Why don't we do the things we should?

16 years ago

Is it me, or does anyone else totally resist the things they should be doing? I am so much like a little kid when it comes to doing things I know will make me feel better, like exercise. I also love to meditate in the morning but I can find so many reasons not to! If I do Yoga in the morning I feel soooooo much better, but I haven't done it in months! It's a mystery to me why I don't do these things! It must be I have a rebellious nature! Also, I'm down to working part-time again and can waste huges chunks of time with nothing to show for it! My life is one distraction after another!! Ach!!!!!!!!!!!

Comments (26)

grinch_gut
16 years ago
Count me as you! I could and should exercise...I do feel better I do it for a few days get it going good and stop. I should be up working on getting the house in order...before teh kids get home from school instead I am sitting here on the puter...and will do stuff starting about 1 frantically to get it done and not be dirty....LOL Okay at 9 I am getting off of here and will only get on after I get stuff done....Stacy
sandy_in_ia
16 years ago
I am standing in the same line!!! I KNOW I should eat much better, I KNOW I should exercise more (I can't do much right now w/ foot tho), I KNOW I should be doing some major cleaning in the house, I KNOW I should be doing more sewing projects.....but what do I do?? Sit on my FAT butt and surf!! "/ I am trying on the food thing....really.
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I think deadlines (at least deadlines we BELIEVE in) help us to focus on completing a task. With no deadlines, it is easy to postpone work on that task and spend our time on other things that seem more urgent or more immediately interesting. As a deadline approaches however, most of us experience an adrenalin rush that not only makes us more alert and able to focus on the job at hand but gives us the energy to keep working at it even if we have to forego sleep... just to meet the deadline. The biggest problem in your situation is that the deadlines you're talking about are YOUR deadlines but apparently not your builder's! And, since you're not in control of meeting the deadlines, all they are doing is increasing your level of stress with no payoff. All you get is a sense of disappointment when your builder fails to meet the deadlines. I think you need to find a way of making your builder internalize a deadline to finish your house so that HE feels the adrenalin. I did a search on your name to find your previous posts and get a sense of why it might be taking so long for your home to be finished. The first post I found from you was in September 2010 where you mentioned that the foundation had been poured in December 2009! Wow! I thought, that is TWO FULL YEARS. At that point, I was tempted to chime in to agree wholeheartedly with Worthy and even to suggest that it was long post time for you to get a new builder. But then, looking at some more of your posts, I realized that you are building at a fairly high elevation where winter sets in early and lingers late and you probably have a rather limited number of daylight hours in the winter plus days when roads are closed due to ice and snow. ( You mentioned in your Sept 2010 post that you'd already had a couple of snowfalls in August of that year. BRRRR! But your views are delicious!) Obviously, cold snowy or cold rainy weather is going to slow things down until a house is fully dried in. And, if roads are impassible to large trucks for much of the year, that could slow your build considerably even after you're dried in and most of the remaining work is "inside". I'm a southerner so see very little snow but I can imagine that small vehicles might be able to get up mountain roads that have only had narrow lanes plowed while larger trucks can't get up. So, if the truck delivering your cabinets can't get up the mountain, then your cabinets can't be installed. Since you mentioned "Christmas eve in the new house" tho, I'm assuming you're not building at such a high elevation that they close the roads for months at a time. But, just looking at your portapotty picture tells me that there are no doubt days when roads are totally impassible. When workmen can't make the trip nothing gets done even if all materials are on site. So, it seems like weather in your area may account for SOME of the slow-going that you've experienced so I won't go so far as to say that your builder is totally taking advantage of your relationship and is "blowing you off." And, he does seem to be doing some beautiful work. But, I do think you need to somehow get HIM to internalize some deadlines with regard to finishing your home. Now that it looks like the only things left to be done on your home are all "interior work," work ought to be going forward EVERY single day until the job is completely done unless the road are closed to all traffic so that workmen can't get there. If roads regularly become impassible to large trucks in the winter, that just means that your builder should plan ahead and get all materials on-site when the weather is good and roads are clear even if that means having them delivered to a storage facility at a lower altitude and them putting everything on a truck and moving it all up the mountain the next very time that roads are clear for a large truck. It looks like your garage is "finished" and there is no reason why various materials can't be stored in the garage until he's ready to install them. Not sure what all still needs to be done on the interior of your home but even buckets of paint can be kept on-site as long as you have heat so that it doesn't freeze. Wood flooring should also be stored in the house with the HVAC on so that it can acclimatize before installation. But, pretty much everything else (tile, cabinets, trim, electrical and plumbing fixtures won't be harmed at all by spending time in an unheated garage even in below freezing weather. I will tell you that I fired my GC when our home was at the dried-in stage. I took over as GC and it took me 11 months to finish it so we could move in. The house is 3200 sq ft heated/cooled plus a 900 sq ft semi-attached garage. It is a neo-Victorian with 3 full baths and two half baths, hardwood and tile floors throughout and lots of wood trim. About 3 months of the 11 was spent fighting with my banker to get him to agree to let us take down the rest of our approved loan without having to hire another builder so that we could get started so you can't really count that. So, 7 months to go from dried-in to move-in which is no land speed record but, having never built a home, I had to figure out what needed to be done and in what order various jobs should be done, then find and vet subcontractors to do each task and learn enough about each job to make sure it was done right before I paid for it. Plus, in order to save money, DH and I did many of the smaller tasks ourselves (i.e., painting walls, staining woodwork, hanging interior doors, installing mirrors and towel racks and cabinets knobs, plus all the CLEANING).... all the while continuing to work full-time at our real jobs. Based on the photos you posted in October, I would have estimated that you were less than month out from being finished, so Christmas should certainly have been especially if you had a builder that was really trying to meet that deadlines and making your home a priority. That you're STILL not ready to move in tells me that your builder isn't making finishing your home a top priority. So, while I can understand that you don't want to ruin the good relationship you have with your builder, it might be time for you to throw just a little bit of a hissy-fit. Just enough to let your builder know that underneath that nice, laid-back exterior you've shown thus far, there lurks a monster that he would really rather NOT have to deal with. Then, calm down and talk about setting some REAL DEADLINES. But keep your voice just strained enough that he realizes you've been pushed as far as you will go and that you're holding yourself back from ripping into him. And, once he gives you a new deadline, insist that he break it down into smaller steps for you with individual deadlines to prove that the overall deadline is realistic. 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bigbaby
Original Author
16 years ago
LOL!!!!!!!!! Some girls after my own heart!! I knew you were out there! Sandy, I also have problems with my foot! It really does make things harder. I finally started swimming and really love it. I grew up on an Island and have missed the water so much I decided to start swimming. I was on the swim team in high school and as of yesterday I swam over 1/2 mile! I finally found some exercise I love, which is danged lucky considering I was doing NOTHING else!! lol It still doesn't excuse me from not meditating and doing yoga. The yoga is amazing and it only takes about 15 minutes but you'd think I was heading for the firing squad! I got the food thing, too, but for a couple of months now have been really trying to watch it. Nice to meet you Sandy and Stacy!! Do you think we could help each other somehow? Hmmmmm.
softball_80
16 years ago
Easiest question I've heard in a while. Don't know about you, but in my case it's because I'm too damn lazy.
grittymitts
16 years ago
I've had the "Don'ts" too. An elderly neighbor used to say, "I've got the Don'ts today 'n don't care if I DON'T do a thing!" She was an adorable lil' lady. ; )
Suzi
grinch_gut
16 years ago
LOL bigbaby I don't think I would be much help I am still sitting here hahahaa..but I am getting up now cuz I feel guilty my first "excuse" was.....I needed to get caught up on what was going on here...so I have read to page 3 and now I need to get my lazy butt up so I am off! I will check back at noon....not before I promise....STacy
FlamingO in AR
16 years ago
I can be the same way, it would be so much easier to just DO it rather than think 20 times "I should be doing it."

That's IT! Today I'm filing away all my 2007 papers and getting of the stuff from 7 years ago! Thanks for the inspiration, bigbaby. I'm only 2.5 months late!
angelaid
16 years ago
I was thinking about this this morning on my way to work. I see this gal out jogging every morning. Rain, snow, sleet, ice. All by herself. I have never been able to be that self-disciplined. If someone is counting on me to do it with them, I'll be there. But I'm too lazy to do it by myself.
Kathsgrdn
16 years ago
I bought a treadmill and stuck it in my living room. My living room is small and it takes up quite a bit of space, but I don't care. If I put it back in my bedroom I won't see it and won't walk on it. The kids aren't allowed to throw clothes on it either, which they've tried to do. So, no more excuses why I can't go for a walk outside: too windy, too cold, too hot, raining, etc...

I've finally realize that if I don't do something to get rid of the weight I'm going to end up with diabetes.

Cleaning the house is another story....
cherbo
16 years ago
You have all just described me too. Yes, I am a big resister and procrastinator. Here I sit at my desk and right beside me is my exercise bike that I haven't done yet today. OK, I am going to get on it NOW and do a 15 min. ride. Yep I'm going to do that...right now.
Cheryl, who is leaving to ride her bike...NOW.
grinch_gut
16 years ago
How was your ride Cheryl? Your walk Kathsgardn? I am still sitting here LOL I have a friend who has cancer and thought I would email her...well then that started in my going thru my emails I haven't read so got that done forwarded lots of jokes to my friend and cleaned out my inbox and such does that count as gettting stuff done? LOL Stacy
bigbaby
Original Author
16 years ago
You guys kill me! Here I am at 11 a.m. and still in my jammies playing at the computer! (don't tell Ron lol!)
Okay, if you can do it so can I. I'm getting up right now, getting dressed and doing something! I could tidy up my office. I think I'll try to sit down every evening and decide what I will do the next day. Okay, I'm off! (I'll check back later!)
grinch_gut
16 years ago
LOL I did get up really I did!! I dusted one end table....(nothing is on it yet decorating wise) and then I decided I needed some scissors to trim up my 2 ferns I about killed over christmas and the hunt is on where are those 1o pairs of scissors I know I own? Now it is a mission I will find some scissors...I will....LOL Stacy
Happy_Go_Lucky_Gayle
16 years ago
Well once again my plans for the day are foiled. It looks like the rain is on its way. We were going to take the top off of the Vet and go for a ride just to get out of the dumps. Cancelled yesterday now today.

First it was S.A.D. through Winter, now its Spring Fever! I can't win.

Lazy Day! I guess I'll clean the bathrooms. That yuky old pitted tub. Gag!

Gayle
jannie
16 years ago
Gayle-SAD and then spring fever. I love it!
Kathsgrdn
16 years ago
I walked for an hour, with a sore foot. I don't know what I did to it but the top of it hurts. Yesterday I had to keep untying my tennis shoes and making them looser because it hurt.

I feel great after I walk but sometimes it takes everything I have to get on the treadmill and just do it.
grinch_gut
16 years ago
I still want a treadmill kathsgrdn great for you for doing it. I am really almost done with hanging stuff back up in the living room alll the kitchen is done except for teh floors and working on that....the bathroom floor needs done is all and my room is tomorrow......I did get stuff done LOL believe it or not...Stacy
bigbaby
Original Author
16 years ago
Wow Stacy, you made us all look bad! LOL!! I did get some stuff done, too! Did get up and dressed, putzed around the house and went to see Ron's uncle Edmund. It's his 92nd birthday today and I took him a little cake. He's so danged cute!

I have found that just showing up is most of the battle. Like, just getting to the pool or getting up and starting something. I can think myself right out of a lot of stuff! The silliest part is that I like doing this stuff!!!!!!!!!
bestlawn
16 years ago
Finally, I printed up some promotion materials and looking forward to distributing them. It's all your fault!
ronf_gw
16 years ago
bigbaby, you are so busted!
Half the battle is just getting started.

Ron
joyfulguy
16 years ago
May I join the crowd?

Procrastinator ... that's me.

Time to go to bed - some of us need our beauty sleep more than others!

ole joyful
OklaMoni
16 years ago
Well, I got the food and exercise thing down, but what about my puter desk? It's still as bad, or maybe even worse that back when we took pictures of where we sit.

I need to get my puter desk and my room cleaned up.

However, I did haul a bunch of "free (from craiglist) dirt" in, and got my roses and blue berries planted just before the rain yesterday.

But I need to do something about this mess.

Moni
grinch_gut
16 years ago
You guys got the rain Moni? We didn't get any it is overcast this morning but no rain here. I got the kitchen all done and today I just have my bedroom left and the bathroom floor and I am finished inside...tomorrow I start on the pond....ackk that is big work..not exxcited about it...Stacy
OklaMoni
16 years ago
Yes, Stacy we got some rain. Good thing, we needed it. I am making progress, one paper collecting basket is empty, and most filed away (with the majority in file 13). Only got another hour till my friends pick me up to go to a nursery.

Moni
babs77
16 years ago
You ladies crack me up. I USED to get a lot more done before I found this (STUPID, I mean "useful") website! I sit here for hours sometimes now!
I am usually a "lurker" but comment from time and time and this one just makes me laugh so much I had to comment.
When I got home from work yesterday I said to myself "You WILL clean the kitchen and start one load of laundry before getting on GardenWeb/KT."
All I can say is good thing I did...
sue_va
16 years ago
Me? A procrastinator? Just because I put off until now reading this? I started to read it on Thursday, but after just a few words I saw a bad word!

EXERCISE!

So I didn't read any more. So here I am. So far today I have: read the paper, had my oatmeal and tea, made the bed, fussed at the cat for getting on the new chair, checked on Eagle Cam, Africam, Gorilla Cam, and lucked out on Djuma Cam and spent a lot of time there, had a banana and more tea, watched a few minutes of 20/20 that I taped last night (will finish that later) played around on photoshop, started a letter to a friend (I'll finish that later) and now here I am back at the KT.

And it is time to fix some dinner, or I could do that later.

Oh, well, guilty as charged. Think I'll watch the news.

Sue

Why don't we do the things we should?

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