Conquer procrastination

None of the tasks I have to do are work are particularly hard. However, they sometimes take longer to do than one might expect, and there are new ones every day, on top of the basic constant task of interacting with and managing patients. One thing I am learning is that if I put something off at work, it’s likely to get overlooked. There is no “best” time to do most of these things; the best time is always “now”.

I am going to try to apply this thinking to my final full semester of classes. This will probably be the last time for quite awhile that I’ll be a full-time student – maybe the last time ever! I would like to make the most of it.

I’m staying on top of things, but not at diligently as I would like to. It’s gonna be a constant battle. I’m still putting things off – just not until the very last minute. Which I guess is progress, considering how I handled things in my summer class.

This is a prime opportunity to work seriously on this procrastination habit of mine. I have a LOT to take in and manage. My database course in particular is going to be quite challenging. This means I have to stay on top of everything. Falling behind is not an option.

Not so much conquering as preparing to be conquered at this point…

...and I’m not happy about that.

So, starting tomorrow, I have work to do, and lots of it. Not just schoolwork – everything, every part of my life. I’m not getting behind; I am just doing the minimum. There’s no honor in doing the only the minimum, in anything.

It is right at that point in the semester where I could choose to stay on top of things or let everything slide. And if anything’s true, it’s true that you get out of things what you put in them.

I need to be putting in more than I have been.

I am not as on top of my class reading as I would like to be, but I did manage to avoid procrastination in one important area: calling the librarian that I want to interview for a project. Calling people on the phone still bothers me for some reason. Anyway, I was in the middle of making myself a nice lunch (one of my favorite things to do), but forced myself to make the call before I let myself eat. I got his voice mail, but now he has my number, so it should be OK.

Now, to do some reading!

I let it get the better of me. The first assignment in my cataloging class is due tomorrow at noon, and I was busy writing it tonight. Don’t know how that happened – I did a bit of work on it, but I had this all weekend-long seminar going on, and somehow it just didn’t get worked on…

At least I perservered and got a rough draft down on paper this evening. I REALLY wanted to leave it all for the very last minute, but I pressed on and got the bulk of it down on paper, which is something. I will get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow, add the necessary graphics, and edit the text. I just can’t do editing properly without giving myself a break from the paper.

Instead of farting around tomorrow afternoon once I turn it in, I’m going to work on the assignment that’s due the following day. Not nearly as involved, so it’s tempting to wait until the last minute again. But I won’t. I’m also going to try to get started on my upcoming project for my reference class, if I can swing it.

Talked to the other students a bit this weekend – somehow it’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one that has this procrastination problem!

I am not procrastinating in either my academic or my personal life.

As far as my academic life goes: I was proactive when I found that the bookstore did not have the book for one of my classes, and I ordered it myself. The class met for the first time yesterday, and sure enough, the instructor said that the bookstore forgot to order it(!) and that we should buy them ourselves. So I’m ahead of the game there.

Also, my first assignment for this class (an introductory webpage) is basically done – just need to take a decent headshot to add to it. All of the pictures I have of myself are goofy.

In regard to my personal life: first, I called the dentist pretty quickly after realizing that my tooth was worsening. Second, after my appointment this morning and the referral to the endodontist, I was quite worried about finances (still am). I hemmed and hawed for awhile, trying to decide if I should make the appointment or wait, considering I’m still not sure how this will be paid for. Well, I simply said “screw the finances, I need to keep all of my teeth”, and made the appointment. I’m glad that I did, too, because I won’t be able to get in for 2 weeks. I have an appointment for the 14th at 9 a.m.

Glad that my tooth is not horrible to deal with at this point; glad that I took the initiative to get my insurance re-upped, get to the dentist, and make the endo appointment; hoping against hope that my tooth does not start bugging me horribly before I can get the root canal done.

Feeling pretty crappy physically (my tooth is niggling and I have a cold), but pretty darn good otherwise! Maybe I’m gonna beat this procrastination thing. The anticipation is so much worse than the actuality every time, and procrastination only prolongs it.

Classes haven’t met yet, but I’m trying to get as much reading done as is humanly possible. I have to say, it’s kind of difficult to be doing so much of my classwork/reading online. Much easier to drift away into online frivolity.

I need to develop a study/work schedule, and a way of managing my assignments, somehow.

I can procrastinate in perhaps every area of my life. And I do – I procrastinate WELL.

What with this site and my innate list-making compulsion, I do a lot of deciding what I will do, and a lot of not following the elaborate lists I make. Which just leads me to make more lists, desperately trying to feel as though I’m accomplishing something.

This is bad in a lot – a LOT – of ways. I am less productive than I should be at work. I goof off when I should be doing the basic “housekeeping” my life requires. The only thing I seem to do quickly and immediately is…make more lists.

First, I need to start noticing and calling myself on it when I really procrastinate. Second, I’m going to use a method I learned from another 43thinger – set the timer for a short period (5-15 min. depending on the task), do it for that time, and then give myself a break if I feel I need it. The short bursts of time seem a little less scary than my long, long lists.

Maybe I’ll try and wean myself off some of the lists as well. I don’t think they are helping this particular goal one bit.