Date Posted: July 16th, 2010
The Weekly Check-in is where I let you all know where I am on the path. “The Hard” is stuff I struggled with this week. It’s complaining except hopefully not as annoying. “The Good” is what went well this week. “The Learning” is what I realized this week. Learning could be related to The Hard or The Good but it might not be. The format is similar to the one FluentSelf’s Havi uses in her Friday Chickens.
The Hard
Exercise Please?
I didn’t bike to work on Wednesday or Thursday, and felt gross because of it. Brain fuzzy, can’t think straight, gross.
Nique needs to exercise consistently. Sewiously.
Not Enough Time
I want more time. I want energy to use said time. I don’t want to give up things I love doing. Can’t I have my cake and eat it too?
The Promise Breaking
I promised myself I’d get up with the kitty and either read (if the weather was nice) or use the exercise bike (if the weather was crummy). This didn’t happen. If the weather is nice I still bike to work, but getting up with the cat is hard. Especially when Rorschach decides that 4AM is a good time to start caterwauling. Rawr.
Maybe I need to face the fact that 8 hours of sleep is what I need. Getting up at 7 isn’t so bad…
Maybe I need to find some other time to exercise. Or something.
Also didn’t do as much writing as I would have liked to. (And I did want to do writing.)
Guilt Guilt Guilt
Not keeping promises to myself brings on the guilt.
Unfortunately while guilt will get me to sit on the bike or open the journal, it won’t make me want to exercise or want to write. Bleh.
The Good
Books!
Finished World Without End. Started Voluntary Simplicity. WWE was very good. I’m kinda sad it’s over. Voluntary Simplicity is looking like it’s going to be good too.
Finishing books is definitely a good thing. It makes me feel like I can accomplish something.
Meetings can be useful
I run a weekly progress meeting for one of my projects at work. Normally when I hear about meetings it’s about how long they are and how they take away from actual productive time. These meetings are different.
For one thing these meetings are short. This last one was 15 minutes? Maybe?
For another stuff gets done in the 10 – 20 minutes before the meeting. On both sides. No one likes to hear that they’re part isn’t done.
Happiness.
Crêpes at the Farmer’s Market
On Wednesday Aaron and I went to the Farmer’s Market on our way to work, and in one of the stalls was a crêpe stand. 
Very unexpected. Very tasty. I would have them again, though not every week.
It was nice to do something spontaneous and not feel guilty about it afterward.
Improving at Recorder
On Wednesday evenings I’ve been spending some time honing my music skills. Recorder has been my primary instrument for about 4 years now, so unsurprisingly I’ve been using some of that time to focus on it.
I’m happy to say that improvement is being made. I’m able to play more of the notes the recorder is capable of and I’ve discovered that the alto is better suited for many pieces I have until now usually played on the soprano.
I’m really glad I decided to block out one evening a week for practice.
The Learning
I feel terrible if I don’t exercise
*Writes note to self.*
Breathing is Good
Yep.
My Self-Worth is tied up in silly things
Like how productive I am and how well I keep promises to myself.
I need to remind myself that me not keeping promises to myself doesn’t mean I’m a bad person. It means something’s misaligned.
I need to remind myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Tags:
Character-Development, Leadership, Mastery, Physical Health, Self-Discipline.
Posted at
7:00 am | No Comments »
Date Posted: July 9th, 2010
This week the format of the check-in is “The Hard” followed by “The Good” followed by “The Learning”. “The Hard” is stuff I struggled with this week. It’s complaining except hopefully not as annoying. “The Good” is what went well this week. “The Learning” is what I realized this week. Learning could be related to The Hard or The Good but it might not be. The format is similar to the one FluentSelf’s Havi uses in her Friday Chickens.
The Hard
The Heat
The weather’s been in the 90s this week, so it’s been a bit unpleasant. On Monday, I had very little energy, and I’m pretty sure the heat was the main cause. Alas. A day off from work and I didn’t have the energy to use it productively. I even went for a walk to try to get more energy, but that didn’t work.
Also, Aaron and I have been snippy at each other because of the weather. Luckily neither of us takes it too seriously.
So much to do
And so little discipline. On Wednesday I came home from work and instead of doing the things I said I’d do (make food for the cat, calculate fabric amounts for Pennsic clothes, and do some cleaning) I read World Without End, practiced music, and read some more. It was fun, and I did get the music practiced, but I felt guilty about the time spent on the book.
Working 9 – 9.5 hour days.
We’re leaving early today for a wedding this weekend in Ohio, so I had to flex out those hours over the week. While I’m at work I don’t feel the extra hour. It’s when I come home and there’s not much time left that I start to feel resentful. Yeah I know people have it worse… that still doesn’t make me feel better. 
The Good
Sno-cone Maker!
Last summer we bought a sno-cone maker and it’s turned out to be a great purchase. Yeah, we have an ice-crusher built into the fridge, but this thing does a much better job. Very refreshing. 
Exercise!
Biked to work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Took a walk on Monday. Friday we’ll be leaving for Ohio, so no biking. Yay!
Got writing done.
Just about finished a post for the future. Started a few more.
Singing
We’re singing and playing music at the wedding this weekend, so we did some practicing on Wednesday. A lot of the music I already knew, and it’s in a good range for my voice.
Enjoyed Reading about Underground Houses
A goal Aaron and I have is to one day build our own hobbit hole. I got a book from the library called $50 & Up Underground House Book on just that topic. It’s dated (published in 1978 dated), but the information is still good, and it’s very entertaining. Well, entertaining for me since the author’s a back-to-the-land hippie…
The Learning
Exercise makes me happy… but only up to a certain point.
Last Friday I biked to work and felt ecstatic for the first few hours of my workday. This week I’ve been biking daily and my mood hasn’t been lifted nearly as much. As I mentioned, on Monday I went for a walk in the hope that it would wake me up and it didn’t. I didn’t feel worse afterward, I just didn’t feel much better either.
I’ll keep on exercising regularly, but I’ll try not to be disappointed on the days I don’t get a euphoric boost.
Pleasant rituals are hard to break
I start my day reading my personal email and checking feeds. This feels good and comfy, but I know I’m not as productive when I do start my day this way. The obvious thing to do is to replace my morning “check email and feeds” ritual with some other pleasant ritual, but I haven’t come up with one that’s sufficiently pleasant and sufficiently motivating. Apparently going through my to-do list isn’t that motivating to me. I will think about it.
Fun is as important as other stuff
I have this ongoing fear that if I do the things that need to be done I won’t have time for fun. Take Thursday. After choir we packed for Ohio and made kitty food. By the time we were done with that it was 10:40pm. Our bed-time is 11pm. Instead of dropping everything and reading for the last 20 minutes I wanted to make an icy drink and turn off some of the lights upstairs. If I had done that it would have been 10:50pm and at that point I might as well go to bed, fulfilling the “I can’t do work and have time for fun” prophecy. Luckily Aaron insisted I just go and read.
I don’t want to binge on fun stuff and feel guilty about it later, so I’m going to start including fun stuff in my “things to get done” list. I’ll keep it at the end of the list so I don’t procrastinate on less fun stuff, but I’ll make time to do it. I have a feeling this will work. That’s it for this week.
Tags:
Character-Development, Recommended Stuff, Self-Discipline, Stuff-Management.
Posted at
10:02 am | No Comments »
