digitalBush

Procrastination is typically perceived as a bad thing.  After all, when someone puts something off until the last possible moment, then they are lazy, right?  Well, this may be true for some, but not all of us procrastinators.  I put off things until the last minute because that means I can do other things now.  Where I work, there is a constant barrage of work to be done.  "Emergencies" pop up on a daily basis that require immediate IT attention.  All of these urgent requests inevitably put off other work.  So, some of my procrastination isn't my own choice.  Still, given any two tasks, I try to weigh when it's due related to how long I think it'll take me to get it done plus 33%. 

I think that I write better code when I'm in rush mode.  I know this seems very counter-intuitive, but hear me out.  By waiting until the last minute, and then working it out until it's done, you:

• spend less time on that one project.  When a project drags out, you inevitably take time re-aquatinting yourself with your former code.  That's wasted time in my book.
• get to complete the task in one mindset.  Code is more consistent throughout the program.  I'm less likely to do something a different way than I did 5 minutes ago versus 5 weeks ago.  I think this makes for a higher quality end product. 
• could have learned a better way to do the task that I would be doing.  Something that would have taken me 2 days to complete may now take half a day because of my new found knowledge.  Research does pay off!
• get more done.   Since the total time dedicated to task is smaller, you can cram more into your 8 hours a day.

Nothing is 100% good.  Procrastination does bring it's own set of problems.

• Stress!  Working up to a deadline can be stressful.  There are people and dollars counting on you making your deadline.  That thought is stressful enough, but those who are waiting will push their stress on you.  Double stress!
• You get things done faster.  So, what happens when people realize you can churn out huge things in a very brief period of time?  They expect it all of the time of course!  This isn't normally a problem until they expect you to work as fast on an emergency as you did on a project that you had in the pipeline for a month.  Part of what makes the burst of work so successful is the planning that led up to that.  Code meditation if you will.
• Managing 2+ projects that come due at the exact same time.  I try to make sure that I get one task totally out of the way until I move on to another.  The problem lies in the go-live date.  There is always some amount of babying a project needs when it's going live.  This isn't necessary a procrastination problem until you miss a target time.

Procrastination isn't bad until you have problems meeting deadlines.  There are people who don't procrastinate and have problems keeping a timeline, so it's not a bullet point issue  Please keep in mind that procrastination != half-assed work.  I have a standard of quality that I won't compromise no matter what is on my plate.  Nothing from me will go live until it's right.  Period. 

Two weeks into my 2007 resolution and I feel good.  I'm eating around 1500 calories a day.  By using sparkpeople.com I've been able to see what it means to eat reasonable.  I try to log everything that I eat as soon as I eat it so that I can see how I've impacted my diet for the day.  So far I've lost 9 pounds.  I think I could have done better, but we went in to see my family last weekend for Christmas celebrations.  I ate more reasonable than usual, but I still blew it big time.  So I spent last week re-losing the weight I gained back from my 3 day hiatus to dieting.  My energy level has remained acceptable thus far, and that helps with the motivation.  It's hard to stick to something when you feel miserable.

It seems my problem all along has been portion control.  Namely, I just ate way too damn much.  I've found a few things that I ate on a regular basis that just weren't worth the calories (General Tso's Chicken!).  For the most part, however, I've been eating things that are perfectly fine to eat IN MODERATION.  I've been concentrating on eating smaller portions of everything.  I've also held back on seconds. Most meals involved me going back for another full plate.  The other day I managed to leave some food on my first plate, so there is a little progress on the eating less front.

Right now my goal is to get a handle on my diet.  I haven't been exercising because I'm trying to go at this with baby steps.  Before I've always just barged into this whole deal.  I was always hungry and lacking energy.  I'd get frustrated and give up.  I'm convinced that slower is better.  I have decided to wait until I lose 16 more pounds before I start introducing some exercise into my daily regime. 

Here's a recap:  9 lbs down, 16 more till my first milestone.  I screwed up, but got right back on track.  I feel good.  Rock On!

This year I have decided to tackle the same freaking resolution that half of the US claims as their own. Yep, you guessed it! I want to lose weight. I want to lose 50 lbs. Why did I choose 50? Well, it's about halfway to my ideal weight according to BMI, and it's a nice even number. According to BMI, I fall into the obese category. I'm not in the morbidly obese category, but having that obese label really bothers me. I watched what happened to my father from being obese (of the morbid variety), and I DO NOT want the same fate.

I plan on rolling this out in phases. I first identified my problem areas in order of significance. Number one, I eat too damn much. I figure that I eat 2500+ calories a day. And number two, I don't exercise enough. Naturally, the first step is to reduce my caloric intake. I don't have a diet per se, my only goal is to limit my caloric intake to 1200-1500/day. With that limit, I'll be breaking it up across the day into small chunks. I'm going to try to have 4 200ish calorie meals during the day and a meal with a little more substance for dinner to carry me through the night. After I've gotten used to this calorie reduction, I plan to start back at my running when it's a little warmer outside.

I still have my ultimate goal to run a marathon, but I think I'll hold off on that until 2008. It will be easier to train with this weight gone anyway. I'm counting on you, my friends and family, to help me stay motivated here. I'll be posting a progress report on here from time to time so that I have a reference. Bring it on 2007!