"Overcoming procrastination" here! 😉

This thread is getting lengthy. For more on this topic, visit Overcoming Procrastination and post your thoughts.

http://www.danoah.com/2014/05/a-big-fat-day-of-that.html '

just read this and it reminds me so much of how many of my days start and end, even though i KNOW what I should have done better.

It's a good reminder that even people who have their lives together and don't have the same problems we do go through the same things.

Anne, maybe you can pick ONE thing from the garage to work with today or tomorrow? Would that help? I know you do not want to go right back into the previous behavior that got you where you were in the previous house.

It IS hard work. You can do it one step at a time, along with us.

Annel, sounds like you can enjoy your living room now, that is great. When you are all settled in and enjoy less stuff in there, it might be easier to let go of the stuff in garage.
I have procrastinated on getting homeowners insurance, calling friends, cutting dogs nails, showering, you name it, I can wait until tomorrow. When tomorrow never comes, I have a problem. So did cut nails and cut her hair, still need to bathe her, maybe her then me today would be the plan.
We just keep learning and improving.

(((hugs))) Anne

Sounds like this stuff has grown into an unconquerable monster. 🙁

Many times to get started with a big project it helps to just quickly grab one item from the area.
Just one thing to make a decision on. Keep/toss/donate. If keep, where does it go? Place it where it belongs or as close to that area as possible.

Then celebrate! Do a Happy Dance.
Go do something else.

When you are ready, repeat the process.

The best way to eat an entire elephant is one bite at a time. 🙂

Aw, Anne, sounds like you are stuck? What can we do here to help?

Hello out there. Roxie you want updates? Perhaps Diane is correct, we are procrastinating. So I decided to post an update here. I saw that there was a lot more going on over on the other boards and I have only checked in here to see if anyone else posted.

Where I am with my old stuff in my new place. If you recall, I said it was piled up in my new living room space (which I hated) and I wanted to move it, but it got so hot here. Then, relatives wanted to visit 2 weekends ago, well, there you go! Boom! I had to do something with it, not it's in my garage.. : (

Now I'm not looking at it every day. I guess I keep finding excuses not to go there, except I see it every day going to and from work when I park my car.

That's where I am.....

Hi roxie, I think we are just procrastinating, writing about procrastination!!

How come no updates here? 🙁

Dianne: thank you for cheering me on 🙂

Roxie: I don't think the reality has quite sunk in just yet and probably won't until I am done with the owner of our old place. But living in my new place was delightful until I filled it with all my old stuff. Maybe, like you, I will find myself purging stuff that I thought was useful or needed at one time, but no longer is. I am ready to tackle the piles of boxes and toss whatever I don't absolutely love. I was reading about this one lady that says she goes into each room of her home everyday and looks at each item in the room and she says to herself, I love it or I hate it. If she hates it, she'll toss it right then and there. I think that's the way to go once I get everything settled in. I want to definitely live on the lighter side of things from now on. No more hoarding (I hope!).

AnneL, don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting to purge some more even from the pile of things you brought from the old place. For me, I'd rather do without than sit around with grungy stuff. When I can afford to replace, I will. I have no bed, but I can sleep quite well on the couch in the living room for the foreseeable future.

I want to clean and paint my bedroom before I bring in a nice new bed set. One day, in the future.

How are things going with settling in and leaving the past behind?

Anne L, that is amazing!!! Congratulations!!!

Now you can start fresh. WTG!!!

Hello everyone,

Sorry I haven't been around but I have checked in to view posts from time to time. My old house is finally done as of today. My brother picked up the last items he wanted and I can now write a long letter to the owner and try to explain what happened (without too much detail I think!), but I have to let him know about the plumbing and electricity needing work, not to mention the floors, but he'll see that when he goes in! Yikes, I'm scared of what he may still do. Even though the cleaning crew did fantastic, it's easy to see (and smell) that this will not be an easy fixer up!

Roxie, I don't know where you live, but I know how hard it is to get things done in the heat, we are in the middle of a heatwave with temps up to 105 here (SoCal). Believe me, it's tough, and I should know! Seems like you got a bit of a break in your weather though which is good. It seems like your purging is coming right along, stay strong and committed! You're doing fine.

Diane, don't let your procrastination stand in your way. I just went through this and I know if you can somehow get past this problem, you will break free and see clearly. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but I just kept focusing on the endpoint and somehow I am making it through! I have cleared two hurdles, now I just have to finish with the owner and I am done!

I still have all the stuff I salvaged and brought to my new place that I need to go through, but I'm trying not to get depressed about it. I feel confident that once the weather breaks and cools a bit that I can hopefully start attacking it and get it cleared out. After all, it's only a quarter of the stuff that I once had, so it shouldn't be too tough (I hope).

Everyone is doing great!!!

I was opening drawers looking for a pair of shorts when I realized I still need to do purging in the house. Yeesh. So I'll add to the long list that I need to empty out drawers of things unused or unneeded, not to mention closets. We did a lot of purging when the pros were here, but more can be done.

It is thankfully cooler here today. I hope to rally and get some real work done, as I did yesterday.

Thinking of you.

Diane,

(((HUGS)))

I procrastinated on taking photos of my hoard until today. Photos don't lie, like I have been to myself!! Thought I had more done than I actually have. Reality hurts today.

AnneL, I hope you aren't going to disappear on us. I like reading your posts and I'd love to hear updates.

Today I am hungrily searching for postings and there are not a lot of new ones. Come on folks, we all need the support.

Hugs
Roxie

AnneL, it is great to read your update, and that you are through with the old place now! And you have the determination not to let the new place turn out like that.

Keep reading and posting here often and it will help. I know from experience. 😀

Hello all,

Whew, I'm tired, but it's all finally done! Yippee! Yahoo! The girls that came and did the deep cleaning were fantastic! Of course there were some items that were near impossible, but the lead girl told me she tried everything in her bag, nothing worked. But we thought she did great otherwise!

For those of you that haven't been involved with the deep cleaning, this is basically the clean up, from floor to ceiling. They took the years of grime off counter tops, walls, floors, inside cabinets, windows, all of it! She said it needed more work but that it was really too far gone in some spots, but it looked like heaven to me and my sister! That house used to be gorgeous and sadly we ruined it with the 12 years we've lived there, but now it's kind of restored back a little. I hope the owner will appreciate what we did, although he never saw it the way it was!

I know I could never have done this if I hadn't discovered what great people there are here at this site! You all motivated me right past my procrastination and that was huge! When I first started posting here I never, ever thought we would do anything to change our condition, but thankfully, now I can breath (literally) again!

See the one thing that bothers me is that now my new place is filled (only in the living room) with the stuff we salvaged from the old place. But I feel sure (at least in my mind) that now that I have accomplished this feat, that I can overcome whatever was holding me back before, I feel changed toward cleaning, it's still hard and there are still days that I come home from work and look at this pile and feel sad, but I think that with what we just did, that I can tackle this and move forward in a positive way. I will try not to let it get me down and not to push myself and get depressed about it.

So, if anybody finds themselves stuck and thinks there is no hope, believe me, there is! Stay strong everyone!!!

WoW -- WAY TO GO, AnneL!!!

I don't think I can say anything better than what Roxie & Tillie already have 😀 I am just so VERY HAPPY FOR YOU and can't wait to hear about how you slept in your newly spacious abode last night & how the deep clean goes today!

Congratulations on your courage & progress -- *** ! YaaaaaAaaaaaY ! *** =D

AnneL, I am excited to read your post and looking forward to a report on today's work. You mentioned deep cleaning and I would love to know what exactly they do, as deep cleaning was not a part of the work done for me.

And I admire and encourage your attitude toward the mistakes they made in tossing some items you perhaps wanted. They all will make mistakes sometimes and accepting that is part of the healing, I believe. YOU are important, not the stuff.

Once they are done, you can enjoy your spacious and clean home. Then you get down to the rest of the process of recovery: learning how to maintain and how to continue to eliminate. It is an up and down project, with good and bad days, progress and setback, etc. I encourage you to be active here through it all. It helps me immensely even when I am at demand resistance stages.

Hugs to all

AnneL
GREAT BIG (((HUGS)))!!!
So very very proud of you for being so brave!
Well done! 😀
Sleep well in your empty home and I will be keeping you in my thoughts. 🙂

Roxie and Tillie,

Thanks for your support, it means a lot. We ended up staying there with them today while the guys did the work. It wasn't as difficult as we thought it might be, and you're right Roxie, it's more cathartic to be there while they do it! They actually worked very fast and finished within 5 1/2 hours, it was amazing. However when they left I found that I lost a few things that I had told them I wanted to keep that were close to the front door, but it's okay since all things are pretty much replaceable anyway. The good thing is that they ended finding some stuff that we never thought about which was very cool. It ended up costing more than we thought because we needed an extra dumpster, but I guess it's the price you pay for living in the situation you put yourself in! So with the house being empty, I guess that part is over and I can breath a little easier, now the next hurdle tomorrow is the deep cleaning. I'm just hoping they can accomplish what Robert, our evaluator, had promised us. He said the crew does amazing work and sometimes performs small miracles and showed us some of their pictures which looked very nice indeed. I'm keeping my fingers, toes, eyes and legs crossed and praying that all will go well and it will be alright in the end! But it feels good!

AnneL
Thinking of you today.
Great Big (((HUGS)))

((AnneL)) I am thinking of you on this big day of cleanout!

From my own experience, it was helpful to me and to them for me to stay around so decisions could be made no some things on the spot. Also, they gave me a few tasks I could do sitting down (sorting certain things). I actually did sleep half of one day when they were here. I gave them general permission to toss "trashed" items, but they still consulted me on things like the oriental rugs, which I appreciate. They helped me reason through some of the toss or keep decisions, which I also appreciated.

I personally think it is important to be part of the process, even if they do the majority of the actual work. It helps switch your gears, which you know by now need switching in order not to go right back to the same old same old.

As I follow up, I can see signs of the same old creeping back in and I have to fight that. Being part of the big day(s) solution helps me to do just that.

Please let us know everything, simply everything! 🙂

Well, I'm getting nervous and yet excited! Tomorrow is the BIG day of clean out. I met the evaluator (Robert) and he was so nice and patient and understanding, he said all the cleaning crew people had the same mentality and not to worry about them "seeing" our mess because to them it is just another day's work, that helps to think of it that way, at least for me. My sister is getting anxious thinking of them seeing our stuff, but I'm trying to calm her down. She doesn't want to stay there while they clean it all out, is that wrong? I feel guilty if I think of leaving while they deal with it, but I know I won't be much help and I'll feel useless just watching! I don't know what to do. Robert said we didn't have to stay, but I don't know.

I am so glad I pushed past my procrastination enough to call these people to help, I wish I had done it sooner! Everyone stay strong and focused, we can get through this.

I have brushed teeth four out of the seven past days, which is excellent for me. I'll keep working toward daily brushing for now. Eventually 2x a day will be a goal but not for a good while yet. It IS satisfying to see those Xs and my mouth feels better, yes.

Can you believe I used to teach oral hygiene? LOL

I am procrastinating on changing the litter boxes so long that it is a huge stink. I MUST do them. I must.

I ordered a Breeze system litter box and am hopeful it will help with this issue. I read about it in someone's blog and it sounded perhaps very helpful in my case. I will let you know. Parts have already arrived. Awaiting the box.

I am out of canned cat food and too lazy to go to the store but I know I have to do that in the next couple days. The cats really insist, though they are patient in eating the dry food, anyway. In Illinois I had a store I could go online and order groceries delivered. I really miss that at times like this.

My semi-feral black male Blackie is very persistent in trying to wake me up so he can get canned food. It gets mighty annoying. Poke here, claw there, jumping on my head, walking on my body (now THAT feels like a wonderful massage), trying to lay there in front of my face and stare me awake. I adore him.

When I am upright he acts like I am a stranger. When I lay down he is the most affectionate of cats, cuddling close, adoring his belly rubs and paw rubs. He is sleek and shiny black, just handsome.

Hi Roxie and Tillie, I think of you every night when I want to sneak to bed without brushing my teeth!! I am finding it difficult to remember maintenance when busy with a project, like dishes. Working on bedroom has been difficult, so forgot about dishes. May need to put stars on my calendar for brushing teeth

Okay, where the heck is everyone?