11 Random Happy Things for a Gray, Late-Winter Day

Random Happy Things:  The First Ten I Came Up With Today

1.  Only 8% of what we worry about ever happens.  (from Pick the Brain)

2.  Neil Pasricha (1000 Awesome Things) went from a personal trough to a prize-winning blogger and best-selling author in less than two years.  The Toronto Star called him the "guru of small joys."

3.  Brain plasticity--Apparently you can teach an old dog lots and lots of new tricks.

4.  The interactive website Things to be Happy About, authored by Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer, who wrote the book 14,000 Things to be Happy About.

5.  All the many things meditation is supposed to be good for, including learning to focus, hypertension, depression, ingrown toenails (just kidding on that one. . . I think), . . .

6.  This, making the rounds on Facebook:

 












7.  Finding this:

8. This lovely piece in the Huffington Post from two days ago:  "Groundhog Day:  Halfway Through Winter," by "urban shaman, eco-ceremonialist, ritual expert and consultant" Donna Henes. 

9.  Minimally invasive (laparoscopic) coronary bypass surgery, in case my arteries go the way of my parents' one day.

10.  Janine Jansen's recording of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D, and the late Irish poet John O'Donohue's remarks, in conversation with On Being's Krista Tippet, on hearing it played live (about halfway through the interview)

11.  Sunsets everyday.  I once wrote a poem about a friend's husband, who "attended sunsets like gallery openings."  She divorced him anyway.  But still. . .

On Thanksgiving: 10 Things to be Thankful For if You're a Procrastinator

Everything, it seems, is political these days.  The internet is awash with advice on how to avoid political wrangling at our holiday tables; how to eat ethically; and why we should opt out of a politically incorrect celebration of our vanquishing of a native people.  Here in Wisconsin, people are using the occasion of the holiday to recommend the removal of the "biggest turkey of all"--our governor.

But whatever our stance on Thanksgiving, the holiday, it can serve as a reminder to be grateful for all that we have.  So whether we are preparing a feast (with or without meat; organic or not) or a TV dinner; suffering relatives or other fools, or dining alone; eating out or in; or boycotting the whole turkey day thing--we can take a moment to appreciate the good things in our lives.

If we are procrastinators, we may be late (for Thanksgiving, or whatever else we are doing today), but we do have some "gifts" that are all our very own.

Ten Things to be Thankful For If You're a Procrastinator:

1. The long-suffering friends, family and coworkers who love us anyway
2. The "procrastination industry"--all those writers, researchers, bloggers, therapists, coaches and consultants who are hell-bent on improving us
3. All the cool t-shirts, mugs, hats, mouse pads, refrigerator magnets and other paraphernalia that make light of our condition, and allow us to announce it to the world
4. The time we can spend smelling the roses when we're putting off something else
5. Fast food, microwaves, express lines, all night copy shops, and all those other cheats that aid us in our last-minute dashes
6. The luxury we allow ourselves to complete no project before its time
7. The good company we're in
8. Always having something to do, by virtue of never having finished so many things
9. Not having a worse affliction/character flaw
10. Tomorrow

Rather than wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving, my wish is for you to Be Happy, and Give Thanks!

Cheers!

Done for the Week: Inching Forward

Eek!  Look over there, to the right.  See what it says?  No, not all that subscribe, search, quote, About Me blah blah.  Just under all that.  Yeah, that's it.  "2011 is 52% complete!"  Which means . . . . Well, we all know what it means.  

 

We're into the second half of this year.  Are we any closer to where we're going--besides the eventual "unto dust" return?

 

I don't know about you, but here's what I got done last week.  In the Grand Scheme of things, which I try to avoid thinking about most days, it doesn't seem like so much. 

Done for the Week:  July 4 - 10, 2011

1. Completed Week 9 of 15-week triathlon training program; ran twice; swam twice; biked twice
2. Swam twice, ran twice, biked once with my training partner 
3. Visited the bike shop for training and race purchases
4. Continued nutrition education; tweaked my hydration approach
5. Finished Three Stages of Amazement, by Carol Edgarian; 
6. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
7. Published 3 blog posts 
8. Began family Harry Potter Film Festival with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
9. Took dog and family to the dog park
10. Met again with major new website client; launched his blog; made progress on site redesign
11. Visited Apple Genius Bar to discuss computer problems, strategize solution
12. Went out driving with learning teenager several times 
13. Participated in driving my not-quite-licensed-to-drive son to his job
14. Worked on cracking the code for road test appointment; minor success so far
15. Volunteered with recall campaign 
16. Made major progress on backyard reclamation
17. Completed sandbox
18. Took mower in for repair
19. Bought new plants for yard
20. Repaired several months old dishwasher, with my son (Apparently, it's not a garbage disposal.  I'm beginning to wonder if it's a dishwasher!)
21. Put away the last of our Christmas decorations (blush!)
22. Supported my dyslexic 20-year-old son in navigating his first 8-hr.-long solo road trip
23. Continued progress in cleaning/straightening/decluttering work room, bedroom & kitchen 

Last week's most important accomplishment, I believe, was moving forward on my new client's website.  I can only give a half day a week to working on this account, given my other commitments.  But my client's work is very important, in my opinion, and I am excited to be contributing to it.  He just accepted an invitation to speak at a UN-sponsored international venue in a few weeks.  I will be stealing what time I can find between now and then to finalize the first stage of the new design.

Last week's focus goal was a third-week continuation of my intention to declutter our house, involving my housemates in the excavation, and starting with the kitchen, my work room, and our bedroom.  Somewhat disappointingly, I am not there yet.  I plan to keep working at it, in my "spare" moments.  As to my housemates, they keep leaving town.  My husband was gone for work from early Monday morning (yes, the 4th of July) through late Thursday last week.  My most available son will be 8 hours away for most of this week.  The other son spends what time he is not at work with the friends who will be leaving for college in a few weeks; he is deeply engaged in his own Last Hurrah project.  And the dog doesn't have opposable thumbs.  

At least I finally left the worst of my summer virus behind, and am now at about 90%--still coughing, but having more energy.  For this week, then, I will continue the focus on our cluttered environs, and I will make an effort to get back to yoga and meditation.  I don't especially like splitting my "focus," such as it is, in this way.  But I am reluctant to abandon the house-straightening goal only about a third of the way through.  And yoga and meditation keep me sane.  More or less.  It is time to attend to reviving my practice.

This morning, though, I have to add gutter-cleaning to my list.  A brief torrent, followed by an ominous basement trickle, brought that little item to my attention.  "Life is what happens. . ." and all.

Dread-Resistant

Have you, like me, gone through periods when your first feeling of the day is dread?  

This spring has seen a long and difficult series of assaults on my mood, from the depressing state of affairs in state government here in Wisconsin, to concern for various family members experiencing challenging transitions of all sorts, to exceptionally dreary weather, to frustrations with work, to lack of time to dig out our cluttered home front.  Too many mornings, I open my eyes and register a sense of impending disaster, or its lesser kin, wariness and harriedness.  Not a great way to wake up.

Determined not to just take this lying down (though I am, most times, literally lying down when this dark cloud passes over), I have developed the following scheme for lightening up.

First of all, though I am not a confirmed deist, I have memorized (sort of) e.e. cummings' poem "i thank you God for most this amazing. . ."  I have gotten in the habit of reciting it mentally before getting out of bed.

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

After that, I force myself to come up with the following, for the day ahead:

• Something to look forward to, ideally something fun.
• Something to learn.
• Something to accomplish.
• Someone to connect with.
• Something to be proud of.
• Something to be thankful for.

For today, this was my list:

• My afternoon run by the lake
• The recommended conservative treatment for my self-diagnosed radial nerve damage
• Planning a local jobs monitoring action
• My friend Sharon
• My growing web skills
• My three relatively healthy and loving children

It helped to chase away the early-morning funk. 

Done for the Week: Still Out of Focus

A snowy day, though not as bleak as this out-of-focus picture.  Kind of pretty, really.  I'm trying to leave room for wonder in what is promising already to be one of my crazy weeks.


Here's what I got done last week, despite my continuing battle to stay in focus.

Done for the Week:  Jan. 2-9

1. Continued off-season race training; biked twice
2. Succeeded in getting husband and one son to gym with me once
3. Finished A Clue for the Puzzle Lady, by Parnell Hall; A Puzzle in a Pear Tree, by Parnell Hall
4. Continued providing minimal volunteer support to transitioning nonprofit
5. Worked my two part-time jobs, with continuing sporadic hours due to holiday schedule
6. Published 5 blog posts
7. Wrote 5 Gratitude Journal entries
8. Wrote 4 Morning Pages
9. Meditated 5 times
10. Watched our two favorite basketball teams play 4 games, with son and husband
11. Foraged for food at the grocery store several times
12. Attended two yoga classes
13. Celebrated Polar Express Day with my grandson
14. Sent teenager and friend to Rave concert and stayed up for their safe return
15. Resumed reading In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner, by Elizabeth George aloud with my husband
16. Walked my dog twice and my daughter's dog once
17. Attended jobs rally at state capitol
18. Had long overdue coffee with friend
19. Had date night with my husband
20. Attended church
21. Resumed novel writing, at scheduled times
22. Visited with friend I hadn't seen in years
23. Purchased replacement bathroom light/fan in time to take advantage of sale
24. Arranged electrician appointment

Last week's focus goal, making its fifth straight appearance, was "to post five blogs, exercise four times, meditate six times, and make the time to resume writing the novel--before I forget what it's supposed to be about."  The items related to this goal are highlighted in green on the list above.  It is apparent that I am having no particular trouble completing five blog posts, as this part of the focus goal has been met consistently.  I am, however, occasionally struggling to get my post up before noon.  One of last week's posts didn't make it up until mid-afternoon, and one lumbered in after 9 at night.  When I was a newbie blogger, I was more compulsive, either getting up extra early or preparing the post the night before on those occasions where early morning commitments competed with my usual blogging time.  After I found that my mornings were becoming tension-filled as I "rushed to deadline," I got a little more laid back about the whole enterprise.  Perhaps a bit too laid back.  This week, in the spirit of "first things first" which launched this combo focus goal a few weeks back, I am going to make the effort to prepare posts the day ahead when I can anticipate morning conflicts--at this point, I can foresee three such mornings this week.  (That won't, however, help with mornings like this one, which looked like clear sailing until I started answering the phone and reading my email, thereby learning about the day's unexpected crises and requests.)

I have been falling behind on exercise lately, managing only two sessions last week.  I am planning to return to the "Couch Potato to 5K" regimen this week, in hopes that its structure will help with motivation.  I was more successful with meditation last week.  This may be partly due to having followed through with my intention to wear my Serenity bracelet as a reminder.  I did not, tellingly, give the same due to my plan to copy my focus goal into my daily planner.  I will try to manage that this week, in hopes that I will respond to a visual prompt to exercise, blog earlier, and write.

In red above (and highlighted in green to reflect its designation as part of the week's focus goal) is last week's most important accomplishment.  (Fanfare!)  After a dismal December of no novelling (to use NaNoWriMo's gerund), I succeeded in getting back to it; and in adhering to the schedule I had created to accommodate writing time.  This week may be more of a challenge, as my grandson is sick, and may have to miss preschool.  It might help to plan ahead in this overbooked week, and create a fallback approach. 

I am recycling my focus goal once more for the coming week--and until I get it right.

2010--The Year in Rearview, Part II

At the risk of being trite, I am putting together this little list of things I accomplished in 2010. I hope it doesn't read like one of those dreaded holiday letters.  But frankly, I need the encouragement.  For me, 2010 was a year of change, a year in which I got off some dimes, just did it, and put some things to bed.  What follows is the B side to yesterday's lament.


Some Stuff I'm Happy I Did in 2010

• Maintained my new blog, meeting all but one deadline, and publishing 264 posts (as of tomorrow).
• Trained for and competed in two 5K races and my first sprint triathlon.
• Finally learned to breathe efficiently while swimming freestyle.
• Loved and supported my kids through some tough times.
• Did my first public poetry reading in many years.
• Revived some old friendships.
• Made significant progress on repairing my house and cars.
• Began a regular yoga practice.
• Faced down my blood pressure phobia for a time, before faltering temporarily.
• Resumed writing Morning Pages.
• Learned some new web skills; designed and maintained new website.
• Worked hard in effort to bring much-needed jobs to my community.
• Wrote 15-1/2 chapters of novel's first draft.
• Finished reading 100 books; still slogging through several; abandoned a few.
• Attended an online meditation retreat, maintained my own meditation practice, and kept my meditation group going.
• Provided significant support to struggling nonprofit, and began learning to say no.
• Survived a difficult year emotionally, holding my own with depression and anxiety.
• Spent lots of time playing with my grandson.
• Made it through most of the 14th year of my 2nd marriage, still friends.

And now, I have some more holiday celebrating to attend to, and my final 2010 post to dream up.  My countdown clock has already pronounced this year 100% complete!

Life Management 101--Finally "Womaning Up" to the Whole Mission Statement Thing

I am currently making my way through Laura Stack's Find More Time:  How to Get Things Done at Home, Organize Your Life, and Feel Great About It.  Having plowed through the introduction last week, this week I read Chapter 1--"Mastering the First Pillar--PLANS."

And, although I have a master's degree in planning (urban and regional planning, actually, with a concentration in social planning--which has to do with social policy, not parties), I do not exactly excel when it comes to organizing my own life.

In this chapter, I didn't really encounter any earth-shaking ideas, anything I hadn't read before in my ongoing struggle to pull myself together.  But, as a friend noted in a recent conversation, it seems there are some things we just have to keep learning.  Every so often, I have to be exposed, once again, to the idea of lists--daily and master to-do lists; project task breakdowns; shopping lists; reading lists; communications lists.  And I need reminding that it might help to have some overall idea of what I am trying to achieve--dreams, goals (Stack calls these "dreams with a deadline."), and yes, a mission statement.  I'm not sure why I resist this good advice.  I imagine it has something to do with my split personality.  Though I am capable of logical, rational thought, a strong part of me clings to a "bohemian" identity.  It is this part who wants to recreate herself fresh each morning, and scorns predetermined activities.  But her results have not been everything even she would wish.  And so we do this dance, my selves and I, which brings us back repeatedly to the literature of organization.

Stack has organized her book with chapters that correspond to each of the eight "Pillars of Personal Productivity."  Each chapter is structured by the section of the Productivity Quiz which deals with that particular "pillar."  The relevant assessment items were to be rated 1) to no extent; 2) to a little extent; 3) to some extent; 4) to a considerable extent; or 5) to a great extent.  They included:

To what extent do I . . . 

• Have a personal mission statement for my life.  [2]
• Maintain a list of my life's goals and dreams and make plans for their accomplishment.  [3]
• Try to gain flexibility at work.  [3]
• Keep effective to-do lists so things don't slip through the cracks.  [3]
• Break larger projects into smaller ones.  [3]
• Prepare for the next day the night before.  [2]
• Plan for chaotic transition periods during the day.  [3]
• Prevent crisis by preparing well in advance.  [2]
• Embrace flexibility and weather change.  [2]
• Continuously work to improve my efficiency and effectiveness.  [3]

I have included my response to each item, in red.  "Plans" was not one of my weakest pillars.  In fact, it was my second strongest.  Which explains why my composite score, which featured  one slightly weaker and five significantly weaker areas, indicated a need for "major repairs."

It would seem that these "major repairs" are going to involve a fair amount of "homework." (Oh, joy!)  Early on in chapter 1, I was instructed to put down the book and go through the steps of identifying important values; writing a paragraph for each of the three most important of these, defining it and specifying how I would know that I had lived up to it; and then combining these into a draft mission statement.  Thus, having earlier sidestepped Marshall Cook's mission statement admonition, I was forced to bite the bullet and come up with a reasonable facsimile.

This is what I wrote:

Family

            Doing what I can to make sure each member of my family feels loved and has the necessary support to make a happy life for themselves is important to me.  I want to do what I can to grow in my roles as mother and partner.  I want my family to be a haven for each other, now and in the future.

Justice

            As a neighbor and citizen of the world, I believe that I have a responsibility to work for justice for everyone, to lessen inequity, and to improve the life-chances of those whose circumstances are especially difficult. 

Creativity

            I want to develop and use the gifts I have to create meaningful and beautiful things that will bring enjoyment, solace and inspiration to myself and others.  

I can't say that I am particularly thrilled with this "Mission Statement."  Maybe the reason I have avoided writing such a thing is the same reason I don't get a tattoo.  I can't make the commitment.  I can't imagine a mission statement, or a tattoo that I would want to live with for the foreseeable future.  Of course, a mission statement is presumably more removeable, and the process of shedding one less painful.  But there is something belittling about seeing in print the limited business of one's life.


Anyway, now I have my very own one of these things everyone seems to be so enamored of.  It remains to be seen how this will contribute to my greater productivity.  First, I have to let it heal--and to avoid picking at it.

Tips for the Day From Hell: The Sequel

As I proceeded through my up-against-it day yesterday, I continued to think about what I might do to ease my pain.  The ideas came faster than I could jot them down.  


Can we spell r-a-c-i-n-g  m-i-n-d?


Here is the second batch of strategies, bringing us to a nice round 25.  Or it would have been, if I hadn't had another brainstorm.  So 26, then.


19.  Walk, and talk, and walk your talk adagio or andante--music-speak for "moderately slow," and at a "walking pace," respectively.  And throw in a little legato ("smoothly, connected"), if you can.  Banish those fast and jerky movements that possess our bodies in the stressed-out state.  Not only do they not help us to get things done any more quickly, but they can lead to spills and breakage and other mishaps, which will actually slow us down.  And they signal fight or flight to our over-working amygdalas.


20.  Leave a few minutes early for appointments and meetings--or make up your mind to be late with grace.  Driving too fast in a distracted state of mind is never a good thing.  Nor is fuming with impatience, or trying to multi-task while behind the wheel.  If you don't have enough time to get to all the places you need to be today on time, you will get there when you get there.  So get there alive, and with a smile on your face, and a respectful acknowledgement of any inconvenience your lateness may cause others.  Remember this moment when scheduling things in the future.


21.  Remind yourself of why you're doing all these things that have you racing around.  Ideally, all this stress is at least nominally in the service of stuff you believe in, and care deeply about.  Keeping your eyes on the prize may help get you through this crunch time.  But if you can't remember why you're doing something--or worse, if the items on your to-do-or-die-trying list don't reflect your values--just don't.


22.  Shower.  It may seem as if you don't have time, but it will make you feel so much better that it's worth the few minutes you will spend.  And not, as I caught myself doing recently, as if you're on your way to a fire, scrubbing fast and harshly, whipping that razor across your shin (ouch!), dashing shampoo into your eyes and swearing.  


23.  Dress for de-stress.  Dress completely--don't forget any essential elements of your outfit, like pants, for example.  Dress comfortably, but nicely.  Skip the skirt you can't sit down in, and the heels that make you mince and wince.  Likewise, the puce sweater that makes you look anemic.  Look like you want to feel--calm, and in control.  Yourself, but happier. 


24.  Lay off the junk--food, booze, cigarettes, caffeine and other tools of self-abuse.  The quick little hits of pleasure are not worth the price in added stress chemicals and their components in your body.  Trust me on this one.


25.  Look up.  There is always that great big sky above us, and whatever natural beauty the season supplies.  Even a gray November day holds it charms, if you remember to take it in.  Coming up for air in this way can alleviate the tunnel vision that takes over as we strain to accomplish the undo-able.


26.  Four words:  sleep, water, chocolate (a little) and veggies (a lot).  Nourish the tortured little animal you've become as you run around your squeaking wheel.  If you are going to complete the onerous task you've set before yourself, you will need your strength.  This is especially important if your stressful period is more of a marathon than a sprint.

Handy Self-Assessment Tool, ala Letterman

I am just finishing reading David Letterman's Book of Top Ten Lists and Zesty Lo-Cal Chicken Recipes, a book my comic-in-training son borrowed from the library and I found I couldn't resist on its way to being returned.  And seeing as how my posts have been trending to the heavy side of late, I decided to try my hand at Dave's form.  So today's topic--


Top 10 Signs You're a Dyed-in-the-Wool, Card-Carrying Procrastinator


10.  You write a blog--not just a post here and there, but an entire blog--devoted to the subject of procrastination.


9.  You can't remember when you sent a birthday greeting that wasn't belated.


8.  You came up with the idea of sending a post-holiday letter to friends and family--and then put that off.


7.  You started embroidering a Christmas tree skirt last century, and it's not finished.


6.  People keep getting divorced before you've gotten around to sending their wedding gifts.


5.  You have a whole section of basement storage devoted to unfinished projects.


4.  The shower in your children's bathroom has been disassembled for weeks, while you ponder a solution to the rusted-on and now threadless pipe dilemma.


3.  You're on a first-name basis with a bill collector or two, but you keep putting off mailing the checks.


2.  Instead of depositing your paycheck, you use it for a bookmark, and then panic when you return the book to the library (late of course).


1.  You planned on winning recognition as a "young novelist," but that ship sailed long ago.


So, it's official, I'm a procrastinator.  Which is why . . . (see #10).  

Done for the Week: And Now, for My Next Trick. . .

This was a week  largely devoted to R & R--as much as could be managed with a family, a messy house, and two part-time jobs.  The "body-markings" of my triathlon race number--71--have almost completely faded, and the muscle soreness and fatigue are gone as well.  I have stopped wearing my medal everywhere, though it lives for now on my bedside table, where I can see it first and last thing each day.  


Here's the low-down on what I got done:


Done List--Week of Aug. 23-29

1. Rested
2. Recovered from triathlon, and resumed training--looking for 5K to sign up for
3. Made significant progress on repairing sleep
4. Finished Shannon, by Frank Delaney
5. Continued significant support to transitioning nonprofit organization
6. Worked my two part-time jobs
7. Published 5 blog posts
8. Meditated 3 times
9. Saw my therapist
10. Wrote 1 Gratitude Journal entry
11. Cleaned and reorganized pantry 
12. Attended 1 yoga class
13. Attended 2 prayer vigils for homicide victims
14. Took my grandson paddleboating with family for his 3rd birthday present
15. Went out with my husband for Happy Hour; continued reading aloud Elizabeth George's In the Presence of the Enemy; watched Treme episode
16. Had budgeting talk with my husband, on a bench overlooking the lake, with Starbuck's coffees in hand
17. Walked my patient dog
18. Spent a week "off-list"--no to-do list 
19. Began planning my next move

In red above is what seems to me the most important accomplishment of the week. After enduring a month of subnormal sleep--averaging somewhat less than four hours a night--I have become a bit of a sleep-Nazi.  I am refraining from my usual glass of red wine before bed; taking time-release Melatonin along with Celestial Seasoning's Sleepytime Extra tea a half hour before lying down; sleeping to "Rain on the Roof" from my grandson's Happiest Baby on the Block CD; and using a timer with a countdown feature that shuts off the light after a set time, so that I can read myself to sleep and spend most of the night in a serotonin-friendly darkened room.  I am getting between 6 and 7 hours of sleep each night, though still waking up in the middle of the night.  YouTube episodes of Becker can be counted on to lull me back to sleep, though having a laptop screen in my face is not ideal.  My sleep is a work in progress.  I look forward to the time when I can sleep through the night, sans Ted Danson and crew.

In green is the work I did figuring out how to harness the energy and lessons from the triathlon to achieving something else I care about, and identifying what that something else will be--last week's focus goal.  I am not surprised to learn that my post-tri challenges are pretty much the same as my pre-tri ones.  I still have to work on believing that I can do what seems daunting.  I still have to avoid getting sucked into other people's dramas and agendas.  And I still have to blast my way out of the torpor default that descends if I sit too long in pajamas.  


But I have decided that the next step is to establish a new schedule around my jobs' new hours, leaving time for exercise, meditation, maintenance of me and my surroundings, relationships, and writing.  It is perhaps telling that the activity at the end of that list--writing--is the one I most want to tackle, and am most afraid of.  So this week's focus goal is to develop a training plan for writing, and to spend at least 6 hours on my novel.

Maybe I should keep wearing the medal. . .

Lots of Stuff Gets Done if You Just Live Long Enough

I don't remember how I originally found my way to the site 43 Things.  But I was reminded of this fascinating resource recently in Timothy Pychyl's Don't Delay blog on Psychology Today.  (Readers should note also that Dr. Pychyl's new book, The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, is now available.  I plan to check it out as soon as I finish the several books I am presently in the middle of.)


Dr. Pychyl identifies 43 Things as an example of folksonomy, ". . .also known," according to Wikipedia, ". . . as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging."  Interestingly, 

An empirical analysis of the complex dynamics of tagging systems. . . has shown that consensus around stable distributions and shared vocabularies does emerge, even in the absence of a central controlled vocabulary.

43 Things is a goal listing site--called "43 Things" because 

We think 43 is the right number of things for a busy person to try to do. Why not more? It’s too much. Why not less? You can do less, but it is still called 43 Things. 

The site maintains a list of the 100 most popular goals, resulting from lists submitted by its self-selecting participants.   Pychyl was interested, as was I, to learn that "stop procrastinating" was the second most popular goal, behind #1--"lose weight."


And, even though yesterday's post contained this pearl of wisdom reinforced by my triathlon training--"Avoid comparing your accomplishments with others"--I also couldn't resist measuring my life progress against the 100 "World's Most Popular Goals."  


To begin with, however, I have to quibble that there is some overlap between items on the list, as with, for example "Read more books" (#21) and "Read more" (#35).  Or "Get a tattoo" (#6), "Design my own tattoo" (#74), and "Create my own tattoo" (#93).  Or "Lose weight" (#1), "Lose 20 lbs." (#49), "Lose 10 lbs." (#54), and "Lose 30 lbs." (#63).  Or "Write a book" (#3) and "Write a novel" (#29).  You get the picture.  


A social scientist--one of my previous careers--would "code" the responses, and collapse the categories.  She would probably also group responses, distinguishing between  spiritual/personal development, material, physical/health, and so forth.  One possible grouping of goals would be those particularly relevant to procrastination/time management/organization--the subject matter of this blog.  These would include, of course "Stop procrastinating" (#2), as well as "Wake up when my alarm clock goes off" (#43), "Get organized" (#53), "Spend less time fooling around on the net and more time actually working" (#62), "Finish what I start" (#88), and "Stop wasting time" (#100).  


But it was especially smile-prompting, on this rainy morning, to see how many of the top 100 goals I have already accomplished.  Here's my list:

1. lose weight 38720 people--did it; then gained it back; then lost it again
2. stop procrastinating 28297 people--did it; still doing it
3. write a book 27988 people--doing it
4. Fall in love 25898 people--did it a few times
5. be happy 23322 people--did it; need to do it again
6. Get a tattoo 21521 people
7. drink more water 19995 people--doing it
8. get married 19991 people--did it--twice
9. travel the world 19746 people--some of it
10. go on a road trip with no predetermined destination 19684 people
11. see the northern lights 18015 people
12. Learn Spanish 16526 people--did it; need a refresher
13. Save money 15493 people--did it; need to do more of it
14. Kiss in the rain 15214 people--long ago; and the snow
15. Take more pictures 14863 people--especially since I got a cell phone with a really good camera
16. Make new friends 13486 people--constantly doing it
17. Learn to play the guitar 13380 people--sort of
18. Buy a House 13269 people--did it
19. get a job 11678 people--did it lots
20. get out of debt 11636 people--did it; got back in
21. Read more books 11545 people--(I don't really think I should read more books)
22. run a marathon 11492 people
23. To live instead of exist 11484 people--by what standards?
24. learn french 11412 people
25. Skydive 10955 people
26. exercise regularly 10938 people--doing it
27. be more confident 10887 people--more or less
28. eat healthier 10747 people--doing it (though Happy Hour interferes occasionally with this)
29. write a novel 10244 people--doing it
30. Learn Japanese 10207 people--learned a little
31. get in shape 9835 people--doing it
32. Quit Smoking 9107 people--did it
33. Start my own business 9032 people--did it
34. Learn to cook 8760 people--did it
35. Read more 8287 people--(see #21)
36. learn sign language 8126 people--learned a little
37. have better posture 8109 people--did it
38. travel 8054 people--did it
39. Learn to play the piano 7936 people--did it
40. Swim with dolphins 7819 people
41. Learn to surf 7789 people
42. identify 100 things that make me happy (besides money) 7783 people
43. wake up when my alarm clock goes off 7661 people--doing it
44. visit all 50 states 7548 people
45. stop biting my nails 7402 people
46. decide what the hell I would like to do with the rest of my life 7276 people--working on it
47. Go skydiving 7220 people
48. make a difference 7033 people
49. Lose 20 pounds 6970 people--by having two babies
50. learn to dance 6898 people--did it
51. learn to drive 6630 people--did it
52. graduate from college 6397 people--did it
53. Get organized 6353 people
54. Lose 10 pounds 6221 people--did it
55. Be a better friend 6209 people--working on it
56. Have a baby 6087 people--did it
57. learn italian 6062 people
58. Visit Japan 5784 people
59. Become Financially Independent 5691 people--did it, more or less
60. live passionately 5685 people--working on it
61. create my own website 5674 people--did it
62. Spend less time fooling around on the net and more time actually working 5624 people--working on it
63. Lose 30 pounds 5398 people--did it, by having one of my babies
64. exercise more 5391 people--doing it
65. make more friends 5381 people--doing it
66. get my driver's license 5359 people--did it
67. be more social 5356 people--doing it
68. Volunteer 5253 people--still doing it
69. backpack through Europe 5139 people
70. travel around the world 4891 people
71. learn german 4849 people
72. love myself 4809 people--working on it
73. Worry less. 4769 people--working on it
74. design my own tattoo 4738 people
75. write a song 4691 people--did it
76. learn to play guitar 4582 people--(see #17)
77. learn how to drive stick-shift 4553 people--did it
78. go on a cruise 4445 people
79. meet new people 4322 people--still doing it
80. go to college 4267 people--did it
81. Practice Yoga 4260 people--still doing it
82. Get more sleep 4251 people--working on it
83. meditate daily 4169 people--doing it
84. Stop caring what other people think of me 4158 people--working on it
85. Never stop learning 4067 people--still doing it
86. get a dog 4038 people--did it, three times
87. sleep under the stars 4023 people--did it
88. Finish what I start 4015 people--working on it
89. Learn another language 3985 people--did it
90. Send a message in a bottle 3953 people
91. win the lottery 3931 people
92. learn to sew 3872 people--did it
93. create my own tattoo 3825 people
94. figure out what i want to do with my life 3819 people--working on it
95. design my own clothes 3818 people
96. be a better person 3785 people--working on it
97. grow my hair long 3776 people--did it
98. watch Grey's Anatomy 3731 people--did it
99. Go on a road trip 3730 people--did it, a few times
100. stop wasting time 3724 people--still working on it

Apparently, I have been more productive, or at least more "popular," than I knew.  And just think. . . I could check off five more if I designed/created my own tattoo, after skydiving.