Does anyone have any pointers for staying on task while underemployed?
Right now I am doing contract work, so there will be no work for a week or two and then suddenly a pile of work will drop on me.
This is all well and good, but I feel like I am wasting my free time.
I want to do stuff. I want to study Spanish, I want to work on a book project, and I want to be better at cooking and cleaning and yardwork. But what I wind up doing is spending the whole day engaged in one stupid task after another with nothing to show for it.
To put it another way, self-discipline for things that don't HAVE to be done is not my strong suit.
So how does everyone stay on task for these things, especially when working at home?
= new reply since forum marked as read
editing. 
Thanks. :>
$990 for a 16 ft Uhaul (towing her car). Gas was $700, tolls were $100. Stayed two nights in a hotel, another $100 while she's on the road. Her new employer is paying for the first 2 weeks at an extended stay hotel while she tries to find an apartment (so no cost there) but she's moved to Washington DC where the studio apartments she's looking at are averaging $1000 - $1200/month so the first and last months rent plus the security deposit will cost approximately $3000.
She just did this last week so its fresh in my mind.
I've always been pretty horrified at how cavalier some DUers are in suggesting someone just "move" where the jobs are. Hell, moving's expensive, even doing it yourself. (This isn't a slam at your randome, please know that... 
Just some DUers don't even ask nicely, they just insist that slackers aren't going where the jobs are and that pisses me off). The OP doesn't sound like a slacker to me though
I know apartments are high. When I was working Northwest, I stayed in Germantown at the Homestead: 20141 Century Blvd Germantown, MD 20874 (301) 515-4500. A long term arrangement with the manager worked out to ~ $30/day. No security, clear out on a day's notice, utilities, cable, internet and phone included included. Another time I stayed at the Candlewood Suites in Fairfax for about $265/week.
I've been on the road a lot. Hope this helps. 
night with the caveat that I thought it was a chain type long term stay hotel and maybe she'd find one in Virginia??
I may make this an OP and ask for suggestions. I had one DUer pm me with an apartment suggestion already. Maybe I need to put it out there....?
Many thanks again!
Last edited Mon May 28, 2012, 10:53 AM - Edit history (1)
...a Candlewood in Fairfax, VA about 10 miles from McLean. Candlewood is a great product for a hotel.
Rooms: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/candlewood/hotels/us/en/fairfax/wasrh/hoteldetail/hotel-room-rates
As I recall this hotel had a community use grill and picnic area, a free exercise room and free washer/dryer (pay for soap). The desk maintains a collection of DVDs. Across from the desk is a room called the "Candlewood Cupboard" which is stocked with snacks, drinks and microwave dinners for a reasonable price.
On the road I always make a deal at hotel rather than an apartment. Leases, deposits, utilities and furniture all kind of cramp my style.
ETA: A word to the wise: avoid the Wilson Bridge in the Beltway (I-495). I can't imagine why but this bridge OPENS and stops traffic in both directions somewhat regularly. 
put a net nanny on the computer that lets me spend an hour a day goofing off on the internets. 
like dig out and plant the vegetable garden, but I usually wind up doing really half-assed small tasks like spending 20 minutes weeding a bed or something like that.
Ditto for cleaning. For example, if I really took the time to clean out and organize the cupboards in the kitchen, then cooking and putting groceries away would be a lot more efficient, but it's such a horror show that it never gets done. Now I'm all depressed at how lazy I am. 
I work on lots of different projects and a long time ago I had the same frustration you have. I changed how I worked and while my method doesn't solve the problem 100 per cent, it does let me know where I spend my time.
First, decide what your priorities are.
Next decide how much time you can afford to devote to each particular project.
I work in 30" increments and then move on to another project. That way I get a little progress each day on the priority projects.
I write down what was accomplished at the end of each 30-minute increment.
I'm very much into visibility. With some projects, I photograph the start and the end. When you work by yourself, you're often your only feedback.
Cher
Buy a book about writing a book.
you CEO
Bravo and more power to ya.
I had one of those fellowships myself. MIne lasted for about 2 years. I used it to protest against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and to build the anti-war movement. I don't think management ever figured it out
as a writer\editor for a greedy, unctuous owner (and what other kind are there, really?), I read Bruce Catton's entire 3-volume history of the U.S. Civil War. I too was underemployed (but had an office door I could shut for lengthy periods of time). In retrospect, I could have and maybe should have done what you are doing, i.e., wrote the Great American Novel. (I did finish a manuscript of poetry and a couple short stories, subsequently unpublished, during that long, hot summer.) My immediate boss despised the greedy, unctuous owner as much as I did, so even if she knew what I was up to, she wasn't going to say anything.
My advice: try to get a writing\editing job because it makes disguising your own writing and editing so much easier, kind of like hiding in plain sight
If I have a major project with a deadline, I am focused and on task. If not, I tend to piddle away my time. I volunteer a fair amount. That way I am accountable to the group for being places and finishing projects, similar to a work project. If I wanted to learn Spanish, I would probably need to sign up for a class at the community college. Same deal, it introduces structure and accountability into the process. The To Do list, which others mention is helpful. For cooking, I make a menu at the beginning of the week and shop. If that happens, meals tend to get made on a more regular basis. I am hopeless about cleaning and yard work. I do well for a while, but it is so boring, I never keep up with it for long. ADD meds might help, but I never get organized enough to get a script Good luck!
Now the goal is to not forget everything over the summer.
