A bit of a struggle getting started

Since before Christmas, work has been very thin on the ground and this has meant that the organisation of my time has been very much left to me. I have pottered around the house, done immense work in the dining room, walked the dogs frequently and unhurriedly and, as a last resort, have progressed a series of leadership training modules. It now looks like this regime is going to change significantly as my latest project has just surfaced from it's midwinter slumber and is starting to stretch it's sleep stiffened limbs...

... it is the same pile of shite that I was playing around with in October and November last year. The client has finally decided that we are it's IT Outsourcer of choice and we are to provide them with a firm price this time. The Sales Team optimistically think they will have this signed, sealed and delivered by the end of March.*

The trickle of e-mails started in the middle of last week and I did what any conscientious Project Manager would do and ignored them until a budget was made available for me to book my time to. It now appears that a measly few pounds has been made available and I am now to make a start on planning this phase of the engagement...

... Do you know, after so many weeks of floating around doing what I pleased, combined with a ten day Christmas Break, I found it very hard to do anything constructive today. I attended a call with the EMEA Sales Lead, committed myself to reviewing an American plan and drafting something for Europe that lines up with the key dates. I did fuck all for the rest of the day but am hoping that guilt will kick in early tomorrow and I will actually justify the hours that I plan to put down in Dante's electronic time sheet.

If I am honest I am actually a morning person and tend to use my afternoons for the quick, less complex elements of my work. I also like to think before I act, so an afternoon call was never going to have me chomping at the bit and rushing head long in to a flurry of activity. This evening will allow me to mull over a few things and I am hopeful of a significant change in attitude that will result in me knocking up my draft plan tomorrow morning.**

 And that is about it; a day spent procrastinating instead of actually doing any work. I reserved my productive urges for domestic activities and made a start on waxing the fire surround in the dining room. As you can see from the pictures, there is quite a lot of it.

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* That may well be true for my colleagues in North America and Asia but the Europeans are already muttering about crappy service and the need to see a sustained improvement before they will think about putting pen to paper.  See also foot note below.
** Oh look, Gloucester Old Spots in the South Western sky at an altitude of 2,000' !