Maybe my mood isn't exactly peachy and nice because I'm not feeling particularly great and I have a headache, and therefore maybe I'm being harsher than I need to be, but dammit, when I say make sure everything in the yard is back in the house or back where you find it, that doesn't mean except the lawn chairs that were taken off the porch and put in the yard, the papers and trash all over the yard, and the shoes left underneath the trees. I pulled them all out of the car, unpacked it, and made them clean it. Now they're all sitting on the living room floor in silence unitl I decide I'm done being mad.

I am not good with large unstructured chunks of time.

I'm seriously debating keeping a log of day-to-day activities, so I can see where wasted time is coming into play. I can already hear that nagging little voice in my head going "I don't wanna!!!" like a spoiled toddler, but I've got to start ignoring the little shit.

I'm seriously debating keeping a log of day-to-day activities, so I can see where wasted time is coming into play.

Me, too.

I do that! I call it "Buffistas".

So the question is really the answer, then?

There is another choice, between suppressing and succumbing to the spoiled brat we all have: validation. Acknowledge it, and then do it anyway. Sometimes it helps to have a conversation with your inner child, like learning to parent yourself well. I know for myself that if I ignore or tamp down on an emotion, it just tends to pop back up and smack me in the face harder.

Frank, check out the VITALS strategy: [link] It's been very helpful for me in learning to do things I don't want to. You don't have to do all the steps, and some will probably work better for you than others.

Trifecta:

Also, Frank, feel free to ignore my advice or tell me to shove it. I'm just sharing things that have worked for me, because it seems we have similar issues. I won't take it personally if it's not helpful or wanted.

Rain seems to be in a lull. Off to run errands.

smonster, feel free to use our internet or water for whatever. You can take your container there for potable water, if you like. When is Ray coming over?

I'll admit, I've never understood the concept of rewarding yourself for doing unpleasant tasks. It works with kids (if it does!) because a kid doesn't get to decide if he gets a candy or gets to go play; his grown-up can withhold the treat until the task is done. But I'm a grown-up. If I want a cupcake or long hot bubblebath, I'll have it. A reward is something you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Are there people who are actually withholding good things from themselves because they think they haven't earned them?

The only way I see this working is encouraging myself to save money by planning to spend some of it on something I otherwise couldn't have afforded, but saving up for a trip to the Grand Canyon isn't the same thing as letting myself have a donut because I cleaned off my desk. Maybe I'm just not wired into a task/reward structure that works for other people.