I had like a week or two (maybe longer?) there of being really on top of stuff. Finally developing a sense of organization for my cartoon sight gag of a to-do list, starting drafts of various blog entries I've been meaning to write for a while (rather than waiting for time/inspiration to write the whole damn thing in one sitting), working out the steps towards long-term goals more clearly, finished a small build for a coworker (recreating a worn-to-pieces favorite garment, not anything original, which is why haven't posted about it before), brainstorming some simple and less costume-y things for me and my Etsy shop, and to top it all off the universe (okay, the internet) spontaneously handed me a breakthrough for a slightly stuck Top Secret Folklore Nerd Costume/Puppet Project of AWESOME. Look, this video is what the internet gave me, it's amazing:
Then I noticed how many balls I had in the air, panicked, dropped them all, and spent the better part of the last three (or was it five?) days playing Fallout 3.
Okay, part of my sudden collapse of productivity was because a bunch of coworkers called in sick last week, and I volunteered to work two extra days of retail day job in the interests of cultivating time off karma. So I was a bit frazzled and run down (possibly fighting off the same bug as my peers), plopped my butt in front of the gaming computer to unwind, and stayed long enough to actually make myself feel worse... thereby motivating me to keep playing. I mean, I got some household stuff done, made some gestures at accomplishing things, and I went to work a couple days in there, so I didn't completely fail at life. Just mostly.
Anyways, I so overdid it with my game-related reaction to overdoing it in general that when I went to work yesterday, my lower back was so jacked up from all the computer-slumping that... well, I was trying to come up with a description for whatever my muscles were doing, and what I came up with was less a description and more a sound effect. And that sound effect was "kersploing." All day yesterday. For no real reason beyond "Because the Wasteland needs me."
So, yeah, I need to cut back on the computer games. Which shouldn't be too hard, since I just did the gaming equivalent of making yourself sick by eating an entire bucket of seasonal candy, so a moderate nibble in the evening will probably be all I can tolerate for a while. Plus, the huge spring sale at Day Job is next week, so I doubt I'll have time and energy to even boot up the gaming machine while that's going on.
The bigger challenge is going to be picking up all those balls I had in the air a week or two ago. I can do it, I did it once (several times, really), but clearly organization and prioritization are things I need to work on so I don't end up freaking out and backpedaling again. I'm trying a bunch of widgets and apps and general organizational schema to keep myself together, which may be putting a little too much reliance on my technology (and/or using app acquisition and setup as a means to procrastinate further), but at least I'm thinking about this much-neglected aspect a little more. Honorable mention among the collection of crutches goes to the SuperBetter website (there's an app, too, but I've heard it's pretty buggy and I haven't tried it yet), the self-help gaming engine by Jane McGonigal (link goes to her TED page - the second of her talks is about the game). So far, the gamification element is really helpful in getting me to actually keep coming back to my to-do list and crossing a thing or two off of it.
So, that's where I'm at! Fingers crossed that staying on (or at least near) the blogging horse after hitting one of my walls is a good sign re: my overall togetherness. Hope to keep this up!
