EmP making it to the Alpha Marathon finish line was a lesson in procrastination for me. I still do it. I figured he might sneak something in at the end, and I thought it might be fun to do it a day before he did it or something, or find some time near the end of the year to pip him. I could've done it earlier--though while planning, I suspected he'd pick things up if I did. The self-fulfilling prophecy came about anyway--he wrote his last couple without knowing I was on 23, 24, etc.

Over the past month I had some open time to look over half-written reviews--ones from as far back as the team tourney--but I never really sat down and did so. Sometimes I put it off with something bigger, and other times I put if off with lesser stuff. I thought I could make 2 reviews a day from 12/24 to now and I am pretty close. Of course, I needed a break. It was too much at once without any semblance of quality control. I know before I proofread a review I make sure it makes sense 2 hours later, then I reread one last time. That seems like the minimum.

I had less than a review a week at some point, and then that ratio slowly increased, and I figured I'd just do it if I felt relaxed and had the time, which I did--once I finished something else I'd put off.

Yet I think it's this sort of lesson about procrastination that stays with me, not the YOU KEEP WAITING AND ****ING AROUND AND YOU WONT GET ANYWHERE IN LIFE AND EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE TALENT YOU DONT HAVE WHATS REALLY IMPORTANT LIKE PERSON X WHO DESERVES TO FEEL UNDERDOGGY COMPARED TO YOU.

This (and the implications life should be a competition, which took a LONG time to shake) often left me with the feeling that I maybe didn't deserve to do stuff because of previous procrastinating, or that I needed to be all gung ho at other people to stop it.

I quite simply see a lot of ways I wasted time and could've achieved this (fun) goal & it will lead to me getting rid of other stuff that's not what I want. I'll still achieve the overall goal--all 26 letters and a number--without gamefaqs rewrites, barring some crazy accident.

And recently I've found things that are more effective to help me do what I want. It could be as dumb as "Ooh, I came in in the last day of a 2 day sale and they didn't have the flavor of spaghetti sauce I wanted." Or it could be joking to myself that proofreading is -still- a form of procrastination (as I found during the team tourney)--though in college/HS I never even did that.

Obviously to some degree the start/end date of the Alpha Marathon are artificial, but it makes me aware of stuff I say I better not do yet...eg I can't do X til I pay off my condo...and look for ways around it. But whether or not this is known, I've looked back at a lot of silly stuff that I used to put off something less predictable--but more rewarding. The Alpha Olympics is one such thing. I will probably forget soon enough that I did it. But I certainly wanted to, and I had some goal for those reviews.

I'm at 26 now, assuming nothing egregious. I got a Z game. I'll sit back and enjoy it. I've read it's enjoyable. It's started well.