Thursday, February 4, 2010

I was going to write a blog, but I can’t remember about what

My latest post was a bit misleading as I actually wrote it a month ago and just posted it. So now I am actually at the END of my bootcamp. I have to say, it went really well and I would recommend it to AD/HD peeps and anyone just trying to get some stuff done that they can’t quite make happen. A few highlights:

I had four categories to work on – cleaning/organizing at home, developing a daily writing practice, organizing my work day, and finding a new job. Well, at the end of the first week I received an email for a job interview and had that job by the end of the next week. So, hooray, I got to get rid of a whole category. More importantly, I have a new job. Hoorah! I really like it a lot. I’m getting to do more, you know, interacting with humans and so on, and less interacting with, like, paper. I could talk about it a lot but I don’t want to say too much publicly about my OLD job, just that there are several people there that I already miss very much.

So, hoorah – no 4th category! So more time/energy to work on the other categories, right? Um, sort of. I would say that I am well on the way to developing some good habits. I get up early almost every day to write, at least for a half-hour. That is really huge, because I was very worried that I wouldn’t write once my screenwriting deadline had passed. (I’ll need to start working on it again in a few days, but that’s another story)

I also have started “picking up” around the house for a mere 10 minutes most nights. I wouldn’t say it’s a habit yet, and I wouldn’t say that I still don’t dread it. However, knowing that I only have to do it for 10 minutes makes me actually do it, so that’s another 50 minutes of cleaning a week that I might not have done at all otherwise. Our bootcamp director talks about “paying off the interest” rather than “making payments toward the balance,” which means that, if you’re only spending 10 minutes a day either cleaning, organizing, filing, dealing w/paperwork, etc., while you are building a habit, you are probably just dealing with what’s new that day and not getting to the Big, Scary Pile that made you sign up for a procrastination boot camp in the first place (see last blog for photo of Big Scary Pile, with dog). So ultimately I will need to up the time spend a night to 15 or 20 minutes, but right now I am “being kind” to myself and still trying to just build the habit.

I would say that, ultimately, the thing I learned from the boot camp is that I really do have the power to make small changes in my life that make a big difference. I realize this sounds extremely trite, but to someone used to looking at her disorganized, chaotic life saying “I don’t even know where to start,” it is a big deal. It’s sort of like the first time I did Weight Watchers and realized, “Oh my gosh, I can really do this.” I just didn’t really care to do it that long. But THIS change is easier – there’s lots of rewards, lots of self-kindness, and lots of baby steps. As someone used to taking big bites and having eyes bigger than her stomach (and known for mixing metaphors), learning that I can take baby steps and still be successful is pretty huge.

The next step is maintenance, which I will have to get back to you on…

3 comments:

James West said...

Caught up on your last 2 bloggings, great stuff! Good to hear positive things about the bootcamp, and congratulations on the new job! So funny mixing metaphors, I am famous for that, like I always say: "The hair that bit the dog"

Jess said...

The daily writing goal is huge! I'm so proud of you. And I was thinking you need to pick 2-3 songs that totally make you happy and want to jump around and put them on a special "Rocking the house cleaning" play-list on your iPod or whatever to give your 10 minutes of home maintenance some extra Shan-energy, and some sort of resemblance of "fun." Truck on, sista!

Meredith said...

hahaha! too funny girl. loved the post title for sure;)
YOURS, MINE AND OURS