What lies behind us and what lies before us
Are tiny matters
Compared to what lies within us.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

I have two very annoying talents:  ability to fill to overflow any flat surface within reach; ability to procrastinate to the point of absurdity.   So what is it that fuels our procrastination.  (I'll leave my Flat Surface Syndrome - FSS- for another day)   Why do we happily endure the stress of the unfinished task?

John Place says there are 11 reasons for Procrastination.  He even give a possible "cure"  for each.

• Complicated-task anxiety: Break big, complicated tasks into smaller pieces. Complete a starter task, no matter how small.
• Fear of imperfection: Accept that perfection is rarely attainable and seldom necessary. You’re a person, not a robot. Use the 80/20 rule whenever appropriate.
• Indecision: Determine your decision-making criteria, then set a deadline for your decision. Ask a friend to hold you accountable.
• Priority confusion: Distinguish obligations from options. What are you really responsible for? List and prioritize tasks.
• Boredom from minutiae: Automate simple repetitive tasks whenever possible.
• Lack of focus: Minimize distractions. Check e-mail and voicemail only twice per day instead of every 5 minutes. Find a quiet room where you can concentrate. Resist the urge to keep taking breaks.
• Poor organizational skills: Clean your work area. Put tools and utensils in their proper place so you can find them when you need them.
• Laziness: Remind yourself of the consequences of procrastination. Resist the urge to be a couch potato. Try to complete several small tasks to provide a feeling of accomplishment. Reward yourself.
• Lack of energy: Maintain a regular sleep routine. Eat healthy. Exercise regularly. Do not skip breakfast.
• Early morning lag: Before you stop working each day, make a list of the tasks you want to begin first thing the following morning so you can hit the ground running the next day.
• Post-lunch fatigue: Before leaving for lunch, make a list of the things you plan to do when you get back so you can pick up where you left off. Avoid eating a heavy lunch.

So which of these impeded my finishing this article for over 4 1/2 months?   Probably Fear of imperfection is the greatest.  Next would be a lack of focus.    Then a combination of those last three energy-related problems.

The irony here is obvious.   It took me 15 weeks to finish an article about procrastination.   A short one, at that.

The importance of doing those tasks which we know the creator has designed us to accomplish is also obvious.  And never forget, the enemy of our soul knows if he can just get us to delay enough, often enough, that important task will never get done.   So what are you procrastinating about?    While you're pondering that question, I shall move on to another task I've been putting off:  Cleaning my work area.   I'm excellent at organization -- most of the time.  But there are times that my tendency to organize things in piles simply overwhelms me.   I've ordered a new filing cabinet.  In preparation for it's arrival, I shall begin with the sorting and organizing.

The difference between what we are doing
And what we're capable of doing
Would solve most of the world's problems.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Here's to efficiently getting on with our purpose and igniting that power that lies within!!

BLESSINGS,

PJ

Reality check!

WHY I LOVE "REAL" BOOKS!! (Or my troubles with Technology)

     

Yesterday, I discovered hubby hunched over his I-pad fuming and frustrated.  

      "I can't get this book ordered from my Amazon account.  I've wasted TWO HOURS!!  Two hours of reading time is gone!" he groused.

     Trying to order an e-book, the account wouldn't accept the new (re-issued due to being compromised) credit card that he has already used in other places.  But Amazon wouldn't recognize it!!!

     I tried to help. . .  no avail.   Then I suggested ordering on my Amazon account.  So we logged out of his account, logged into mine (after changing my password because I had long forgotten the password that's in my laptop's memory!!)  But Amazon didn't like the new device (His I-Pad) with a new password...so after several terribly unreadable CAPTCHA codes later and two new passwords, it won't let us into my account on HIS device.   

     Next I tried to use my I-pad to order the book.  Amazon still wouldn't let me in to my account on My I-pad.   So I ordered the ebook on my laptop (with the latest new password--which I have carefully written into my journal.  But by the time I need it again, I"ll have forgotten which journal I wrote it in!!)  to read from his I-pad.   

     Book ordered and in my account.  But his I-Pad can't access My Amazon account.   Not even with the fifty-seventh new password!!

     Aha.  He can borrow MY I-pad.   Alas, my I-pad doesn't have the reader downloaded.  So I download the reader app.   But not until I have changed my I-Tunes password because the Kindle works on the I-Tunes account, but I have to order from the Amazon account???  

     So I try it out and . . .  YES!!!  My I-pad will access the book.   So triumphantly I head to his office to lend my I-pad.   BUT . . .  somewhere in this process HIS I-pad has let him into MY Kindle account and he has the book.   But is too frustrated to read it and has a different "REAL" book in his hand.

     Three and a half hours!!  In that amount of time, I could have WRITTEN the book!!   

     A bit later he did settle down and read the book from His I-pad and today got the lesson done for which he needed the book.   AND I've read parts of the book as well.  

    Technology!!!    And then today, while I'm writing this blog (on my laptop), I wanted a picture from my phone.   My habit is that I email the picture to myself from phone to laptop.   I discovered that my laptop can directly access my phone pictures!!  Who knew!?? 

    The irony:   I just finished teaching TWO graduate level "Using Technology in the ESL classroom" classes!!   I CAN use PowerPoint, Build Web Sites, Write Wiki's, and use Blogs, but apparently I can't (with any efficiency) use certain applications. . .  and know Squat about my I-pad.   

     I think I have an I-pad for Dummies book around here somewhere!!!

 Nope!!  Apparently I-pad for Dummies is NOT in my library!!   

Rest Assured . . .  I WON'T order it as an eBook!!


Technologically yours,

P.J.   the sometime Techie

      

MISSIONARY STORIES

Ants in the Cereal

As a result of a meeting between a few old missionaries and various family members, came the following story.   (Narrator is not me!!  Just told in first person for effect.  Artistic license taken by the author . . .   ME!!)

We were living in a tropical climate far from civilization and were totally grateful when a visiting American friend brought us a box of "good" cereal.   We saved it carefully for a special occasion.

The special occasion arose a few weeks later when a seasoned missionary visited us.   

 "What would you like for breakfast," I asked the night before.

 "Why don't we do something simple, like cereal?" she suggested.

Happily I answered, "Sure," remembering the cereal in the cupboard.   I would have "good" cereal to serve my guests.

Next morning, I pulled out the sealed box of cereal.  To my horror there were red ants crawling everywhere.  Yes!  INSIDE the sealed cereal package.   Totally embarrassed, I showed my guest the package.

Nonplussed, she said, "We can fix that.  Let's just have toast for breakfast.   But meantime, we'll fix the cereal.   Do you have a cookie sheet?"

Puzzled, I pulled out a cookie sheet.   She spread about half the cereal, ants and all on the cookie sheet and asked me to turn on the oven.   Obediently, I did.

"Now, do you have another cookie sheet?"  She asked.

I pulled out another on which she put the rest of the cereal.  Then she popped both cookie sheets in the oven.   (Yes!!  Ants and all.)

"Now."  She said cheerfully, "Let's fix that toast."

I did.   While we ate toast and fruit, the cereal (and ants) toasted in the oven.   Later, when the sheets had cooled, she asked for a colander.   I produced one and she poured one tray of the cereal into the colander over the sink and proceeded to gently shake the cereal.   The ants fell into the sink.   As the newbie in the tropics, I watched open-mouth as she explained.   

"Don't shake too hard or you'll break up the cereal and lose too much.   Just a gentle shake will do it."

We finished the task.   I put the cereal in a SEALED plastic container.   Next morning we had . . .  cereal, sans ants!   Good stuff.

AUTHOR:  Phylis Dunlap-Huerta

NARRATOR:  Unidentified friend/family who entertained me with the story!!!

ARTISTIC LICENSE:  Taken freely for missing details of story!!

WARNING:  “A writer is a dangerous friend. Everything you say, all of your life and experience, is fodder for our writing. We mean you no harm, but what you know and what you’ve done is unavoidably fascinating to us. Being friends with a writer is a bit like trying to keep a bear as a pet. They’re wonderful, friendly creatures, but they play rough and they don’t know their own strength or remember that they have claws. Choose the stories you tell to your writer friends carefully.”
― Randy Murray