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, Oct 12th, 2010

Agnus showing up

 just calculated the hours I worked today and I'm running a bit over, now late for dinner and a meeting I'd been planning to attend...BUT I gave a fairly solid 8 hours to my employer today, and that is progress I can celebrate! (Yay HP!).

\o/
 /\

8 hours delivered

That's got to feel good!

Jester Plugging Away

12:33pm
Came in on fire today, but just spent 40 minutes or so on facebook. Ouch! Plus no sales or marketing effort yet today, just admin and personal management and family. Got to PRODUCE! Time to return to moment-to-moment accountability. Let's see what I can get done by 1:45pm.

4:24pm
OK so far I've:
--Planned tomorrow morning's phone meeting
--Had lunch
--Re-done my business plan
--Re-done my schedule and TTD list to match business plan
--Set my "Big Three" for tomorrow's meei=ting

Comment:
I had planned to use today and maybe rest of week for cleanup and order, so I am quite satisfied witht the way the day is going. And the brown bag lunch Sara packed was great!

tracy-la tuesday check in

1. checking in showing up / reading material - done

2.  gratitude. grateful for my office, my employees, my clients, my coworkers, my skills, my assistant, fact I have bills to get out.

3.  check calendar - done.

4. plan to plan - done

5.   exercise - planned

6. Reading for day: 

Difference between true authentic guilt vs. piles of "shoulds" guilt. We can have regrets on how we could have done something differently or true authentic guilt which motivates change, teaches valuable lessons and brings us into a close relationship with ourselves, others and our Higher Power.

However, we pick on ourselves endlessly, heaping piles of "shoulds" on our conscience and creating mounds of worthless, stinking guilt. We constantly put ourselves in impossible situations where we have no choice but to feel bad about ourselves. We tell ourselves to do something even if it's unrealistic, and then feel bad about it.

If we have real guilt, we can make amends. We should not engage in a form of punishment to keep us feeling anxious, upset and stifled. We do not need to trap ourselves.  A few of us believe we cannot do anything right, but at the same time, we demand perfection of ourselves.  We put ourselves in impossible situations, then wonder why we can't get out.

Then we finish the job by shaming ourselves. We don't like what we do and we don't like who we are.   Fundamentally we think we "are not good enough." That's like saying to ourselves "God created in us a person totally inappropriate for life."

In this case, our low self-worth is frequently connected to much of what we do or don't do and it leads to many of our problems.

Beattie and other authorities believe that our low self-worth or self-hatred it tied into refusal to enjoy life, staying so busy we can't enjoy life, perfectionism, procrastination, heaping piles of guilt and uncertainty on ourselves, not allowing ourselves to enjoy or feel good about the things we do, and avoiding people who are good for us, etc.

We can find endless means of torturing ourselves: neglecting our needs, procrastinating, setting unrealistic deadlines or goals, competing with people. Part of this can be that we don't like ourselves and we're not going to let ourselves get any of the good stuff becaues we believe we don't deserve it.

We must stop torturing ourselves now. Right now, we can give ourselves a big emotional and mental hug. We are okay. It's wonderful to be who we are. Our thoughts are okay. Our feelings are appropriate. We're right where we're supposed to be at this moment. There is nothing wrong with us. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with us. If we've done wrongs or procrastinated on projects, papers, taxes, etc. that's okay. We were doing the best we could.  

Now we can have goals and things we are going to do to enhance our lives. But who we are right now is okay. In fact, procrastinators are some of the most loving, good-hearted, generous and concerned people i know. We've just allowed ourselves to be tricked into doing things that hurt us, and we're going to learn how to stop doing those things. But those tricks of procrastination are not our problems; they are not us. If we have one character defect that is abhorrent, it is the way we hate and pick on ourselves. that is simply not tolerable nor acceptable any longer. We can stop picking on ourselves for picking on ourselves. This habit is not our fault either, but it is our responsibility to learn to stop doing it.

We can cherish ourselves and our lives. We can nurture ourselves and love ourselves. We can accept our wonderful selves, without all our faults, foibles, strong points, weak points, feelings and everything else. It's the best thing we've got going for us. It's who we are are and who we were meant to be. And it's not a mistake. We are the greatest thing that will ever happen o us. Believe it. It makes life much easier.  

-- Quote for October 12 from Beattie book "language of letting go"

Being gentle with ourselves during process of adapting to change and loss.  We do not have to expect more from ourselves than we can deliver during this time. We do not even have to expect as much from ourselves as we would normally and reasonably expect. We may need more rest, more sleep, more comfort. It is okay to accept ourselves and our changed needs during times of change and stress. We can surrender to the proess and trust that a new exciting energy is being created within us. 

 Have a great day everyone. We recovering procrastinators are NOT second class citizens. We can learn to stop procrastinating while we cherish ourselves.

Writing this out is very helpful to me since I need to remind myself of this daily for right now. tracy-la 

 

Made my day wh.syl Wednesday Oct 13

I really appreciated the material from beatty. 

It really helps.  thank you

Tuesday with the Scribbler (v 2)

First, a moment to thank everyone for participating in the daily
check-in. The existence of this resource has really helped me turn my
life around. Earlier this year I quit drinking and then quit playing
computer games but was still not successfully engaging with life.
Posting daily to this check-in and reading others' posts and
occasionally interacting with some of you has proven a tremendous tool
for resisting procrastination. Day after day now, I finish with all but
one or two items on my to- list and schedule completed. Not
infrequently, I get *everything* done. That used to very rarely happen,
despite the fact that I am long-time user of all kinds of scheduling
software and techniquies for not procrastinating. I can see the top of
my desk, I am caught up on my assignments, my billings are at a
life-sustaining level, I have lost weight, I feel happier.

So, again, thanks very much for posting and reading here. You anonymous people are very important to me. 

Prep

  • get up at 6
  • make bed
  • exercise
  • coffee, paper
  • breakfast
  • checkins


Morning

  • Clean off desk
  • Add 5 to music db
  • Make Jovita poster
  • Notify event sites
  • Send query
  • Deliver Meals on Wheels

Afternoon

  • Draft password
  • Email NC re: rehearsal
  • Suggest new BN post topic
  • File 2 CIO

Evening

  • Healthy dinner
  • Put up Jovita poster
  • Go to soccer w/B
  • Work on new set list
  • Finish song rewrite
  • Read, relax

9h30-12h00 wake

9h30-12h00

wake up

coffee

checkin--->10h00

plan day

shower

dress

barn chores--->J will do them today

breakfast/lunch

commute

get ink and alter at the coop--->no ink so ask FC to order some

12h00-16h00

checkin---> 13h00

review GC talk

call FH

write outline of AC report

write workshop activities sections

timesheet

16h00-20h00

commute back

barn chores

19H00-21h00: talk at GC

relax

bedtime

 

 

Carpe Diem

 hummm cant

 hummm cant edit...so

 

16h00-20h00

commute back

barn chores

19H00-21h00: talk at GC

checkin--->22h30

relax

bedtime

 

Carpe Diem

Style question

How do you do that really cool crossout thing?
Jester

crossing out tasks

If no one has used "Reply" to comment on your original post, you can go back into it, and highlight your "done" task. Then look at the three rows of icons appearing at the top of your Comment.  Click the 4th one from the left - the ABC icon - and your highlighted task will be crossed out.

If someone has used Reply to comment to your post, you can always Reply to your own post, highlight and repaste your task list, and then follow the cross-out procedure. Have fun celebrating your "done" deals! :-)

Crossing Out

Thanks, Agnus.

I tried it out.

I guess it will be hard for me to use this, because the editor likes to put a line between lines. And I tend to write a lot, may become unwieldy. Guess I'll stick with what I've been doing for a while more.

Journey 10 am

Good morning!  Yesterday was a holiday for me and I really needed it after having a long stressful night Saturday night.   I don't bounce back from those all-nighters like I used to when I was younger.  Weekends like that make me think about retiring from this career and doing something easier and less stressful.   I guess I'd be bored though.  

Anyway, I don't need to let the stress letdown lead me into procrastination.   I'll plan a reasonable amount of stuff to do today, realizing I'm still a bit tired and don't need to overdo it, but I still need to work on the things that are important.  I have a meeting at 10:30 but's it's a conference call and a multi-tasker, so I should be able to do my todo list during the call.   I'll be checking in pretty frequently today to keep me from drifting off today.

Jo

'You become what you think about most of the time.' - Brian Tracy

kromer 9:40 CI

OK, yesterday was really unproductive so I feel like I'm starting the week behind. But I'm going to do my best to work steadily on my top priorities today.

Scheduled: meetings 10-1, dance class 6:30-10:30ish

MITs:
*Write up RAR scanning, start motif comp
*email DC, CE; bug DP
*Expt. plan, pl., check on mice
*Rough southern strategy, ask a few people about it, pull together presentation

Next priority:
*Kitl staining plan
*Got over conf. notes and figure out big take-homes
*Gardening
*Check finances
*Reading
*Email
*Genotyping

OK, a few min. work on Southern strategy, then I'll go to mtgs. 

The next right thing

Had Monday off, so back to work this a.m.  I thought I could focus my PA attention on just my work life, but I'm seeing how P at home impacts my job.  Like when I freeze up in the evening unable to do a task, and then zone out on TV; I stay up too late and don't prep for the morning.  I need to practice these principles in ALL my affairs (not that I'm any good at these principles yet.)

The most accesible tool to me is just to start; just one tiny step.  So off I go to do the next right thing... 

 I would wish you all a productive day, but I think it is better to wish you (and me) a calm, choice-driven day of balance.

Vic 10/12

 Show up (done) think it throught, do more actions.

Carlos Castaneda , an anthropologist, often referred to part of perception as the unknown realm as nonordinary reality,  but radically different from the ordinary reality experienced by human beings who are well engaged in everyday activities as part of their social conditioning. In my opinion, he took off in the wrong direction with this and today people talk about the “energy of awakened consciousness” as if it were something new. Coming here helps me “see” I can “rewire” my brain , but it takes time.

I am going to a seminar, starts at 9, and am late (Why? Because I do not want to eat donuts, small talk, and have to get my younger son ready and was not sure if older one was going, just found out he is not ) so there was some rationale to my thinking. Also the library opens at 10 am and it is on the way, I do not want to go afterward, and I miraculously found my cd’s due today, after a prayer with friend who also lost her library stuff and they have something on hold for me. Am I “bad” for having this kind of plan/thinking?I don’t know but I wonder if this kind of thinking is being in “my disease” or being “efficient”. Thanks for being here and being a grounded connection to people, sometimes I think too much. (not a good idea)

 

pm ck in

Hi PA friends .

Everything worked out GREAT. I guess, I need to remember is my "normal" is what works for me. I sort of felt "self centered" by not being there for the donuts at brekfast (I don't even eat donuts), but it was not like anyone was "that friendly" at lunch, except for one person and it was the perfect person for the info I needed., plus she seemed to be the only friendly person - we laughed so hard with my son.There is no "protocol" to follow for every day living, every day we do the best we can and it is ok.

re: carlos casteneda

I love Casteneda!   I read every one of his books back when I was a hippie. 

'You become what you think about most of the time.' - Brian Tracy

Tuesday with the Scribbler

First, a moment to thank everyone for participating in the daily check-in. The existence of this resource has really helped me turn my life around. Earlier this year I quit drinking and then quit playing computer games but was still not successfully engaging with life. Posting daily to this check-in and reading others' posts and occasionally interacting with some of you has proven a tremendous tool for resisting procrastination. Day after day now, I finish with all but one or two items on my to- list and schedule completed. Not infrequently, I get *everything* done. That used to very rarely happen, despite the fact that I am long-time user of all kinds of scheduling software and techniquies for not procrastinating. I can see the top of my desk, I am caught up on my assignments, my billings are at a life-sustaining level, I have lost weight, I feel happier.

So, again, thanks very much for posting and reading here. You anonymous people are very important to me. 

Prep

  • get up at 6
  • make bed
  • exercise
  • coffee, paper
  • breakfast
  • checkins


Morning

  • Clean off desk
  • Add 5 to music db
  • Make Jovita poster
  • Notify event sites
  • Send query
  • Deliver Meals on Wheels

Afternoon

  • Draft password
  • Email NC re: rehearsal
  • Suggest new BN post topic
  • File 2 CIO

Evening

  • Healthy dinner
  • Put up Jovita poster
  • Go to soccer w/B
  • Work on new set list
  • Finish song rewrite
  • Read, relax

(Scribbler)

Thank you so much for sharing. I really needed to read your share. I have a long way to go but I am learning.

One of the things I battle daily is I feel like "if I did not complete everything- in my whole life" I "feel" like I did not do anything, even if I worked all day. I need to remeber and be grateful at how much I did get done. Thanks again.

You're welcome, vic. Once I

You're welcome, vic. Once I get a few bucks in, I plan to make another small financial contribution to the site as well. It's a bargain.

Pulling myself up

Checking in, been absent for a while and needing to get back on track. I'm going to focus all my energy into accomplishing this realistic list.

1. order boards

2. upload 2Tan

3. sort 5th Nov date

4. Call pG and GW

5. Update 2 barn people

6. order display

7. Feedback on Bear house

8. upload 2 kingsfield

9.For once (!) stick to plans and do 1 hour of Portuguese when I get home.

10. Tidy house.

11. Bed by 11

 

Good luck to all

 

PEA

My Day Today

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

I want to thank cherrypicker for starting this trend

Things I will do on Tuesday

1. Go to the 7 a.m. telephone DA meeting

2. Go to the 8:30 a.m. telephone PA meeting

3. Eat breakfast

4. Go to see my Business Instructor (I heard from her)

5. Went to do business

6. Call a Social Security employee

7. Mail my Warranty

8. Mail my 7th Tradition

9. Prayer and meditation in the morning and evening

10. Make bed

11. Wash dishes

12. Cook and eat dinner

13. Clear the couch

14. Clear the table

15. Clear the floor

16. Declutter 1,000 e-mail

17. Put away clothes

18. Take shower

19. Get dressed

20. Get medicine sent to the doctor to refil.

Thanks for letting me share.

CherryPicker checking in at 10:00 local time.

Better start today. And I have pep talked myself. No more excuses!

DONE -30m on M plan's first task

DONE-30m on J Proj

DONE-15m on Assessing Mok situation

DONE-30m on G Homework

DONE-30m on 3 small admin tasks

DONE-30m on ST Sub, & Printer service

-30m on Sell stuff & H. costing