Yesterday (remember yesterday?) I had a goal. It was a report the Boss had requested, and I wanted to get it to him before the weekend. That project kept me focused most of the day, and it kept me from spending more hours than I could afford on the Internet, at a time when the Internet seemed like something I’d just discovered (or invented).

Today was a different story. I do have work to do, more of it than I can even catalog in one column of my to-do list, but you know me and deadlines. If there isn’t one, I don’t feel the urgency, and I tend to pull back from that gung ho attitude for which I’m known far and wide. Or not.

About halfway through the day I realized I wasn’t getting anything done, and that I’d have to start soon or I’d be working the whole holiday weekend. About two-thirds of the way through the day, the prospect of working a couple of hours Saturday didn’t seem so bad. About three-quarters of the way through the day, I almost mustered enough ambition to get started on something that I wouldn’t have been able to finish. Dodged that bullet, for sure.

By the end of the day, I was thinking that most of what I thought I had to do today could easily be put off until Monday. After all, there’s no mail pickup or delivery Saturday and Sunday, so anything I did this weekend would be a waste of precious time better devoted to lounging in front of the radio (because Saturday’s Giants game won’t be televised, and there’s no way I’m getting up early enough to watch Venus and Serena). It’s not hard to rationalize when you’re this highly motivated.

One advantage of having Internet access all day now is that I don’t have to do everything (work-related or not) at night. I think this might just possibly get me into a better sleeping routine, because I won’t have to stay up so late to get everything done. It’ll take time, of course, and chances are I’ll just find new reasons to stay up late. But at least I’m thinking about it, which is a huge first step.