I find I am procrastinating, so I am exorcising that demon..
When I procrastinate, I: 1) Open a procrastination thread in Grist for the Mill. 2) Read threads from six months ago. 3) Develop new mail filing rules for Outlook, Entourage, or whatever mail program I am playing with. 4) Reorganize the top of my desk. 5) Prune my writing and critting project management tools. 6) Read the thousands of blogs about writing that I subscribe to. 7) Check my mail, who knows? there could be an acceptance there. 8) Fold the laundry. 9) Toy with my day-job work. 10) IM my oldest son to see if NYC is still there.
What do you do? I am running out of ideas and am wasting valuable procrastination time!
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
i procrastinate thinking of ways to get back into writing and not doing anything about it.
RFW2nd
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I can spend ninety-some minutes online going through my favorite websites, then have my back give out from hunching over the computer before I can get down to any serious writing.
I can also come up with an utterly useless project that takes up a good deal of time. (Right now my project is downloading artwork onto my iTunes thingamajig---by chance I figured out how, and I've been at it ever since.)
(The above also plays into my elsewhere-mentioned back problems---which are getting worse, it seems.)
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
I procrastinate by... 1) Checking Hatrack. 2) Checking email (did anyone write to me? How about now? How about now? How about now?) 3) Playing computer games (right now I'm obsessed with tribalwars.net 4) Researching some obscure and probably not very important question that came up during writing. 5) Tracking down some interesting-sounding book on Amazon.com that I heard about somewhere from someone. 6) Reading about writing. Thinking about writing. 7) Cleaning the house.
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited November 08, 2008).]
Posted by WouldBe (Member # 5682) on :
I'll let you know...later.
Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :
I have to say I'm very pro crastination which I guess makes me a procrastinator.
I think the secret of successful procrastination is to identify a good displacement activity, which has to appear - responsible, e.g. checking e-mail, we are responsible to others - useful, e.g. vacuum cleaning or laundry - mind expanding, e.g. reading the Guardian or NY Times online - necessary, e.g. making a backup CD - helpful, e.g. calling a friend who needs to procrastinate - relevant, e.g. background research for the story at hand - like writing, e.g. revising backstory
Procrastinatorally, Pat
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Clean the house to procrastinate? I procrastinate cleaning the house. To avoid cleaning the house and other unsavory jobs I, -check e-mail -play free cell -check out family and friend's blogs -play the piano -read yahoo's news tidbits -write
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Has no one else discovered the wonders of the facebook time sink? Not just the usual:
- check friends' statuses - see who has posted recent pictures - come up with something pithy to say for my own current status
but the real time sink is playing those silly games like word twist and scramble. There's only so much I can tell myself they're helping prime me for writing.
Other things I do: - online shopping - tidying up (I save procrastinate all the "cleaning" but I swear I spend 2 hours a day just tidying up.) - doing my day job - uploading pics to shutterfly
I like what Robert Novall said about coming up with some useless project that takes lots of time. Like the time I hand-painted two large frames for the kids' artwork. Or decided to rip a bunch of movies to an SD card (which required a lot of annepin's aforementioned somewhat useless and time consuming research) or anything else like that.
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited November 11, 2008).]
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
impresive Skadder, I cede to you.
Posted by LAJD (Member # 8070) on :
Yes, Skadder wow!
KayTi- Facebook is an amazing time sink. I even get double duty for facebook time, because my nano novel takes place in part on facebook, so I get both procrastination and research points!
Back to writing, Leslie
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy. ALL WORK AND_NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy. -------------ALL WORK AND NO_________ PLAY MAKES________ JACK A DULL BOY.--------- all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy. -------------------ALL WORK AND NO PLAY_________ MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.--------- all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy. ---------ALL WORK AND NO PLAY_____________________________ MAKES JACK A DULL BOY.--- all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. AllworkandnoplaymakesJackadullboy. ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY. all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited November 08, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited November 09, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited November 09, 2008).]
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Of course I have other time-wasting things that are important, like cleaning up my messes and rearranging my stuff. (I make space, but it's like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.)
There's also those time-wasting things that make me money, like going to work...
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
Philocinema is scaring me.
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
I can write and rewrite one post--and then I check my punctuation. Then I'll add a sentence and take it back out. Did anyone ever notice the way I edit nearly every post I write? It's an art form.
Then I'll check the lyrics to a song, and then find the song on YouTube and watch the video.
Then I'll do some random bit of research that affects exactly one sentence in a story. Melanie (edited just because I can.)
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 09, 2008).]
Posted by BoredCrow (Member # 5675) on :
quote:2) Checking email (did anyone write to me? How about now? How about now? How about now?)
LOL anne! I so do that too. But you NEVER KNOW... an email could arrive at any second!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Now there's one time waster I can't see myself doing. I check my e-mail only when I go online, and make no special trips there to do so.
Reminds me of cell phone usage. It seemed like a fad at first, but seems deeply established in our culture now. I've got one, the only one I've ever had, but I hardly ever use it. I see people talking away at all hours---literally: I'm on the night shift and I'll see people talking at three or four in the morning. I just can't imagine who they're talking to. I mean, I don't even like to talk on the phone. What's the great joy in that?
Posted by LAJD (Member # 8070) on :
... 11) Check on the procrastination thread that you started on Hatrack...
"Do I really *have* to go back to work?" She says as she walks away dragging the toes of her shoes in the dust, "But I have to work on my Nano Novel!"
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
My 10th Grade English Teacher Mr. Cooks (we called him Pa pa Cook) always said this…
Procrastination is like Masturbation because you always screw your self in the end.
RFWend
Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :
YOU'RE 10th GRADE TEACHER TOLD YOU THAT!
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
11) Wikipedia
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
He did. he was one of those Cool Teachers.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
For those of you procrastinating by keeping track of these things...I can say that, for all intents and purposes, about an hour ago I completed my time-wasting loading artwork-onto-iTunes project. I've been through my entire CD collection and downloaded all but a couple of album covers. (Those ones didn't turn up in the pile---probably they're around here somewhere, under the clutter, and will turn up later and I'll put up the artwork then.)
I wound up with a hair under thirty-three hundred songs. There's a certain amount of duplication (for example, I kept variant British and American release versions of songs by The Beatles.)
I expect to download more songs---I can think of a couple of dozen I don't have on CD that I want, and there are still a few things I skipped downloading as I went through 'em---but downloading stuff will be as-I-go from now on.
*****
But I'm sure I can come up with some new time-waster. I've got one in mind---I've got a pile of mail to shred. I let it pile up for about three months at a time, a nice divide in the calendar, then run it through my shredder all at once. But I put it off and put it off, and not I've got a pile-and-a-half to go through.
Posted by KStar (Member # 4968) on :
I google cryptozoology on a daily basis pretty much.... yup... you never know when a new species might be discovered... there was photos of an albino killer whale just the other day.
Then I check my email about 400 times. Play spider solitaire while backing up files... then back them up again so I can finish that game of spider solitaire. Check the myspace a couple times.
And then I make itunes playlists, dozens of them, for different chapters and different stories. Then I come on here and read every post, but rarely reply.
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
I like Puppies.
I cant think of anyone who dosent.
RFW2nd
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Well, I'm a confirmed cat lover---dogs frighten me.
Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :
quote:Well, I'm a confirmed cat lover---dogs frighten me.
I'm curious... why is that? What is it about dogs that's terrifying but not cats (who in my experience are far less predictable)?
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Are we talking domestic canines and felines here? If so, then all we need to do is consider their relative size ranges. While there are some domestic dog species that are smaller than domestic cats, they are usually rather expensive and high maintenance and therefore not nearly as common as domestic dogs that are as large as or larger than domestic cats.
And, please, let's not let a cat-versus-dog discussion become another way to procrastinate?
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I relate it to an incident in my early childhood where I was chased down and bitten in the seat of the pants by a dog. Didn't break the skin, but it left me intimidated by dogs of all kinds, even the tiny pissant ones. (When I get to know one, I'm less intimidated, but even then, sudden movements and barking still gets my heart action up.)
On the other hand, domestic cats, even the strange ones, will on some occasions come right up to me and demand to be petted or picked up. (I was mobbed at the Key West Hemingway Home.) I can't say why, but it happens---sometimes. Dogs'll do it, too, but I'm put off by it---and I'm sure not when cats do it.
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
Fear is the mind-killer (and most animals already know this).
Posted by Crank (Member # 7354) on :
This thread just reminded me...there's a movie called "Cats and Dogs" that I haven't watched in a while. Perhaps, I will spin it tonight before I start my writing session.
Sincerely, The Human Rain Delay
Personally, I prefer the term "The Human Four-Corner Offense," but that makes reference to the U of North Carolina's basketball team, and I refuse to honor them because I'm a Maryland fan. So, there!!!
How much time did I just spend?
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I can procrastinate by watching movies, too---yesterday I spent two and a half non-consecutive hours watching my DVD of the movie "Chaplin," plus about a half hour of ancillary documentaries and extras.
Posted by seikari (Member # 8327) on :
So uh, I guess saying I play my Nintendo DS for ~5 hours+ daily sounds pretty childish, huh?
I really shouldn't be doing that. Especially at this time of the year (exams are coming).
Right now, I should be doing math homework because it's due at 3:00 AM and I haven't learned any math for the past two weeks, but I'm procrastinating by going on hatrack.
Oh dear.
Posted by Patrick James (Member # 7847) on :
Telling jokes.
Posted by dreadlord (Member # 2913) on :
anything. sometimes, to procrastinate... new words.
how did you get different fonts on this thing?
that must be an item of procrastination soon...
your tenth grade english teacher was... never mind.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I found a new way to procrastinate...or, rather, this was forced on me.
Last Saturday I had a file refuse to open. This was just a database file, cataloging-as-I-got-them the dates and serial numbers of accumulated savings bonds. It was on an old disk and just wouldn't open. Keeps telling me the disk needs to be reformatted. (Every other file on the disk would open, so it's not the disk itself---I think.)
Anyway, I've embarked on a project of recreating the file. I was able to cut and paste about a fifth of them from an older copy file...for the rest, right now I'm working my way through the bonds themselves. I'm searching my office for some old printouts and other files that might have a little bit more. But it'll all take some time to finish...
(Actually, I'm happy it wasn't one of my story files. You know the rule: the stuff you've written and lose in the bowels of cyberspace is always better than what you can find...)
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I don't procrastinate...it just takes me a while to get warmed up--like until midnight or so.
Posted by LAJD (Member # 8070) on :
Watching Zero and Philocinemas play chess.
LOL
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I can't watch a chess game (I know I'll run my mouth if I do, so I stay out of them).
Posted by LAJD (Member # 8070) on :
Well this ones seems to move at near glacial speeds, so a quick check once a week (or even every two weeks) in is all that is needed...but it fills a gap in the procrastination bin.
LOL
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
I resemble that remark!
BTW, did anyone ever notice that the face I "drew" here resembled Jack Nicholson? - Check out the eyebrow over the left eye.
[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited December 10, 2008).]
Posted by LAJD (Member # 8070) on :
LOL! I was wondering if you would wander by, Philocinemas....
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
What face? Where's Jack? What eye? In this thread? Did you link it?
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
IB, "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". Look up through the posts.
I made a pictogram out of it. My first two attempts didn't work, so I ended up using lines ____ for the facial features. Talk about a waste of time! I can do a lot better with pencil.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Hmm. Maybe I'm using the wrong browser, philocinemas.
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
Curious, is there any sempblance of a face from your perspective?
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Well, I can see how some of the "spaces" (underlining without text) could be eyes and nose and mouth, but only because you say that they do. Not sure what the other "spaces" are, though.
Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :
I didn't see either a pictogram or a face. I've sent philocinemas a screenshot of the post as it appeared in my browser.
Cheers, Pat
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
drinking heavily to dull the pain away of life is the beat way
to procrastinate.
rfw2nd
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I think I see a face in it...but I don't think I'd'a noticed it if it hadn't'a come up...
"Last time I ate a strange plant, I retained water for two weeks, and everything I looked at had a face on it."---character on "Perfect Strangers"
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
Mummmm Magical Mushrooms mummmmmmmm
RFW2nd
Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :
It was a stretch for me to suggest that those lines resembled Jack Nicholson.
What I should have said was that I tried to use the lines to represent some of Nicholson's facial features. He has fairly long narrow eyes and a wide mouth for his face. I left the area above the "left eye" blank to represent his eyebrow. Obviously, I was not very successful, so just squint real hard.
