Getting Things Done at Work--Or Not

Disorganization. I see it everywhere. I see it in my office because I am not working on my priority activities. I see it in the work of others when they are so focused on one topic and their perspective of that topic and the other office priorities.

I recently read David Allen's amazing book, Getting Things Done. I think he's been in my house, office, and head. His book is the first of many I've read that defines why I have such a hard time getting started and completing tasks. He describes people whose procrastination is based on the fear that they will forget to do things and leave them out so they won't forget. Things pile up until the person can no longer see what is out and needs to be done. He writes that we have only so much memory and new memories crowd out older ones.

The biggest problem I have right now with his concepts is figuring out how to put them into action daily/weekly/monthly/etc. I need to schedule regular time to review my inbox of work needing to be addressed and to get moving on some projects I've been working on.

Actually, another holdup in the process is trying to figure out how to let our director know that I am not getting my regular duties done with the extra work she has taken on on our behalf this year.

Goals for Monday: Tackle the inbox, list what needs to happen next with each item.
Put away the paper on the surfaces of my office--inbox, file, or binder for everything.
Get a new binder for course documents.

Lazy Sunday and Work

Sunday, January 24, 2010--I have my book group here on Tuesday night; so I thought I'd straighten the house and work on my purse organizer project today. Well. I didn't. I took a long time getting myself together this morning and before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I took a long walk--2.2 miles--and then when I got back, I needed to run errands. Then it was 5:00. While I didn't accomplish much, it was a good mental health day...

Ran into a former administrator from our office and chatted with her for awhile at the grocery store. She's very happy in her new job. I'm glad that it's working for her. I sometimes wish there was a place for me there or somewhere else. While I mostly love my job, there is always the uncertainty when the office changes due to retirements and promotions. We have already had a lot of gossip over our superintendent's recently announced retirement. Some people are assumed to be in the running for the position. Some people even asked me if I was considering it!! I would have to be nuts to consider it. I don't the have the inclination, experience, political contacts, etc.

So as I left the grocery store, it was sprinkling again. We are supposed to have rain again for a few days.

Tuesday, the 26th: No rain yesterday and not until mid-day today.

Good cookies and pecans at book group tonight. I tried a new recipe for some shortbread cookies that turned out pretty well.

Old Friend on a Busy Saturday

What a beautiful day today! Driving toward Visalia to make a run to Costco was the most beautiful kind of day we ever have! The air was clear, there were just a few clouds in the sky and I could see the Sierras with a heavy blanket of snow. They looked like they were right behind Visalia; it was so clear. Even here, you could see them clearly. Usually, our air is so murky that you are lucky to see more than a mile away...

Seeing those mountains took me back sooooo many years to the winter I worked weekends in Sequoia National Park. I worked both in the kitchen in the Village Cafeteria (no longer there, I believe) and checking tow tickets at Wolverton Ski Bowl. The snow triggers memories of trying to get to work wearing hard, slick-soled shoes and slipping all the way; of sleeping in the dormitory with the window open because the radiator heat was too hot; and inner-tubing on the snow. It was that activity that terminated my weekends for a few months as I inner-tubed over a cliff, landed on an inch or so of slush and fractured my sacrum (lower back). I think of my old friends, Kathy and Fred and then that triggers thoughts of other people that I worked with that winter and the next two summers. I had a brief Facebook re-connect with Fred recently but was "unfriended" by him in a few weeks. No real idea why; just noticed one day that he wasn't on my friends list...

Returning from Costco, I had coffee with my first friend in life, Judy. I had lost track of Judy in the years after high school and met up with her last summer at Weight Watchers. We've had lunch and coffee a couple of times. She seems to have a good life with a husband who treats her like a queen. I'm so happy for her. She had a number of years of hard times and has really come through them. We had a good visit and talked of work, her kids, her stove troubles, my husband, and lots of other things.

overeating

Well, tortilla chips two times in one week... I will be curtailing my snacking this weekend and probably hitting the gym to kind of make up for it. Tortilla chips are probably my main weakness in eating. I LOVE them. Consequently, I don't often have them in the house. They're right up there with cookies.

MORE rain...

I think it's the 6th day in a row that it has rained here. I'm chilled through. On the bright side, I could see the snow on the Sierras from my driveway this morning. And this afternoon, we had a very bright rainbow behind our office building. It was actually a double rainbow, but the higher one was much fainter.

Saturday, it isn't supposed to rain here, but it will start back up either Sunday or Monday. We need it for the crops in the area. We also need to replenish (re-charge?) our water table. My father told me years ago that when I was a baby, when he would dig a hole to plant a tree or shrub, the water would fill the hole faster than he could dig. That would never happen now.

Rainy Weather

It's raining today and supposed to for several more days. The last time our backyard was this wet, two of our trees started to lean and ended up almost horizontal. We still have them. They could go any time if the ground is sodden since they're top-heavy.

I hope this is an artifact of an El Nino weather system. They often lead to lots of rain. Our area is in a nearly constant drought condition; so this is welcome to most of us. My husband doesn't like when it rains because the days are dreary and he doesn't have much energy on these kinds of days. I look forward to fewer water-related issues with the farmers.

I'm tired of hearing about there not being enough water. Of course, there isn't. Everyone wastes water! I hate to see the city water the medians during a rain storm. I hate to see people wash off their driveways (even though I do once or so a year). I hate to hear people complain about government telling them when and how much to water, etc. Many people wouldn't conserve if there weren't rules about doing it.

Rant, rant, rant...

Working on Saturday and a child's funeral

Saturday was filled with work-related activities. I know, it was Saturday. First, I hosted a group of sign language interpreters for a videoconference at our county office of education. I played so many games, my IPhone battery ran down before it was over. I did get part of my book read for the book group.

Saturday afternoon was down time and laundry time. But at 5:00, I went to the funeral of the beautiful 3-year-old son of our department clerk-typist. I think it may have been the overall saddest funeral I have ever attended. The video prepared by his grandfather was heart-breaking, filled with snapshots and videoclips of the child being himself. He was charming, funny, smart and would never have needed speech therapy. One of the women in the department told me a few weeks ago when we knew he wouldn't live, that she was glad she had seen him at a department event so that she would have a positive picture of him in her memory. Another woman in the department left the reception after the funeral early to go home and be with her children. I imagine that it stirred a primal urge to protect her child.

The picture of me shown here is a large (pun intended) reason for my final decision to go to Weight Watchers. It took almost 5 months before I actually took the plunge, but oh my, I really needed to. Look at those round cheeks and I thought those jeans looked good! My mom signed on a few weeks later after I had been going for awhile.

I try not to berate myself too much for letting weight get the better of me. I have become stronger and now have the better of it!

Weight Loss

I am at about one and a half years in Weight Watchers. I wish I'd lost more weight than I have, but I've lost a lot! As of last Monday, it was 38 pounds! I am embarrassed to admit that I have over 20 to go to make lifetime Weight Watchers. It isn't making lifetime that is so important, but losing all this weight--and of course--not having to pay anymore...

One thing that is going well is that I am "trending down" instead of stagnating. When I look at my overall time on a graph, the line trends down--a good thing.