Daily check-in thread for May 21, 2008

Hi. Newbie here. *waves*

Been reading lots of the blogs here, noticed this forum and realized this would be a great place to get my butt in gear.

I'm currently in grad school, but I have an advisor who has a VERY hands-off approach to advising. This was initially a good thing but has morphed into a bad bad bad thing, lol. I keep procrastinating, mostly because I'm worried my lab experiments won't go according to plan. Common sense would dictate that I should start even earlier just in case there is a glitch, but I do not take failure well, even when it's an inherent part of scientific research.

Soooooo, my school avoidance strategies consist of:

1. Staying up till 6 a.m. in order to sabotage my experimental schedule (i.e. the "if i get in too late, then it's not worth starting" mental game)
2. Surfing the internet for eons once I DO get to the lab, in order to avoid the task even further
3. Spending exorbitant amounts of money on trivial things, and I NEVER used to be much of a shopper prior to graduate school
4. Eating too much, and I was never much of a snacker prior to going back to school
5. Consuming too much caffeine and sweets to make me "feel better" about my inconclusive experimental results.
6. Eating out too much.

I'm trying to graduate this year, so the pressure is REALLY on, and these habits have been escalating.

Here are my goals that I have to stick to until I defend my thesis:

1. Spend only ONE HOUR on recreational internet use per day
2. To compensate for the massive spending I've been doing, I can't buy anything new unless I run out of something I need or something totally wears out
3. Get to school by 9:30 a.m. at the LATEST Monday through Friday
4. Don't consume anymore caffeinated beverages unless it is tea.
5. Save money on food by only buying nutrious and filling foods. I can't buy junk food anymore.
6. Only eat at restaurants 1-2 times a month.

Wow that's alot to work on. Argh, school is ruining my life, lol. :shock:

And it's 3 a.m. in these parts, yikes, so starting on 5/22 I HAVE to stick to the above goals. Woohooooooooo.

Good luck to everyone else here who is trying to make positive changes in their lives! *HUGS*

8/15 Fail. Burbon does not help one achieve goals as it turns out ;)

Alright, so I went back to sleep for "5 more minutes" again. I really have to shut that lazy inner voice up.
1/2

Today's babystep is easy, but I need to consolidate the prior steps. This morning I made my bed. I'll keep you posted on the rest.
Update: I picked up my hot spots and did 15 minutes of decluttering in my room. Started to prep the laundry, but I was out of change for the machine. Didn't shine the sink, it was full of my roommates' dishes... is that wrong? Oh well, I still prepped for this morning and then left for the bf's house.
All in all, I'm pretty proud. 14/21

Did both yesterday and today, and am beginning to have better workouts after the long hiatus. I hope to be totally back on track by the end of the long weekend.

MfC

Managed yesterday, barely, although it's pretty illegible.

17/21 wrote down my food today,
did not check in yesterday but did write down my food

I come with {15 of 21 for May}

Challenge: exercise 20 minutes every day.

I come into this day with {8 of 17 since May 4}

Promise: 1 hour on accounts and finances daily

[color=blue:023564e1b3]Complete:[/color:023564e1b3] I end this day with {9 of 18 since May 4}