Finishing Tasks, Need to Fix This

V

validatelife

0
Hey, Wondering if anyone has any quick remedies for finishing tasks. I have a terrible habit of doing an NA or mini-project like writing a long email, polishing off a newsletter, website, or final version of a document and leaving it about 95% finished. My (atrocious) logic behind this is that I'll "remember" something important to put in the email or big document or something and didn't want to "send it off" (send it via email, print it, close the task) for fear of discovering one of those few last finishing touches. As a result, I have dozens of mini projects almost comletely finished but still "hovering in my mind" consuming psychological RAM.

Here are some solutions I thought of. Was curious if you had any more. Thanks!:mrgreen:

  1. Imperfection is good. Focus on completion, finishing, and crossing the task off ("Getting it Done") as opposed to making it a sparkling diamond of perfection. This is not to say focus entirely on qualntity of completed tasks as opposed to quality, but rather emphasize getting the task off your list with the most efficient execution possible. Having a project sitting in Actionables for a month after it's 96% done only to add 2 or three minute finishing touces on it is NOT "efficient". Efficient completion is when a task project is so complete that it only needs 5-10 more minutes of work, to then just do that work and finish it!
  2. You can always put the new thoughts in a newer edition. Be it an email, newsletter, website, etc. Almost everything these days has a "second (or third or fourth or fifth:) version" to it. If you send your long, well-written email that has 5 sections in it, but then think of a sixth section. Don't fret. You can put that information in a follow-up email or just in a supplementary one. From web pages to "grocery lists" almost everything will be done again in some form or another so it's best to just get done what you have to clear that mental ram.

I think one of the major reasons I do this is
1. Wanting to make sure any last finishing touches are not lost if I think of them latter on. and
2. Most importantly, fear of what will "queue up" in my mind after this task/project is completed! This sounds utterly ridiculous but it psychologically and cognitively could be a huge contributing factor to why some people don't finish or start numerous important tasks. This is huge. I feel like I let these 95% finished projects "hover" because I know if I completely finish them, a new project or task will bubble up that I'll have to start from 0% finished. In a ridiculous way of thinking I'd rather have 5 95% finished projects in my mind than 5 0% finished projects. The solution to this is simple. The 5 new projects are moving forward in your life. Hovering around the 5 95% finished projects and not finishing those is holding you back. Whenever you allow almost-finished projects to "hover", consuming your cognitive capacity, you're holding yourself back in productivity, and most importantly in life. If there's some project you're avoiding then the NA on that is to discover if that project is congruent with your purpose and outcome and ways around your inhibitions toward it of to chuck it. Clogging yoru cognitive ram with almost-completely finished projects is NOT a solution to avoiding engaging a new project.
 
Stop thinking about next excuses!

I think you should delete this thread, stop thinking about next excuses and just finish these tasks. I think nobody notices any difference of your work quality when you add these 5%.
 
Perfect be the enemy of the well.

I find your post intriguing and would like to mention a few points:

Assuming that you don't avoid that last 5% because you dread that particular part of the project (e.g. love mowing, hate trimming), then it sounds like the problem may be one of not feeling completely confident in this particular regard. This may be rooted in a fear of criticism, or of making mistakes, or of imperfection... could be lots of things.

No matter which it is (it could have other causes), I believe the solution is to work from the outside in. For example, give yourself a time limit (this is important) to finish that last 5% of the newsletter or email, and stick to it. Send it out at the end of that time limit. I say this because you don't want a bunch of 99% finished projects, either.

You can always make a list of Next Newsletter Ideas, or Ways to Improve X project, etc., for your future reference.

It is also important to point out that NO MATTER WHEN you send out a project, you will ALWAYS later think of ways it could have been better. Hindsight works so well precisely because you have gained the experience of accomplishment and growth. The students who have difficulty applying this concept are the ones who, after 9 years working on a thesis, decide to start from scratch. No legal brief, newsletter, novel, email, thesis, party plan, etc., will ever be 'done'. If you do not get projects 'done', despite their imperfections, you will stunt your personal growth. I think it is good that you feel uncomfortable enough to look for solutions.

I believe that if you obligate yourself to get a few projects totally done and out of the way, the sense of accomplishment will overshadow the fear and it will be easier to deal with.

Hope this helps,
JohnV474
 
TesTeq;58080 said:
I think you should delete this thread, stop thinking about next excuses and just finish these tasks. I think nobody notices any difference of your work quality when you add these 5%.
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Thanks. Succinct. Direct. And True.

[*] "Chapter 8: Reviewing: Keeping your System Functional" is a useful chapter
[*] Adapt your selected System Items (NAs, Readings, W/Fs, etc.) to your current 50k to 40k values. In other words, if you collect a dozen articles on how to do proper breathing, read 2 of them, and then feel you've fully engaged better breathing, you could probably eliminate most of those other articles you selected.
[*] Be highly selective of what you put into your system. Right now I feel like my read-watch-listen-to-review chunk of the system is massively bloated with unnecessary items. Some are poor, articles, some are random factoid articles, some are pointless, some are essential for my success. I read thoroughly (almost always taking notes in some form) so selecting an article to read or something to watch is adding something big to your list of todos, ensure that the things you "add" to your life are congruent with your larger 50k-40 purpose and vision. If that vision has solidified into a changed viewpoint, you'll have to adapt and update the other components of the system to ensure you're reading and doing and progressing on tasks, information, and projects that actually contribute towards and move towards the fulfilment of that newly solidified vision.
[*] If one component of your system is highly bloated and "never-ending", switch to a highly-selective mode. Treat that part of your system as sacredly as you treat the "hard landscape" of your calendar. My read-review sub-system is frighteningly bloated and out of control. In addition to an extensive watch-review (movies, tv, youtubes) and listen-review (podcasts, new music,audiobooks), my read-review contains
Magazines
Full cover-to-cover books
100+ computer-selected articles from online
Constantly updated Newsfire RSS feeds
Selected hard-copy Read-Review physical paper folder.
Reviewing all of the books, articles, blogs, and writings I've written

Just one or TWO of those would be more than enough reading material, but I have 5 sources of reading!! That's insane! Developing a way to process and most importantly "WEED Out" all of that information is essential for getting things done.

Did David Allen say much on weeding out your Read-Review folders???? What's a solution for that?
[/LIST]

I think one of the major reasons I do this is
1. Wanting to make sure any last finishing touches are not lost if I think of them latter on. and
2. Most importantly, fear of what will "queue up" in my mind after this task/project is completed! This sounds utterly ridiculous but it psychologically and cognitively could be a huge contributing factor to why some people don't finish or start numerous important tasks. This is huge. I feel like I let these 95% finished projects "hover" because I know if I completely finish them, a new project or task will bubble up that I'll have to start from 0% finished. In a ridiculous way of thinking I'd rather have 5 95% finished projects in my mind than 5 0% finished projects. The solution to this is simple. The 5 new projects are moving forward in your life. Hovering around the 5 95% finished projects and not finishing those is holding you back. Whenever you allow almost-finished projects to "hover", consuming your cognitive capacity, you're holding yourself back in productivity, and most importantly in life. If there's some project you're avoiding then the NA on that is to discover if that project is congruent with your purpose and outcome and ways around your inhibitions toward it of to chuck it. Clogging yoru cognitive ram with almost-completely finished projects is NOT a solution to avoiding engaging a new project.
Click to expand...
 
kewms;58084 said:
"Perfect" is the enemy of "good enough."

Katherine
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Thanks. REALLY appreciate the concision an helpful aphorism. That'll stick with me. I "Best I've got" better than "good enough" (which connotes subpar). I just gotta keep doing my best.
 
I noticed the biggest cause of not sending emails, posting thigns, etc. is fear of someone's reaction. I keep thinking, oh I'll "Wait to send it until the timing is right" or sometign ridiculous. Now is always the best time to finish a task for me. If finishing those tasks means someone gets 3 emails in row, or a bunch of new updates of mine pop up, then so be it. "Finishing is more important than "timing" because you never know when the "best" timing is.

Wow, quite a psychological response. You almost had me on the couch asking me about my mother. haha!

I'm a multi-tasker. I also don't like spell-checking (final touches) work. And also there is definitely a bit of that "stepping on eggshells" fear of criticism going on, too.

I really liked this
You can always make a list of Next Newsletter Ideas, or Ways to Improve X project, etc., for your future reference.
Click to expand...
combiend with the time limit. That will provide hardlines for tasks, and endowing me with certainty and knowledge that I can indeed get something done if I set a set-pre-defined time window to it will be inspiring and a tremendous boost to confidence and my capacity to GTD efficiently.

Wow. Much gratitude, John. This was really inspiring
It is also important to point out that NO MATTER WHEN you send out a project, you will ALWAYS later think of ways it could have been better. Hindsight works so well precisely because you have gained the experience of accomplishment and growth. The students who have difficulty applying this concept are the ones who, after 9 years working on a thesis, decide to start from scratch. No legal brief, newsletter, novel, email, thesis, party plan, etc., will ever be 'done'. If you do not get projects 'done', despite their imperfections, you will stunt your personal growth. I think it is good that you feel uncomfortable enough to look for solutions.
Click to expand...

in short, I'll set time limits for those projects to finish them in. "Finish project x by 8:30pm" etc. That'll be challenging, but knowing that (as DA mentioned you never full "move-in" to a place) last-minute touches should have a time limit and getting things done is much more valuable than going through the stress and burden and "muck" of having multiple projects hovering in "near-complete" states. I think "setting the old timer" on the iPhone is going to be a massive new implement in my life. I'm going to go crazy with alarms and timers from now on. I think I'll do the same for certain social meetings. Like "leave" when the timer goes off. that way, I'll stay in control of my time for any task, any setting.

Thanks. HUGE Help. I'm going to use this.
JohnV474;58086 said:
I find your post intriguing and would like to mention a few points:

Assuming that you don't avoid that last 5% because you dread that particular part of the project (e.g. love mowing, hate trimming), then it sounds like the problem may be one of not feeling completely confident in this particular regard. This may be rooted in a fear of criticism, or of making mistakes, or of imperfection... could be lots of things.

No matter which it is (it could have other causes), I believe the solution is to work from the outside in. For example, give yourself a time limit (this is important) to finish that last 5% of the newsletter or email, and stick to it. Send it out at the end of that time limit. I say this because you don't want a bunch of 99% finished projects, either.

You can always make a list of Next Newsletter Ideas, or Ways to Improve X project, etc., for your future reference.

It is also important to point out that NO MATTER WHEN you send out a project, you will ALWAYS later think of ways it could have been better. Hindsight works so well precisely because you have gained the experience of accomplishment and growth. The students who have difficulty applying this concept are the ones who, after 9 years working on a thesis, decide to start from scratch. No legal brief, newsletter, novel, email, thesis, party plan, etc., will ever be 'done'. If you do not get projects 'done', despite their imperfections, you will stunt your personal growth. I think it is good that you feel uncomfortable enough to look for solutions.

I believe that if you obligate yourself to get a few projects totally done and out of the way, the sense of accomplishment will overshadow the fear and it will be easier to deal with.

Hope this helps,
JohnV474
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great

Please let us know how it is going. Many of us have been through similar periods and have been able to overcome them so it's not just nana nunu stuff (as David Allen says).

By setting the deadline and telling yourself "okay, I only have 1/2 hour to finish these revisions and then it goes out, ready or not", you will work in a focused, efficient way. I have (literally) spent days working on stuff I could have finished in an hour, with nearly identical results. What was worse is that, at the 99% mark, I'd sometimes want to start from scratch because of some new idea!

Keep your chin up. You can do this. It will only be tough while you are learning.

JohnV474
 
JohnV474;58096 said:
Please let us know how it is going. Many of us have been through similar periods and have been able to overcome them so it's not just nana nunu stuff (as David Allen says).

By setting the deadline and telling yourself "okay, I only have 1/2 hour to finish these revisions and then it goes out, ready or not", you will work in a focused, efficient way. I have (literally) spent days working on stuff I could have finished in an hour, with nearly identical results. What was worse is that, at the 99% mark, I'd sometimes want to start from scratch because of some new idea!

Keep your chin up. You can do this. It will only be tough while you are learning.

JohnV474
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Thanks for checking in. It's going AMAZINGLY well. Two HUGE projects that's work and hundreds and (thousands??) of mini computer NAs that were killing me this past month were a website (yes a full website) and 12-paged graphics, jazzy newsletter for my acting class and I. I got "STUCK" when I had written all the material for hte website and then had to put it in "code form", double-check all the links, and paste in all the written, polished text into the fun newsletter formate. That involved learning a few new skills and a lot of tedious checking the file with the server ,uploading it, reloading, checking, fixing, repeating that whole process. But once I just started that, things flew. The "Next Action" was connect to FTP serve to really start trouble-shooting online. And I remembered how fulfilling and enjoyable web-design productivity and sharing is. that said, I'll never make another website without getting paid (A lot) first, upfront, but it was worth it for the memorabilia of the class.

I know you mean the best intentions, but for some reason I found this patronizing at first.
Keep your chin up. You can do this. It will only be tough while you are learning.
Click to expand...

It's fully NOT though and I realized later it's EXACTLy what i needed to hear! I'm tackling the daunting world of hollywood (talk about NA lists up the wazoo! haha) and GTD got me here and it's helping me out but there's tons of confidence, esteem, personal limitation barriers. My fallback has been web design and computers and that's okay, but I haven't been successful with that, and have to an extent with certain directors, with acting. In any case, your positive encouragement, to anyone pursuing a dream of acting, rooming for the first time with a female friend, really "starting his life out and having the vision of life actually match up to reality, your advice is highly appreciated. Maybe because I feel like I have a mastery of gtd (of sorts) and jsut feel like I got snagged? Maybe that's ego, too. Anyways, I sincerely appreciate the support JohnV.

I MUST remember to use the timer feature to get things done.

I thought of another reason why I don't just "send the email' is waiting it for an "arsenal" of proof that I've been BUSY and productive. If anyone doubts that I can just click "send" on this massive work project that could have taken months with multiple people, but that I just practically devoted the past month to. For example I've crafted an email that goes to the cluster of people in the class with a write-up detailing the site and the newsletter and how much work it was. The newsletter and the site are 100% complete, up posted, final done.

Another cause to me not "setting final todo times" is the project balloons into a HUGE project. this was a MASSIVE PROJECT of (build website, design and create newsletter, send newsletter and site to acting class, and then send links to both of those to acting school for sharing and possible work purposes).

Code: 
	Let me know what you think of the "dialog bubbles" scattered around photos in the newsletter.  I got a kick out of that!c

Newsletter is attached and

here's our site!!!!!!!

Surprise!!! I mentioned the newsletter but have been cranking out MASSIVE hours into this site, too.  IT was worth it because you guys rock and making an online memorabilia and reference archive of the awesome time we shared together is totally worth it, too.
	I didn't count but this was possibly a 50-hour project or more.  Who knows.  I'm never making a website or anything similar again, unless I get paid haha! It's just too much work, but that said, Enjoy.  It was worth it.

Key Areas to Check Out
	Be sure to check "Quips and Quotations"  -- all the quips, quotations, and compliment circle techniques that I could corral.

"Our Image" is the complete online collection of all our photos.

"Learnings!!!" actually took me the most time (at least 20 hours, no joke! of compiling organizing, and writing up every technique, body strategy, partner game, script analysis trick and tip into a reference-able, archived collection of over 50 key strategies and technique for staying aligned, focused, and clear on the scene, with minimized self-consciousness.  This is a REALLY complete archive of tips and essential strategies and I, personally, definitely plan to check-in on this and refer to the "Learnings!!!" link in case I ever get stuck or need to minimize anxiety, or want some "ingredients" to throw into a scene to add flavor and authenticity.
If you add up all the millions of "next actions" it's insane. I just made this retrospectively after the fact but realize that jotting up this quick NA list BEFORE designign an entire website would be a good practice! I've done HUGE projects in my life without (before) GTD but gtd could and shold be applied to them! See my threat on how GTD helped me move and relocate to california to start a, literally, dream life!) NEW projects and actions I've done with GTD but OLD (like making web sites) practices I've done the old fashioned way of trying to keep 10 dozen NAs in my head and not being able to think, breath, or do anything else but that project. GTD when I apply it "old practices" will revolutionize my productivity. It already has teleported me (along with a lot of passion and motivation) to a paradise home in california!

Continued...
 
This is just for the photos of the site
  • get photos from friends via email online posting
  • properly format pictures and photos for site
  • crop headshots for "quips and quotes section"
  • upload all photos for the "our Image" album page
  • "upload headshots for "Quips & Quotes" page.
  • resize and format any photos.

  1. collect quips from friends
  2. organize, compile, and edit quips
  3. collect compliments from friends
  4. organize compile, and edit compliments
  5. alphabetize the students and add corresponding quips and compliments
  6. pick a format for the content (This ended up being blog entry format with each student as a new entry)
  7. write-up 50+ acting techniques
  8. create categories for all those techniques
  9. file and categorize all techniqeus in their specific category headings
  10. proofread that document
  11. upload the techniques document to the site
  12. add a name internal anchors to all internal "technique chapters" links
  13. add href="#top" a name="top" basic nav to all "back to top" links
  14. create welcoming page message.
  15. add in 4 journal articles & proofread all those articles

And that's just getting started on the site. The newsletter included "humorous dialog bubbles" and I learned how to sequence page-flow from columns to other areas in the newsletter, which, once I learned it, was quite fun, quick and simple.

Now I didn't write out a SINGLE ONE of those next actions. The only thing I had down in my @Computer @Top-Priority and @Web-Comp lissts was "acting class website"!! Many of those NAs I couldn't have decided upon at a project brainstorming point becaue, for example, I had reviewed templates or formats of some design methods an scene that internal links would be a problem, etc.

Howeve,r i think the BIGGEST improvemtn to finishing tasks in addition to your BRILLIANT "setting timers" idea boost, would to acknowledge consciously and cohesively, holistically decide that yes, I have indeed committed to a project!! And KNOW And understand the magnitude of that project!!!

I just kind of started designing a newsletter, and then decided to "throw in a website" based on that.

This is by FAR the biggest FIXER for finishing tasks for me. Slow down and realize how much work I'm taking on (dozens and dozens of NAs) but ust casually "deciding to wing a web site" or to "just throw in this project". Strangely, web design and compute projects take up as much ore more time than many of my other "errand-based or other-context-based" projects (like get new license plates for example. But I just commit to and start tackling these computer-based projects like they're sprinkles, but each of those projects is like a month-like devoted time commitment.

So I think, conclusively, the biggest way for me to finish tasks is to:
  1. Be highly selective towards projects and have cognizance of the magnitue of time and energy and focus such a project will require. Just thinking of an idea of starting a project is NOT synonymous to committing to do it. With computer-based projects for awhile those to "were" syonymousfor! Resultingly, computer-based projects got REALLY out of hand, fast. I was like one farmer trying to sow and reap thousands and thousands of acres of crop I had so many projects going on! So be SELECTIVE about measuring and estimating the necessity, worthy, and time commitment of a project. I'm never doing another site without getting paid is a new prereq for that project type.
  2. Additionally, it's important to not just jump on projects as they arise in your mind. That's a big one for me that quickly leads to not finishing projects because my "standard of project work" was set at a homeostasis of "Project work @computer > workload of three people". That was my standard. DA talks about how we all have the "Scuzz factor" with our teeth, right? Some people have the need to brush 1, 2, or 3 times a day because some can't stand the "scuzz" build-up. That's just another word for a homeostatic habit-pattern standard. My standard for the past few years has been "I need to be taking on writing 3 books, doing a website, and polishing my refernce computer files" all simultaneously. I've gotten dangerously habituated to tackling more computer tasks than humanly possible. So my not "finishing a computer task" was my way of not embarking on another hellish set of projects that I know would "queue up" immediately after finishing this one. The best image is some kind of dam. Not finishing the project is damming up the river (the river of computer-based overly-demanding unworthy projects). YOu "finish a project" and the dam opens and instantly (within a week to month) there's another set of projects so demanding that 3 people couldn't handle them! The solution to all this is NOT to keep the river dammed up (unfinished web-based computer projects). Instead, the solution is to be OVERLY sensitive with an extremely high-threshold and personal "set of requirements" for taking on a project. Some of those prereqs are obviously pay, now. But other factors are estimating how much time, how much energy, and a brief scan of the types of NAs I'll be committing to. A month ago "design a fun website for my friends at class" sounds great, but 2 weeks into it, buried under mental mounds of hundreds of NAs related to JUST that project and you can't see the light of day. It's a different story. So envisioning what the project will take during the proecess. How will you feel accomplishing the NAs? What will the reward for the project be? How does this project fit in with your 50k outcome purpose and vision in life? For example, if I wanted to be out swimming and exercising more frequently there's no way Iwould have taken on this project with as much intensity as I did. In the end I'm grateful I did it. It's invaluable memories and I have absolutely zero regrets for endeavoring it. I also doubt my ability to complete it if I had counted up all the "NAs" but that's probably old thinking. In conclusion,
  3. Wiegh the value of the project and its congruence to your 50k vision and purpose in life. A congruent project would by more valuable and worthy than others.
 
[*]Envision the process of DOING all the NAs associated with the project. Can you see yourself doing those? Do you see yourself strained? Coasting? Struggling? Soaring? Successful? Burdened? Determining how you think tackling a 10-50 hour project will help you decide if it's something you want to do now, at all, or later. This drawback is that (Read Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness to understand this in depth) you often discover pains or happinesses and joys and parts of a process you NEVER could have envisioned when you are doing it in the present instead of envisioning it in the future. In short, envisioning is key, but has limitations, even though it is also essential for breaking through personal limitations!
[*] Treat workaholicism! With web-based computer projects I had become so much of a workaholic (with my homeostatic standard of projects that would daunt multiple people, which thoroughly, obviously stressed me out beyond ALL belief!) Holding off on finishing projects was the only way I knew of short-circuting the mental agreement I made with myself to dangerously always be taking on such an unstomachable and painful amount of work. If I had 1 website and 1 book 99% finished my brain "wouldn't take on any other new projects" because those were enough, but I also wouldn't be overwhelmed with work. The moment I finished a project, I'd instantly sub-in another hellishly overwhelming, unpaid, slave-like project that would start from ground zero!! So I needed to find SOMETHING to fill the void that was otherwise being detrimentally filled with three or 4 computer projects that would be a challenge for a small team of people, but I was taking them on single-handedly (much to the chagrin of my many sleepless, caffeineated, stressed out, psychologically moody, unhealthy days and ngiths)! I needed to stop doing that to myself, it was torture. but the moment I finished a computer project. I needed SOMETHING in my life going on that was challenging, created a sensation of productivity, used some skills and gifts and talents of mien and was worthwhile. I brainstormed (drinking alcohol -- hey you don't feel too self-demanding while boozing. haha -- playing more video games -- that actually is a vialbe substitute, because a lot of my computer work could be so extensive just becaue of a love for computers and video games would satisfy that without overloading myself with work -- but that lacked the "productivity factor". Increasing exercise worked for awhile , but strangely, increasing my exercise increased the number of ideas I had for web-based projects. Mainly, people-based acting activiities is the best way to fill that void of always needing to be productive. If you're read this far and have followed my train of thought, Any ideas on that??
My brain is something I can't "shut off". If I just passively do things (watch, read, listen, instead of write, do, act, etc.) it seems like I'm successfully "not doing work" but my brain turns to sludge, I feel like crap, and the only way to feel aligned is for me to do work! That could be a gift in some lights and it is!! However, I need someone to channel it. When I have an acting class going on, it's great, because all my mental and emotional energy is challenged, applied, and is worthy, and it's productive. However when those acting experiences end, I'm left out on a limb, my brain panics, and in come the the flood of heinously tedious computer-based projects of which maybe 1/3 are worthwhile but 100% are so time-consuming and demanding that it drains my energy and life! So atleast I've pinpointed part of hte problem. I have a HUGE demand to be constantly expressing myself and "working". I can't sit and watch a movie or TV show without taking notes and reflections on it and then posting those notes on some forum or site. EVERYTHING has to have "productive value" and just sitting and watching something (without notes or written or spoken reflection) isn't satisfying or is something I don't "validate". And validation is key to everything. So I can try to redefine my standards of productivity, a MUST, but most importantly, I am interested in easing off computer-based NAs and projects. A previous post revealed that I had about 7 different types of @Computer actions (Random, Web, iPhone, Writing, Career, Email, R&D, and Top-Priority). That's a little insane. That's JUST @Computer actions. All other contexts of actions (Phone, Home, Errand, Car, etc.) is belittled by all my computer-based actions. That's a little out of proportion. I lovecomputers, but and I love work and productivity, but I am interested in

shifting and sliding some of that massive productivity and feel and vibe toward non-computer projects and NAs,
simply taking on less projects in general by lowering my homeostatic standard for project work,
possibly filtering almost all projects I take on and endeavor to ensure that they are profitable and/or a rare exception (as the acting website was) of tremendous friendship, emotional, and referential value.

Well, there you have it. Any ideas for accomplishing that transition I have an interest. Removing most all computer work from my life makes me feel like I'd go through withdrawals. When I'm not doing an acting project, I'm practically addicted to computer work. This sounds ridiculous but maybe a video game might help quench the "computer craving" without it consuming my ilfe. Interestingly enough, when I'm doing an acting project, class, or work, I barely touch the computer. It's the introverted-extroverted extremes!

This has gotten (A LONG time ago!) too long for this thread. The rest of (and the post in its entirety) has been redirected here.

Anyways, JohnV474 you've been incredibly inspring. thanks for hte awesome encouragement. In a weird way, reminding me to keep my chin up was exactly what i needed. Thanks! I really appreciate that!
 
Timers WORK

JohnV, just a thanks. Tons of gratitude again. When I'm writing a long complicated email or working on a big project that has lingered I set the 30 minute timer ( or whatever set time) and the experience becomes like "some kind of standardized test" timer experience! I think it ups the qulity of my work and definitely gives me a breathe of fresh air of completion and SET hardlines for getting things done! Timers work wonders!!
 
Solution!!

I think I just found the best solution to my problem.

First, I ceased a lot of computer-electronic-driven system approach for an experiemet.

I cut a piece of printer paper into 4 equally sized pieces. On each of those I write a NA or mini-project (usually a mini project like "get online banking to work" or "mail headshot and resume to agency"). Then I go through that stack of square slips each with one mini-project or NA on it and I LABEL each one as A,B,C, or D. A being the highest priorities items.. (note: larger projects I use a full sized sheet of ppare and write up an outline of essential NAs for completion). After labeling them. I sort them into three piles of prioritizing (the labels help to get scope, but the piles are the one that coutns because priorities can change). After sorting into top priroity piles. I look through the top-priority stack and select 2 (TWO) ONLY 2 NA, mini-projects to do. Almost all the time, I can accomplish those in 15 minutes!!

Additionally, I need to cut down on "follow-up NA details" .
 
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