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.
Weird day. It just kind of slipped by. I did a few (very few) useful things. Just woke up from a nap that wasn't particularly planned. Feeling guilty and concerned. Gonna hop in the shower (hadn't ever gotten around to that). And then to dinner. Maybe a bit of work in there somewhere.
You really shouldn't be so hard on yourself every time things don't turn out perfectly, Mollie. We're allowed to have off days from not procrastinating; we should be working on easing ourselves into the new system, not going cold-turkey and then getting depressed when we don't make it.
It would be great if you just got most of what's on your mind done, just as long as postponing doesn't exceed a one day time limit. And you can give yourself one or two days off ever week :) No biggie. No one can get something perfectly right from the start, it takes gradual improvement and constant practice.
Heck, look at me! I keep shuffling tasks day in and day out! My ending list never looks exactly like the morning list, either because I take things off of it or tack on new things as I go, depending on how productive I feel and how much time I have. The only rule is to not let yourself postpone completing an item by more than one day.
I used to get extremely frustrated with myself for never getting everything done by the end of the day, which only served to bring me down and lessen my faith in my ability to break free of my "ailment's" hold. A life of uselessness and procrastination seemed an inevitable and looming doom.
But why, why, *why* should we do that to ourselves? Expecting perfection only forces us to end up with nothing. I say don't let anything bring you down. Not finishing everything you had in mind is not even a setback. You're working on it. Always remember that. We never "fail", we're just working on it. Failing is when you give up and lose faith in yourself. Life is a work in progress.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
I appreciate the pep talk and you're absolutely right that beating oneself up and approaching things with perfectionist goals isn't helpful. So, not to justify my self-criticism, but to give you some context, my distress isn't because I didn't finish everything on my list. It's because I didn't spend any time on any of the most important things on my list, which I've been procrastinating on for a very long time (weeks to months, depending on the item) and which are now overdue or have impending deadlines. I've also got a lot going on in my life at the moment (don't we all?), and it's hard to focus on the priorities. But if the priorities don't get addressed, there will be harsh consequences. Still, I know I'm better off observing my behavior with compassion and trying to do better the next day than feeling bad for "failing." Thanks again. :-)
No energy left. Gonna call it a day and turn in early.
Night all.
X Wake up 7:00AM
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
X Work till 6PM
X DCS
X OT Check
X NT Check
* Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements - [not faulty]
* Call Tara (7:30PM) - [wasn't home]
X Do laundry
X Dishes
X 15 mins guitar
X NS site
X NS forum
X Put mothball in closet
X Prep tomorrow's to-do
X In bed by 11:00 PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
I've made progress checking some things off. I ran some errands and took way too long, came back to work some, and now I'm procrastinating. I'm limiting my time with it, and I'm soon going back to work. (We'll see how that goes...)
X Wake up 7:00AM
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
X Work till 6PM
X DCS
X OT Check
X NT Check
* Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements - [not faulty]
* Call Tara (7:30PM) - [wasn't home]
X Do laundry
X Dishes
X 15 mins guitar
X NS site
X NS forum
X Put mothball in closet
X Prep tomorrow's to-do
- Clean fishbowl
- Prepare PC for techie
- Prep tomorrow's lunch
- In bed by 11:00-11:30PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
I'm being a bit lazy this morning. A friend was going to help me with something first thing, and has disappeared. There are other things to do, but I want to use this as an excuse to procrastinate. Today: morning routine heat workshop call client re. project A finish project B general house cleanup That's enough for this morning. I could use a little nudging or suggestinons on dealing with housework if anyone has any. Thanks.
Yeah, I know what you mean about wanting to use your friend not being around as an excuse to procrastinate. If I'm in the right mood--or really, the wrong mood--anything that alters my original plan can lead me to procrastinate if I let it. Sometimes I'm able to see that tendency for what it is and just tell myself that I can still do x, y, and z.
As to the housework, I know I've read it on here before, but I used to be signed up for Flylady.net. You do get a lot of emails, but it just takes a second to delete them. I was getting them probably for a couple of years. And it definitely helped me. I think she has a nice way of laying things out so that housework feels more manageable. I used to wonder how people did all this stuff--she really suggests concrete ways of getting it accomplished. My house could certainly still use improvement, and it has way too much clutter, which is a big thing Flylady is always trying to get people to get rid of, but it's much more under control than it used to be.
X Wake up 7:00AM
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
- Work till 6PM
- DCS
- OT Check
- NT Check
- Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements
- Call Tara
- Prepare PC for techie
- Do laundry
- Clean fishbowl
- Dishes
- 15 mins guitar
- Voiceover (?)
X NS site
- NS forum
- In bed by 11:00-11:30PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Love that graphic, Edge! You come up with such fun ones!
Feels good to be back here. All that lurking didn't do me a whole lotta good. But I'm pleased that I got some high priority work done yesterday, and I'm gonna do some more today. Not even feeling anxious about it at the moment, which is a true blessing. :-) More later.
up prayer reflection meditation
bath and wash hair
finish cooking lunch
wash up
wipe down living room floor
post this
prepare papers for friend
meet with friend and discuss our repective mother's wills
lunch with friend
then depends when friend leaves so I'm not sure
pack spare craft machine measure it first for box
rest
Had to take a few things of my list because I woke up 40 minutes late :-(. Curse that snooz button!
X Wake up 7:00AM (make that 7:40 :rolleyes:)
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
- Work till 6PM
- DCS
- OT Check
- NT Check
* Group night out [cancelled]
- Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements
- Call Tara
- Prepare PC for techie
- Do laundry
- Clean fishbowl
- Dishes
- In bed by 11:00-11:30PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
great graphic!!
I love this picture - thanks! :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.
Mollie's CI 5:20pm
Weird day. It just kind of slipped by. I did a few (very few) useful things. Just woke up from a nap that wasn't particularly planned. Feeling guilty and concerned. Gonna hop in the shower (hadn't ever gotten around to that). And then to dinner. Maybe a bit of work in there somewhere.
Don't worry about it, Mollie
You really shouldn't be so hard on yourself every time things don't turn out perfectly, Mollie. We're allowed to have off days from not procrastinating; we should be working on easing ourselves into the new system, not going cold-turkey and then getting depressed when we don't make it.
It would be great if you just got most of what's on your mind done, just as long as postponing doesn't exceed a one day time limit. And you can give yourself one or two days off ever week :) No biggie. No one can get something perfectly right from the start, it takes gradual improvement and constant practice.
Heck, look at me! I keep shuffling tasks day in and day out! My ending list never looks exactly like the morning list, either because I take things off of it or tack on new things as I go, depending on how productive I feel and how much time I have. The only rule is to not let yourself postpone completing an item by more than one day.
I used to get extremely frustrated with myself for never getting everything done by the end of the day, which only served to bring me down and lessen my faith in my ability to break free of my "ailment's" hold. A life of uselessness and procrastination seemed an inevitable and looming doom.
But why, why, *why* should we do that to ourselves? Expecting perfection only forces us to end up with nothing. I say don't let anything bring you down. Not finishing everything you had in mind is not even a setback. You're working on it. Always remember that. We never "fail", we're just working on it. Failing is when you give up and lose faith in yourself. Life is a work in progress.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Thanks, Edge!
I appreciate the pep talk and you're absolutely right that beating oneself up and approaching things with perfectionist goals isn't helpful. So, not to justify my self-criticism, but to give you some context, my distress isn't because I didn't finish everything on my list. It's because I didn't spend any time on any of the most important things on my list, which I've been procrastinating on for a very long time (weeks to months, depending on the item) and which are now overdue or have impending deadlines. I've also got a lot going on in my life at the moment (don't we all?), and it's hard to focus on the priorities. But if the priorities don't get addressed, there will be harsh consequences. Still, I know I'm better off observing my behavior with compassion and trying to do better the next day than feeling bad for "failing." Thanks again. :-)
Edge's CI - 10:44PM
No energy left. Gonna call it a day and turn in early.
Night all.
X Wake up 7:00AM
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
X Work till 6PM
X DCS
X OT Check
X NT Check
* Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements - [not faulty]
* Call Tara (7:30PM) - [wasn't home]
X Do laundry
X Dishes
X 15 mins guitar
X NS site
X NS forum
X Put mothball in closet
X Prep tomorrow's to-do
X In bed by 11:00 PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Great job, Edge!
Two days in a row! The whole list! Awesome! :)
Thanks, Mollie!
I had to take three things off of it, but it's an improvement :) I'm going to shoot for the whole thing today :-p
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Lark's 3:30pm check in
I've made progress checking some things off. I ran some errands and took way too long, came back to work some, and now I'm procrastinating. I'm limiting my time with it, and I'm soon going back to work. (We'll see how that goes...)
Edge's CI - 6:48PM
X Wake up 7:00AM
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
X Work till 6PM
X DCS
X OT Check
X NT Check
* Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements - [not faulty]
* Call Tara (7:30PM) - [wasn't home]
X Do laundry
X Dishes
X 15 mins guitar
X NS site
X NS forum
X Put mothball in closet
X Prep tomorrow's to-do
- Clean fishbowl
- Prepare PC for techie
- Prep tomorrow's lunch
- In bed by 11:00-11:30PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Lark, 9:18am
I'm being a bit lazy this morning. A friend was going to help me with something first thing, and has disappeared. There are other things to do, but I want to use this as an excuse to procrastinate.
Today:
morning routine
heat workshop
call client re. project A
finish project B
general house cleanup
That's enough for this morning. I could use a little nudging or suggestinons on dealing with housework if anyone has any. Thanks.
Good morning, Lark
Yeah, I know what you mean about wanting to use your friend not being around as an excuse to procrastinate. If I'm in the right mood--or really, the wrong mood--anything that alters my original plan can lead me to procrastinate if I let it. Sometimes I'm able to see that tendency for what it is and just tell myself that I can still do x, y, and z.
As to the housework, I know I've read it on here before, but I used to be signed up for Flylady.net. You do get a lot of emails, but it just takes a second to delete them. I was getting them probably for a couple of years. And it definitely helped me. I think she has a nice way of laying things out so that housework feels more manageable. I used to wonder how people did all this stuff--she really suggests concrete ways of getting it accomplished. My house could certainly still use improvement, and it has way too much clutter, which is a big thing Flylady is always trying to get people to get rid of, but it's much more under control than it used to be.
Hope you have a good day!
Mollie
Edge's CI - 4:22PM
X Wake up 7:00AM
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
- Work till 6PM
- DCS
- OT Check
- NT Check
- Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements
- Call Tara
- Prepare PC for techie
- Do laundry
- Clean fishbowl
- Dishes
- 15 mins guitar
- Voiceover (?)
X NS site
- NS forum
- In bed by 11:00-11:30PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Mollie's CI 7:50am
Love that graphic, Edge! You come up with such fun ones!
Feels good to be back here. All that lurking didn't do me a whole lotta good. But I'm pleased that I got some high priority work done yesterday, and I'm gonna do some more today. Not even feeling anxious about it at the moment, which is a true blessing. :-) More later.
Thanks, Mollie :)
Glad you like it :) Can’t take credit for the pics, though – they’re nicked off the net. I just supply the text and sometimes add a few extra effects.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway
Rexroth 10.16 BST
Todo today
up prayer reflection meditation
bath and wash hair
finish cooking lunch
wash up
wipe down living room floor
post this
prepare papers for friend
meet with friend and discuss our repective mother's wills
lunch with friend
then depends when friend leaves so I'm not sure
pack spare craft machine measure it first for box
rest
and then...
Regards Rexroth
Rexroth 16.16 BST
Friend has just left and I'm settling down for a cup of tea.
Regards Rexroth
Rexroth 21.57 BST
Craft machine away, handwashed wool stuff,cleaned up stuff in kitchen. I've had enough and I'm going to bed.
Night Rexroth
Edge's CI – 7:59AM
Had to take a few things of my list because I woke up 40 minutes late :-(. Curse that snooz button!
X Wake up 7:00AM (make that 7:40 :rolleyes:)
X Aloe Vera
X Breakfast
X Get ready for work
X Leave at 8:50AM
- Work till 6PM
- DCS
- OT Check
- NT Check
* Group night out [cancelled]
- Take faulty DVDs back and ask for replacements
- Call Tara
- Prepare PC for techie
- Do laundry
- Clean fishbowl
- Dishes
- In bed by 11:00-11:30PM
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Never mistake motion for action – Ernest Hemingway