Jesse's Todo List

[Jesse E]

This is my todo list for today:

1. Call gastroenterologist who specializes in celiac to get a blood test for celiac disease.
2. Buy 2x Brita Filters at Longs and replace the one in my water filter.
3. Get one hour of direct sunlight on my skin wearing only shorts if it's hot enough.
4. Take my car in to get fixed (burning smell + tire alignment/ware) and smog checked.
5. Do taxes with TurboTax Deluxe Federal + State 2006 (buy it first at Office Depot)

I'm going to update this thread as I complete each of these items.

For each day of this year, I'll post a new todo list and update it as I complete each item.

[Jes]

Looking forward to the updates, man. Don't leave us hanging!

[Jesse E]

Ok, so yesterday didn't go according to plan. I got part of #1 done and the rest...not so much.

The reason I created this thread was to try to create some personal accountability. Thanks for the reply Jes, just seeing it made me want to complete those items.

I tend to be a bit of a...lazy person I guess you could say? I only do what needs to be done and right now because I'm being financially supported by my parents, not a lot needs to be done.

But I enjoy doing things, I just have a hard time getting motivated to do them in the first place. So this thread is like my little motivational tool to help me start doing things.

OK, today I'm going to attempt to get everything done that I said I was going to yesterday + DO LAUNDRY.

I also just e-mail subscribed to this thread so that I'll get updates whenever any of you post. Thanks for your encouragement and support.

[Jesse E]

Just put my laundry in. Yay! lol

[Natasha]

Hi Jes,

Know how you feel. I also just do what NEEDS done, and I am primarily supported by my husband, so I don't need to do much.

Right now I am working on getting up earlier, and getting showered and dressed nicely as soon as I get up. I realized that if I put on house clothes, then later in the day, I might not go out to do errands, etc., because I was wearing house clothes. Just being in nice clothes makes it easier to get more done.

Good luck!

[Jes]

Originally Posted by Jesse E

Ok, so yesterday didn't go according to plan. I got part of #1 done and the rest...not so much.

The reason I created this thread was to try to create some personal accountability. Thanks for the reply Jes, just seeing it made me want to complete those items.

I tend to be a bit of a...lazy person I guess you could say? I only do what needs to be done and right now because I'm being financially supported by my parents, not a lot needs to be done.

But I enjoy doing things, I just have a hard time getting motivated to do them in the first place. So this thread is like my little motivational tool to help me start doing things.

OK, today I'm going to attempt to get everything done that I said I was going to yesterday + DO LAUNDRY.

I also just e-mail subscribed to this thread so that I'll get updates whenever any of you post. Thanks for your encouragement and support.

My parents let me live with them and feed me some of the time, so I know how you feel. For the most part, I only do what needs to be done, and do it at the very last minute. But I recognize what I'm doing, and I'm trying to do something about it. It's hard to break habits, but you'll get there.

[Jesse E]

Finished my laundry. Folded and put away and everything .

It's interesting that all 3 of us are supported by others. I wonder if that's a clue.

Perhaps if I asked my parents to stop supporting me, then I would naturally start taking more actions in my life? I'm not ready to make that leap right now, but it's something to think about.

Next I'm going to take a shower and then take my car in to get fixed. Because my car has issues I don't feel it's safe to drive long distances so that is definitely impeding my progress toward completing other actions. Fixing my car is definitely one of the most important things I can do right now.

[Jes]

Originally Posted by Jesse E

Finished my laundry. Folded and put away and everything .

It's interesting that all 3 of us are supported by others. I wonder if that's a clue.

Perhaps if I asked my parents to stop supporting me, then I would naturally start taking more actions in my life? I'm not ready to make that leap right now, but it's something to think about.

Next I'm going to take a shower and then take my car in to get fixed. Because my car has issues I don't feel it's safe to drive long distances so that is definitely impeding my progress toward completing other actions. Fixing my car is definitely one of the most important things I can do right now.

That's an option, but remember that the additional actions you'll be taking will probably only be either devoting more time to someone else's work (more hours on the job), or devoting more money to someone else's property (paying rent). I think it would be more worthwhile to find out the real reasons why you're lacking self-discipline right now, and make a committment to eliminating them. If you start soon, I think you'll accomplish a lot more that way in the long run.

Good job on getting your action items done today, though. I should probably make a similar thread to get me more motivated.

[Jesse E]

Just took my car in . This makes me very happy because I've been putting that off for months. I should get it back tomorrow and then I'll be able to drive wherever I want without fear of it blowing up .

Yeah I'm not really sure about this whole being supported = laziness theory, but it does have some connections. Being unsupported would definitely bring a lot of negatives with it, but it might also bring positives that could possibly outweigh the disadvantages.

But for right now, I'm fine being supported.

I'm definitely lacking something that will lead me toward taking action, but I'm not sure if it's discipline or motivation or a combination of the two. This thread does seem to be helping though...

[Jesse E]

Here are my two newest todo items:

- Go through my inbox (big pile of papers and everything else that has been there for months) and sort it all out, throw away anything not needed
- Register for Diablo Valley College fall semester classes (starting with two years of community college, then transfering to UC Berkeley to get a degree in nutrition/dietetics)

[Jes]

Originally Posted by Jesse E

Here are my two newest todo items:

- Go through my inbox (big pile of papers and everything else that has been there for months) and sort it all out, throw away anything not needed
- Register for Diablo Valley College fall semester classes (starting with two years of community college, then transfering to UC Berkeley to get a degree in nutrition/dietetics)

Ha! I've been wanting to make an appointment with a nutritionist. How's April 2012?

[Jesse E]

Originally Posted by Jes

Ha! I've been wanting to make an appointment with a nutritionist. How's April 2012?

You're on. I'll put it in my calendar

[Jesse E]

I just finished going through my inbox. At the very bottom was a receipt from In-n-Out Burger dated 1-04-2007. That's how long all that stuff has been piling up...

I'm not totally done with the inbox though. Everything is out, but it's all in different piles around my room, so I'm going to put it away in different closets and things so that my floor isn't covered in paper.

[jag]

Interesting thread from Jesse,
hmm, this is better than keeping a Journal.

Cheers
Jak.

[Jes]

Originally Posted by Jesse E

I just finished going through my inbox. At the very bottom was a receipt from In-n-Out Burger dated 1-04-2007. That's how long all that stuff has been piling up...

I'm not totally done with the inbox though. Everything is out, but it's all in different piles around my room, so I'm going to put it away in different closets and things so that my floor isn't covered in paper.

Have you read "Getting Things Done" by David Allen? If not, do it and you'll never look at your inbox the same way again.

[Scumbag]

Have you looked at using Google Calendar?

It's awesome. You can organize your to do list, and there is even an option to make the calendar public so others can see your progress.

good luck.

[Jesse E]

I finished sorting my inbox! Now everything is all put away and my bedroom looks nice and clean. Feels very good to have that done. I created a lot more todo items from the stuff in my inbox. Here's what I'm going to do tomorrow:

- Pick up car if it's fixed
- If car is fixed, drive to Fed Ex in Hayward to get my package and pick up check from Dad
- Pay rent and give my manager my updated phone number
- Buy Turbo Tax and do taxes
- Register for Diablo Valley College

Originally Posted by Jes

Have you read "Getting Things Done" by David Allen? If not, do it and you'll never look at your inbox the same way again.

I used to be hardcore into GTD and that's how I picked up the habit of keeping an inbox. Unfortunately I fell off the wagon, which you can tell because my inbox hadn't been processed since January, but now I think I'm going to get back into GTD. This time though, I'm not going to focus on the "collection" part of GTD, but more on the getting things done part. I don't care what process I use, as long as it actually makes me get things done.

Originally Posted by Scumbag

Have you looked at using Google Calendar?

It's awesome. You can organize your to do list, and there is even an option to make the calendar public so others can see your progress.

good luck.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check out Google Calendar.

Right now I'm using Windows Calendar in Vista although my calendar is a bit...empty. I plan on making a daily schedule though and sharing it with you guys in the future.

Thanks everyone for your comments!

[Jesse E]

Things accomplished so far today:

- Beat Earth Defense Force 2017 on hard (lol)

I started filling out the application for DVC, but I need some info about my old schools that's probably at my Mom's or possibly lost so I'll have to make them mail it to me.

No word from the car repair people yet.

I'm very...tired today. For one thing, I woke up around 5:50 AM on my new schedule, which is pretty cool, but left me a bit tired because I'm not used to waking up quite that early. These days I've been waking up around 7 AM or 8 AM so that's a bit of a change.

I also think I'm not eating enough. I need to eat more to have more energy.

A question: Why are video games so much more fun than doing my taxes? Why can't my taxes be as fun as video games? How can I make my taxes even MORE fun than my video games?

[Scumbag]

Why can't my taxes be as fun as video games? How can I make my taxes even MORE fun than my video games?

You can't. The sooner you realize this, the closer to enlightenment you will be.

[Jesse E]

I got some pretty decent things done today. Bought Turbo Tax, bought the water filters, went food shopping and paid my rent. Not the most productive day in the world, but not bad.

Originally Posted by Scumbag

You can't. The sooner you realize this, the closer to enlightenment you will be.

Yeah you might be right....

The weird thing is, I really WANT to do my taxes. But I want them to be easy and fun.

I figured out a way to force myself to do things that actually works though. I simply pick what I want to do and then do it without thinking about it. I just say to my subconscious "I'm going to do this and not think about the consequences"

This technique feels a bit...dangerous. I feel like I'm lowering my consciousness, which is something that Steve recommends against doing. Then again though, this technique does seem to work for me.

I basically disengage my thoughts and emotions and just focus on completing the task, a bit like a robot. Using this technique, I was able to get a lot of errands done today that I had a lot of resistance against doing. I'll have to explore this further and see if I can continue using this technique with success.