lists and weekends

Tags

busy, friends, life, lists, post-its, to do, working

Shopping lists, to-do-lists, lists of who to call, packing lists, post-its sticking to pages, in books, on doors in my calendar, sometimes even on my phone – lists and post-its are how I organise my world, and time.

With Saturday just one sleep away and my work hours slowly counting down I am somewhat dismayed to see how my weekend list seems to be growing a little out of control. I seem to have to do more things than I think I have time for.

So now as I look at my calendar and the list I have scrawled in wonky writing and feel dismayed. With a friend who I haven’t seen since before Christmas popping in later for a long overdue catch-up, my home needing a good clean, my wood guy delivering wood tomorrow, a friend needing a lift on Sunday and a surprise cinema ticket win inviting me to a surprise film on Sunday afternoon my time is more than limited as it is.

But with my list growing and my desk overflowing I think I will just have to bite the bullet and succumb to the fact that this weekend will be busier than I’d like. But maybe, before I can start checking things of my list, I should consider tiding up my work-space and decide what can be pushed another week. And I already know the first thing not getting done is cleaning – as long as I can find my desk and my lists, that’s all I need.

Now all I need to do is to write a list of where to start and what I need to get it done!

listlessness and liquorice low

Tags

liquorice, listlessness, lists, travel

Although I have been surrounded by lists over the last few weeks (things-to-do, things-to-buy,things-to-pack etc) I have been feeling somewhat listless today.

I think it may be down to the fact that I am neither here nor there. I may still be psychically in Dublin but my mind and thoughts are already in Germany, sprinting ahead leaving me, my body behind. This state of transientness is quite annoying as I still have several things to-do but sadly all I want to do is go, leave, fly-away.

Thankfully as my patience is running out so is time and I only have two more sleeps (well a sleep and a half since I have to get up at half three on Thursday) to go until I can finally vamoose. And it really is high time since my stash of liquorice is low, well nearly entirely gone.

So I will try to shake my listlessness and tackle my list, cross off an item or two before I hit the hay and reduce sleeps.

my last lists before Berlin

rain and shine

Tags

good weather, irish days, lists, photography, rain, sun, weather

Today is one of those wonderfully weird Irish days. The sun lures you out with smiles and shine to only disappear, giggling, behind a big, black cloud, which in turn empties out bucket loads of rain, turning sunny patches into puddles.

But after the good weather we have been having I won’t complain, especially since it is giving me  a great excuse to stay home and have a lazy day. However my lists of things to do (I have three going at the moment: to-do, to-pack and to-buy) keep catching my eye so I may have to cross off a few things to not end up with a squint or even crossed-eyed.

But before I do anything to strenuous I think I may just curl up with a cup of tea, listen to the rain on my window and flee into the magical world of storytelling …

a view outside

tomorrow never comes

Tags

fun, health, lists, miscellaneous, procrastination, random, thoughts, tomorrow

My ‘to do list’ is longer than my arm today and I already know half of the urgent items on the list will have to wait till tomorrow or possibly even Friday. So as I study my list and try to figure out which ones I can do quickly, which ones need to be done NOW and which ones  should have been done yesterday, my good buddy procrastination pulls up his chair beside me and offers me a cupful of daydreams and a plateful of  scrumptious ideas of how to fill my day in a more colourful way.

I know I should push him aside, ban him from my desk or maybe just chain him up and throw him in my non existent cellar, but he knows me so well and can really press my buttons.  And it really doesn’t help that the sky is blue, the sun is shining and a friendly home invasion will be taking place this afternoon.

Knowing that one in five of you who read these words (possibly more in bloggers) struggles with their own pal procrastination lurking behind their shoulders, makes me smile as I believe I am in very good company. Sadly this really doesn’t help any of us as we pile up the stress and tell ourselves how we “work better under pressure” or believe that we are superheros (mine has sparkly kick ass boots) who actually only need half the time to do certain things.

I know that checking me email and looking up my blog stats only delays what has to be done and I don’t really need to drink quite so many cups of tea even if I tell myself short breaks are good. Dancing to every song that I like may be good exercise but I don’t really have the time and why dusting suddenly seems so appealing I cannot fathom.

But thankfully procrastination is not imbedded in my genes but a way of life or a habit that I have picked up along the way. So by changing how I act and react may be  a slow process but it can be done. One trick is to set realistic goals, another to be honest with myself and finally  start today, not tomorrow as for a procrastinator tomorrow never comes.

Oops where did the day go?

Ending procrastination