As I recently discussed, one of the issues I have been having for a while is gathering up the motivation to do things after work. Usually the arc will be that I get done with work, chat with coworkers for a little bit, sit back down at my desk with the intent of logging out of my various tools and locking my computer, and then I realize it is two hours later and I have either mindlessly scrolled through things on Tumblr for a few hours, or have spent all of my time thinking about what I should do.
Part of the issue is that I really do have a problem deciding how long tasks will take, and making the decision to actually do them, even if I don’t have an accurate time estimate. Wherever possible, I prefer to sit down when I have nothing else to do, and work any given task (or if I have done the work to split the task, part of it) from start to end.
I believe this issue comes from the fact that I rarely spend time stating what tasks I want to do, and then breaking those tasks down into sub-tasks, and then having the patience and serenity to be willing to do the tasks at separate times. One of the other problems I’ve got is that several of the things I want to do involve a fairly open-ended exploration and learning.
Anyway, I feel for the past week or so as though I have been accomplishing several things. I’ve been getting a ride home with a coworker instead of spending my time driving back and forth, walking, or waiting for buses; and I have been doing things like cleaning the house, writing these posts, and completing small technology projects while at home.
I do need to spend some time this weekend following up on some of my larger projects, and catching up on some of the small-but-recurring tasks I have let build up over the past several weeks, as I have started putting more time into playing some of the games I’ve got hanging around, including World of Warcraft, and Pokémon. Once November hits, I’ll also not be doing computing projects, as I throw myself almost completely into novel-writing.
We’ll see how the pattern of “some things getting done” continues. It’s always hard to make the decision between doing a few big one-time projects, and lots of small recurring tasks.