What an eventful day

Of course, that title is an absolute lie.

I didn't do much of anything important.  I woke up and ate croissants that my sister brought me from Rachel's Bread.  [Yum!]  And then I graded some papers.  Then I procrastinated while watching Hulu.  And then I graded more papers.  Then I swept off the back steps so the sun could melt the ice and the dog would not go plummeting down to his death.  And then I graded more papers.  Then I watched more Hulu and procrastinated.  And then I graded a few more papers.

Then it was time for Facebook.

And of course, that brought about great wads of kicking myself because I still hadn't finished grading papers.  [At this point, it is dark.]  Then when I finally get the papers done, the participation grades still had to be figured and discussed.  So I worked like hell to get that accomplished.

Students are happy.  School isn't going to send little disapproving notes to my inbox.  So, more Facebook.

Now, it is quarter after 11pm and I realized I haven't eaten anything since this morning.  Damn my procrastination!

Everything else

It is easy to forget writing.  Ten thousand other tasks loom up as the sun rises:  pay the phone bill, don't forget to water the plants, get those dirty dishes out of the sink and into the dishwasher.  These little tasks are like dreaded pop-up ads.  Only you can't just click the X to make them vanish.  They perpetually lie in wait.

I am a procrastinator.  I push things off until they can't be pushed off any more.  I procrastinate grading papers.  I procrastinate doing laundry.  I procrastinate mowing the lawn.  I even poke along at writing.  Heck, I am procrastinating this very minute!

What could I be doing instead of flapping my fingers here?  Writing.  Grading.  Dishes.

I need to continue with something similar to the NaNoWriMo habit of writing X number of words per day.  Surprisingly, even if I didn't really know what I would be writing that day, something always showed up and in a fairly compact amount of time.  I had plenty of time for procrastination afterwards!  This is the butt-in-chair process.

Have I practiced it since?  No.
Have I made any serious progress?  No.

So it is clear that my priorities are going to have to change.  Writing first.  Then all the other crap.