Tuesday, 30 November 2010

Check-in @ 3:40pm

I usually avoid tooting my own horn, but had a little personal victory over Thanksgiving that I think is relevant to share.

It was precipitated by of all things, Black Friday shopping, another thing I'd prefer to avoid. But my wife and I had decided it was time to upgrade our televisions to HDTV, so buy one we did. This left us with a couple of slightly glitchy but still working old style tube-type TVs we no longer needed.

I'm not only a procrastinator, I'm also a bit of hoarder. The two seem to go together: I put off filing/disposing of stuff and it accumulates. The accumulation gets in the way and helps fuel my procrastination.

In this case, while one of the TVs was in use up till Thanksgiving, one had sat almost unused for years. (But I checked and it still worked). But TVs, especially the old tube-type, are particularly nasty to store: bulky, heavy, and fragile. It was time to part with them.

The store that sold the new HDTV offered free recycling for the old set; certainly an option. But an even better option is to re-use something before recycling it.

There isn't much market for used tube TVs, though. Yes, if I put it up at a yard sale there might have been a taker. But I knew that if I waited to do that it would go back to the bottom of my "someday" list - more procrastination.

I had another idea - give it to a local nursing home. I've had enough experience with loved ones in nursing homes to know that many patients are missing even something as basic as a room TV. It's not a tax-deductible donation if it's a for-profit home, but I didn't care. I figured they could use the TVs more than I and the time to act was immediately - or allow the recyclers to take them. So I made the donation the same day that the new set was installed. I didn't have any experience with any local nursing homes, so I just looked one up from local listings.

Again, I don't mean to brag about it. For this one victory I have a bazillion other stories of missed (or delayed) opportunities. But I wanted to share it to say:
- it feels good to do the followup right away
- sometimes our accumulation can help someone else if we are willing to let go.

Oh, and if you have something like that to donate, remember both your local charities and places like the nursing homes that don't usually show up on the official charity lists.

Now, back to my everyday battle against procrastination. Just glad to have something positive to share this time. 

Happy Holidays all!
Pyro

-=-=-=-=-=
"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
Benjamin Franklin

10.30 am. thanks for starting the thread moving along.

Late today - argument with husband - not feeling good.

Work

• ring W
• 4 hours minimum on B - nearly, did 3 1/2

Home

• juice
• exercises
• dishes
• dinner
• piano - this has not been happening (again) so will do next
• ring M
• ring and talk with at least one other person

8.30 pm Today went better than expected - used the chat box for the first time - that really helped. But losing work time with the late starts this week.

Sorted things out with my husband :)

Had a very nasty virus on the computer, so I haven't been physically able to check in. Although at the same time I'm not super proud of my productivity- haven't gotten far enough in my studying, and got a gazillion things to take care of before I go back to school. And a baby! Who is lovely.

However, I still get sad sometimes over stuff that happened, and that sometimes hinders things.

Things to do today
-Vitamins/Fe#1/Bp#1
-Fe#2/Bp#2
-Read Chapter 17 Sect 5/7
-Review W16L1
-Reading quiz
-Activity
-PS #36
-Make bed
-#1 #2
-Call store
-Write email to school ***important and dreading***
-Reply to forum post
-Reply to E
-Reply to K
-Put magazines away
-Go thru bottom row of closet
-Pick up prescription*
-Try and hook up N64 for fun
-Online shopping

Eeeek. I'm a tad overwhelmed.

DAILY RENEWAL

• I'm powerless over perfectionism, procrastination, intensely uncomfortable feelings (fear, despair, etc), and the various substances and behaviors I've used to cope with those feelings.
• I'm powerless over under-earning, under-being, hiding from reality, living small.
• I can't manage my life. I quit. I'm out of management.
• I want to be sober today. For work issues, these are the inner-circle behaviors I want to avoid:
  • sleeping to avoid work/reality
  • using my sexuality to avoid work/reality
  • working without a clear plan -- a prioritized to-do list, a time-boxed calendar (off the rails this morning)
  • working outside the PA Chatbox -- e.g., without bookending each task (off the rails this morning)
  • staying in vague, unstructured time during business hours (off the rails this morning)
  • impulsive decisions about what to do, or work on, during business hours (off the rails this morning)
  • failure to record hours with a timer during business hours
  • failure to estimate how much time a task will take (no matter how many times I get it wrong, I want to keep trying)
  • failure to scope a project
  • engaging in perfectionism: seeking immunity from disapproval/judgment via a strategy of producing nothing until I feel total mastery over the subject, and then chipping away at a deliverable until I'm certain it is unassailably perfect. I'm not sober if I'm exceeding my time estimates more than 3x-4x.
• I'll do whatever's necessary today [for the rest of this day] to walk a path that allows me to be useful.
• Only higher power can keep me sober, but I need others to connect to higher power — and other people can help me see things I won't otherwise see, and can help me be accountable.
• this is just for today; tomorrow I can go another way if I so choose.
• I turn my will and my life over to walking whatever path the truth — the dharma — reveals to me.
• in the next 24 hours, I'm not planning to do anything I would be ashamed of.
• obstacles ahead: anxiety, desire to control others' opinion of my professional value.

TO-DO LIST 

THE BAR OF TOTAL VICTORY (per old-timer's advice to make sure I'm putting first things first!)

- recovery call 1 (must keep dialing until a real person answers)

- call 2 (must keep dialing until a real person answers)

- call 3 (must keep dialing until a real person answers)

- do celebratory dance when call 3 concludes

OH. YEAH, WELL THERE *IS* WORK:

Musts:

- client #2: send proposed agreement

- client #2: microcontent: identify sharable text on pages for LG (send what I have @ 1pm)

- client #1: email re updating analytics report

- client #1: daily site report, catch-up edition

- client #2: notes re convo w/ RA

- bizdev: send contact note, dammit.

Maybes:

- client #2: request list of contacts for all offices

- client #2: write juke factoids / tweets / shares

- client #2: respond to SP email

- client #2: beta site: review/comment

PERSONAL

- pick up kid @ 3:45

- eyeglasses - replace lenses

OTHER RECOVERY

- look for service opps

- daily renewal

- exercise

- journaling

- meditation

- meeting

- morning prayer

- readings

- 1 hour stepwork

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

I want to thank movingalong for starting this trend.

Things I have done today

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

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

3. Went to the 9:30 a.m. telephone PA Check-in

4. Went to the 9:45 a.m. telephone CLA meeting

Things I will do today

1. Go to the 10:30, 3:30 and 4:30 PA Check-in

2. Go to the 1 p.m. telephone CLA meeting

3. Finish posting Al-Anon and EA literature for the week.

4. Make bed

5. Wash dishes

6. Take shower

7. Prayer and meditation morning and evening

8. Read 12-Step literature

9. Work on my paper

10. Declutter 2,000 e-mail

11. Eat brunch

12. Eat dinner

13. Declutter apartment for 15 minutes

14. Call my CLA Sponsor

15. Call my NA Sponsor

16. Call my DA Sponsor

17. Go to the 9:30 p.m. telephone CLA meeting

Thanks for letting me share

Show up (done)

I was reading that sin/downfall/whatever  lies in  "THE FORGETTING" That really triggered something new. I must "remember" to be humble enough to do what works. One way I do this is by "showing up" everyday, also a new meaning to AA"s slogan "Least we forget..."

Thanks for being here. Together we can remember to find/ practise our answers.

Hi moving! long time no see! nice starter!

that quote makes me think of another, similar one:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take
but by the moments that take our breath away

i am having trouble getting started. i want to go for a run first. so i will break it down and JUST put on my sneakers. i'll leave everything else til later and see where i am after that.

UPDATE: 10:29am well i got my sneaks on, and just sort of mechanically got the rest of me ready too, and then somehow started to get excited about running, and i did go running, with my ccm music, and it was awesome! and now i feel awesome! and nothing can get me down.

now to my job.

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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

hi i'm new! hopefully i get this right!

sort out my old phone company stuff over the phone and pay the bills

pay library fines and bills!

clean my apartment

workout

None of that should take me more than 3 hours!  

Have a good and productive day!