Day 16 -My 3rd AP day of the challenge

So I reached day 16. I am back to feeling good about things. I realised that since getting the cat back I am getting up with the alarm. That gives me an extra 20 minutes in the morning! I think that that is because I want to get up to see him!

This morning I had so much ready from last night that it went like clockwork and I got so much done. Washing on the line before work, lounge floor cleaned, coffee ready for tomorrow. I managed to get out slightly earlier too. I even had lunch which I had made last night (I usually buy it at work).

I had a very busy day today, but left work slightly early to go and order a blind for our spare room. Then I have done work this evening at home. The marking that I have put off for weeks is done (although there is more where that came from!).

So I did that AP task for today, my routines are done and I'm off to go to bed at a decent hour. Tomorrow I have 2 hours of non-teaching time in the morning, I know that I will procrastinate in that time, but I am going to see how much I can get done (and not just making cups of tea!). Goodnight!

Day 15 -more changes

Today has been a really effective day, I am really beginning to get somewhere. I had the coffee machine reset for tomorrow before I even left for work. I think I knew everything already through following flylady, I just didn't have the gumption (is that a word?) to just get on and do it. I have a load of washing sorted for tomorrow and as far as housework is going it feels good.

I did manage to get a load of school work done today, and tomorrow I am going to do as my AP task, marking some papers which I have been putting off for ages.

So I think it is time to keep up with the AP at home, but to also shift the focus to work... Let's see what the next few weeks bring.

2 weeks in and the little things count

Well today is two weeks in to this challenge, and it really has been life-changing. Sorry that I haven't updated the blog in the last week but I've been trying to get back in to routines with the cat and just play with him lots too!

Well, the weekend was great. I did my WHB and other things and on Sunday DH and I got that blind up in my study (it has been sat on the landing for 3 weeks!) and we put up some mirrors that have also been waiting for weeks. That makes such a difference!

Whilst I was doing my WHB on Saturday I noticed something, I was beginning to do little extras. The kitchen bin lid was dirty, so I wiped it whilst I emptied the bins, there was a toothpaste splatter on the side of the mirror unit so I cleaned it whilst doing the mirrors, something needed putting away upstairs so when I went to dust upstairs I put it away... Now as I walk around the house I notice how tidier and cleaner it is.

I also had the joy of getting all the washing done again! And I finished Sunday off by getting the spare room made up for my cousin who is coming to stay on Friday. Every time I walk past that room and see it empty and the bed made I smile :)

I still feel like I am not where I want to be with my school work, but as Flylady says it is "progress not perfection"

Day 11 habits forming

Well, I've hit day 11. It has been another busy day but I was looking around the house and realised that I am beginning to pick up after me. So I'm wondering how long it will take me to do the usual housework at the weekend? I'm hoping that I can just do a Weekly Home Blessing hour and deal with laundry (which there shouldn't be too much of, I seem to have a much emptier laundry basket!). This should leave me with time to sort my study. Since we moved in a month ago this room is annoying me. It needs decluttering and tidying. Currently we have no blind up because we don't have the space to get it up. So the blind is on the landing.

I am also reflecting on my work. I never seem to get it done. Don't know why. I'd like to get more caught up with that.

But rather than reflecting on the negative I must remember that the coffee is set for tomorrow, my side of the bed is tidy (that is a miracle -it has been tidy for 4 days!), my sink is shiny and I have been enjoying time with the cat. So really, although I am not having the wow feeling of last week, habits are forming and it is good!

Day 10 -Second AP day

I'm trying to decide if today has been a disaster, or am I just getting used to doing things immediately? It has been a funny couple of days. Our cat who has been missing for 5 weeks was returned yesterday. It was a manic evening, but all went smoothly and he seems to be settling. I was glad that I had done things such as setting the coffee timer in the morning. It made the evening run smoother.

But I am now struggling to concentrate on things. I am a bit sidetracked today and don't feel that I have been so successful. That probably isn't true, as the house still looks good but I do feel that I need to give myself a kick!

So there is my update, I am going to go and get on with things now and hope that tomorrow I will accomplish more...

Day 8 -becoming a habit

Today has been another amazing day. I feel like I am getting so much more done, both at work and home. I have something lovely to share with you, on Saturday I got all the washing done, and then my DH put some socks in it :( but because I have actually been doing my routines I am actually back to the bottom :)


I know it won't last long, but at least if I can keep up with my routines it won't be too full :)

I am finding it amazing that I am keeping up with my routines, I feel so much more relaxed. Tonight I am going out for a pudding night (you eat dinner at home then go to someone's house for pudding), I am all ready I have cleaned up from dinner, my sink is shiny, the coffee is made for tomorrow. It is actually becoming automatic now to do some of these things. Before I started this I knew that I should do them, and sometimes would but mostly not. I can't wait for the weekend, to see what difference doing my routines during the week makes. I also like walking around my clean house :) for the first time when I see something I need to put away I do it there and then, so it is staying tidier and I feel better about it.

I must thank Diane, because if I hadn't started this I wouldn't feel this good about me. And thank you for reading and following. People's comments have been such an encouragement.

Day 7 -thinking ahead

So, today I had a busy day. I knew it would be, and normally I would plan thinking ahead, but never actually do it (do you do that, you think that you might pack your bag way before, but then never do!). It's amazing what things I imagine doing but don't!

So today I was determined that no procrastination would happen. The coffee was set up for tomorrow after breakfast, I packed my bags for the afternoon, in the morning. My work bag was packed this morning for tomorrow. This made the day run very smoothly. In fact, my contact lenses are out, I'm in my pjs already so that when I have written this I can go to bed.

To me this seems like a miracle, this is the life that I imagine leading, (all the things Flylady says to do) but I never actually get around to doing! Wow!

Day 6 -washing day

I thought I'd quickly update my blog before having well-deserved, guilt free, pizza and wine.

Today has been an interesting day as far as AP goes. I have been extremely busy! I had no plans today so decided to catch up on housework and some school work. It's also given me a chance to analyse some of my procrastination tendencies.

Firstly, although I try to follow flylady's idea of a load of washing a day, but sometimes I just forget. So I thought I'd do lots today. I have done 8 loads of washing and almost 3 hours of ironing! Now the ironing isn't actually a huge success because I was using it as procrastination for my school work. I have come to realise that during the week I think "I'll do that at the weekend" but come the weekend I don't want to do it. I need to re-jig my thinking somewhere... I will continue to ponder and see where my journey lands me! Once I realised that I made sure that I at least planned Monday's lessons, so that is not hanging over me. I do wonder whether I can get enough done in the week not to have to do it at the weekend.

Something else I try and do is my 'Weekly home blessing hour'. Flylady's weekly 7 tasks which she schedules for Monday, but I work so try and do it on Saturday. However, I always don't do all of the tasks, I often change the bedding on a Sunday so DH can help. Knowing that tomorrow I am out a lot I decided not to procrastinate and just do it despite DH being out. It took me longer than 10 minutes but I did it. And I got it all washed, ironed and away. (I did have an issue with the airing cupboard door not opening but I used my clubcard and broke in! Nothing was stopping me from finishing the job!).

Wednesday's phone call to the dentists has spurred me to make other phone calls now. Yesterday I phoned the bank to change my address, and today I phoned the breakdown company. Yay!

So, I feel it has been a reasonably good day. I am going to have to deal with my procrastination of school work, but I think that is going to have to be something I think about. I am surprised at how much I have done today, so I hope I can keep it up! Now, that pizza and wine is calling.

Day 5 the domino effect

I am sat drinking a cup of Lady Grey tea and eating cake. Bliss! I don't feel rushed, despite going out in 20 minutes. This is the overspill of my new habit. Everything is done!

Diane agreed with my comment about the domino effect on Wednesday. This is something that I am seeing more and more. I am 5 days into my 'habit forming' and feel like a different person I hope that I can keep it up. Today I have seen my focus on anti-procrastination fall into my work-life.

I have a terrible habit of taking cups of tea/coffee to my classroom and office and then not dealing with them. So after school today I gathered up all 8 of them and with some boiling water (there was definitely a science project going on!) dealt with them. I have been meaning to do this for ages. -I'd got to the point where I was hiding them and only using one mug and washing it up before making a cuppa. (this is turning into a confessional!)

I also finished marking some exam papers which have been waiting for a month! That feels good.

After work I got a lot done before dinner and cleared up immediately afterwards. This is fantastic! So the weekend starts here, unfortunately tomorrow I need to get some work done but I'm hoping that with this new habit I will be more productive than normal and get to look after myself more. What a lovely outcome!

Well, I don't have much to write today about the habit of A-P, as I have had a busy day at work, finishing with a long parents evening. I don't really feel that I have done much different. So I thought that I would have a quick reflection about why I am doing this.

Habit forming (in a good way) is something that I have found really useful from Flylady. Two years ago I started making the bed everyday and now I can't leave without doing it. I still love the feeling of walking into a room with a made bed! Not many of the flylady habits have stuck, in that way. Procrastination (and sidetrackedness -but that's for another day's blog post) is something that I always feels lets me down, there are so many things I would do, if only I would get around to them. I figure that if I focus on my procrastination and try and reverse it for a month then I should get into better habits. So I plan on writing this blog for a month, and hopefully I will notice a difference in what I do (or don't do!).

I hope that you will stay with me on this journey, as it is great to know that there are people out there cheering me on... I hope that I can be an encouragement to you too!

day 3 Anti-Procrastination day

Anyone who is a follower of flylady will know that Wednesday is anti-procrastination day. The day when you so something that you have been putting off. This is a very important day for me, with my new habit, so I set myself what I thought was the most difficult task which I have been putting off for months: phoning the dentist. This might sound strange but I hate making phone calls, particularly to book appointments and so I put them off. My problem with the dentist was that I was worried that they would have de-registered me as they sent a letter in January telling me it was time for my check-up. Ooops.

So I came home from work at lunchtime today (I had a routine hospital appointment this afternoon) and tried to phone the dentist. ... failure.... they were shut for lunch. Normally I would stop at this moment and give up, but this time I worked out that I could phone just before I needed to go out. I phoned, waited on hold, and eventually got through. I spoke to a lovely lady who told me that all was okay as I had had emergency treatment in October. She booked an appointment for me... and hey presto! My anti-procrastination task was done. What a feeling of elation (and that feeling of why had I not done this before?).

This was like a domino falling over... on the way back from the hospital I picked up a blind I had been meaning to get for a week. I popped into a local vets to talk about my lost cat, and did some housework when I got home. I've got a clean kitchen, laundry done and I caught up on some school work. So now, after my first anti-procrastination day in weeks (possibly months!) I am going to have a bath and get an early night... maybe tomorrow I will not procrastinate with getting up.

day 2 -still work to do

Well, it's the end of day 2 and I am listening to the news, as amazing things unfold in politics. It has been a busy day and I wonder whether I have managed not to procrastinate. I was hoping that writing this would give me the accountability to think about doing things now. Maybe, it will be the reflection which will do so.

We went out for dinner this evening (with other Elise owners), and when we got back I made a hot choc and set the coffee timer. I didn't get distracted first. Does anyone else do that, walk in the door, check messages, check e-mail... and soon 30 minutes has unfolded. So that's a go me moment.

Tomorrow is anti-procrastination day according to flylady. This day always fills me with dread! I always think that I am going to get lots done and then realise I was too busy and all the things that I procrastinate over still didn't get done. So I am going to do something even more scary -I am going to write here that I am going to phone the dentists. I was supposed to make an appointment in January and didn't.... Not sure when in the day I will do it, but I will make time. eeekk!

So having set myself up for hopefully success rather than failure, I am now going to head to bed (it's 9:45), and see whether I can get up in the morning. The thing is, if I don't my DH brings me coffee in bed. Now maybe that's why I don't get up.

Day 2 -start the day as you mean to go on

My biggest challenge is first thing in the morning. The alarm goes off and it takes me about 30 minutes to get out of bed. Well, this morning it took 15. Better, but I always want to be one of those people who get up on the alarm. Is that really so difficult? I lie there thinking I'll get up in a minute, and then I disappoint myself by taking so long.

I've wondered whether I go to bed too late, but I get 8 hours sleep. Maybe I need more... but I struggle to get to bed much earlier. Tonight I am going out for dinner so that won't happen.

It's been an issue since I was a child, I've tried alarm clocks across the room (I just climb back in to bed), Mum used to use a cold flannel, take away my duvet etc. But now I'm an adult and I need to deal with this myself.

I think that getting out of bed is going to be quite a challenge, and one that I'd like to eventually crack. This is going to be quite a journey, so if you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them!

Day 1

Well, this is a blog set up out of procrastination. For ages I have watched the likes of Diane writing blogs and talking about their scaredy-cat challenges and figured that one day I would do that. Yes, I am a huge procrastinator. I don't like to admit to it, but there is so much that I don't get around to. Then yesterday Di posted on twitter about others to join her on the challenges. My comment was 'I always think that I should join you, but I'm a bit of a procrastinator!" to which her reply was: 'Tee hee, Liz, maybe THAT should be your challenge --- 'do it now'?! :)' So here I am. I'm setting up a blog and I am going to document a challenge of anti-procrastination.

So today, I went about my usual stuff, but thinking about not procrastinating. -I left for work earlier. Got loads done at work, at the end of a meeting I typed up the minutes and sent them out immediately! I've got papers marked,... I can't quite believe it.

Tonight after dinner I washed up, shined my sink (see flylady), set the coffee machine up for tomorrow and sorted out the laundry.

It's now 9:25pm and I should head for bed.. mustn't procrastinate anymore. My aim is that I begin a habit of anti-procrastination, so I hope you enjoy following me in this journey.