The List

I have a list. Actually, I have several lists. I find this makes organisation easier because I write things down I need to buy, or need to do. And then I don't feel as bad if I forget to buy/do them as they are on A List and they will be remembered again at some point.

Crossing things off the list feels good. So good in fact that it seems to be common practice among Listers to add things post-action, simply in order to cross them off again. This is called Being Productive. It is Post Productive Crossings Off and I've been doing a lot of those lately.

Today there were a few Post Productive Crossings Off. Purely because I had completely forgotten to add them to The List and I felt cheated that I couldn't cross them off when I'd done them. So I added them to The List and Crossed Them Off, immediately feeling much better.

Maybe I should add 'Cross Things Off The List' to The List to add to my sense of achievement each day...

Anyway, The List is helping me work out how much I still need to do but even more importantly, during the times when I think I'm not making progress in getting organised, it reminds me how much I've already achieved. So it IS worth adding the Post Productive Crossings Off even if only to make me feel as though I'm getting somewhere!

Now, where did I put The List - 'write unnecessary blog' and 'cross out completed jobs' need to be added and crossed off....

Getting There

A few weeks ago I made a decision. I couldn't get work in the UK so I decided to look further afield. I applied for a few jobs in countries as diverse as Libya, Cambodia and Russia. I got offered a few (one in Saudi, two in Poland, and one in Russia). Taking everything into account I chose the job in Russia. Western Siberia to be exact. I'll be teaching English to adults.

I am going to fly out on 6 September. That's two weeks away. I'm in the final stages of packing up my life into storage boxes and putting them in a large wooden box for at least 10 months. I have got a tenant (a lovely one) for the flat, and have bought new knickers and made a doc's appointment for the diazepam prescription (for the flight) so preparations are going well. I think...

I don't mind putting things into boxes, emotionally or physically, so that part of the move isn't difficult. I'll miss family and friends but so many of my friends are online now that it won't be as tough as it was when I went to Poland 5 years ago. I've also got a new shiny laptop with built in webcam so keeping in touch should be a doddle!

I'm sure some things will be hard, not least the uncertainty of what I'm going into. I speak a little Russian and I've been to Russia on holiday but know very little about Russia really. I'm also not certain yet which city I'll be working in (either Tyumen or Nizhnevartovsk) which is slightly unsettling but I'm trying to go with the flow and deal with whatever comes.

I'll still be on Twitter (@peekaywrites) and Facebook but will update the blog too with my 'adventures'. You may even get to see a few photos!!

Paula
xx