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, 8th of September, 2006

Milo's last CI...

Even though it's now Saturday night - I didn't do my last check-in last night, so here it is (just to stay accountable!).

TA DA:
- up at 6:45 (target noon, but hey, I have 2 & 3 year-olds :))
- Morning Routine: dressed, makeup, hair, breaky, dress and feed kids, load of washing on, made all beds, checked calendar
- washing in dryer and 2nd load in washer
- CUOP
- go and buy bread & milk and go to the chemist for a few things
- finish morning routine (swish'n'swipe & sweep floor, tidy dining table)
- lunch and lunch dishes
- finished another 3 loads of washing (2 to go and I will have no washing to do over the weekend! Or ironing, as I used the dryer }:))
- play with kids
- made kids dinner
- practiced writing (and a bit of reading) with 3 year-old
- catch up with a friend
- finished another load of washing and put it ALL away!!! All that's left for the weekend is one load of sheets (not urgent) and 1 load of towels, which I do every Sunday.
- researched address labels (inconclusive)
- booked in to 2 schools to meet the principle and tour the school (DD is 4 soon, need to figure out if we're going public or private)
- talked to client who called
- make and eat our dinner
- evening routine (restock bags, lay out clothes, wash face & brush teeth, check calendar)

Ditched:
- clean car out, wash it and re-fuel (ran out of time - friend stayed almost 3 hours)

Done today instead (Saturday):
- 5 minute room rescue
- 15 minutes in zone
- dusting (whole house - hasn't been done in a while)
- did a job for DH (business-development stuff)
- research address labels more (a waste of time, really...)

Will do tonight:
- fill out some insurance forms
- update busines financial records from the last 2 weeks
- publish minutes of a business meeting last week to the web
- after-dinner routine: Shine sink (done), wash face & brush teeth, check calendar, lay out clothes

I renamed my before-bed/evening routine to my after-dinner routine. I got the idea from a Flylady testmonial and it works. It stops me from putting it off until I'm too tired and then I just go to bed and ignore it (and of course pay for it the next day). So now I'm going to do it all starting straight after dinner, which is why my sink is shining now and not at 10pm...or not at all ;)

pro's CI - 10:40pm (last for day)

Bedtime routine is done. I'm showered, contacts removed, teeth brushed, dishes washed, bed ready for sleeping in.

no more work today

I've just been watching TV, and now I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed early.

I hope tomorrow is pretty. I want to ride my bike. I'm not going to go to the gym over the weekend.

I'm back...

Now the question is, should I try to work, or just give in to tiredness and start my bedtime routine? I guess it's kind of early for bed. :?

1Focus 8:03


Already done

Morning Routine
Crazy Day
Feed DDs
Evening Routine
• Hang with the Family
• Clean up after dinner
• Farm Chores (include the kids)
• Kids to bed
• scoop catbox

Play Candyland or some such with DD3 (she turned me down! :( )

Blown off: (it's Friday)
• Paper chores
• Early to bed (Watching a movie instead)

I want to get done:

I'll eat later (I had a late lunch)
Clear my head (journaling)

7pm meeting

There's meeting at 7pm, and I'm going to take myself over there since I'm not doing any work here. Maybe I'll be inspired when I get back.

Fine

OK
Go scoop the catbox--no brainpower needed!

:P
.
.
.
.
.
Done

"So there!"

}:-)

JestRight - 2:35pm - "Over & Out"

DID I CHECK IN ON TIME?
Yes…. 2:35 pm – checked in early just because I’m pooped.

ACCOMPLISHED AS PLANNED:
Nothing else.

OTHER STUFF ACCOMPLISHED:
Sent a business email. (whoopee!)

INTERRUPTIONS - OK:
Chit-chat in office with the guys
Chit-chat in office with Lynette. Made friends with her for first time. May have to go country line dancing with her, MJ, Zara and Annette sometime.

INTERRUPTIONS - BAD:
None really.

WASTED TIME:
None.

THINGS TO DO BY 3PM SATURDAY
--clear desk ****
--clear email ****
--Identify and present property for Billy L. **********************
--follow up on the leads from Miss N
--receive finished flier from art dept and initiate email-blast

(note: this list may change after I review weekend things-to-do and decide which comes first, theweekday chicken or the weekend egg)

NEXT CHECK-IN:
7am Saturday

OVERALL COMMENTS:
Too tired to think anymore. Disappointed that my gathering momentum in the late morning didn’t power on through the afternoon.
(1) Must be reasonable, since I just went through a big schedule change, and am still short on sleep.
(2) if this were to continue, I could not make a steady living. The little bit that I did today won’t do it.
(3) But I have now started, as they say in 12 step programs, “suiting up and showing up

Girls to talk to...

You have found some here! ;)

You're right!

Yes, I have, And believe me I am thankful.

Talked to someone last night who is i guess now definitely in the "ex" category, for the present. Great conversation, actually, in that it cleared the air, which needed to be done. But this is way "off-topic", sorry! - I am just saying that it helps to get up in the morning and have someone who is here and on the same team to talk with.

I am really such a simple guy (if you overlook the obsession-compulsion, perfectionism, manic-depression, procrastination, radical views, romantic idealism, self-sabotage, personal eccentricities, and general neediness).

Hmmm - maybe I should post the above qualities on my OK Cupid Personals profile, and see if the Nigerian and Russian con artists still hit on me? ;)

three of us short on sleep

>am still short on sleep.

You're short on sleep, 1Focus was up half the night with a false fire alarm, and I stayed up too late and then still got up early and went to the gym.

I've definitely noticed I don't function well when I'm tired! Maybe I need to take sleep more seriously than I do.

"1Focus was up half the

"1Focus was up half the night with a false fire alarm, and I stayed up too late and then still got up early and went to the gym"

This is the kind of self-discipline that I just shake my head over in amazement.

Like the guy in my office who competes in triathlons.

Ahhh, for the days of cognac and sleeping late.... or years ago, sleeping late and reading comic books...

Oh well. "We're in the army now!"

It took a long time...

...to get to the point where I was committed to many of my responsibilities at work. My boss's biggest challenge when I started working here was getting me to show up. In my line of work unexpected weekends, evenings, and occasionally overnight comes with the territory. It took a year of training me on what it means to be responsible before he could trust that I would actully show up every day and for the occasional emergency. 5 years later I answer the phone in the middle of the night no matter what. I wouldn't call it self-discipline, it took somebody else not giving up on me for a year and couple years of supervised "practice" before it became "self-discipline."

I still can't seem to fit exercise and a lot of other things into my "busy" schedule.

"it took somebody else..."

"it took somebody else not giving up on me for a year and couple years of supervised 'practice' before it became "self-discipline."

what this says to me is i should view "today" as my own private boot camp that i run for myself -

interesting

sobering but encouraging

Boot Camp

I don't know about "boot camp", but today is always another opportunity to learn, practice, and grow.

I know I'm cranky

anyone else?

Yes, today I was.

I was horrid today - very cranky. But that could be PMS, as I also have pimples! :lol:

It reminded me of how I was when I was depressed - snapping everyone's head off and no patience whatsoever. Feeling a bit better this evening, luckily.

been cranky for about 4 months

...at least. ;)

Going to meetings is making me less cranky, at long last. I was getting pretty impossible.

That doesn't count

I meant relative to normal :P

You're still pretty impossible ;)

LOL

I enjoy being in the audience for this stuff (I'm the guy with the loud laugh in the back.)

I know...

>You're still pretty impossible

I can't help it. :P

Congrats to a new committment.

Glad you're part of the group, too.

JestRight - 1:42pm

DID I CHECK IN ON TIME?
Oops – its 142pm – but at least I’m back at the office

ACCOMPLISHED AS PLANNED:
--um, nothing?

OTHER STUFF ACCOMPLISHED:
--remembered to drink medicine
--had lunch w/ edik
--learned where to get homemade soup & armo fast food close to office
--learned a few words in armenian

INTERRUPTIONS - OK:
--kibbitzed with the boys at the office
--answered an email from a beautiful girl (lol - good thing she doesn’t know how screwed up I have been…)

INTERRUPTIONS - BAD:
none

WASTED TIME:
none, imo

THINGS TO DO BY 3PM:
--clear desk ****
--clear email ****
--Identify and present property for Billy L. **********************
--follow up on the leads from Miss N
--receive finished flier fromart dept and initiate email-blast

NEXT CHECK-IN:
3pm

OVERALL COMMENTS:
no regrets – friends (and romantic possibilities, however improbable) are the staff of life. Nut now ido need to get back to work. Incidentally this is the first time since I’ve been at this company – 4 months or so – that I’ve gone to lunch with a coworker with no special agenda. Its like the monkey is off my back, or something.

1Focus 4:48

Alright, pro, you talked me off my seat. New Plan.

Already done

Morning Routine
Crazy Day


I want to get done:

Play Candyland or some such with DD3
Feed DDs (and self, I guess) (DW bailed on me for a couple of hours :O )
Clear my head (journaling)
Evening Routine
• Hang with the Family
• Clean up after dinner
• Farm Chores (include the kids)
• Kids to bed
• Paper chores
• scoop catbox
• Early to bed (Lights out at 10:00)

pro's CI - 4:20pm

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

  • Wake up: 6:30am (target: 6:30am). :)
  • Morning Routine (included gym workout!!)
  • Day Plan
    • Reflection.
    • Review to-do list and make a plan for the day.
    • One hour nap (very tired - went to bed too late last night).
    • Check email and clear spam folder. Wrote a difficult message that I'd been procrastinating on.
    • Answer customer email (in progress).
    • Eat lunch and wash dishes.
    • Take afternoon pills.
    • Played the best Tetris game to date. :P

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

  • Day Plan
    • Customer email.
    • Reports to clients.
    • Straighten work area to prepare for next work day.

1Focus 3:39

Talk about a crazy start to the day. I got a call from the alarm company that monitors the fire alarm at work…at 2am this morning. Seeing as I’m responsible for keeping the place standing, I had to go in and manage the after-affects. Thankfully it was only a malfunctioning smoke detector, but boy was it fun. 8) Fire department on site and everything. Got back home around 3:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Left the house again at 6:45 to help my buddy get his license back…and you know how quick the DMV is :P Anyway, back home now and attempting to bring some sanity to the day.

Already done
Morning Routine
• Out of bed 2am (Goal 6:00)
• Ready for anything (some days you have to be)
• To work and back
• Dress and feed DD0
• Chauffeur friend around and let him pay for breakfast and lunch
• Swing by work to check on things
• CUOP


I want to get done:

NOTHING
Clear my head (journaling)
Evening Routine
• paper chores
• scoop catbox

Permission to goof off

I've had a long day, so I really get to do NOTHING. :P

yes, you're entitled

I agree - you should take the rest of the day off!

Wait!

You're supposed to fix me and make me want to get off my rear!

you still get to take breaks!!

Anticrastination (that's the opposite of procrastination) doesn't mean relentlessly working all day and evening - especially when you were up half the night!

Ok, I'll chill out.

It is Friday after all. Maybe DW and I will watch a movie...together...that would be different ;)

OK

Go scoop the catbox--no brainpower needed! ;)

Maybe that wasn't the kind of help he had in mind, Slider

Slider plays rough!

It's done, now.

Thanks Slider

pro's CI - 3:20pm

I have a big backlog of customer email because I've been ignoring it. I've been working on it for a half hour - lots more to go. I want to take a break. Actually, I want to go ride my bike, but I won't. I hope the weather stays nice over the weekend.

and not only that...

...whine, whine, whine... I have a stomach ache. :(

I'll take a little break in front of the TV and play a game of Tetris. (I've gotten embarrassingly good at Tetris - testimony to how excessively I've been playing.)

Maybe

Maybe if you get really, really good at Tetris, you could enter a tournament or something. }:)

Tetris

I'm a REALLY good Tetris player. All this started because I saw my niece had a maximum score of 24,000 and I felt inferior because mine was 2400. I just scored over 57,000 and I'm up to level 14 (15 is the highest). I had 251 lines. That's a lot!

I try to rationalize this by saying I'm exercising my brain when I play Tetris - forestalling dementia. :P

I used to be addicted to FreeCell (I'm also very good at that). I don't know if Tetris is an improvement or not. 8)

Compulsive gaming

That is hands down my biggest time waster. I've managed to stay off the games for a whole week!

OR...?

Or could you ride 15 minutes, then come back?

no, unfortunately

It would take me 20 minutes just to walk to the place where my bike is stored. Once there, I'd want to ride for more than 15 minutes. And then it's another 20 minutes to walk back.

JestRight - 11:58am

DID I CHECK IN ON TIME?
11:58am – 2 minutes EARLY (doo-doo du-du-doo du-doooooooo!!!)

ACCOMPLISHED AS PLANNED:
--sent draft of flier on Balboa 2-bedroom for email-blast to art dept
--finished following up on the Mike A. lead from Mary Jo

OTHER STUFF ACCOMPLISHED:
Decided to make calendared phone calls daily at 8am

INTERRUPTIONS - OK:
None

INTERRUPTIONS - BAD:
--Edwin. Blew it off fast!! Good for me.

WASTED TIME:.
None – I’m sure this time

THINGS TO DO BY 3PM:
--clear desk ****
--clear email ****
--Identify and present property for Billy L. **********************
--follow up on the leads from Miss N
--receive finished flier fromart dept and initiate email-blast

NEXT CHECK-IN:
1:00pm

OVERALL COMMENTS:
Working well, going to have to break for lunch & return without going home for a nap or otherwise losing momentum. This could be tricky. Got to eat – so I have energy to work out at 3pm - but not eat too much.

I am dispatching new stuff on my desk, but have not started tackling the hairy stuff like Billy L.

I amreasoning that this is okay right now, because Billy L. could take a week, and I dont know what a quick and dirty way would be to do something for him. It all takes research or thought right now.

So I am focused on clearing desk first, then all my email (which has a lot of stuff in it for the Billy project)

pro's CI - 2:40pm

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

  • Wake up: 6:30am (target: 6:30am). :)
  • Morning Routine (included gym workout!!)
  • Day Plan
    • Reflection.
    • Review to-do list and make a plan for the day.
    • One hour nap (very tired - went to bed too late last night).
    • Check email and clear spam folder. Wrote a difficult message that I'd been procrastinating on.

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

  • Day Plan
    • Customer email.
    • Reports to clients.
    • Straighten work area to prepare for next work day.

Cheers on the stinky chore!

You did it, pro! WTG on getting that note to client out.

JestRight - 11:10am

DID I CHECK IN ON TIME?
11:10am – 10 minutes late

ACCOMPLISHED AS PLANNED:
--replanned schedule to be more realistic, do bills and chores on weekend, etc. Workout at 3pm.

OTHER STUFF ACCOMPLISHED:
Got the CI posting system streamlined.

INTERRUPTIONS - OK:
Website company called re monthly debit. I told them to cancel the hosting for now. Saved $$, refused to be pressured.

INTERRUPTIONS - BAD:
None.

WASTED TIME:
I don’t THINK so. But we’ll know by noon.

THINGS TO DO BY 3PM:
--email-blast out the SFH 2-bed 1-bath flier to the pared-down list of Glendale homebuyers etc ****
--clear desk ****
--clear email ****
--Identify and present property for Billy L. **********************
--finish following up on the lead from Mary Jo
--follow up on the leads from Miss N

NEXT CHECK-IN:
12 noon

OVERALL COMMENTS:
Hmmmm.

gotta add a Contributions button

>Website company called re monthly debit. I told them to cancel the hosting for now. Saved $$, refused to be pressured.

You reminded me that I really need to put a Contributions button on the site so you all can help me with hosting and registration costs. I'm paying for it all myself, and I'm freakin' broke, so that doesn't make a lot of sense. :?

Of all the things to procrastinate on... Why do I always procrastinate on anything that involves money?

"we're in the money........................"

got no $$ right now, but this site IS valuable, and i suspect people will contribute if you can make it easy for them.

didnt know it was your site. god bless you and THANK YOU.

share costs

I'm not looking to make a profit. I just want the costs to be shared by everyone using the site (a la the 7th Tradition - "We are self-supporting through our own contributions.").

I saw this thread in old posts

when I first joined, was wondering when you'd get 'round tuit