[robinuk]

Shit, i feel like i been procrastinating my death all my life, does that make sense? Nah, ok, seriously, i wanted to start a business that i knew would work,as time went on i did start the business and now when i think about procastination i reckon it is a form of fear, who agrees?

[MsKissyStarfish]

"i mean really. there is hair piling up on the floor in the corner of my bathroom. i surely should attend to that first, si?"

Always! Big projects are the only reason my house gets clean.

Always! Big projects are the only reason my house gets clean.

Quite true!

[angie_21]

i mean really. there is hair piling up on the floor in the corner of my bathroom. i surely should attend to that first, si?

Always! Big projects are the only reason my house gets clean.

[crazyoldcatlady]

dammit. after a hellacious week (really, which weeks aren't?) i want to sit on my ass and not think. but i have a 3,000 word research manuscript due at the end of the month. that i haven't started. at all. oh, i pulled some books off the shelf and piled them in a corner, but that's as far as i got.

i mean really. there is hair piling up on the floor in the corner of my bathroom. i surely should attend to that first, si?

[angie_21]

I find I get the most done when I work on it for a few days straight, then take a few days off. Some people like to have certain days a week that they reserve time to work on something, but my schedule just doesn't allow for that. Do you only have evenings to work on it, or do you have time during the day? With my thesis, I had all day, so I worked for a week straight, then worked a part time job and cleaned up the house for the next week.

[MsKissyStarfish]

Awesome ideas! I've been procrastinating less and working more, which feels really healing. Even though I was rather derailed, it is nice to be able to jump on the train again. Lol. Just started my three year old little guy homeschooling so while a huge initial expenditure of time, he and I will both have more regular hours.

Do you all work everyday on your projects, or a few times a week?

[girl_logic]

...

The other thing I do is never take a whole week off of that project. Even if it's only a few hours a week, I have to put in some work and keep the project in the back of my mind, or I will forget about it and blow it off. If it's on your mind, your subconscious is getting work done for you, but if it's completely out of your head, you'll forget everything you were supposed to be doing!

that's like, the holy grail of tips right there.

[angie_21]

When I had to write my thesis, I sat down and spent a day figureing out how long it would take to get different parts of the project, and made deadline of what I wanted to have odne at the end of each month. I also never underestimated how much planning time I would need. Doing prep work - research, setting up the office, organizing supplies, writing task lists, whatever - is so important to getting yourself into the right frame of mind to do the work, and also helps you get things done faster when you actually start working on them, because you know exactly what you're doing and why. It's also an easy, less stressful way to get started than just jumping ito the middle of it.

The other thing I do is never take a whole week off of that project. Even if it's only a few hours a week, I have to put in some work and keep the project in the back of my mind, or I will forget about it and blow it off. If it's on your mind, your subconscious is getting work done for you, but if it's completely out of your head, you'll forget everything you were supposed to be doing!

[MsKissyStarfish]

Thank you for the welcome Persiflager, and advice especially on the layout of your timetable. Very logical and easy to adapt . Girl_Logic kitchen timer =awesome, I have to pick one of those up. I just downloaded an egg timer-that hatches a chick- very odd) for my dashboard (have a Mac), and am looking for an timer App. Thanks for the ideas ladies, gave me a kick in the pants.

Have a good weekend.

[girl_logic]

Yeah, "wall" is a good turn of phrase for it. Some thing I try is change of scenery, but in a sustained and routine way (like 1and1/2 hours, same unique place, same time, every Saturday). My BF turned me on to using a kitchen timer and breaking the work up into 20 minute segments and walking around, getting water, checking email or whatever in between, then going back. 20 minutes is about when my attention starts to wander on particular projects. Putting myself on a clock kind of makes the breaks seem "safer", takes away the guilt because I know I'm not slacking, I'm resting and will be going back. The trick is obeying the clock.

[Persiflager]

Hi MsKissyStarfish!

I break things like that down into manageable chunks so that they don't seem so daunting, and then work out a rough timetable. I look for the nasty bits that I know I'll avoid and plan them into a time when I know they won't be so hard, I work out which actions need to happen early on because other actions depend on them (or they take a long time), and I make a list of nice easy bits which I can knock off when I'm not so motivated, so that I'm still getting something done.

[Well, in an ideal world this is what I do! I definitely always work out which bits I know I'll try to put off, and think of ways to make them easier. I also try to make the timetable realistic.]

It sometimes helps if I sort actions by context, e.g. @phone, @computer, @out in town....

ETA: This blog post is quite useful.

[MsKissyStarfish]

This looks like an older topic, but one many people can relate with.
I have two very large time consuming projects- and will likely have for the next year. My family and I went on a short little holiday to a water park, and played like mad, was great fun. However, since being back for the last week I've just been stumbling and bumbling around trying to get back in the flow of the work. A camping trip is coming up this weekend, and my mom and brother are arriving tomorrow, and the procrastination bug has bitten.

What do you all do to break through that wall?

Girl_Logic I love your "Summer Classes!" Very cute, good luck getting in.

[candycane_girl]

It's 12:15am. I should have started studying at least by yesterday. All I've done today is shower, read (a novel), nap, watch tv and order pizza. And now I'm watching a movie online. Good lord what is wrong with me?!

[girl_logic]

Hey Ketto, that's what I meant. I had an infected flash drive a couple of weeks ago and it turned out that the files were available when it was plugged into the computer repair guy's Linux system, though not on Windows.

[ketto]

Unfortunately it was all gone. It was never saved on the computer, but on the flash drive, which is the problem. If it had been on the computer I probably could have pulled it right back up.

I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning re-doing it and now I'm working with others to do the final edits.

Since I ended up getting no other work done most of last week though, I'm only taking a break to bust while I eat my lunch. Back to work!

Good luck on A, B, and C!

[girl_logic]

Did it ever turn up Ketto? Is there the slim chance that the USB is carrying a virus? If it is and you're using windows, it might not be lost. It would still be visible on a computer using a different operating system like Linux.

I've been procrastinating all bloody day.

It's ten to 7. I promise to

a. package all of the mail outs for customers
b. at least SIT at the typewriter for an hour, even if it seems hopeless.

and remind myself that if i do a and b i can
c. sleep the sleep of the contented tonight.

[ketto]

There are about 2 paragraphs are saved on my home computer, but the rest was on my flash drive because I was doing it at work yesterday and stupidly didn't save it to my work computer. Such a mess...I'll admit, there were more than a few tears this morning but I called my co-workers and told them I had to miss some workshops we were doing today to work on this. One of them called me back and said she just felt awful when she heard my message. In the end I got so stressed out I really didn't do much today. But it's okay, I'm just going to work from home tomorrow and see if I can finished it...if not I can do some more on Friday.

It's just so frustrating because it's such a mammoth proposal in the first place and I was working on it in such fragmented pieces it's difficult to remember what I wrote in which section. *sigh*

Oh well, now I'm going out for drinks and dinner with a girlfriend.

[period_monster]

Yikes. (((Ketto))) Is there any chance that at least part of it is on your hard drive? My fingers are crossed for you.

[ketto]

Oh my god! I'm going to be sick...the massive proposal I was just working on is totally gone! It has somehow vanished from my flash drive and is just gone and won't open...I had done more than half and it took me two days! FUck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!! This is unbelievable!

[ketto]

I'm supposed to be working on this massive grant proposal to the federal government but it's soooooo big and complicated...can't someone else do it?