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.

Thursday 14 December 2006

14 December, 2006 - 3:42am - Rexroth

Daily Check-ins

Hi Folks

Thomas C: accountability

thomasc - 15 Dec 2006 - 1:07am

Well, I got as far as the bibliography. I've compiled all the citations, and am now going through them to make sure each is complete. Will finish that tomorrow, and will send the article as a writing sample.

pro's CI - 6:15pm

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 6:14pm

I'm leaving for my meeting now, so the rest of my to-do list will be for tomorrow.

Rising time: 8:45am.
Empty dish drain.
Fold and put away drip dry.
Wash dishes from yesterday.
Make bed (convert futon from bed to couch).
Make and eat breakfast.
Wash breakfast dishes.
Clean my dirty apartment. (I vacuumed, and cleaned tub, toilet, and sink. I didn't dust or wash the bathroom floor - a compromise.)
Shower and dress.
Put in contacts.
Lay out pills for day, and take pills (dose 1 of 3).
Make and eat lunch.
Wrap holiday presents.
Sort cash receipts (for back accounting).
Locate receipt I need to copy for letter.
Write letter regarding a matter I spoke to someone on the phone about yesterday.
Replace empty ink cartridges in printer.
Put away papers over on desk.
Answered some email (more to go).
Get mail.

Order ink cartridges for printer.
Mail presents to sister.
Bring recycling downstairs.
Clear out overflowing spam folder.
Answer messages in Inbox that I've been ignoring.
Previously mentioned pile of mail containing important insurance papers.

pro's CI - 4:40pm

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 4:46pm

Rising time: 8:45am.
Empty dish drain.
Fold and put away drip dry.
Wash dishes from yesterday.
Make bed (convert futon from bed to couch).
Make and eat breakfast.
Wash breakfast dishes.
Clean my dirty apartment. (I vacuumed, and cleaned tub, toilet, and sink. I didn't dust or wash the bathroom floor - a compromise.)
Shower and dress.
Put in contacts.
Lay out pills for day, and take pills (dose 1 of 3).
Make and eat lunch.
Wrap holiday presents.
Sort cash receipts (for back accounting).
Locate receipt I need to copy for letter.
Write letter regarding a matter I spoke to someone on the phone about yesterday.
Replace empty ink cartridges in printer.

Put away papers over on desk.
Order ink cartridges for printer.
Mail presents to sister.
Bring recycling downstairs.
Get mail.
Clear out overflowing spam folder.
Answer messages in Inbox that I've been ignoring.
Previously mentioned pile of mail containing important insurance papers.

Observation

lark - 14 Dec 2006 - 2:41pm

After getting things done earlier, there's actual time left afterwards.

cool!

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 2:44pm

It feels so nice when I'm able to do that! Congratulations! :)

pro's CI - 2:40pm

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 2:40pm

Rising time: 8:45am.
Empty dish drain.
Fold and put away drip dry.
Wash dishes from yesterday.
Make bed (convert futon from bed to couch).
Make and eat breakfast.
Wash breakfast dishes.
Clean my dirty apartment. (I vacuumed, and cleaned tub, toilet, and sink. I didn't dust or wash the bathroom floor - a compromise.)
Shower and dress.
Put in contacts.
Lay out pills for day, and take pills (dose 1 of 3).
Make and eat lunch.
Wrap holiday presents.

Clear out overflowing spam folder.
Answer messages in Inbox that I've been ignoring.
Previously mentioned pile of mail containing important insurance papers.
Write letter regarding a matter I spoke to someone on the phone about yesterday.
Mail presents to sister.
Bring recycling downstairs.

financial records chaos

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 3:00pm

I'm writing a letter about a problem I'm having where I park my car, and I need to find receipts for something. If my back accounting was done, I could find these records instantly. Since it's not, I have to hunt, and it's taking me a very long time.

I simply have to get this back accounting done - not only because of this, but because I need file my back tax returns!

finally found it

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 3:54pm

I finally found the receipt I needed. Now I need to copy it, which means I need to change the empty ink cartridge I've been procrastinating on fixing...

Thomas C.--check-in

thomasc - 14 Dec 2006 - 1:40pm

Hi, all,

I've been alternating between procrastination and working on a problem that does need solving, which involves me walking around the department. I just want it DONE, so I can stay in my office and move on to this list:

- email department that will phone interview me--where will they call me? I forget (duh...)

- call department that wants writing sample: "I'll send it later today."

- call department at neighboring school to ask if a student can take exam there, so she doesn't have to commute here

- bibliography and abstract for the article I've written

- continue revising it? not sure--will hear from advisor

That will probably take up most of my day. If not, I'll check in with more.

pro's CI - 12:10pm

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 12:09pm

Rising time: 8:45am.
Empty dish drain.
Fold and put away drip dry.
Wash dishes from yesterday.
Partially make bed (need to finish that).
Make and eat breakfast.
Wash breakfast dishes.
Clean my dirty apartment (vacuum, clean tub, toilet, and sink).
Shower and dress.

Put in contacts.
Lay out pills for day, and take pills (dose 1 of 3).
Make and eat lunch.
Clear out overflowing spam folder.
Answer messages in Inbox that I've been ignoring.
Previously mentioned pile of mail containing important insurance papers.
Write letter regarding a matter I spoke to someone on the phone about yesterday.
Wrap holiday presents and mail presents to sister.
Bring recycling downstairs.

jj 9:40 am

jj - 14 Dec 2006 - 11:55am

Not feeling well as the day progressed yesterday, and I was very tempted to come straight home after work, but I forced myself to do some xmas shopping. Bought game for my neices and intro to wine course for hubby. And took the car through the car wash. Unfortunately, I ended the day with a hamburger, fries, frosty, and snacks (while watching Biggest Loser finale, can you believe it?! I told myself that I currently weigh what those people were aiming for and had worked months to achieve, so I must not be too bad)

Wanted to get to bed early last night as I feel like I'm coming down with cold/flu (everyone at work is sick or getting sick!), but stayed up till midnight watching TV, then washed and brushed and read till almost 1 am.

Up at 8:45 am. Put up a few Xmas wreaths to make it feel a little more xmasy as I'm not going to get to the tree till the weekend.

Ret'd phone call from window cleaning company and informed them of scratches. She was very nice and said she would investigate and call back. Not that anything can be done once the scratches are already there...

Was going to water plants, but don't think I have time now.

TO DO Today:
eat breakfast/take cold fx pills
get ready for work
leave for work at 11:10 am
work 12 - 8
Thurs. night routine - buy latte on way home and watch Survivor and CSI!
bath and bed

I have a hard time making my bed in the morning because my cat is always curled up so cozily on it and I don't have the heart to boot her off. Any suggestions?

procrastinating with food

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 2:43pm

I find that often when I don't want to do something, I convince myself that I'm hungry and need to eat. I use eating as a form of avoidance. That has caused some weight gain. I'm still not fat, but I don't like the weight gain. I've lost a little of it recently, and would like to continue.

I started watching "The Biggest Loser" last night, but went out before it was over.

Hey Pro

jj - 14 Dec 2006 - 6:14pm

Did you read my CI today re: food & Biggest Loser?!

I don't think I eat to avoid doing other things, but what I have noticed is that when I watch TV I always feel a strong impulse to eat. Maybe I'm bored and eating makes it more interesting (then why don't I do something less boring, you may ask - good question). Even if I just sit and read instead of watching TV, my impulse to eat is much less. So, watching less TV would have two valuable impacts on my life - less weight gain, more time spent doing other (better) stuff.

Sometimes I try to use TV time as a reward for accomplishing something else, but due to it's side effects it really isn't a reward at all. My best bet is not to turn it on at all, cause once I do, I'm pretty much done for the day. I was in the habit of turning it on first thing in the morning while I was eating breakfast, but then it was too hard to turn off. So now, I put music on and read while I have breakfast. It's easier for me to put a book down than turn the TV off.

TV time

pro (not verified) - 15 Dec 2006 - 9:14am

I realized recently that I was spending too much time each day watching TV, and I consciously cut it down to an hour a day max.

That's a good way to waste a lot of time.

pro's first check-in - 10am

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 10:00am

I got up later than I wanted to again - 8:45am. That's not too bad, but I'd really like to start getting up before 8am again. I went to bed around 12:30 or 1am. I seem to need 8 hours of sleep, so if I want to get up earlier, I have to go to sleep earlier. 12:30am is better than 4am (which I was doing), but still not early enough.

I need to work on my back accounting, and I seem to have trouble doing that when there is anything else on my plate. I have a pile of mail that I need to deal with because there are some health insurance papers that are time sensitive. I'd like to get through the pile, then immediately start on the accounting.

So far today:

Rising time: 8:45am.
Empty dish drain.
Fold and put away drip dry.
Wash dishes from yesterday.
Partially make bed (need to finish that).
Make and eat breakfast.
Wash breakfast dishes.

distracting to-do's

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 10:11am

I wrote that my back accounting was top priority, but I'm already thinking about all kinds of other things that I need to do first - higher priority, I guess. If I do these things, I just know the back accounting won't get done. Maybe I'll write them out, and then evaluate their priority as compared to back accounting:

Clear out overflowing spam folder.
Answer messages in Inbox that I've been ignoring.
Previously mentioned pile of mail containing important insurance papers.
Write letter regarding a matter I spoke to someone on the phone about yesterday.
Wrap holiday presents and mail presents to sister.
Clean my dirty apartment (dust, vacuum, wash floor in bathroom, clean tub, toilet, and sink).
Bring recycling downstairs.

It goes this way day after day. My daily life takes up so much time that I can't get anything else done. I wonder how other people do it.

next right thing

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 10:14am

I think I'll try to handle this on a moment to moment basis, staying conscious of everything I'm doing and not allowing myself to go into zone-out mode. So what is the single most important thing for me to be doing in this moment? Get dressed. So that is what I'll do. Then I'll decide what to do after that.

I have a terrible problem with setting priorities. I always have too many things to do in one day, and never ever get everything done that needs to get done. I know the solution is to take things off the list. The problem is, what?

Hi Pro

Rexroth - 14 Dec 2006 - 11:28am

Ho Pro thinking of you and sending you good energy. Wishing you peace today. Rexroth

Thanks, Rexroth!

pro (not verified) - 14 Dec 2006 - 12:05pm

I wish you the same!

I think I'm doing okay so far today - I'm about to check in with my ta-da list. I just need to stay on track. Now how hard can that be?

CI for Lark 9:10 AM

lark - 14 Dec 2006 - 9:32am

Good morning everyone. Big day planned.
ToDo:
1. morning routine
2. Try to meditate for a few minutes
3. as much as possible on the current work project
4. use the supplies which just arrived on the other project (Let's call it "B"), so they aren't sitting around (inertia)
5. call customer with info on ordering what he needs for his project (Call it "C")
6. Clean up workshop a bit
Big Ta Da for last night. I got the house cleaning done I've been puttting off!!!

Lark's 11:00 PM CI

lark - 14 Dec 2006 - 11:05pm

Everything within my power got "Ta Da'd" today. Some things were postponed because things and people didn't show. Bottom line. Did okay.

Rexroth 8.48 GMT

Rexroth - 14 Dec 2006 - 3:48am

Todo Today

up prayer and reflection
post this
deal with emails, phone messages, mail
prepare work for friend
tidy up a bit
take photos of accident site
finish tidying and putting stuff away
meet with landlords this afternoon and discuss repairs to flat and accident involving my foot
talk with friend and decide what to so afterwards
brief friend on work for her to do from home tomorrow
sort out someone to do food shopping for me or order on internet
journal
phone friends
prayer and meditation
bed and sleep

Regards Rexroth

Rexroth 16.34 GMT

Rexroth - 14 Dec 2006 - 11:34am

I'm down to journal on my list. Friend was very late but phoned and she had been ill. I'm so glad I didn't explode but found out the facts first. She has done some really good professional work and I'm grateful and can now see the way forward.

Landlords were professional and reasonable about my accident. I might get some compensation and this in not my main interest I just want my foot back to working normally. I've been very very lucky not to have been seriously hurt.

I need to plan what to do over Christmas period. I won't be working with the church if I don't book now and I can't do much as I can't stand for more than a few minutes.

Thinking of you all.