What do you do?

I've been really bad at getting my butt in gear lately, mostly because I really don't have passion about what I'm doing.

I usually just close out of my browser, make myself a list of things I NEED to get done, put in headphones, and challenge myself to finish things on the list by a certain time.

It has about a 75% success rate, because the internet, she calls to me.

 

At work I listen to jazz, and it's been surprisingly successful. There are longer term "to do" items on a more ambiguous timeline that I've put off for months in some cases. When I'm on the ball, I set reminders in a task list app and they beep at me and yell at me to get those things done and I actually do them. When I'm not, I shut the reminders off, delete the due dates, and let them continue to languish. These most often involve making phone calls and acting like a grown up, which has always been challenging for me.

Wah wah wah.

 

I also keep it really simple.
I write a to do list on a small note pad we keep on the kitchen counter, usually every Friday.
All the shit on that list has to be done by Sunday night. And I know myself well, and myself doesn't like to work on Sunday night. So I start tackling things Saturday morning, usually starting with the worst because I know I don't want to be dealing with any of it by Sunday night.
Stuff gets done.

 

I tend to get more stuff down if I just take the initiative to do the first step or two in getting the thing done. After that, if I'm on a roll, I'll continue until the thing is done. If I'm not on a roll, I'll do something else until it's time to take the initiative again.

On Wednesday night, I was laying in bed, and my brain wouldn't let me go to sleep because of various things including the fact that I hadn't even started on the backlog of homework that I need to get done by tomorrow night. So, at 2 in the morning, I sat down, and just started doing it. Next thing I knew, it was a couple of hours later, and I was done with the whole lot. I didn't even realize that the time had passed.

 

Make a list first thing in the morning, put it in priority. Lately I've been creating mental lists while going on walks after I wake up. The fewer distractions, the better, including TFP.

Plan your work and work your plan.

 

You don't know how many times I remember to check the mail when I'm at work. Used to be (now-ex) hubby's job. Now he checks it for me twice a week when he is in town on VA appointments.

Dang, this question just reminded me to log off TFP and go fold that load of laundry in the dryer. Thanks.

 

I work an upside down schedule, mostly on the Internet, though except for groceries and evening meals, I run the household, too. But those tasks are repetitive and in theory, shared with the other two non-canine family members. In practice, I'm a bit picky about certain tasks and I would rather do them the way I like them done, then have them done and be (internally) annoyed that the effort is below par.
So for me alone, I write daily tasks each evening for the next day on my dry erase board, which hangs within reach of the computer in my office. I've only had an office completely separate from the rest of the house for about a year and it really helps keep me focused on the task at hand. Before that, I was working out of a corner in the bedroom--such an awful set-up.
The rest of the stuff, like dog maintenance and weekly/semi-weekly household tasks I write up on a chore list every Friday and leave it on the kitchen table. People are supposed to scratch off tasks as they are accomplished. Longer-term tasks like putting down a wood floor and the ongoing renovating at the lake go on a master list that sits separately from every thing else on it's little shelf in the kitchen area. Periodically, spouse and I go over it. So yeah, I make lists and check things off as they are accomplished.

 

In general, my fear of failure is the prime motivating factor in my life. Thus far it has kept me on the ball. I will put things off for as long as I can, but I usually don't have a problem getting to work once the time beckons (most loudly).

 

My clone. Seriously, I could have posted this mixedmedia. Verbatim.

 

Tbis archived thread is specific to my current sitation. When the " things " in my life have no clear outcome, I fall into a funk and get nothing done. I have to force myself to finish projects by mentally finding a good reason to do so. I have let my " To Do " list drag on for months until I snap out of it and scratch some of them off. This mostly happens when my attention is being demanded on one thing instead of another. Good intentions aside, when distracted I am distracted period.