mousme | Paperwork

I thought that becoming a dispatcher would reduce the amount of paperwork I had to do at any given time. More fool me, as it turns out.

I am almost all caught up on the stuff I left unfinished before my trip. I finished the meeting minutes at 20:30 or thereabouts yesterday, and I just finished amending my time sheets and filling out compensation forms. The plus side is that the net result of filling in time sheets and compensation forms is that I will soon be receiving a visit from the Overtime Fairy in the form of a bunch of cheques in my name. Whee! No extravagant amounts this time (like the time I charged for a full 46 hours of overtime in one pay period), but a nice little "oomph" to the bank account nonetheless.

I have found out (not that this comes as a great surprise, mind) that on weeks when I'm working day shift, I have to make a point of going to bed quite early (21:00 or earlier, even), lest I oversleep in the mornings. For the past two days I've been getting to bed too late, and I've overslept twice. I've managed to be at work on time, but I don't like rushing that much in the morning: it unbalances me for the better part of the day.

I'm having a little trouble finding my motivation, as well. I have a bunch of projects and especially things to do before the Big Move (which will happen presumably in the late summer or early autumn), but can't seem to get myself to do it. I have always been a master procrastinator, but have yet to master the art of structured procrastination, which seems like a pretty good use of my time, if only I could get around to it. :P

As the saying went, back when I was at university: Procrastination is an art form.

Mostly what I'm lacking motivation for is the whole "housekeeping" thing. Which is weird, since I'm actually feeling kind of enthused by the idea of having a clean home. I just haven't quite got the knack of coming home and getting right down to tidying. Mostly when I get home I just want to flake out with my cats and my computer (or a DVD, or a book, or whatever). In theory, I know that motivation follows action. It's just... the action part that's proving trickier than I thought. Maybe it's just demand-resistance. What do I know?

So, given that my flist is generally more functional in these matters than I am, how do you handle this sort of thing? Are you one of those depressing people whose motto is along the lines of "Just Do It," or do you have a system that works for you that you can actually describe? This isn't necessarily about cleaning, btw: it's about work, or chores, or anything that doesn't qualify as entirely "leisure" (i.e. implies some sort of obligation).

Inquiring minds want to know. :)

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[sigh] I'm a just do it-er, alas. Once the apartment (or a specific room) hits a critical mass of gunge, the cleaning mojo takes over. I catch myself scrubbing the nasty bathtub ring, which leads to wiping down the shower, which leads to washing the floor, since now the bathtub looks shiny and the floor doesn't, etc.

I'd like to be more organized than that, ("if it's Tuesday, it must be dusting day,") but I don't think there's much likelihood of that happening. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

And it's the same for the rest; I put things off until I'm in just enough of a crunch to lend some urgency to the matter, and then use the onset of anxiety as my kick in the ass to get started. Thankfully I've learned how long it takes me to do various things (writing, cleaning, grocery runs, etc), so I can generally time the crunch moment to 'after I no longer have lots of time, but before I'll actually end up late.' It's a fine balance. :P

Checklists. On the computer, I use ToDoList to keep track of what needs to be done.

And then "just do it." Once I get started and start checking stuff off, I find it's easier to keep that momentum -- it's starting that's the problem :-). And don't turn on the TV, or the browser.

It's about how you get your kicks, really. I discovered that I get a kick out of finishing things, and I get depressed and procrastinatey if a task drags-on and takes more than one session to complete. So instead of giving myself big hairy audacious tasks like "do the laundry", I split my to-do list down into laundry loads, and tick-off each one when it's complete. I don't even group related tasks together on the list, I'll put the most important ones first, say underwear and socks, then maybe a task to pay some bills, then something else, then the next laundry load, and so on. I don't necessarily do this on paper, but the important thing is how I tackle things, in bite-sized tasks and deliberately ignoring all the other similar bite-sized tasks that put together would just overwhelm me and make me procrastinate.

Have children about the house. When you have to do something for the comfort/safety/edification of another person you soldier through where for yourself alone you might not. There may be a motivational lesson you can apply there, but I suspect as long as your furry folk are fed and the litter box emptied they would rather you just veg with them.

I wish I had children in the house. I suspect that I might not be as lousy a parent as I once thought I would be. Unfortunately, I am very unlikely to ever have children of my own. :/

Psshaw. Remind me at some point and I'll tell you about my online friend Julie, her wife, and their adventures with what they dubbed "Man in a Can." ;)

Hee!

My main problem is that I don't want to raise a kid on my own. I know it can be done, but with the kind of hours I work I'd end up with a latch-key kid, and I don't want that.

Maybe someday, eventually, I'll get all my ducks in a row on that front. Maybe.

You just need reliable childcare sharing friends to help. If I lived nearby you I would. I'm good with kids.

Not so much with partners...

But kids? You bet!

*sigh*

Also, we come back in these instances to the major issue I have with imposing on my friends. Not that I have neuroses about this sort of thing, or anything like that. Nooo... :P

*smacks you upside the head*

Ask, damn it. We help one another. But we can't do it if we don't know about it, yes?

*now smacks self on own head, because is same kind of person*

The "Sidetracked Home Executive" series of books by Pam Young and Peggy Jones are both humorous and helpful. I recommend them highly.

I've heard of those via the FlyLady website. I may try to get around to my local library to give them a look-see. Thanks!

I'm very very similar to you, and unfortunately so is J :)

We just want to flake out after the hard day (even more so now since J works out right when we get home) and "spend quality time"

I'm a "just do it" kinda guy tho. Eventually I get fed up and somehow there's energy there and I get up and do something. The problem is the length of time it takes for me to get fed up...I wish it was shorter!

The problem is the length of time it takes for me to get fed up...I wish it was shorter!

Me too!

I keep telling myself that if I only get into the habit of picking up regularly, then it would be much easier to keep on top of things.

"Where am I going, and why am I in this handbasket? Ooh, nice paving stones!" :P

I find it helps to make the tasks easy and the consequences for not doing them annoying. As an example, at our old apartment we had room for three laundry baskets in our closet. We would let them fill to overflowing before we'd even begin to tackle laundry - which, admittedly, at that place was a pain in the ass, requiring lugging the baskets to the building next door and hoping none of the other tenants were using the one washer and one dryer - and paying by the load, of course. Here, we don't have that much room for hiding laundry baskets. We have one basket which we keep on top of the washing machine. When that's full, there's no where else to put dirty clothes apart from on the floor, and so we wash the laundry, which just requires moving the basket off the top of the washer and tossing in the clothes. Task = easy, consequences for not doing it = annoying, job = done :) If the vacuum is hard to get to, or there's no convenient place to plug it in, it will seem like a huge annoying job and won't get used, so find a place to store it where it's easily accessible, or get something that will make the job easier, whether that's a carpet sweeper, a swiffer, a dirt devil... whatever better fits your space and lifestyle.

Also, anytime you can combine two jobs, do it! Wash a few dishes or clean out your fridge while keeping an eye on dinner as it cooks. Pick up some clutter as you're picking out a DVD to watch. Get some spray-on shower cleaner and remember to use it after you hop out of the tub. If you're on your way to the kitchen, take those dirty dishes with you. Etc.

(PS - I think you overestimate the level of functionality most of us have in these matters ;) I'm not especially neat or efficient and I don't spend hours cleaning my house even though I'm home in in all day at present. You may notice if your apartment isn't pristine, but your friends probably don't, and even if they do, they're not going to care unless it reaches the point of "OH GOD IT SMELLS LIKE SOMETHING DIED IN YOUR APARTMENT." People just want to hang out with you, not run their finger along the top of your bookcases checking for dust, and if you wait until your place is perfect to have them over, it'll never happen ;)

I find the most effective way to get me motivated to clean is to invite people over. I mean, my friends don't generally care all that much about these sorts of things, but I still feel the sense of obligation.

It's the best way to get us to clean, too ;)

Thank you for the link to structure procrastinating. He's hilarious. You should, of course, set yourself a task that is more important than cleaning and then use cleaning as a way to procrastinate. I've certainly done cleaning as way to procrastinate.

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