Over the last couple of decades I have become accostomed to the way my brain ~works. I am fundamentally very lazy and need a lot of motivation to move off my bed and away from my laptop. As you can tell by the fact that I am typing this, my motivation is currently failling. The threat of movers arriving at 9am tomorrow and laughing at the complete lack of packing is not enough to get me packing. The 38 item list I have is not working either. So I'm now going to resort to peer pressure.

By posting and updating this blog post I am hoping that the threat of having to report "2am - still not done anything" to all my dearest friends, relatives and stalkers will give me a new enthusiasm and drive me towards success.

OR this is just yet another way of procrastinating.

Right... how much can I get done in the 10 minutes before my tea cools enough to drink? I feel strangely energised!


12.55: first step was to switch on my main pc so I could have some music. Then of course I remembered that I hadn't finished reinstalling windows, so I needed to actually install something to play music. That done I decided to pack the small things first and cleared all the shelves of small ornaments. I now have two small boxes which have a lot of bubble wrap, elephants and eeyores in them. I suspect those two boxes will have to go in another box, but I'm still ticking them off the list as done.
Items ticked: 1/38, music: Kaiser Chiefs - Caroline

14.05: I was determined not to post again until I'd achieved something, but I made the mistake of getting half way through multiple things. But now I have wrapped all the pictures from the lounge, hallway and my room, all the books from the stairs are done, as are the dvds in the lounge. Unfortunately I also had to add an item to the list. I think I shall now investigate lunch as all I've eaten so far today are several pieces of parcel tape.
Items ticked: 6/39, music: The Tams - Hey Girl Don't Bother Me (where on earth did that come from?!)

14.23: mmm... microwave pizza.

14.45: finished my pizza, including managing to explode tomato sauce on my duvet cover. Sigh. I'm peering at the todo list pondering what to attack next, I find myself wondering what the difference between 'bits and bobs' and 'stuff' is with reference to my desk, possibly something related to the fact that every time I haven't known what to do with something for the last week or so I've just put it on my desk. I can now only see the top half of my monitor and am very grateful that the mouse is wireless.
Items ticked: 6/39 still, music: Zapp and Roger - California Love

15.36: I'm now working on cup of tea number 3, which may not sound like much to most of you but given I very rarely drink tea these days is an achievement to me. I also desperately want a Starbucks iced mocha. I've just managed to cram all my clothes into one suitcase and a very large box. I should probbly have gone through them and sent some of the "what was I thinking" and "one day I'll fit in this again" errors to a charity shop but I just couldn't be bothered. I'm trying not to think too hard about the fact there only seem to be 3 empty boxes left and that I haven't even started on the kitchen. I'm hoping that when I open my storage cupboard I'm going to find a hidden stash of empty boxes, I'm not confident. Panic is edging in...
Items ticked: 8/39, music: Hooty and the Blow Fish - I Go Blind

16.08: Oops, I seem to have spent half an hour drinking my tea, emptying my google reader and watching the rain come down. Damn.
Items ticked: 8/39, music: Maria Taylor: Its Not a Love Song

17.32: Bedroom looks like a Stuff Bomb has gone off in here, no additional items ticked off, panic building
Items ticked: 8/39, music: Scissor Sisters: I Don't Feel Like Dancing

17.56: Pretty much cleared my big cupboard now. There was quite a culling of old manual for computer bits, I'm not sure why I kept them beyond putting them in the first time, let alone keeping them for up to 8 years. The cupboard was a good one to clear as it crossed 3 things off and actually did produce a couple of empty boxes! Hopefully I won't ever need to send my laptop anywhere as although I still have the box, I've just thrown away the polystyrene filler thingies. I really am going to have to make a decision on those Total Film magazines at some point, they're currently spread all over the landing and every time I walk over them I run the risk of sending myself sliding down the stairs. I think I'm going to have to deal with the Stuff and Bits and Bobs on the far side of my room next :(
Items ticked: 12/39, music: Take That: Like I Never Loved You at All

18.58: Ok, I've had enough. I'm covered in dozens of scratches, scrapes and actual holes. I desperately want a shower but know there's just no point until I'm done getting dusty and sweaty (not a good combo). I managed to dribble chocolate milk down myself ('spill' really would be too glamorous a term for the embarrassing incident). There's "bits and bobs" all over the sodding place and I haven't even started on the kitchen yet. For an hour's work I've managed to tick off just two items and to be honest I haven't so much packed the stuff from the shelves in my room as 'heaped them vaguely inside a box'. I have a collection of items that are just moving round in circles from desk->sofa->bed->floor->chair->desk in the vague hope that they'll magically find themselves a home. To top it all off one of the items I found was my record of achievement folder from school full of glowing reports about how capable and organised I was. I nearly cried.
I think I might go and attack some of the ice cream that needs using up.
Items ticked: 14/39, music: Scissor Sisters - Lights

20:43: Another burst of activity and my room is almost finished, I've cleared the desk, the shelves, the wardrobe, most of the chest of drawers and am now left with the pc (which is supplying music) the top of my chest of drawers (next on the list) and an absolute mountain of random bits and pieces on my bed and sofa. I'm defering the decision on the Total Films - just moved them out of the way so that I can box them up later if necessary. I recon another 1/2 hour of concerted effort will finish my room (so more like an hour of the half-arsed effort I'm making) by which time I hope my flatmates will be home and we can decide which bits of the kitchen are being moved tomorrow. I probably ought to think about food at some point as well...
Items ticked: 19/39, music: Roisin Murphy - Ruby Blue

21.12: yeah, it's going to be more like an hour... I've stopped for food although I have very little interest in eating. Cleared a few of the miscellaneous boxes into a large chest type thing. I suspect the movers are going to hate me, I've tried to not make things too heavy, but I've mostly failed I expect and the lounge is now pretty full of boxes that have to go down 2 floors. I really hope my flatmates didn't want to get at the pc graveyard in there 'cos it's pretty inaccessible now. Right, eat food, finish room, clear hallway. I will not allow myself to have a shower until all that is done.
Items ticked: 19/39 still, music: i forgot to switch it back on when I returned from the kitchen :(

23.00: I'm clean! With a bit of luck that will be my last shower in Franklin Square and good riddance to the evil thing that decided to wave goodbye with a complete refusal to produce hot water. I've take apart my pc, sorted out the top of my chest of drawers and moved everything that I'm uncertain of how/whether to shift onto the sofa where the removals men can cheerfully ignore it. I can hear the distant sound of a flatmate so I should go and see about the kitchen I suppose. There's still some tidying to do so men can actually get to the stuff they're moving but I can always do that in the morning. I that I shall sign off now and just go to bed with wet hair.
Items ticked: 21/39, music: flatmate wrestling with bubble wrap

Originally posted at livejournal on 26th June 2007