(no subject)

[geekchick]

I'm procrastinating.

I set my alarm for 8:15 this morning, turned if off, got up around 9:15, got caffeine, went for a walk with my camera around the lake out back (it's foggy today, and just barely 60 degrees, nice walking weather), tormented squirrels by trying to photograph them, came back, read the paper, discovered I adore Paint Shop Pro 9, and am now puttering around on LJ. Notice what I haven't done? Scrubbed the bathrooms, dusted the living room, cleaned the cat box, moved boxes in the dining room downstairs, vacuumed the basement level, done laundry, gone to the grocery store to get chili ingredients and other party stuff, or generally anything else that could be really counted as productive as far as getting ready for having guests goes. At least I'm successfully resisting (so far) the powerful urge to run over to Target "just to pick up 21 Jump Street" -- a trip to Target is never a "I'll just get this one thing" mission, despite my best intentions going in.

I don't know why I do this, but it happens all the time. I've got stuff I really need to get done (and most of this chore list isn't particularly onerous, other than hauling the vacuum cleaner up and down three flights of stairs) but instead I putter around online or turn on the tv or get distracted looking for a particular CD; essentially I will do pretty much anything other than what I have to get done. It's not quite "distracted by shiny things", but more of an "I don't wanna!" Honestly, I don't mind doing housecleaning stuff, and I'd probably be doing some of it today regardless of whether guests were coming over or not, but when I have some sort of deadline to meet I find myself shutting down and finding excuses not to do it. Needless to say, this sort of thing is Not Helping[tm] at work, either. Perhaps it's time to up the Deprenyl dose again and make sure I'm completely consistent in taking it, as that does seem to help with getting motivated to do all that stuff that has to get done.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

If you find your motivation to clean house, please send some of it this way.

[jasra]

That's an incredible photo!

[asetwoman.livejournal.com]

Ooh, very very pretty picture.

[winterbadger]

I don't know if our situations are comparable, but I often find myself doing the same thing. It's very easy for me to find any number of "I'll just do this one thing and then get to doing what I need to do..." distractions. In my case, it seems to be entirely motivational psychology that's needed, because if I make a list of all the things I *need* to do and consciously deny myself the opportunity to do anything else, I can generally get through 90% of the list and then reward myself with something.