"Get 'em out by Friday"

It's Monday morning. I'm typing from the dining table for the first time in months. The apartment remains clean, although the bedroom still hasn't been tackled. Also, I could use a filing system for the books. I still have a lot of CDs in random places. Still, the place is ready for visitors.

Having a deadline for cleaning the apartment was vital to getting the place clean. I had a deadline far enough out to allow me to develop a plan of attack with plenty of lounge space within it. I figured out a good metric for cleaning: I can do one room with half a year's mess in an evening (two to five hours).

I had always thought of myself as someone that didn't need assignments with time lines. However, I'm finding I get a lot more done with them. If I used even half that discipline with my attempt to learn programming, I'd have two languages under my belt by now.

Time to build a schedule, eh?