Procrastination: The Death of Progress

  

DO YOU HAVE A TENDENCY TO PROCRASTINATE, OR DO YOU LIKE CHECKING THINGS OFF YOUR TO-DO LIST?
Good morning.  My name is LuAnn.  ("Hi, LuAnn.")  I am a procrastinator.  
When I think of where I could be in my life if I did not procrastinate (or did less of it), it makes me want to scream.  But letting that weigh me down, on top of everything else in life that vies for my time and attention, would be fruitless.  The good news is, though, that I do not have to say that way.  That's one reason I like this time of year.  Although you don't need to wait until the New Year to start goals or habits, there seems to be this quantum sense of hope and renewal.
To compound the problem, I love making lists of things to check off.  It is one of my strengths; I made some dang good plans!  But sometimes it is also a source of procrastination, in that I will make so many or such long lists that I forestall actually beginning the project.
But the past has passed.  It can't be changed.  There is hope, however.  Time does not appear to be ending anytime soon, so if you are not satisfied with the way things are going in your life, you can change.  Let me repeat that.  You.  Can.  Change.
For instance, my desk has needed attention for some time now.  Today, I can change that.  Check back tomorrow to hold me accountable?
And what about you?  What is one small thing you could do today that would move you toward one of your goals?  Let me know in the comments?  
*+*+*+*+* Notice the 2nd button at the top of the post?  Jeff Goins is running a "500 Words a Day" writing challenge during the month of January.  Click that l'il ole button for all the info and to sign up!

Our Strengths

  

TONI ASKS, "WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS?  WHAT THINGS ARE YOU GOOD AT?"

As I wrote in my other post today, making plans and checklists is one of my strengths.  If you need something planned, I'm your gal.  The goals for 2014 I wrote about yesterday?  I'm working on whittling those down into 90-day, weekly and daily steps.  2014 is going to be a GREAT year!  WOOHOO! :O)

Another strength I have is empathy.  I listen well and help people see alternate strategies when they are stuck.  We all need a second set of eyes, or ears, or ??? every once in a while.  Maybe we're too close to a situation.  Maybe we're too far away.  Need a second opinion on a goal or plan?  I'd LOVE to help!

A third strength I have is endurance.  Once my course is set, there's not a lot that can turn me aside.  This is not to say I may not change my mind.  I like to think I give fair hearing to the opinions of friends, family, co-workers, etc., even when they differ from mine.  That is a valuable attribute when the road before you is not clear.  

I have a favor to ask.  Could you list one or more of your strengths in the comments?  Let's see if we can gather us a village to help raise our goals!

Life's Little Pressure Cooker

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY FEELING PRESSURE TO DO THAT YOU DON'T PARTICULARLY ENJOY? Use the button above to connect with NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) on BlogHer!
This one is easy...so to speak.  
We are experiencing a end-of-the-old-year cash crunch and it looks like I will have to ask my brother for some money from our mother's estate, something I desperately do NOT want to do.  But it is the lesser of two evils.
Even though I've signed up for UMPTEEN reading challenges for 2014 and two month-long blogging link-ups, I don't feel pressure from those, despite my, oh, less-than-stellar record in that respect.  But then, I took more time beforehand to plan my 'attack' and I'm sure that helped.
I had been feeling pressure to do all the cooking around here.  Wierd, I know.  A wife and mother who, oh, is kitchen-differently-abled?  But hubster has cooked supper for the last two days.  Should I be worried?  *lol*
Enough about me.
Leave a comment (or a vent) about something you feel pressured to do that is not enjoyable.  Or a way you have dealt with pressure in the past that has worked for you.  
Thanks for reading!

Obstacles V Opportunities

Toni asks, "What are the possible obstacles to your resolutions? How will you overcome them?"

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One issue I deal with, oh, c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t-l-y, is procrastination.  It has landed me in hot water more than once.  You think that after a couple rounds of that, I'd change my ways.  Eh.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I'm also loads more distractable than I used to be.  I'll be working on an assignment at the computer and 'all of a sudden' I'll notice that there's a cup at my computer that needs to go back to the kitchen, or the dogs need water in the bowl, or I should really go get something out of the deep freeze for supper.  Please tell me I'm not the only one with this problem! *sigh*

Now I love calendars and lists and planners and all of that stuff, but sometimes I tend to get wrapped up too much in the plan - so much that I've left myself no room to move and put the plan into action.  Where is the Ronco Backside Kicker when I need one?

One thing that I've found works for me is to break big goals, jobs, projects, etc down into sufficiently small bits that it's still a stretch, but not uncomfortably so.  

For instance, one of my goals for 2014 is to read the Bible from cover to cover.  If I just sat down, opened to Genesis 1 and started reading, I would do ok until I got to the first round of 'begats' and my eyes would start to glaze over.

But if I break it down into monthly, weekly and/or daily goals, then when I hit a stretch of begats or that passage that irritates me (like the part in the OT where a man who suspects his wife of cheating can take her to the priests, who would cause her to drink polluted water.  If she got sick, then she was innocent.  If she did not get sick, she was considered guilty of adultery, taken out and stoned.)  

If I encounter questions when I'm working on something, that I just cannot figure out (even though I have tried), I can write it down and find out the answer by asking a family member, acquaintance, professor, etc etc etc.

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How do you work though obstacles?  Please share one of your strategies in the comments!  Thanks for visiting the porch!

REVIEW - Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

Oh, I am SO glad that it's f-i-n-a-l-l-y 2014 and I can start in on my reading challenges.  It has been increasingly difficult the last few days to hold off!

I am JUST SICK!  I had this done and then cross-posted the review on another site, and apparently hit "cut" instead of "copy".  Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the other site, and retracing my steps has proven fruitless.  *ARGH*

"Secret Adversary" was Agatha Christie's second book, published first in 1922.  It introduces the detective duo of Tommy and Tuppence, two young people fresh from their service in WWI (he as a soldier, she as a health-care worker).  After they have a chance meet-up, they determine to go into business together as "The Young Adventurers".  Of course, they become quickly embroiled in a mystery full of intrigue and international implications.

Agatha Christie was a very prolific author and her works have been adapted for the large and small screens, video games, graphic novels, stage plays ... just about anything of which one could think.

I enjoyed this book immensely.  I also remember seeing a miniseries with the Tommy and Tuppence characters, back in the early 1980's, which first caught my attention.  I just can't believe it's taken me so long to read the book!  I sincerely appreciated the fact that there was not a lot of 'romantic activity' going on in this book.  It did not take away a thing from my enjoyment of this read.

Not only do I highly recommend this book, I added this book to my lists at the following 2014 reading challenges:

• Cruising Through the Cozies (1/6)
• 50/50 Challenge (1/50, 0/50)
• Vintage Mystery 2014 Gold Edition (1/6)

So...had you heard of "cozy" books before this year?  If so, what is your favorite?  Share with us so we can feed our book addictions too! :O)

Working Well Under Pressure

Melissa at NaBloPoMo on BlogHer asks, "DO YOU WORK WELL UNDER PRESSURE?"

Well, yes and no.

I think some pressure helps, what they call in psychology, 'eustress'.  For example, I have acted in quite a number of stage plays.  There is a certain amount of stress encountered on opening night.  After all, it is the culmination of six to eight weeks of work.  Most actors have a 'day job' as well, or go to school - in other words, a life full of obligations.  You want the audience to enjoy the play.  You want to remember your lines and cues.  And when you come off the stage for the first time on opening night, there's a lot of fist-pumping, end-zone style dancing going on.  Eustress spurs you on to greater accomplishments and satisfaction.

Distress, the opposite of eustress, well ... sucks.  I remember one day, on the way to my job at a residential facility for adults with MR/DD, stopping in at the doctor's office for some samples of one of my medications.  They refused to see me due to a small, unpaid bill.  I left the crowded office in tears.  By the time I got to work, I knew my blood pressure was dangerously high.  Before reporting, I asked the cottage nurse to check my blood pressure.  She took the reading, and then went to get her supervisor.  The supervisor confirmed it at 212/120.  I tried to call my husband because they wanted to take me to the hospital.  I could not dial my phone and was having trouble talking.

The tricks, if you can call them that, is to:

- prepare for challenges as best you can.

- find a way to vent your stress (which is probably different for everybody) so it doesn't affect your health.

So after all that, to answer Melissa's question - I believe I do work well under pressure, for the most part.  Whatever the situation, I can usually hold it together until the crisis is past.  After the pressure dissipates, how hard and for how long I crash depends on how I have prepared myself beforehand and how well I am able to vent the pressure.

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What about you?  Do you work well under pressure?  What is your best stress-relief tip?  Leave a comment and let us know!

I'm Not Doing Resolutions This Year

Toni at One Chocolate Box asks, "What are your resolutions this year? How do you plan to achieve your goals?"

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I'm not 'doing' resolutions like I usually do.

A few days ago I came across a blog post "Resolutions Stink:  And What Works Better for Me" at NicoleOnTheNet.com.  She had gotten an idea from a post at ChristineKane.com titled, "Resolution Revolution:  A Better Way to Start Your Year".  She advocates the use of one word as kind of a guiding principal for the year.

The word that chose me was "order".  Actually, it had to beat up another word that was vying for my attention too.

Last year, I was blessed to have Melanie at "Only a Breath" make me a button with my word for 2013 (abundance).  A couple hundred other people were blessed as well, and I think she wore herself out.  This year she offers a free template on her blog.

Save the blank template to your hard drive, then upload it to PicMonkey.com to add your own "one word" in the font and color of your choice, just like I did.

VVVVVVVV

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While my "one word" replaces resolutions, it does not replace goal-setting.

I found a free book on Amazon.com (free as of 9pm Eastern US time on 12/29):

If it's not free by the time you read this, you can go to DailyActionLog.com and get the first chapter and a download of the worksheets for your email address.

A partial list of my 12-month goals (by December 31, 2014) would be:

Financial

1.  We have rebuilt our savings after purchasing a house in 2013, and have 3 months emergency funds.

2.  We raised a large garden this year, and supplied 50% of our fresh fruits and vegetables.

Business/Career

1.  I have run a successful Kickstarter or Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.

2.  I have an Etsy shop up and running.

Health/Fitness

1.  I will have gotten my blood pressure down to 120/80.  

2.  I get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least 3x per week.

Relationships

1.  I will have documented my family history back to the ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War.

2.  My husband and I take turns planning at least semi-monthly date nights.

Overall Happiness

1.  I will have read the Bible and the Book of Mormon cover to cover.

2.  I volunteer personally (and with my family) at least one time per month.

Celebrate the New Year by leaving a comment with one (or more) of your goals for 2014.  Let's work together to ROCK THIS YEAR!!!