed - so I have some catch-up to do this morning and today.

slider's first CI--8:50 am

Reading Milo's response to my last CI last night was encouraging--thanks, Milo. I needed that--especially since I got up late again and was about to get all reactive with myself! I also like using the word "choose," so I will!

Done:
--get up (at 8:15 instead of at 7:00, but at least I'm up now)
--loo
--made coffee
--had health shake for breakfast
--got online to address my procrastination

I choose now to :
--take shower
--dress
--copy taxes (if it takes more thanhalf an hour, I will divide it up into batches)
--call accountant for appointment
--check email at church
--think about needs, projects, appointments
--prioritize and make a plan, including breaks and fun
--follow through

todayfirst 8:45 AM EST

I was completely out of focus yesterday. I plan to make better progress today and look at that... I've already started! :)

Done:
- Weekly review
- Draft of mission statement

Todo:
- Look into problem with an existing application
- Research next section of program (30 min)
- Meditate (10 min)
- Test planned technique for Project X (60 min) :barf:
- Relax (10 min)
- Work on my program (30 min)

TL - BE - 7:30 AM

Wow - it's been a while since I got to start the thread :)

I choose to:

have coffee
get ready for yoga
read some more of GTD

Week Goals - work on assignments for professional practice class – EARLY
go to 2 city meetings
set up 3 appointments for interviews w/PE
go to library and make copies of journals for summaries
look up current events and write summaries

choose to

That's cool that you are reminding yourself that you have a choice about what you do... I'd think it would really help prevent you from saying "...but I don't want to"

Donwanna!

Sometimes I say this to myself because it if it's something I really want to do for other reasons (helps me towards a goal) and I just don't like it, it highlights what a lame excuse it really is! Makes me laugh at how I'm behaving when I'm taking myself too seriously :)

I agree language is very important - and the images we present ourselves with too.

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