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.

Hooch's accursed project

I have this report that has been on the go in one form or another since 2005 and still is not finished... It causes me stress whenever I happen to think about it, and it causes underlying stress even when I am not thinking about it. I have the chance of job from January, which would be great, but I would have to get this accursed report, and one other thing out of the way first. Just in writing that sentence I feel that this is so unlikely to happen I should not even consider taking the job in January. And yet, it should not be an impossible task. Most of the required 10,000 words are there, it "just" needs some editing, some re-writing, a bit of additional stuff.

It is amazing what I will find to do in order not to tackle the report. In fact I think I am allergic to it. Iam hoping that keeping a log about progress here on P-anon, will encourage some progress to actually happen.

Two years on (Oct 14)

And....

In the intrests of full disclosure, I did actually finish that report, finally, in Jan 2014! I was very glad to see the back of it. 

I also got the job! Actually it started in August 13, not Jan 13, which just goes to show that the time spent stressing about the fact that i might have to start the job in January was completely wasted, because actually i had some time off and started in Aug, which was much better.

Now that I have had this job just over a year (unbelievable), there are of course many new things that i have left undone and am running behind on, but that is a separate issue. 

I want to acknowledge my progress with the 2005 project. I do have one thing left to do from it (a smaller article) and I will keep updating it here. I am slow, there is no doubt about that! But keeping going is better than not keeping going. Also,I waste a lot of time worrying about my things being too late, and this paralyses my progress. And my things are late, i miss all kinds of reasonable deadlines, but late is still better than not done at all.

H

@hooch: congrats on progress!

Laughing

Thnx Movingalong

Thanks a lot Movingalong. This came at an apposite time to remember that sometimes I do make some progress. It is too easy to forget it somehow, and to feel that everything is terrible and hopeless. It was very nice to get your message.

Sending you good wishes, as ever,

H

 

@Hooch

 

 

--
The ’3Ts’ aka ’Timed Task Tomorrow’ method - 3 questions before doing something online:
Is it Timed (set a timer)? Is it a Task? If it's a sudden impulse, can I act on it Tomorrow?

Thanks Lucky

Wow indeed, that is one truly all singing, all dansing banner! Thanks for your support Lucky.

Sun 29th September 2013 by Hooch

I love todays starter on the 29th Sep page, "Keep Going", there could not be better advice for me. I am also grateful to Hidden_motives for mentioning Leechblock. I have just downloaded it. So we will see how that goes. 

---

Aim for today:

8 pomos Discussion Section

Go skating

---

I will report back later.

H

-------------

Later:

Managed 8 pomos. Very good. The content of what I did was not always 'very good' but I think I need to get a bit more relaxed about Pomo Mode. It is unrealistic to expect quality prose every second. Some moments will just be spent looking out of the window. I think that is what people do when they are working. Being too perfectionistic about Pomo time makes me reluctant to actually start one.

Leechblock - i like it!

I must try to keep up the momentum and aim for 8 pomos per day and not get discouraged. If I look at the file it seems not much progress has been made, but surely it must be more progress than if I did not do anything with it. 

 

 

 

28th September 2013 by Hooch

Aim:

8 pomos on Discussion section.

 

---

 

 

28th September 2013 by Hooch

Aim:

8 pomos on Discussion section.

--

Achieved:

8 pomos on Discussion section! 

==

Who would have thought it. And how is discussion section?

- it is still a big mess

How is Hooch?

- slightly traumatised, and very worried by the state of this chapter. I dont know how to do it. I dont know what to do next and it is all a load of rubbish anyway. Really, I see why I avoid things. Then I can just imagine doing the thing in some polished fashion. 

But surely the thing must be showing some improvement for the 8 x 25 min pomos spent on it?

- well, you would think so wouldnt you.

What is the next step?

- never to open the file again... no, no that is not right I mean .. Try to do 8 pomos on it every day!

 

Hi Hooch

Hi superstar Hooch! Best of luck today with discussion. Solidarityxoxo

@ Jalla

Thanks Jalla!

I appreciate your cheering on.

H

 

'@Hooch

Keep going superstar Hooch. Every little bit, every single pom moves us forward. It  is a slow slog but you will get there for sure- (as will I). AND 8 POMS is BRILLIANT! CHEERING CHEERING CHEERING! I even have pom poms and am doing a superstar hOOCH ROUTINE! We are all in this together. Keep up the GREAT work. xoxo

Thanks Jalla!

I am so impressed with those high kicks Jalla, what a routine!

All together now --

What do we want?

POMOS POMOS POMOS!

when do we want them?

NOW!

--

22nd September 2013 by Hooch

Oh dear, where did the last month go!?!?!?

Right, never mind. Back on the chain gang.

 Accursed part II - 4 paragraphs of Discussion is the aim today.

@hooch

Welcome back!

Each day is a new start.

@ MovingAlong

Thanks MovingAlong!

Yes, I went a bit off piste, but I am back. Now the trick is to keep going. Honestly, I spend more time worrying about the time already wasted than I do working towards making good use of my time in the present. Oh well, Onwards and Upwards (hopefully).

28th August 2013 by Hooch

Today I will spend my pomos on

Report - AF

Discussion section

 

20th May 2013 by Hooch

Oh dear, oh dear, weeks have passed since I made any progress on this project. I dont know where the time goes......... it flitters away. Therapy, exercise, visits to my mother in hospital, laundry... and suddenly another week has gone. I will now try to get back on the wagon. Just ONE pomo a day would be better than nothing.

 

QUARTER 2 of 2013 (so far), Time spent on Accursed Project

Wk 14: 10.2 hours

Wk 15: 5.2 hours

wk 16: 2.9 hours

Wk 17: 2.1 hours

wk 18: 0 hours

wk 19: 0.4 hours

wk 20: 0 hours (at my mother's)

wk 21: x

wk 22: x

wk 23: x

wk 24: x

wk 25: x

wk 26: x

Best of luck Hooch!

Best of luck to you Hooch. You have had alot to juggle and deal with recent weeks. Try ot be a little kind  to yourself and just focus on the next step, the next pom , the next little bit. You can do this Hooch. I am cheering you on from afar! Laughing  

In solidarity,

Jallaxoxo 

@ Jalla

Thank you Jalla for your nice post as always. I appreciate that distant sound of cheering!

All the best too you, 

Hooch

6th April 2013 by Hooch

I got some comments back on Report pt I. They were not so bad, mostly positive really. Of course, not quite what I wanted, which was no comments at all. But still, progress has been made. I was having a blue fit about sending it to this guy, because jees, it was 2006 when I last spoke to him about it. But he didnt berate me, just sent it back. So I should be feeling positive, even tho i have a few things to do there. 

I also have the other part to do, which is 4000 words of notes at the moment. Why am I sitting looking at it hopelessly? My brain refuses to believe I can do it. It says 'you do not know anything about this subject Hooch. Better not to write anything' and so I sit....

 

I do waste an awful lot of time. Even when I am actually working, I spend even more time not working. 

 

QUARTER 1 of 2013, Time spent on Accursed Project

Wk 01: 0 hours (at my mother's)

Wk 02: 4.6 hours

wk 03: 5.8 hours

wk 04: 8.8 hours

wk 05: 12.1 hours

wk 06: 3.8 hours

wk 07: 15.3 hours

wk 08: 15.4 hours

wk 09: 20.3 hours

wk 10: 5.4 hours

wk 11: 5.8 hours

wk 12: 0.8 hours (I was at my mother's, it is not conducive to working)

wk 13: 10 hours (back home)

Well done Hooch!!!

Well done Hooch on getting it in and getting the comments back. Best of luck with this last part. You are doing a great job! Wow week 13 - 10 hours - brilliant!!! 

 

woo hoo Hooch

10 hours is brilliant progress. Although any hours is progress enough.

We will be here cheering you every step of the way.

 

 

wonderful hooch!

you are really doing this! imagine how great it will feel to have this behind you. 

Hooch!!!!! Excellent!!!

Excellent, my friend!!! Excellent! You got something produced, turned it, and back with comments! Success is around the corner!!!! Just keep at it. You're doing great! Avoid your mother! :-)

@ Hooch

It must have been so difficult to have something hanging over you for so long. you have my best wishes.

We believe you can do it. let us know how we can help you. Otherwise we will just cheer you on from the sidelines.

You have offered me words of support in the past. And if I cannot remember the words, the intention is always remembered.

Thanks Knitfisher

Thanks for the nice message. Yes, it is the sword of Damocles, hanging by a hair over my head, threatening my every move. I am making progress, tho I am very slow. But progress is the main thing.

The nice, honest and kind p-anon people are an important part of that. Thanks for being around Knitfisher.

H

Tues 19th March 2013 by Hooch

Yesterday I had two chapters of someone else's thesis to read thro, just for English corrections. He was in a hurry so I whizzed thro it, making corrections, suggestions, pointing out inconsistancies.

When it comes to my own work, I am never in a hurry. I drag my feet. I am plagued by self-doubt. I have corrections to for this too. It is nearly 14h and I am still putting off opening the file.

---

Today's Tasks

Corrections and editing - (4 hours worth would be good, and should be achievable)

(Hooch)

You are not alone, I have this same "symptom" . I homeschooled 2 boys, he older one now in college. I checked his

English essay, he got a 94, etc. but me, making a call, keeping a ledger, writing down appts/times, etc. forget it.

I am better than I was andamnot alone. Keep comingback, baby steps.

(vic)

Thanks Vic!

I love your sentence

'I AM BETTER THAN I WAS...'

That gives me a lot of hope.

Wishing you all the best,

H

Good luck Hooch!

Keep at it Hooch! Dragging ourselves forward even when things are hard is success. Success is certainly not lack of self doubt. The only definition of failure is not giving it a go,..everything else is part of moving towards success. So chin up and plod on! We know u can do it! 

(Thesis)

Thanks Thesis! Yeah, keep on plodding that is the hard part sometimes, but you are right. It is the main thing.

See ya in the Chatbox,

H

keep it up Hooch

So much of what you say resonates.. I am also excellent at helping others! There is no worry of being exposed and judged I guess.... But helping others is good in itself regardless of what you're avoiding whilst doing it.. I'm sure your friend is grateful. And we're all grateful here for your frequent kind words!!

I think it's great that you have a record of hours spent on stuff. It's so good to keep that record so you can see it in black and white. 

I've had a whole week to get on with my project.. no prizes for guessing if I did or not!

Well actually I did do a bit.. but I dont have a record of time spent so that means I can beat myself up more by thinking 'you did nothing!' when I did do some stuff..

At least you're reading a book :-)...I'm spending a lot of my time 'reading the internet' :-).. it's a waste of time!! - though I also find i don't really enjoy reading books when 'avoiding' as there's always that little voice in the back of my head saying 'excuse me..you really should be doing something else!' But heck reading a book feels less scary that what we need to do! It's funny isn't it.... what is SO scary about what we need to do!!! It's not life or death!!

Anyways keep it up... and amongst the long journey and the struggles there is productivity.. and small battles won.. which are actually really big battles won for the likes of us!! The odd hour of productivity here and there is to be rightly cheered!

(Dotty)

Hi Dotty, thanks for your comments, which cheered me up.

>I think it's great that you have a record of hours spent on stuff. It's
so good to keep that record so you can see it in black and white. 

>I've had a whole week to get on with my project.. no prizes for guessing if I did or not!

>Well actually I did do a bit.. but I dont have a record of time spent so
that means I can beat myself up more by thinking 'you did nothing!'
when I did do some stuff..

I was all set to write 'I am sorry to hear that you didn't have a productive week' and then I read that you did actually do a bit. That is GREAT! Good work Dotty! I do find the keeping of a time schedule helpful. Sometimes of course I think I could be spending less time faffing about with it, and more time, you know, actually working... but anyway, I think it is good to have a concrete record. I can see the times when I do actually do things (evenings) and how much I spend on task x or task y. It is a tip I got from a book from 'The Now Habit'. Which is quite a good book.One day I must write a review of it for the PA site.One day when Ihave something else absolutely urgent to do probably...

>At least you're reading a book Smiling...I'm spending a lot of my time 'reading the internet' Smiling..
it's a waste of time!!

hhh Dotty. It wasnt a very edifying book in this case, so I dont get any credit there. I have to laugh at 'reading the internet'. That is more or less what I am doing too. I started at page one, now I am at page 6 billion and seventy two and I wont be happy till I have read it all.

>- though I also find i don't really enjoy
reading books when 'avoiding' as there's always that little voice in the
back of my head saying 'excuse me..you really should be doing something
else!'

I think it is that little voice that will save us in the end Dotty. It tells us that we DO have the desire to do our alloted tasks. It is just that the fear of doing them outweighs this. 

>But heck reading a book feels less scary that what we need to
do! It's funny isn't it.... what is SO scary about what we need to do!!!
It's not life or death!!

Well, this is of course true. And yet I am sympathetic to the psychoanalytic point of view (cos that is the kind of therapy I am doing), a child is completely reliant on itscare givers, it cant negotiate. For its continued survival it is keen to fit in with what its caregivers seem to want, to be afraid of what they are afraid of. Sometimes these anxieties can get attached to things where they make no logical sense in adult life. In my case, I know rationally that writing the bloody thing would do me more good than not writing it, but the part of me that refuses to do it... well it is quite a fundamental refusal. 

>Anyways keep it up... and amongst the long journey and the struggles
there is productivity.. and small battles won.. which are actually
really big battles won for the likes of us!! The odd hour of
productivity here and there is to be rightly cheered!

Thanks Dotty. Wishing you all the best too,

Hooch

Last week by Hooch

I did not succeed in my goal of 4 hours work. Not that day, not in the days since. I have done about 1 hour of work in total last week. I have been putting things off, avoiding and reading a book. This is not good.

Hooch!

You're nota robot....it happens! Alternate 1 chapter for each task. whatever method you decides works for you.......just get your butt up off the couch and moving!

 

Thanks Chatty,

Getting moving, that is a key thing. I am trying to convince myself:

Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing Doing something is better than doing nothing ............

It is my mantra!

I can relate, Hooch

Actually, I was always better at helping out with other people's assignments. As you describe, I am able to look at their work critically whereas I am afraid to engage with my own...

Marcelor

Perhaps we should have a swap Marcelor? :-)

Tues 12th March 2013 by Hooch

Todays tasks:

referencing

sentence  or two about error estimates

go thro comments #1

check that comments # 2 are finished

read thro section 4

SEND TO EDITOR (maybe)

---------------

I have not checked in here for a while, but I have been working.

In the weeks from the beginning of the year, the Accursed Project has had the following amount of time lavished on it:

Wk 01: 0 hours

Wk 02: 4.6 hours

wk 03: 5.8 hours

wk 04: 8.8 hours

wk 05: 12.1 hours

wk 06: 3.8 hours

wk 07: 15.3 hours

wk 08: 15.4 hours

wk 09: 20.3 hours

wk 10: 5.4 hours

That is a lot of pomos/ apples/ bananas/ carrots ....zucchinis. And progress has been made. But my goodness I cannot BELIEVE how long this is taking. If I had estimated in Janaury, i would have said it only needed about a week spent on it.... Obviously my weeks are not as productive as I would like to think they are.

I carry on.  Can I beat my wk 09 record in this wk 11?

 

 

Hooch!

fabulous! fabulous! fabulous! beam with pride!!!

Thanks Chatty!

Having said all that ... today seems to be back to square one. I am trying to convince myself that it would be easier just to _do_ the required four hours or whaterver in the morning and then have a break... I am not open to reason tho, sometimes.

Sat 16th Feb 2013 by Hooch

I shall rise above the fact that I still don't have a contract, and that even the decision about the contract is some weeks off, that at least one of my potential colleagues seems completely crazy bananas and I have a lingering stress-related cold. I shall serenely accept all of this and get back on the chain gang.

Today's task:

Accursed project part I - editing and referencing.

How bad can that be.

Sunday 3rd Feb 2013 by Hooch

The reason for procrastinating like crazy this weekend is, I guess, that the potential job (originally pencilled in for January) will be discussed tomorrow. This means I should go there with my stuff and a reasoned argument. Instead what I am doing is faffing to the max.

Come on Hooch, get your act together. Before tomorrow you need:

updated prop file

send email re concerns

data files

--

I would estimate this is at least 3 pomos, so get to it.

H

 

 

hope you are doing ok Hooch

...whatever happened on the 4th

sounds like a pretty scary one!! And if the outcome wasn't what you hoped.. then I hope you're not beating yourself up about it...? You're worth more than that!

 

Thanks Dotty

Thanks a lot for this nice message. I think I got a stress related cold due to the crazy uncertainty of whether I will actually ever get a contract or not. The situation is just dragging on and getting me down. But now I am a bit recovered and am trying to get back on my feet and back into the pomo-doing mode.

All the best to you Dotty,

H

Tues 29th Jan by Hooch

Today's plan was to do 10 x 25 min sessions. And ... I did in fact 11 sessions, or a record breaking 4.6 hours. 

Did this lead to actual definable progress?

Hmm, yes, a wee bit I think.

Ok so that is good

ye...e..s, but (there is always a but), but it really was only a bit, not a very big bit.

But more than would have been achieved by not doing any session?

I suppose i can grudgingly agree with that. But dont expect me to be pleased about it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hooch: Excellent!!!!!!

keep it up!

Well done Hooch

Well done :)

a record breaking 4.6 hours!!!!!!

Hooch I think it is FANTASTIC!!!!! Well done!!!!!I always have to tell myself all the little bits add up but 4.6 hours is definately a BIG bit!!! Well done to you. Keep up the great work.

In solidarity,

Jallaxo 

Thanks Jalla!

Thanks for the support Jalla.

Why are we so unreasonable with ourselves?!?!?!? That is the question.

H