Overloaded at the salad bar

Some days I think I need a bigger plate. As usual when I start getting in to a good creative place in my life I overfill my schedule with all the things I want to do. TO much school, blogging and gaming and I start to feel overloaded. At the same time this is the place where I perform best at, when I look back at my life the times I am happiest when I have overscheduled my life with things I want to do. The habit of over scheduling myself has its pros and cones.

The advantages of over scheduling

I am fortunate right now that everything on my plate is something I want to be there, indeed there is not a lima bean or brusle sprout in sight. This overabundance of things I want to do has the added effect of focusing my time and actually allowing me to get more done. When there is not a constant time pressure then I slack and wait for a time I feel like working on a project. Under that situation there is always a video game to play or a funny picture to look at on the internet. When I have spared myself a bit too thin these distractions start to fall away (well for the most part).

Also I find that when I have a lot of work to do I become more creative. The parties of writing each day for example keeps my brain prepped and ready to produce. Since I have moved the blog to a daily schedule I find that ideas flow more readily and organize themselves more coherently. I have created a habit of inspiration which so far is serving me well. I do not know if I would be able to maintain this sort of energy without a deadline hanging over my head

The disadvantages of over scheduling

Some projects however do not get the attention they deserve. For example my second blog only gets a post now and then. Even though it is about my gaming hobby it does not get much love. The same is true for a few other newer projects I would like to start. There is not enough time in the day for me to truly commit the energy I want to them.

I also sometimes find myself having to make room for the people in my life. This in my opinion is the biggest negative. In the long run I value family and friends over projects so I have to constantly strive to balance my work against my life.

Another downside to my overcrowded schedule is that the parts of projects that don't interest me are what does not get done. I should take the time to prep for game sessions setting up the encounters before I sit down at the table but most of the time I wing it. And that is just one example. Even the projects I focus on the most do not get done to the highest standard that they could.

In the end however I don't think half of the things I start would even get off the ground if I did not have so much to work on. So for now I will put up with good enough over never finished. I think in the next few weeks I will work to refine my schedule and build in time for the projects that have not gotten the attention they deserve. The other thing that worries me is how long can I keep this state of high yield production running. If I do it long enough will it become habit, I hope so, I like it here in the high octane world of overworking myself.

Finding the eye of the storm

This week has been hectic for me to say the least. I start school next week and my partner is on his winter break, there are so many errands to run and so little time to do everything. Today I have decided that it is my day I need time to collect my self and sit quietly doing the things I enjoy.

It is important in my mind to be able to find peace and stillness in a way that works for you. For me a quite day hunting around the internet for interesting things to look at is a good day, maybe playing some video games and reading up on a new RPG I want to play. Would this work for my other half, not a chance he would be bored and wanting to go some were or if feeling a bit more low energy he would rather work on an art project. The point here is that you need know what is rest full for you, were you find relaxation and not try to emulate others when it is time to rest.

For most of us the hardest part about resting is finding the time. The problem with this is it is not about finding time but about making time. We are in complete control of our own schedules even if we do not feel like we are. Every action we take, every meeting we set, every minute we spend doing something happens because that is what we decided to do. Not every moment may be spent the way we want but it is still better then the alternative. If we choose to not go to work we don't get paid, if we choose not to go to school we don't get good grades and so on. By knowing that we set our schedule and understanding that we have the power to decide what we want to do we can find that moment of peace, the eye of the storm.

One problem most people make when they budget there time is that they treat time to rest as a luxury rather then a necessity. Every day that we go with out time to relax and focus on the things we enjoy doing degrades our ability to deal with stressful situations. Our ability to foucus suffers, our tempers become shorter and our willingness to listen to others advice erodes. I am remnded of my father, an avid tennis player, he worked hard all week to suport our family. Saturday and sunday mornings were his time to get out to the courts play a few sets. If we had plans to do something as a family for the weekend we made sure that he still got to go play, he would come home much more relaxed and happier. He had found his peace.

Putting an end to procrastination

One of my goals last week was to stop putting things off. Procrastination has been a bad habit for me for a long time. While it took some effort it was interesting and fruitful to spend a week focusing on it. The liberation I felt when I stopped saying I will do that latter was immense. Why did this have such a big impact on me? First we need to look at what causes procrastination and the effect it can have on your life.

I personally procrastinate for two reasons laziness and fear. I do not want to stop doing something that I am enjoying to work on a chore, and I can always find something I want to do to fill my time. The other aspect, fear comes in to play when I am entering a situation where I am looking for an answer and know that when I find it I will not like it.

Even though procrastination is prompted by two different stimuli the results are the same. I find excuses not to do something that needs to be done. If procrastination only meant things did not get accomplished it would still be a problem but the situation is even worse than that. By putting something off we create a negative thought process associated with that task making it that much harder for us to do it the next time we think of it. Most of the time we put something off the problem we are avoiding gets worse. For example let’s say you decide to leave the dinner dishes until the morning to clean then you wake up have breakfast and have more dishes to clean. The problem grows. This is still not the full impact of procrastination. Knowing you have to accomplish something is tiring in and of its self.

When we set aside our tendency to put things off we accomplish more, we attach small projects when they come up and do not let them grow in to larger problems. Most importantly we do not sit around thinking about all we have to do. When the time comes to relax we are not burdened thinking of chores we have to do latter, instead we can truly enjoy our free time without distractions.

So how do you beat procrastination? Here are some suggestions:

1) Look for your stall phrases. I know when I am asked to do something I often hear myself say "I will do it in a moment." Which used to mean: I will do it when you remind me a few more times. Now when I hear those words come out of my mouth I try to pull myself away from what is going on and get to work.

2) Be honest with yourself The problem with procrastination is that we make excuses to ourselves to justify it. We tell ourselves little lies that reinforce the reality we want to be true and disregard the reality that is. When this happiness the only way to deal with it is to call ourselves out for being dishonest and look at the situation as realistically as we can.

3) Face up to your fears When you know bad news is coming avoiding it will only make it worse. Unpaid bills just get bigger and the emotional pain we may cause others just gets harder to forgive. When you are afraid to face a situation and you avoid it not only do you live with the dread of facing it every day but you make the chance of a negative outcome greater.

One other benefit to putting aside procrastination is the feeling of accomplishment that completing projects brings. We have talked about small victories in the past and how they help prepare the way for larger victories. If you want to fill your day with these small wins then stop procrastinating. Every time you do something now instead of latter it is small victory and will help teach you how to be successful.

When you find yourself mired in a swamp of procrastination what do you do to pull yourself free?

Disciplanner

So I have to say that I love my gadgets and web apps and when I find one that helps me meet my goals I am even happier. So I was quite exited this morning when I came upon Disciplanner. This little website lets you set goals and milestones you wish to reach and then track the time you are actually putting in to working on these goals.

One of the nice things is it lets you track both positive and negative goals. What is a negative goal? Well for example I play way to many online flash games. By setting a goal of reduce time playing games online and setting it as a negative goal on Dissiplanner I can see how the time I spend playing games compares to the time I spend actually pursuing my goals.

The other feature of the website that I like is it lets you set milestones or mini goals to help you stay motivated and focused on completing the bigger goal. In a way it almost feels like real life video game achievements to me. When I do something I am trying to do I get to earn the badge to celebrate. Simple motivation is sometimes the best.

So what tools or websites do you use to help keep yourself motivated and to track your achievements? let me know below in the comments.