181 Days ’til 40: Beer Festival

 

Today I went with my partner and two friends to the local beer festival.  It was a lot of fun.

 

219 Days ’til 40: Credit Craze???

When I was on the East Coast last spring I kept seeing signs similar to the one above – announcing “Guaranteed Credit Approval.”  Hmmmm, I wonder what sort of percentage they charge for guaranteed credit?  I saw these signs on everything from department stores to automobile lots to trailer parks.  Why, oh why is credit everywhere and why is it so easy to get?

 

342 Days ’til 40: REDUCE Your STRESS (before it kills you!)

STRESS – we have all felt it from time to time.  STRESS – we have all heard others complain about it.  STRESS – an all-encompassing descriptor of anything in life that causes us to want to run, hide, scream, or smack someone.   STRESS  – What do we do about it?????

 

346 Days ’til 40: Surviving Guilt Trips

Do you ever feel like people in your life are trying to plow you over with guilt trips?  Some blame this on their religious upbringings (though I have personally heard members of almost EVERY religion mention guilt trips, so I think they have more to do with human nature than a specific faith structure)!  I have found that guilt trips

 

350 Days ’til 40: Radiating Joy and Love

Do you ever wonder how some people do it?  How they seem to radiate a love, joy, and kindness 24/7.  They always seem to have a smile on their face, are always positive, cheering people up, patting individuals on the back, offering hugs and condolences.  Their cups are always half full.

 

358 Days ’til 40: Music as Therapy

I have often thought about the significant effect that music has on my life.  I am not going to spend this post musing about the benefits of playing classical symphonies to your developing child while they are in the womb.  I want to look at how music affects us as we go about our days.  Many people will use music as the soundtracks for their life, and those

 

366 Days ’til 40: Birthday Blues or Birthday Bliss???

I always find it fascinating to see the way in which people relate to their birthdays.  Some individuals want lavish parties and bask in the glow created by buckets of attention heaped upon them.  Others are horrified when personal attention comes their way and they would rather allow their birthdays to pass quietly.  Some

 

367 Days ’til 40: Illusions of Grandeur

Have you ever met someone who seems to think more highly of themselves than they should?  They may tell you how wonderful they are, but when their actions are put to the test, it seems they talk the talk more than they walk the walk.

 

368 Days ’til 40: Performance Anxiety

First of all, just to make sure everything is clear – this post is about general performance anxiety in life, NOT about sexual performance anxiety (perhaps a post for another time!)

Many of us fear inadequacy.  We worry whether we are truly measuring up, whether we can be all that we were

 

381 Days ’til 40: Motivating Myself

“Procrastination is a crime, it only leads to sorrow.  I can stop at any time, I think I will tomorrow.” ~ Author unknown.

My 8th grade history teacher forced us to memorize this quote.  It has been with me all these years…..  Yes, that would be well over 25 years!  Yet I must admit, just because I have never managed to rid my mind of these words does not mean that I have embraced them as guidelines for life management.

When I was in high school I studied at the last-minute for most exams and wrote my papers that way too.  I was perpetually motivated by the last-minute.  My GPA was not the top, but decent enough.  At the time my parents said, “You will NEVER get away with that in college.”

When I was in college I studied at the last-minute for most exams and wrote my papers that way too.  I was highly motivated by the last-minute.  My GPA was higher than in HS. At THAT time my parents said, “You will NEVER get away with that in grad school.”

When I was in grad school I studied at the last-minute for most exams and wrote my papers and projects that way too.  I was greatly motivated by the last-minute.  My GPA was higher than my undergrad.  In fact, I got only one B+ in my entire grad school career, and the program was tough!

I never learned my lesson – in fact, throughout my entire educational career I received reinforcement.  My behavioral conditioning showed me that I indeed COULD get away with procrastinating and it DID NOT lead to sorrow…. I had pretty good outcomes.

Only as I have gotten older and “wiser” have I started to work at a more even pace.  Most of my work does not have actual deadlines, so I am diligent about finishing assigned tasks as soon as possible, moving things out of my perpetually overflowing “in box.”  I am much more skilled with this when I am at work.  I get as much accomplished as possible, as the environment is fast paced and it is critical to keep up.

Home is another story….  laundry and dishes can pile up for  a few days before I reach my limit (often to the dismay of my partner).  I most certainly need to learn new skills for the home, but over-use the excuse that I am exhausted from work.  Note:  Just because it is over-used, does not mean it is not true!

When I bring work home I tend to falter….  how do I reconcile my fast paced work world with my slower-paced, procrastination-filled home world?  I wish I knew how to find that balance.  Work that comes home should be done on Friday night, giving me the entire weekend to relax and let go of all work-related thoughts.  So, why is it that week after week after week the work follows me and haunts me all weekend?  Only on Sunday, sometimes late Sundays after dinner and when I should be thinking about bed, do I finally get around to accomplishing all that I needed to before the new work week starts.  It does get done, it gets done well – but I have wasted SO MUCH TIME prior.

You see, when I have a project to do that I am not interested in, the procrastination is high – in fact, my partner gets lucky sometimes because my procrastinating from the work that followed me home can often benefit the house – I go to housework first!  Then computer games, then surfing the internet, a long nap, etc.

I do believe my weekends would feel better to me if I could get my work done on Fridays… then I could relax and enjoy my days off.  Even if I were to play the same games, surf the same websites, etc., I would do it with less stress because nothing would be hanging over me while I was engaging in those activities.

So the moral of the story is, do not procrastinate…..  now we all just need to figure out how we are really going to stop procrastinating…. let’s think about it tomorrow!

~400daystil40