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 August 13, 2010

Thank God for Friday

Have a Great End of the Work Week

Look Forward to the weekend!

Cool Cool Cool

Ag uber-late check-in

This day started without me and just took off a-runnin'...Anyway just showing up cause it's the right thing to do.  I have not procrastinated but still feel impossibly behind. I think this is an Alanon issue - too many people placing demands on me and my inability to set and enforce boundaries - so I will make some good Alanon program a commitment to myself for this weekend. It's been awhile since I made a meeting there. 

Even though I do have demand resistance and demand sensitivity - the precursors of compulsive procrastination - I'm quite sure that my codependency issues are a factor as well. When I fail to treat them, I start subtly inviting excessive demands from others. Before I know it, I'm overwhelmed, behind the 8-ball, work-bingeing like crazy to keep up, and eventually collapse into major procrastination/avoidance behaviors. 

I have a funny mental image of my Codependency wearing a lacy camisole and a come-hither look, leaning out her front door and batting her eyelashes at anyone who might want to trade their excessive demands for her boundary-less kindness ... sheesh.

'k, I'm done being suckered for tonight!  Going to break for lunch (that's right, lunch at 7pm, that kinda day...) and then spend 1 hour thinking through some budget stuff.  Then I will complete anything on my desk that I can do in 5 minutes or less, schedule other action items that emerged through the day, and call it a night.

friday aug 13

8 am - 10:30 articles and revising blogs/emails

[didn't need to do this although it's needed. still didn't tackle the #1 priority and anxiety producer] 

10:30 - 11:30 - client calls [had to do it] 

12:30 - 2:30 conference call [had to do it & ate lunch during call - thank goodness for mute button]

2:30 - 3:30 [finished article & responded to emails] again could've put off till I finished #1]

3:30 - 4 pm - return calls; finish emails. add to calendar.

4:30 New client conference call

5-7:40 billing [got waylayed with 2 long conf calls. these were urgent but could've waited till weekend. do i see a pattern here of avoiding this billing task? hell yes. be mindful.]

7:40-8:00 pm run 20 min; shower up 

8:30 pm - girls birthday party  - drop by for 45 min to say hello. take card.

 

Rexroth Check In and Out

Done:
Up prayer and reflection
Emails
Post
Spoke on phone with friend and made arrangement to meet
Worked on hospital files
Prayer and reflection

Todo:
Bed and sleep

Night Folks Rexroth

Low energy

1:02 PM: Spent the morning procrastinating online. Financial disarray has me distracted and worried. I will have to attend to that mess soon because I have totally lost track of where things are. The chaos of bills arriving at different locations and scrambling to make last minute payments is very disconcerting, and I need to get this tiger by the tail.

Anyway, back to the goals for this week:

(+) I *have to* work on overdue cases, no way around it. Worked
on 10 cases yesterday. Better than usual, still less than I would like, primarily due to lack of ability to concentrate. Still, it felt like progress.

(-) I should do a little on my volunteer work, not necessarily a lot, just to keep from falling farther behind. Did not manage this for the second day in a row. This is the repeating pattern for me of the way things slip out of control. Before I know it, I am way behind because I am unable to work on things consistently. Mad dashes under stress before a meeting, for example, have been my norm, which makes the activity much less enjoyable. Will have to try to do some work this weekend to keep that from happening. Society is meeting next on Labor Day weekend. I want to be ready in advance, for once.

(+) I would love, love, love to get even a little exercise in. This will be a long, tough row to hoe, and it won't get any easier with passing time. Made it to the gym, despite looking hard for excuses and delaying until 8:30 PM. I got in a little walking on the track, which isn't much, but it's 100% more than 'usual'. It was not unpleasant, even relaxing. Wish I could just check this one off as 'done', but like so many things, it will require persistence and repeated effort. At least it's a 'step' in the right direction, so to speak. 

For today, my plan is just to press on and try to hit all three of these categories in one day, even if one or more is just a short visit. That would feel good, I think. Right now, work is the indicated activity.

Goal 1: 1:30 - 3:30 PM: 2 hours, 6 cases, hopefully no significant interruptions.

Back to report.

2:08 PM: Darn it! Managed to waste 40 minutes. Okay, trying again.

Goal 1: 2:10 - 4:10 PM: 2 hours, 6 cases, hopefully no significant *additional* or *self-inflicted* interruptions.

Back to report.

4:14 PM: Well, feeling frustrated. Managed to work on only 2 reports. Hard to stay on task. Have to keep trying.

Goal 2: 4:20 - 6:20 PM: 2 hours, 6 cases.  

Back to report.

Well, 4 reports. Total for the day, 6 reports. Weak, but 3 were quite old, so it is a relief they are mostly gone. Just the minor typo scan to go after typing.

hope4meandu checkin (1:25PM)

Hi All!!

I like what Agnus did yesterday by not replying directly to someone's message so they can edit their to do lists directly. So, mostly, from now on I will be responding to you all in my check-ins.

Thanks ((Lennon)) for the starter.

((Vic)), I am also catching on to the idea of slow & steady progress being good enough. I'm realzing that beating up on oneself is so very counter-productive to this recovery.

((Kromer)), have a great and restful vacation. Will miss you!!

For me today it will be a gentler day. I'm sending resumes. Checked my emails. Took my girl for her long walk.

To do:
-10 mintues of exercise
-shopping
-pick up meds
-make phone calls to M & B
-print out schedule for Sunday
-sweep apartment
-put away laundry
-what to do about w?
-organize Yoffee's subscriptions for submission to insurance

Wishing you all a non-procrastinating day!!

♥Prayers & guidance needed & appreciated for my Yoffee's healing.♥

Vic 8/13

  Show up (done)

Routines and consistency have been so key in changing me. There are times when I am in a MEGA BURST cycle and other times in a almost MICRO BURST cycle, but if I can "count on" a few basics, I can build on them. I have about 4 "basics" so far(after several years). Once again, For some reason, I forgot baby steps. After falling on my face for weeks,ne of them is showing up. I decided to add one more baby step, ie record my records., that day. if I can get this down, it will be huge.

So I will check in later to report. Grateful PA is my tool in "Mindfulness"

Mindfulness-based psychotherapy teaches skills that help us deal with the pain in our lives, and offers the opportunity to gain greater control over our lives – and the direction we choose to move toward.

Self-knowledge increases. Self-awareness increases. Self-blame decreases. We become more mindful of our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and how we handle situations – internally and externally.

Self-acceptance increases, along with the ability to be honest with ourselves. The ability to cope with difficulty increases as we sit with our feelings, and learn to accept “what is” (whether we like it or not) – rather than run from “it.”  The promise of "choice" will develop and we will be free.

 

I did it!!! YES!! I made my 2 enteries- took all of 5 minutes. I could never commit anything before- the minute I did, I would change it. This is so mystically beautiful, thank you.

clement ci

:) 12:20 ci. pa is a great place.
next check list do items in order.

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

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

2nd checkin, thanks for the welcome messages

2nd checkin

Thanks for the welcomes!

Yesterday was better than usual, though I never checked out cause I wasted too much time on Crackbook. Here's today's list

Blood pressure/glucose readings

morning pet care

morning meds

breakfast

call to dr. halls to discuss higher bp and glucose levels

nap

exercise

grocer

post office--package to mlou

call mlou

noon pet care

groceries

library--return overdue dvds

garden-pick tomatillos and chiles, make salsa

supper

evening pet care 

snowflower sangha

check out 

in bed at ll pm 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd checkin, thanks for the welcome messages

 

 

 

 

(wanderoo)

You make me laugh, so glad you are here. Vic

almost demoralized

Update at 6 pm

put in over 2 hours since I last checked in. I'm a hoarder as well as a procrastinator so decluttering is my least favorite as well as my favorite thing to do. So hard to make decisions about what to keep and what throw away, and a trove of opportunity for procrastination--escape through reading, perfectionism, etc.  But I have made my piles and started moving them to the files they belong in, starting with the circular file. moved those bookshelves into the family room and transferred cds & boombox onto them from the old unit. took some leftover mole negro out of the freezer and am defrosting it. just got a call from someone else who recently started going to the facetoface PA meetings here in the city I live in, and checked in a bit with her. ok, back to work!

 

update at 3 pm

 It's almost three pm and I've been stuck since 1:00 pm. so since I can't figure out how to edit the to-do list I posted earlier, I'll just copy and paste it here, and check off as done those things I have accomplished, and include the things I forgot to put on the list that are still undone from earlier list:

 

done! Blood pressure/glucose readings

done! morning pet care

done! morning meds

done! breakfast

done, and appointment with dr. for next week! call to dr. halls to discuss higher bp and glucose levels

done! nap

done! move bookcase in from deck 

done! noon pet care

almost done Embarassed declutter family room  

exercise

grocer

post office--package to mlou

call mlou

groceries

library--return overdue dvds

garden-pick tomatillos and chiles, make salsa

supper

done! evening pet care 

snowflower sangha

check out 

in bed at ll pm

Oh yeah--I'd forgotten to put the MMM display ad on my list, got that done, sent pdf proof to client. 

 

 

So that makes me feel a little better. OK, going back upstairs to take noon meds (late!) then brush and floss (late!) and work on house cleaning. It's been raining, but I may still get a walk in. And the sitting meditation with Snowflower Sangha isn't until 7 so I might get those other things done as well.  

 

Journey 10 am

Good morning!   I'm experimenting with keeping my todo list on paper for a while.   Sometimes it's good to change up the system, it can be motivating.   However, there must be a time limit or I could spend all my time fidding with my systems and not ever actually getting any real work done lol.

I've been to the gym, and I have my todo list, so here goes . . .today I don't have anything huge or pressing to do - or actually the huge and pressing things are all waiting for something to happen before I can move forward on them, so today will be a day to regroup, catch up on paperwork, and finish a few small tasks that have been waiting for me to have time to complete them.  

Have a productive Friday everyone and a wonderful weekend.

Jo  

'A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.' - Elbert Hubbard

Friday with the Scribbler

Prep

  • Get up at 7 (yes! did it)
  • coffee, paper, water plants
  • healthy breakfast
  • check-ins

Morning

  • Send query
  • Call 2 re: food10
  • CIO 2 (close, did 1)
  • Add names to music newsletter list
  • Send files to RB for burning 

Afternoon

  • Healthy lunch
  • Figure out bank account prob
  • Decide what to do for weekend
  • Lift weights

Evening

  • Change oil
  • Healthy dinner
  • Music - practice setlist, work on new song
  • Read, relax
  • Bed by 11

Well, I did okay. ALso got some other stuff done, including return a gift and get a new one I liked better, buy all the stuff I needed to change the oil in the car (have yet to do that, but I hope to get to it) and take a deposit to the bank. . I also added some names to the music DB and sent a few emails and made some music calls. And I sent a query. SO, a good day, especially since I got some money in the mail. I had less than $20 in my checking account and was late on child support nad mortgage. Scraped by again, I guess. I'd really like to see me be more effective on the CIO stuff, since that's currently my best client by a wide margin, and nobody seems to be appearing on the horizon to take their place. I wonder how reliable CIO is. We'll see. Off to lift a few weights and then go change the oil.

kromer 8:45 ahh!

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow and am so overwhelmed by all I have to do.

I *must* get this rough draft done...eek!(well, got this "done enough" and sent off for comments)

Also, I need to buy bday present for brother, call F, pack, fix WM, check on expts, copy articles and return very late library books (didn't get to do this, I'll just deal with the fines), call home, email re: comm.

And I have some scheduled things--teen program and maybe lunch with a friend.

Eek!

OK, step by step. A couple things to remember: rough draft is *rough* and need not be perfect, if I need to stay up late to get stuff done that's OK (since it's just one time and I'm on vacation soon), I can probably skip church if absolutely necessary, and I can probably finish some tasks up on vacation if absolutely necessary.

OK, now setting *one* goal for the next step--by 10 I will have bg section and one expt. plan ready to send out (doesn't need to be perfect, but I won't touch them after 10). 

My Day Today

I want to thank my Higher Power for this program, this website, the telephone and online meetings, and my life.

Things I did today

1. Saw my therapist

2. Ate brunch

Things I plan to do today

1. Finally get some sleep

2. Get myself dressed

3. 25 minutes for decluttering

4. Fix and eat dinner

5. Go to work

6. Go to the 10:00 p.m. DA Clearaway meeting

7. Make bed

8. Wash dishes

9. Do hair 

That's all I have