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.

Monday, 16th October, 2006

Rexroth 22.53 BST

I'm determined to be in bed by 11.00pm. Recently I've been going to bed later and later and lying in in the morning.

so I've finished off the paperwork for tonight and so to bed (or so to a futon on the floor)

Thanks for thoughts pro

Goodnight all

Rexroth

scarlett CI 190:25 am

Hey, y'all. I've been backsliding recently, but I'm trying to get back into good habits. I have a lot to do this week and I'm leaving town on Saturday for a conference.

Last night: bedtime 2 am (target 11 pm)
This morning: wakeup 8 am (target 7 am)

Already done:
eat breakfast
take pills
REVIEW SCHEDULE
check voicemail
catch up on reading (10 min)
discuss presentation

To do:
confirm pickup w/ D
work order for pickup
Frog 1
Frog 2
review weight tix
fill out survey
brainstorm for presentation Wed
slate - what happened?
process emails (15 min)
Wilson – what happened to windows? Call K.
update start/finish grid

Tonight:
make/eat dinner
feed cats/scoop pan
dance
call LB

pro's CI - 10am

I'm in a danger zone - need to tell on myself. While eating breakfast, I started reading stuff on the internet on the same topic that kept me up until past 2am last night. Gotta get moving!!

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

  • Morning Routine
    • Wake up: 8:30am (target: 7am).
    • Empty dish drain and wash any dishes from previous day.
    • Make and eat breakfast.

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

  • Morning Routine.
    • Take out pills for the day.
    • Swallow morning pills.
    • Wash breakfast dishes.
    • Make bed (convert futon back into couch).
    • Shower and dress.
    • Put in contacts.
    • Reflection.

focus!

You can do it! Maybe make reading a reward later for getting stuff done?

I was up late last night, too, blogging and reading friends' blogs. It's fun, but it's definitely a rabbit hole.

total sidetrack

It's hard to procrastinate when visiting this site, so I just kept doing what I was doing until I was done. :P I've been researching something, and trying to decide which books I want to buy on the subject from amazon.com. For some reason, it took me many hours last night and this morning to figure this out. I've now placed the order - no more excuses.

The past couple days I keep having waves of nausea for some reason. Migraine? Some sort of hangover from last week's bronchitis?

I need to call a potential client today, but it's after 1pm and I'm still not dressed. Time to get going - past time...

another thought

...perhaps the nausea is from the Sudafed I've been taking? The cough medicine was giving me side effects so I stopped that. Maybe I should stop the Sudafed, too.

Housereclaimer first checkin 9:30AM

Hi All

Rose again early today, even thought I had trouble getting to sleep not in the habit Yet.

I blew off yesterday mainly because I did not have a plan. My problem is this, I have so many things to do I have procrastinated in so many areas of my life I truely don't know where to start. Any suggetions? I am overwhelmed by my own mess in every aspect of my life. I have been on break from life for 5 years.


HOUSERECLAIMER

planning

Oh well, I see that I am not the only one in having planning issues. I was reading about a table urgent-not urgent and important - not important. The thing is for me I "plan" according to urgent-not urgent : may be it is a good place to start and may be when everything is done, you can add important-not important consideration? Though I think it is always better to drop the not important no matter what. What do you think?

iwant2workharder

morning, HR!

I definitely struggle with this, too. I get really overwhelmed. I've found that picking something easy and even random to get momentum can help, but I don't do it consistently.

where to start

I had the same problem. Reading "First Things First" by Stephen Covey was a great help to me. I simply could not priority my to-do list and start digging out of my hole until I looked my life as Covey suggests.

pro's CI - 9am

I was going to start by taking a shower, but there's no hot water. I called the super, and he said he just left the basement of my building where he turned the furnace back on. It went off at 6am for some reason. (Actually, there was no heat last night, either.) The water is heating up now and he says heat will eventually come up my radiators (I hope). Now I wish I'd showered last night. :(

Okay - so I'll have breakfast first, and make up my bed. (I hear the radiator - there is hope.)

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

  • Morning Routine
    • Wake up: 8:30am (target: 7am).

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

  • Morning Routine.
    • Empty dish drain and wash any dishes from previous day.
    • Make and eat breakfast.
    • Take out pills for the day.
    • Swallow morning pills.
    • Wash breakfast dishes.
    • Make bed (convert futon back into couch).
    • Shower and dress.
    • Put in contacts.
    • Reflection.

pro's first check-in - 8:45am EDT US

I'm getting up late (8:30am). I'm supposed to be getting up at 7am. Worse, I've been going to bed very late, so I'm not getting enough sleep, even when getting up at 8:30. I went to bed past 2am last night - I got only 6 hours sleep, and I need 8.

I'm going to try to get through my morning routine quickly. Someone asked me to do some work on his Web site, and I couldn't talk to him last week because I was sick. I told him I'd call him today.

Also, there's the issue of my back accounting...

todayfirst 8:34 AM

Worked hard and got quite a bit done on my kitchen done this weekend... finished installing the sink, dishwasher, garbage disposal. A couple small leaks though so I am going to have to take apart those connections and find a better way to do them. I am definitely not a plumber but I'm learning. Now onto my "real" job...

Things I chose to do so far today:
- Update pda calendar

Things I still want to do today:
- Status report
- Setup time to go over new (to me) project
- Program (at least 3 hours)
- Research new report
- Afternoon meeting
- Plumbing (tonight)

that's impressive!

Wow, you can do all that?!

Any time I ever tried to work on the plumbing in my house (when I owned a house), I made it worse. I can replace a washer in the faucet, but beyond that I call a plumber!

Milo 9:30 - last CI for the day

Okay, that's it for me, I'm outa here! :)

I hope everyone has an awesome day! iwant - you are doing great. Don't beat yourself up about what you didn't do, just take the lessons from it. The disaster is not in the mistake, but if you fail to apply the lessons you learn from it :).


Ta Da:
- kids up, dressed, fed
- very brief CUOP
- put away the ironing I did last night
- moped (am feeling down today)
- made bed
- Morning routine (shower, hair, makeup, load of washing on, check calendar, swish'n'swipe - 1.25 hrs.)
- got kids lunch preparation done (just get stuff out as I'll be really busy at lunchtime)
- made blueberry muffins for morning tea
- entertained friends and their kids for a few hours
- made lunch for the adults and my kids
- got rid of everyone (although it wasn't bad at all - all the bad kids were absent )
- put DS to bed (he's in there howling right now )
- tidied family room
- gave up on DS and let him get up
- put DVD on for kids
- tidied up kitchen/did dishes etc
- swept floor (I had to sweep up egg amongst other unidentifable messes - that is NOT fun!)
- did most of my weekly review
- peeled an apple for the kids to share (I am going into a lot of detail here because I have done very little of what I was meant to do the last 2 hours so am padding it - ha ha!!)
- chilled out with some chocolate
- tidied up kitchen/did dishes etc
- daytime routine (sweep/vacuum, reboot laundry, prepare dinner, prepare bathroom, 5 minute room rescue in every room)
- afternoon activity with the kids
- Dinner for kids
- Kids bath, books, bed
- make dinner for DH and I & eat it
- dishes
- weekly review
- typed up article notes on newsletter (not talk, silly me) I did over weekend
- added some client details into ACT! for client I have appointment with this week


To Do:
- evening routine (shine sink, lay out clothes, brush/floss, wash face, check calendar, bed by 10:00)

Ditched:
- go for a run - I forgot!!!!!!!!!! That's what happens when I don't check in again around 5pm, I lose direction!!!
- tidy up outside (DH did it for me)

hey Milo!

Just wanted to say welcome back. And what a great ta-da list!

bye, Milo..............

When I was getting up at 7am, we had an hour overlap. Since I've been getting up later, I keep missing you. Just one more reason to get up early again. :)

iwant2workharder-13:55

The timer is really good. :lol: . Still at step14 though!!!!
It seems that I didn't divide ( plan) the work well as this is the longest step so far. Had to divide it into 20 mini-steps. I am half way through it: so that's what I have done this morning. I am going for my lunch break. :smile: :smile: :smile:
And will simply continue to get step14 this afternoon ( 14:30-18:30)? May be I'll be quicker after step14 as the other steps involve small and simple files .
I really need to learn how to quantify the work and not leave things to the last minute - :barf: .
I can't help thinking that if I had started earlier ( i.e. weeks ago), these 120 steps would have been really easy.
Priority: get website1 done.

Afternoon Routine ( 14:30-18:30)


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*AFTERNOON TO DO~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  • step14 - second part
  • step15
  • step16
  • step17
  • step18
  • step19
  • step20
  • step21
  • step22
  • step23
  • step24
  • step25

welcome!

hello, iwant! sounds like you were really focused and worked hard - good for you. 8)

starting earlier

I've done what you did many, many times. I'm also a Web programmer.

There's no point thinking about what you might have done. That time has gone. It's in the past and you can't change it. Just think about now, and in the future you can make different choices. If you keep bookending here, you probably won't procrastinate so long on starting again.

Milo 9pm


Ta Da:
- kids up, dressed, fed
- very brief CUOP
- put away the ironing I did last night
- moped (am feeling down today)
- made bed
- Morning routine (shower, hair, makeup, load of washing on, check calendar, swish'n'swipe - 1.25 hrs.)
- got kids lunch preparation done (just get stuff out as I'll be really busy at lunchtime)
- made blueberry muffins for morning tea
- entertained friends and their kids for a few hours
- made lunch for the adults and my kids
- got rid of everyone (although it wasn't bad at all - all the bad kids were absent }:))
- put DS to bed (he's in there howling right now ;))
- tidied family room
- gave up on DS and let him get up
- put DVD on for kids
- tidied up kitchen/did dishes etc
- swept floor (I had to sweep up egg amongst other unidentifable messes - that is NOT fun!)
- did most of my weekly review
- peeled an apple for the kids to share (I am going into a lot of detail here because I have done very little of what I was meant to do the last 2 hours so am padding it - ha ha!!)
- chilled out with some chocolate }:)
- tidied up kitchen/did dishes etc
- daytime routine (sweep/vacuum, reboot laundry, prepare dinner, prepare bathroom, 5 minute room rescue in every room)
- afternoon activity with the kids
- Dinner for kids
- Kids bath, books, bed
- make dinner for DH and I & eat it
- dishes
- weekly review


To Do:
- type up notes on talk I did over weekend (if I get time after review)
- evening routine (shine sink, lay out clothes, brush/floss, wash face, check calendar, bed by 10:00)


Ditched:
- go for a run - I forgot!!!!!!!!!! :O That's what happens when I don't check in again around 5pm, I lose direction!!! :lol:
- tidy up outside (DH did it for me)

that's a well done day

Hi Milo,

I am very impressed that you got nearly all your list done!!!
I wonder if you forgot the running due to all the physical efforts you already gave at the science museum? :puzzled:

You also have a very very helful DH. :smile: :smile:

iwant2workharder

Thanks :-)

It helps if you don't make it too big (like I used to!). My Ditched list used to be as long as my Ta Das!!!!

Nah, I just forgot my run because I have a shocking memory - it's not unusual. Just annoying - I love running and hate doing it in the mornings and tomorrow night I'll be busy. Sigh!

What can I call you for short? iwant2workharder takes too much effort :lol:. Hmmm, I'll go for iwant :)

(Oh, yes - DH is a godsend around the house, I'm blessed :))

memorising

I also have quite a bad memory. Writing everything down was advised. You say you run : have you been running for long?

iwant2workharder : i just thought that may be having to write this each time will get me to work harder!
what about i2wh?

iwant2workharder

Running

No, I'm a beginner - a slow beginner. But in the last few weeks I have progressed from having to stop after (I'm not kidding here) less than 1 minute of running, to being able to run for over 20 minutes before having to walk a bit. I run very slow (I have walkers passing me :lol:) but I base my success on how much I improve on my endurance. The speed can come later ;). I have already overcome my asthma (I no longer need to take my inhaler with me) so that's a boon.

All in all, I am LOVING it to bits!!!!!!!!

Ok - iw2wh it is :)

iwant2workharder-09:46


Got a very nice and unexpected surprise from pro this morning cehcking my email. I only check these 2 times a day as I used to spend all day on emails and stopped this this way.

Got myself a timer after a long walk in town : this did help a lot.
I also actually needed a good break from work. :smile:

I am still on website1 , step14 :cool: out of 120 steps :sad: . Some steps took up to 2 hours and others less than 15 minutes. Can check these as I wrote everything down on paper. For the moment, I will just keep going with the steps I have written : eventually website1 will be finished. So I am back to website1. My goal for this end of month is to finish all the backlog of work which has accumulated and not add any more work.

Morning Routine ( up to 13:00)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* DONE~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  • out of bed -08:30
  • checked email
  • very light breakfast and quick dressing
  • added to my todo thigs


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* TO DO~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
12 steps : 15 minutes/step and 5 minute break between

  • step14
  • step15
  • step16
  • step17
  • step18
  • step19
  • step20
  • step21
  • step22
  • step23
  • step24
  • step25

Milo 3:30pm


Ta Da:
- kids up, dressed, fed
- very brief CUOP
- put away the ironing I did last night
- moped (am feeling down today)
- made bed
- Morning routine (shower, hair, makeup, load of washing on, check calendar, swish'n'swipe - 1.25 hrs.)
- got kids lunch preparation done (just get stuff out as I'll be really busy at lunchtime)
- made blueberry muffins for morning tea
- entertained friends and their kids for a few hours
- made lunch for the adults and my kids
- got rid of everyone (although it wasn't bad at all - all the bad kids were absent }:))
- put DS to bed (he's in there howling right now ;))
- tidied family room
- gave up on DS and let him get up
- put DVD on for kids
- tidied up kitchen/did dishes etc
- swept floor (I had to sweep up egg amongst other unidentifable messes - that is NOT fun!)
- did most of my weekly review
- peeled an apple for the kids to share (I am going into a lot of detail here because I have done very little of what I was meant to do the last 2 hours so am padding it - ha ha!!)
- chilled out with some chocolate }:)


To Do:
- tidy up outside
- rest of daytime routine (reboot laundry, prepare dinner, prepare bathroom, 5 minute room rescue in every room)
- afternoon activity with the kids
- Dinner for kids
- Kids bath, books, bed
- go for a run
- make dinner for DH and I & eat it
- dishes
Evening
- weekly review complete
- type up notes on talk I did over weekend (if I get time after review)
- evening routine (shine sink, lay out clothes, brush/floss, wash face, check calendar, bed by 10:00)

Next - put washing out on the line and get ready to take kids out somewhere. Where????? Am sick of playgrounds, I want to go somewhere interesting. On the weekend we took them to the river and we walked along it and went over 2 bridges (one was a scary, high suspension bridge - the kids loved it!). It's duckling time of year, too, which was sooooo cute! We all had a ball!

But where to go now??? The zoo is too expensive given we'll only be there an hour. Maybe we'll just go for a bikeride.

Hi guys!

Thanks for the greetings :)

We ended up going to a science centre where they have all these hands-on activities for kids. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped - they are too young for it (it's really for over 5s) and played up a bit (plus it was a 20-minute drive each way so not really worth the trip!). DS bit DD at one stage and had to go in the 'corner' for a while. He stayed there quietly, which was good, but it was embarassing! Luckily it's not school holidays and there were only two other people there!!

The best bit was when we had a 'picnic' in the grounds afterwards with some muffins and a drink. We found a ladybird, which then flew into DS's hair, which they both thought was marvellous!! :)

Hi, Milo!

Hope you found yourself a fun adventure. Guess I better go--just popped in while I was turning out the lights and shutting things down. I have stayed up too long (it's 1:15 am here). Off to bed now.

Good morning and good night

Milo:
a bikeride is a very good idea. If the weather is not too bad having a picnic as well and some board game after might be fun.
Let us know what you decide to do. :wink:

Slider:
Good night slider.

I have just woken up.

Milo 1:30pm


Ta Da:
- kids up, dressed, fed
- very brief CUOP
- put away the ironing I did last night
- moped (am feeling down today)
- made bed
- Morning routine (shower, hair, makeup, load of washing on, check calendar, swish'n'swipe - 1.25 hrs.)
- got kids lunch preparation done (just get stuff out as I'll be really busy at lunchtime)
- made blueberry muffins for morning tea
- entertained friends and their kids for a few hours
- made lunch for the adults and my kids
- got rid of everyone (although it wasn't bad at all - all the bad kids were absent }:))
- put DS to bed (he's in there howling right now ;))


To Do:
- tidy up kitchen/do dishes etc
- tidy up outside
- daytime routine (sweep/vacuum, reboot laundry, prepare dinner, prepare bathroom, 5 minute room rescue in every room)
- afternoon activity with the kids (something not too 'active', especially if DS won't have his sleep)
- Dinner for kids
- Kids bath, books, bed
- go for a run
- make dinner for DH and I & eat it
- dishes
Evening
- weekly review
- type up notes on talk I did over weekend (if I get time after review)
- evening routine (shine sink, lay out clothes, brush/floss, wash face, check calendar, bed by 10:00)

Next - clean up the fallout. And it's loads - usually the mums tidy up before they leave but they all left in a hurry today as the wheels began to fall off and tantrums were threatening :lol:

Milo 8:30am

Hello all! Decided that I want to keep checking it - it stops me from 'floating'.


Ta Da:
- kids up, dressed, fed
- very brief CUOP
- put away the ironing I did last night
- moped (am feeling down today)
- made bed


To Do:
- Morning routine (shower, hair, makeup, load of washing on, check calendar, swish'n'swipe - 1hr)
- get kids lunch preparation done (just get stuff out as I'll be really busy at lunchtime)
- make cookies or something else for morning tea
- entertain friends and their kids for a few hours
- make lunch for the adults and my kids
- get rid of everyone (yes, I'm not really in the mood to entertain today, but it's my turn....urgh)
- tidy up kitchen/do dishes etc
- tidy up outside
- put DS to bed
- daytime routine (sweep/vacuum, reboot laundry, prepare dinner, prepare bathroom, 5 minute room rescue in every room)
- afternoon activity with the kids (something not too 'active', especially if DS won't have his sleep)
- Dinner for kids
- Kids bath, books, bed
- go for a run
- make dinner for DH and I & eat it
- dishes
Evening
- weekly review
- type up notes on talk I did over weekend (if I get time after review)
- evening routine (shine sink, lay out clothes, brush/floss, wash face, check calendar, bed by 10:00)

good morning, Milo!

I'm glad you decided to stick around. It helps me, too. I floated and struggled for so many years, I have no problem using this little crutch. When I don't post my to-do lists and check-in, I waste much more time than it would have taken me to check in.

Hello!

Yeah, I just have to remember to not waste too much time CUOP!!!!!! I still like to see how everyone's going, but I will have to limit my chatting ;)