Deadlines
I respond well to deadlines. I’ve been thinking of doing the guided walk by Janet Cardiff at the Hirshhorn since it opened. It’s about 4 blocks from my office, and takes 45 minutes. It closes Sunday, so I finally got over to it today. I really enjoyed it. Even knowing what she does with audio, I still found myself turning to see if someone was coming up behind me.
Without deadlines, I procrastinate endlessly. So, I’ve gotten pretty good at seeking out things that create artificial structure when there isn’t natural. It’s how I wound up running several marathons. I found myself looking at the National Novel Writing Month website this week. I don’t especially want to write a novel, but the structure and comraderie appeal to me. (No, I’m not going to do it.)
I fantasize about figuring out a way to make a living by reading and thinking, but I worry that without a structure to keep me moving, I’d get really good at playing Bejeweled.
Ironically, one of my favorite ways to procrastinate these days is to read the productivity tips at 43folders.
October 28th, 2005 at 7:38 pm
I respond very well to deadlines also, which is exactly why I AM doing NaNoWriMo, which I did and thoroughly enjoyed last year too. It’s also why I have a bad habit of endlessly looking at calls for submissions and papers, instead of working on my own writing instead so that I have a ready file when I do see suitable calls. It’s a double-edged sword, for me.
October 29th, 2005 at 10:33 am
If 43F isn’t the best site for guilt-free procrastination, I don’t know what is. (“I’m not surfing the web: I’m learning to work more productively!”)
October 29th, 2005 at 6:47 pm
I was just eying NaNoWriMo myself. Someone should start something like that for gridlocked ABDs.
If you find the time to explain more of your artificial deadline process, I’d live to read it. I’m a master at subverting my own artificial deadlines.
October 31st, 2005 at 11:21 am
Thanks for the pointer to 43Folders. I just found a great tip there: create a web page that says “Get back to work!” and make that your browser home page so it’s the first thing you see when the browser launches. That’s what I need. I procrastinate by looking at blogs all the time.
October 31st, 2005 at 9:38 pm
Haha! I created such a large to-do list of timewasters at my former dumb job that I’m afraid to go near the computer during the day now that I’m at home. It’s one thing to spend a useful hour looking for job ads and emailing my resume to prospective employers… but it’s quite another to spend all day reading through the last week’s posts on Metafilter!