Thursday, November 6, 2008

Procrastination

Is it anything new to hear about a 20something procrastinating? Surely not. Well I am right there with the rest of them. I know I get a lot done, but at the end of the day I don't feel like I have accomplished anything. Is it because I do not do anything? No, actually I do a lot. Most of it feels meaningless, but it is things that have to be done during business hours. It is the tasks that have to be done in my home time that usually get put off.

What is the first thing you want to do when you get home from work or school? Usually nothing. What about when you have to come home and cook dinner or have to get something done before it gets dark? You get that done and then feel like doing nothing, or at least I don't.

So why am I writing this blog. One word. Accountability.

I am hoping that if I write down what I did or didn't do and post it to the masses (whether it is read or not) I will put a little more effort into my dealings. Here's what I am up against. Bear with me this could be long.

  • I have two classes that have not been finished. Both are from previous semesters that I fell behind in and got incomplete's, but never found the time or motivation to finish. Those should be pretty high on my priority list.
  • I have a house and property to take care of.
  • I have a full time job.
  • I am taking full time classes.
  • I show horses and I am responsible for their welfare.
  • I am sure there is more...
There are 168 hours in a week. 40 are spent at work. 6 are spent in class. That leaves 122 hours. At least another 56 are spent sleeping. So 66 hrs left. Factor in another 2 hours a day to go up and take care of the horses. 64 hrs. Another 1-2 hrs driving and sitting in traffic. 62. An hour per day to get up and get ready. 55. Where the hell does the rest of that time go? 55 hours. That is a lot! I get an hour each night of daylight time when I get home from work (5 days) and another 2.5-3 hours of dark time. Then I have 16 hours on Saturday and Sunday to do something. This should leave plenty of time to get the daunting task of writing 5 speeches and finishing half a semester of Ag Marketing done right? Oh and do laundry and pay bills, clean the house, cut wood, mend fence, cook dinner, go get groceries, run errands, etc. In my world, no.

Now that I have done the math I should be able to divvy up that time and come up with a reasonable schedule. Reasonably I could spend an hour on homework/studying a day when it is dark. That would mean I could get all my math done before each class and then work on those speeches and Ag Marketing. Why cannot I sit down and do this? I know I should. I have made list after list and broken it down into smaller steps, but then it seems so daunting. How do you work past this?

Then I could spend that hour of daylight time working on my stuff outside (cutting logs, leaves, fence, etc). Dark hours can also be used to clean the house. Did I mention that I am a huge clutter bug. Having things laying on every surface drives me crazy! Why do I do it? I'm lazy and I procrastinate and keep saying I'll put it away tomorrow. By the way, where exactly is "put away?" That is a subject for another time. If I had a spot for everything it would be much easier.

In essence I just took away another 2 hours on the week days leaving me with .5-1 hour to spare so I can do "nothing."

Sounds good hu?

Why doesn't it work? Post your ideas and tips.

Right now I just need help getting past this. Any ideas? Feel free to post your ideas.