Filed under: I have this bad habit. It’s an urge to find something — anything — “productive” that I can do instead of what I should be doing. Usually I try to resist this urge, but that’s when things start popping out at me. Things that need doing. Things that can be done quickly — so quickly! — that it’s silly to put them off for even another second, despite the fact that I have that other thing (WRITING) that I should be doing.
So I do the quick thing. And the other quick thing. And the third quick thing that, I know I know, is the third, but really, it’s quicker than the other two!
Suddenly my whole day has flown by, lost to quick things.
Today was just such a day. I started off well, putting in several hours of writing-related work this morning. Then I got the munchies. Then I needed to do dishes. Then I had to make lunch. Then I had to take out the trash. Then I had to go to the bank. And then… I had to redesign my blog!
So there you have it. I’m a compulsive cleaner, room-rearranger, and blog-redesigner. It’s sad — oh so sad — but true. And as the Borg say, “resistance is futile.”
But I did accomplish a few things I’ve been hankering to do:
- SIMPLIFY. I want the pictures and the words to stand out. I think they do now. Also, there are less crazy colors, so Albert will stop telling me something is pink, or yellow, when it is clearly orange, or tan. White looks white on every screen.
- Strong “branding.” This is probably because I’ve now been brainwashed by worked at a design firm for over a year. PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW MY NAME, gosh darn it.
- LINKS! Thanks to the Better Blogroll plugin for WordPress, I can now feature five random links in my sidebar. Meaning I’m not responsible for the order in which they appear, nor who’s on or off the list at any given time — i.e., I CAN’T HURT ANYONE’S FEELINGS. God forbid.
Since I wasted much of my afternoon but can now cross all those things off my to-do list, I’m going to call today a wash. Maybe tonight will be more productive. Or maybe I’ll just watch TV until our flag football game…
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Trisha says:
So then tomorrow, you wont need to eat lunch? Do dishes? Pick up or rearrange anything? Cool! I want to live there. Unfortunately I live in a world where repetative tasks, like doing laundry and scooping litter boxes, exist.
Resistance is futile. Funny to see it in your blog. One of my favorite sayings. Hmmm….
Writing will get done when it become a priority.
Kristan says:
Har har. :P I live in that world too, but usually I’m more efficient about it than I was today. I also try to save the chores for early morning, lunch, or after 5 pm, i.e., I try to have a real “work” day.
Yay Trekkies!
Yeah… It happens, and it’s a priority, but sometimes this urge overtakes me. :(
Email me about Vegas!!
Jessica says:
well, duh. This is the sole reason that I do dishes or vacuum…to put off bigger, more horrible projects of course!
phhhst says:
Being tasks oriented has its pros and cons. But I love the picture in your new banner. Feels very Autumn.
Kristan says:
Thanks! I think that’s what I was going for…? :P
diane says:
You are not alone.
Aisha says:
Yeah I’m the same way, there’s all these things I *want* to do, and have the time for, yet they don’t get done. I start to ask myself if I really want to do those things, because it seems to me like if I *really* wanted to do them they would be done already. It’s strange, I’ll give you that much.
Couldn’t you just put the links list in alphabetical order? Or do you prefer the way it looks when there are 5 at a time? (Or was that just a joke about hurting feelings, lol)
Kristan says:
LOL oh no, it was not a joke. I could put the links in order, but I don’t want a bajillion links all the time. Yet I want to give “love” (and credit) to the sites I read regularly. This seemed like a good compromise.
I know what you mean about “is it really important to me then?” (ex. redecorating our guest bedroom) but for writing, I think it’s just hard for me to remember it’s place on my priority list on a DAILY basis, because you make so little progress (relatively speaking) in just one day.
Aisha says:
Yeah I was about to say that as well; with things like cleaning you have a clear visual of what you did, whereas with things like writing or studying it’s not as tangible.
Kristan says:
Right. And it’s SO much easier (and quickly satisfying) to get those things done!
So basically I just have to convince myself that the payoff for the long-term goals is THAT. MUCH. BETTER.
(And maybe eliminate some of the unnecessary short-term goals.)