I won’t lie: I am a complete flake.
I do not get things done. Just ask one of my ex-husbands — any one, take your pick. That’s right, I don’t finish things either.
And that’s not the half of it. I am a procrastinator of epic proportions. I still have unpacked boxes from when I moved to California in 1996. I’ve moved three times since then; I figure, what’s the point?
I’m afraid to count the number of jobs I’ve had. Or websites. And don’t ask me about diets.
My house is a mess only an order or two below the ones you see on my new favorite reality series, Hoarders. I watch it feeling superior, but I always end up looking around the room and wondering, Are they talking about me? Not yet, but soon.
Oh, you’d have to go a ways to out-flake me.
Not that I haven’t tried to straighten up.
- I have to-do lists up the wazoo.
- I’ve had Day-Timers and Day Runners, paper calendars, Yahoo Calendar, and Google Calendar.
- I’ve signed up for more ‘reminder’ sites than I can remember.
- I’ve tried Tweet What You Eat and Tweet What You Spend.
- I was one of the early adopters of Fly Lady’s approach to decluttering.
- And I’ve read more than a few of the MANY books about organizing your life, simplifying your finances, and getting things done.
So you can imagine how quickly I clicked a link that said The Complete Flake’s Guide to Getting Things Done. My Third Tribe guru, Sonia Simone, boils it down to three things:
Understand exactly what you want. Understand exactly where you are. Notice the difference.
And then, Sonia says, figure out the next step.
Okay, four things — but wowza, that’s something I can work with. Compact, simple, no bullshit.
And I thought, I can blog about this. Not as an expert in getting things done, mind you, but as an expert in complete flakery. I can use this blog to explore all the techniques, tools, and tricks that help — and those that don’t — and share what I learn with you.
That’s me: The Complete Flake.
It feels so good to finally be out of that jam-packed closet.
Are you a complete flake?
Come out of your messy closet and count the ways in the comments below. Make me feel better!
If you like this post, you might want to sign up for the Advance Discount newsletter in that box up there on the right. Besides a weekly newsletter, you’ll get the inside scoop on future flaky goodness — as well as a hefty discount. Can’t beat that with a stick!
Hey there. I'm LaVonne Ellis and I am a complete flake -- who's TRYING to do something about that. What about you?
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I'll admit to being a complete flake. Sometimes I wonder how I get anything done. Glad I'm not the only one ;)
Nice to meet you, Alexia! I feel so much freer since I went public about my flakiness. Not that it was a secret. Everybody already knew. :)
Nice post LaVonne. I'll come back here again and see how you're getting on! I'm certainly a flake too… only get stuff done by the power of anxiety and sleeplessness a lot of the time… if you figure out how to be calm and productive, do tell :)
I'm not really a flake, but I do get overloaded.
The end result is the same, I end up flaking out.
I think you're on to something lady.
Welcome, Becky! I know what you mean about anxiety and sleeplessness. For me, the problem is procrastination and a bad habit of letting deadline anxiety be my motivation rather than something more positive and helpful. Whatever THAT is. I'm going to be reading and reviewing lots of books and products in my search for a solution, so I look forward to seeing you back here soon!
Thanks, Dave! Good to see you here. I knew I was onto something the second the idea hit me – only a couple of weeks ago, actually. It all fell into place because I KNEW that almost everybody has this problem to some degree or another. We all feel like flakes at times. And the reaction has been universally positive, which is wonderful. Now I just have to stick with it – but I don't think it will be a problem. I'm loving just being able to be myself for a change, and not have to pretend I've got it together. :)
Lavonne, I'm not a flake, but I think what you're talking about doing is stuff that could help anyone. Because I usually have too many projects going at once, and I spread myself too thin. I'll look forward to seeing more of what you post.
Hi Susanna, thanks for your comment. I think most of us have trouble juggling things and spreading ourselves too thin. It's just that for us flakes, it's harder to solve these problems the way “normal” people do, and we have to fool ourselves into doing what needs to be done. At least that's what works for me. I'm working on a post about that.
You HAVE been reading my mail!!
Happy Monday ~ Karen J
No, I haven't — honest! :)
Oh man, most of the time I managed to hide or subvert my complete flakiness and actually get things done (this took YEARS of practice, and possibly multiple personalities, at least one of whom is NOT a flake), but every so often I despair at getting anything done that means anything.
Sonia's post was a revelation to me, too, especially coming from someone I admire as much as I admire her.
You've got yourself an avid reader, I look forward to going through your blog while procrastinating on doing something else. ^_^
I hear you there. Now that the blog is my 'something else,' I find I'm
actually getting the dishes done. I'm doing them to procrastinate on
blogging about procrastinating!
I have found that if I have two projects going at once, I am much more likely to get something done. If I'm not working on one, I can be working on the other. But, if I only have one project going, I don't get anything done because I procrastinate by doing something completely unproductive.
Wow, does THAT sound familiar. Good tip, thanks!
Oh man, most of the time I managed to hide or subvert my complete flakiness and actually get things done (this took YEARS of practice, and possibly multiple personalities, at least one of whom is NOT a flake), but every so often I despair at getting anything done that means anything.
Sonia's post was a revelation to me, too, especially coming from someone I admire as much as I admire her.
You've got yourself an avid reader, I look forward to going through your blog while procrastinating on doing something else. ^_^
I hear you there. Now that the blog is my 'something else,' I find I'm
actually getting the dishes done. I'm doing them to procrastinate on
blogging about procrastinating!
I have found that if I have two projects going at once, I am much more likely to get something done. If I'm not working on one, I can be working on the other. But, if I only have one project going, I don't get anything done because I procrastinate by doing something completely unproductive.
Wow, does THAT sound familiar. Good tip, thanks!
I'm trying not to piss off by ya know, analyzing your flakiness, but maybe just ask yourself what you get out of it? Afterall, there's an ulterior gain to almost everything we do, even if it is something that we're not necessarily happy about.
I just sat down to write a post on anger, and here I am, procrastinating…We're all somewhere on that spectrum!
Great post!
Ah, what I get out of it — now, that is a good question! I get to fantasize about all the great things I'm going to do without having to actually do them, for one thing. I get attention from other flakes who commiserate with me in the comments. And of course, I get to COMPLAIN about it, lol. With an lol, so people know I'm in on the joke. Lol.
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