Thursday, November 20, 2008

One hour

I'm a procrastinator, as many people reading this will probably know. After I posted my last post about how bad I was feeling, I checked my email. I thought about what I was going to wear to work tomorrow (the choices were limited, laundry day has come and gone). I felt bad about getting fatter. I considered eating the yogurt I have in the fridge. I decided against it and wondered what I should make for dinner.

I then thought 'what the hell am I doing?'.

I felt bad. I had that oppressive, slightly panicky feeling weighing down on me the more I sat and thought. The more I tried to ignore things I was supposed to be doing. They weren't going away, they weren't even at the back of my mind! They were making me more miserable as I tried to ignore them, convincing myself I was happier refreshing my Google reader while time trickled away.

If any of this sounds familiar, do yourself a favour. Take an hour.

Set a timer if you want, and say to yourself 'for this hour, I'm going to start the things I said I'd do today'.

My 1 mile WATP workout takes 20 minutes. Could I do more? Yeah, probably. Would I do more if I told myself 'right, I'm going to do this workout and then do everything on this list'? No, I'd go back to refreshing my Google reader and never start.

I gave myself an hour, and in that hour I did my 1 mile, cut my hair, put on laundry, took a shower, and took out my scallops to defrost for dinner. The washer has just finished so I'm going to go take my washing to the coin driers next door because the weather turned hurt-your-face cold while I was holed up in my apartment and I don't fancy waiting a week for it to dry itself.

I have other things to do. I want to throw some ingredients in the slow cooker so my dinner is ready for tomorrow, and I have to grab a lesson plan online for my class because I think I'm finally going back to school tomorrow. But the other things I was going to try and tackle in that hour? The de-cluttering and vacuuming I had planned on that didn't get done? Not a problem, because I have an hour tomorrow.

Even if you achieve nothing. Even if you turn your Internet off (this is a good idea! it helps, trust me!) and stare at a blank open document for an entire hour (err... hi NaNoWriMo!) and don't write a single letter, dedicate your time. If you have a list and you only finish two things on it, it's OK. If you only manage to start one thing it's OK! When the timer goes off put it down, put it away, leave it for tomorrow. You'd be amazed the momentum it gives you. That panicky feeling eases.

I feel better.


Mrs. Darling said...

Good ideas here. I dont have any problem with getting away from the Internet. Kids will force you a away. LOl

Lauren said...

quick tip. I don't know if you have a floor heating system. But your floor will dry your stuff right quick if you do.

Cammy said...

What an awesome fighting spirit!

Keep in mind that your internal resources have taken a beating with your illness (glad that seems to be better!), and that some of what you've been angry at yourself for doing were just natural responses to the illness. Have you truly *felt* like doing a lot of walking?

Still, I'm glad you're back on track in such a positive way!

Scale Junkie said...

Great ideas! Honestly, I have a day planner and I write my workouts in like they are an appointment. Perhaps I should start writing in my dairy chores as well because I've been a procrastinator all of my life.