PD support groups/ buddies

[toasterwater]

Over a year ago, when I was into the PD thing, I think one of the biggest reasons I did so well is because I had a PD buddy. Just one other person, with whom I traded IM info. One of the biggest downfalls of alot of efforts or good ideas is the lack of motivation to follow through. HOWEVER, with a buddy to keep tabs on you, it is MUCH easier.

So here is my proposal:

If you need help following through or achieving goals in a certain area of your life, simply post up that you are looking for a buddy in that specific area. When a couple of people have done this, others can simply choose to reply and then the PD relationship can begin.

[toasterwater]

I suppose I'll go first...

I'm looking for a buddy to help me with at least the first problem that I want to work on: SLEEPING HABITS

a few GOALS:

I want to become an early riser again, and I want to stop sleeping during the day (often times I will sleep for 2 or even 3 rather large chunks of time during one day, effectively eating all of my time, and more often than not- resulting in even more fatigue)

I have 2 IMs that usually run on my computer: Yahoo Messenger and Myspace Messenger

Also, I currently live in Japan, so my timezone is GMT +09, or roughly 14 hours ahead of central time in america.

I look forward to working with you!

[sanjay71]

hello,

myself sanjay sharma from india and i am interested to be part of this group. because i also have this kind of group ten years back and it helps me a lot. and i know the value of a friend who motivate and help us.

i have seen that lack of accountibility is the number one reason for fail to consistently work towards goal. if we have a person to whom we make accountable than it feel shame to tell him that we did not take the required steps.

when i am in a group before ten years and in that group we take the decision loudly that we are going to do this or that and when we meet next day in the evening than it feel shame to tell them that yesterday i take the decision to do this and i am fail on this. they laugh on us so this keep us motivate to take the steps and go ahead.

[toasterwater]

Thanks Sanjay,
I sent you a PM with my IM info regarding this group. I realize now that you can probably just click on the IM link on my profile... but either way, I look forward to working with you!

Bryan

[Infinite]

Count me in guys, I'm interested. Toasterwater, my history is a little bit similar with yours. I became all of sudden lazy. I remember I used be a go getter and people used to call me the energizer bunny. Now I want to refocus and be in the flow again. I get a lot done when I'm in the flow. I hope that we can help each and grow together. Success here we come.

[toasterwater]

That's awesome infinite... just IM me and we can get acquainted and whatnot... I'm actually mentally beating myself up right now because it's almost midnight, and I am not sleeping, and now I'm getting tired, but I want to do a couple of things before just lazily passing out and having to wake up and scramble unorganizedly in the morning...

but yeah, just IM me, you should be able to do that via the little Yahoo messenger button on my profile.

Thanks

[Infinite]

Originally Posted by toasterwater

That's awesome infinite... just IM me and we can get acquainted and whatnot... I'm actually mentally beating myself up right now because it's almost midnight, and I am not sleeping, and now I'm getting tired, but I want to do a couple of things before just lazily passing out and having to wake up and scramble unorganizedly in the morning...

but yeah, just IM me, you should be able to do that via the little Yahoo messenger button on my profile.

Thanks

I will PM you, just woke here in the US. I gotta get some things done now. Get some sleep buddy.

[toasterwater]

Great example of my problem this morning...

Last night i rushed to bed at midnight when i realized that i could get 6 hours and still have time to go running and get to work on time in the morning...

1st problem: Apparently I have way too many alarms, because I had several alarms go off before 6AM waking me up and confusing me as to whether I was supposed to be getting out of bed or not....

2nd problem: When my "intentional" alarm went off at 6AM, I snoozed until 7:10... now I must rush to get ready for work and I will skip exercise and breakfast this morning!

As a first step I think I should try examining and reprogramming my alarm clocks so that I don't have these conflicting settings waking me up and ruining my sleep... That should also help a little with my willingness to actually stay up when my alarm goes off. (BTW, my alarm IS on the other side of the room, but I gladly get up, walk to it, hit snooze, then hop right back in bed for another 10 minutes of bliss...)

[Infinite]

Originally Posted by toasterwater

Great example of my problem this morning...

Last night i rushed to bed at midnight when i realized that i could get 6 hours and still have time to go running and get to work on time in the morning...

1st problem: Apparently I have way too many alarms, because I had several alarms go off before 6AM waking me up and confusing me as to whether I was supposed to be getting out of bed or not....

2nd problem: When my "intentional" alarm went off at 6AM, I snoozed until 7:10... now I must rush to get ready for work and I will skip exercise and breakfast this morning!

As a first step I think I should try examining and reprogramming my alarm clocks so that I don't have these conflicting settings waking me up and ruining my sleep... That should also help a little with my willingness to actually stay up when my alarm goes off. (BTW, my alarm IS on the other side of the room, but I gladly get up, walk to it, hit snooze, then hop right back in bed for another 10 minutes of bliss...)

Toasterwater you are focusing too much on your failure which is not a good thing cause whatever you focus becomes your reality. I would learn from this and move on and I would not called " Failure" it's just a "learning lesson". You will probably fail a lot of times cause this PD, just learn from them and moving on.

Anyway I set up routines in the past which help a lot with this kind of problem. I set up morning and evening routines. The evening is very important cause it helps you get ready already for the next day.

My morning routine consists usually of the following:

Wake up at 5 am.
Drink some coffee and protein shake
Shower/Shave
Pray
Read
Eat breakfast
Go to work

And my evening routine is as follow and this helps me set the next day up.

Put cloth that I'm going to wear the next day out.
Pack my meals if I'm taking one to work ( Sometimes I precook my breakfast so I can save time)
Write my to dos and tasks for the following day
Review my goals
Relax
Read a little bit (This helps me fall asleep)
Go to bed at 10 pm sharp ( Shut computer down and turn phone and TV off)

Give it shot and set some routines up and see. Also try to drink some coffee immediately after you wake so that you won't go back to sleep.

Hope this helps.

[toasterwater]

Yes, routines or habits are very important. Those are the things that I am trying (or wanting?) to build.

Right now it's 7:30PM, I've been off work for a couple of hours... and I'm starting to feel tired. The idea of going to my bed and lying down and sinking into unconciousness is very tempting... But this is very bad for me to do. If I go lie down now, I'm going to sleep for a few hours, then wake up late at night, stay up late, then get to sleep late, and wake up late tomorrow morning! And the cycle will continue... [I hate this cycle ]

I thought about this maybe 20 minutes or so ago and realized that I'm quite hungry as well. I figured I'd try to kill 2 birds with one stone, so I've been working on this 30 oz. can of fruit coctail. I figure it can do a little for my hungry, and hopefully help me stay awake. Not sure how well it's working though.

Maybe I need to integrate some sort of energizing activity breaks into my day/evening. Maybe every once in a while (hourly maybe...) I could pause what I'm doing and find some quick activity that can help rejuvinate/maintain my alertness... any thoughts on this? maybe pushups or something? maybe a rockband (the xbox 360 game ) song or two? I don't know... seems like a decent idea.

[another idea that popped into my head {much thanx to these forums } is that maybe instead of trying to stay awake until night, I might want to try biphasic sleep and just go for a 90 minute nap... hmmm...]

[toasterwater]

Very interesting...

After I wrote that last post, I did the things that I suggested (push ups, rock band song, finished eating fruit) and much to my surprise, not only did I not fall asleep, [@7:30PM] but I am actually still WIDE awake... and now it's past 11PM.

Seems I don't know whether to be excited or worried... I didn't fall asleep, which is great, but now I run the risk of staying up too late and jacking up my sleep cycle.

I wonder if i should try to induce sleep through reading while lying in bed or something...

any thoughts???

[is it wierd that I am not only the OP, but also like... most of the posts on this topic???]

[Lauxa]

Hey toasterwater, if I know I need to get some sleep (because it is my only opportunity for sleep or I am afraid that I will mess up my schedule) but I am wired then I will lay down and try to sleep.

One technique is to concentrate on slowly relaxing each part of your body from toes to head, by the time you get to head you should be asleep. Another technique is to take deep even breaths and count on each breath, by the time you get to 100 you should be asleep. Another technique is to say a prayer to God or Universe or Higher Self that you really would like to sleep right now and to please help you quiet your mind and relax your body so that you are able to get some sleep. I find this to be very effective.

If you are not asleep in about 10 minutes, then you might as well get up and press on.

Infinite, I have never kept a routine for longer than a couple of weeks in my life, kudos to you for your consistency.

[toasterwater]

Originally Posted by Lauxa

Infinite, I have never kept a routine for longer than a couple of weeks in my life, kudos to you for your consistency.

That's interesting... My logical side says that a routine is the most efficient way to get things... um.. of a ... routine nature... accomplished. But at the same time, I hate the idea of boundaries and rules, and I think routinizing things is kinda dull...

I like spontaneity and freedom, but there are certain things that must get done on a routine basis... so is it a good idea to develop a routine/habits, or is there some other method for efficiently completing repetetive tasks...? Hmmm...

and i guess.. what are the pros/cons of habits&routines vs. none...?