be better at dealing with general logistical situations

Implementing GTD (one of my other goals) is really helping me to get to grips with this.

In the past, logistical and administrative tasks seemed really amorphous and terrifying for me. It didn’t help that I felt nervous speaking on the phone to people I didn’t know, and then coming to Israel and having to do everything in Hebrew… jeez.

But now, somehow without noticing it, I’ve started to do these things (like bank-type stuff, phoning to get information, organizing applying for things, etc.) without putting so much emphasis on them. GTD has helped me to break things down into little individual actions and just do them one by one. Phew! Things seem so much more manageable!

I guess the real test will be getting to London in the summer and dealing with finding a flat, finding a job and starting my MA all at the same time. But at least that will all be in English…! The important thing is, I’m feeling so much more confident about it all. I’m sure I’ll manage.

I’ve decided to wait with buying Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway because I can’t find it in any bookshop here in Israel and ordering it from Amazon is too expensive. I expect I can wait until next time I’m in London.

I haven’t really been in any situations recently where I’ve had to take charge of logistics. Does ordering takeaway count?! My boyfriend always does it but there’s no real reason why he should. So next time I’m going to do it! It’s not like I don’t know the vocabulary so I have no real excuse.

I started to care about my health – I never gave much attention to it. Last week I looked for a doctor, now I’m being checked-up. In one week I managed everything. It’s really nice to be 100% responsible of ourselves!

I started job-hunting and found two jobs within two weeks! I’m feeling tentatively better about my ability to get a good job in this country.

Also, my boyfriend and I had to pay our building upkeep bill and I took responsibility and did it by myself, which included having to go and get information from our neighbours and do it in Hebrew.

I’ve always been afraid of this kind of stuff. Stuff like speaking on the phone with people I don’t know, buying tickets, finding out information, dealing with bills, calling in technicians and dealing with ‘official’ stuff.

I’ve found these things difficult, even in English. Through practice, many of the things I found difficult when I was younger are easier now, to the point where I don’t even think about it. But the things listed above can still send me into a paroxysm of procrastination, especially when I have to do them in my second language. I’m scared of looking like a fool because I’m inexperienced and don’t know what I’m doing, or I’m afraid I’ll mess up my Hebrew. I just have to force myself to do these things and keep doing them until I stop being scared of them. And then keep doing them!

I’m going to get hold of that book, Feel the fear and do it anyway by Susan Jeffers. I think it will help me motivate myself into doing the things that scare me. I should try and have enough courage to take opportunities to do logistical tasks and not let my boyfriend do them all the time. And I’m going to:

• learn any new vocab I think I’ll need before approaching the task.

• take full responsibility for tasks that only apply to me.

• take turns with my boyfriend if the task is something that affects both of us.