(no subject)

[chess]

On a less melodramatic and more practical note:

I have an almost complete paralysis of action at the moment. If I'm alerted to things I am quite capable of doing them, but left to my own devices I shut down almost entirely. I tend to spend my days naked and indoors, sitting at the computer. Simple tasks like washing and shopping are beyond me. It is the initation that is the problem; once a task is initiated I can complete it just fine, but I find it very hard to initiate.

Comments

[edith-the-hutt.livejournal.com]

You know if you set up a webcam you could probably make a profit from that.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

Could you get someone to phone you to tell you to do things at regular intervals? Would it help to have an hourglass, or other timing thing (perhaps that goes beep)? Could you set up a cron job to email yourself to tell you what to do? Can you spend more time with other people?

[wibble-farmer.livejournal.com]

Have you come across Hassle Me? It sends you randomly spaced emails nagging you to do things. You specify the average frequency, so it can nag you "roughly every 7 days". Haven't tried it, but it sounds like a nice idea (or a nice abuse of a shell script).

Another suggestion, more radical and less geeky. Is there any medium-term project you've been wanting to do for a while now that you could start doing? Something like learning a language, taking up a sport, visiting another country, and so on. In my case, I'm learning Japanese: it's an ongoing task, so I can see continual evidence of progress, and it was entirely my own idea (not driven by any external interrupts). I've found that taking a medium-term aim and actually doing it can improve your confidence and motivation for the short-term things as well.

[chess]

I have been avoiding starting medium-term projects on account of starting work on Monday, which I feel I probably need to settle into before I work out how much energy I have for non-work things.

[wibble-farmer.livejournal.com]

True, starting a job is probably enough upheaval! Where will you be working?

[chess]

Red Gate Software.

[wibble-farmer.livejournal.com]

I've heard of them, looks like a good company. Guess you're starting today - best of luck, and make sure you know where the refreshment area is!