Check out that shorter list! Almost all the goals are done, and the others are close to being done. I'm liking the shorter list idea. This format seems to work better for me. Shorter is more manageable, and by removing the items each week, I'm only left with the unfinished goals to focus on. I tried doing it with the 101 goals as well, but the list that was left after removing the finished goals was still really long and intimidating. By the end of it, I wasn't motivated to get anything done since I knew I wasn't going to complete them in full. What was the point of trying? But with the short list, it's so much easier to imagine accomplishing it.
Work
1. get to work on time 2x per week (Poor showing this week, only 1 day met my criteria. I think I need to re-jig this goal for next month, maybe start with a larger time window, and gradually reduce it. I am the worst at getting up in the morning)
Fitness
2. be active at least 3x
per week (Accomplished for this past week; I did my 2 regular
activities as well as 2 others. Look at me go - I'm exceeding my goals!)
Health
3. book juice cleanse (DONE!)
Personal
6. make plans with 2 friends I haven't seen in a long time (Done both!)
Condo
9. move more
stuff to storage locker (DONE)
Craft
12. finish green tiger blanket (DONE)
13. start working on red sweater (I finished my current knitting project today, so next time I pick up needles it is going to be the sweater! But I haven't actually done anything on it yet, so I can't mark this goal as done. )
14. figure out pattern for frog pillow (I've been thinking about it, and thinking about colours to use, but have not settled on anything yet. Some internet research might be needed before I make a final decision.)
Financial
15. make RRSP appointment
(I decided to wait on this until I got an RRSP cheque I was expecting from work. I got the cheque last week, now I can book an appointment. My plan is to book it tomorrow.)
16. figure out a new budget (I have no excuse - I've just been lazy!)
Next blog post I'm going to try to come up with my November goals. I'm going to have to try to keep the list short. I find that I have a tendency to keep adding!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Mid-month update
We're already halfway through October! Man, time is going by fast this month. I've had two very busy weekends in a row, both with lots of driving. Next weekend I'm staying home and don't have much planned. I'm looking forward to it!
Here's where I am on my goals:
Work
1. get to work on time 2x per week (Accomplished for this week! I am giving myself a small 5min window as well. Meaning, before 9:05 counts as 'on time'.)
Fitness
2. be active at least 3x per week (Accomplished for this past week; I have 2 regular activities for the rest of October, so I only need to come up with one other activity each week. I'm obviously hoping to do more, but 3 will be my minimum.)
Health
3. book juice cleanse (I know, I'm procrastinating! Even groupon is nagging me, telling me to go use my groupons.)
Personal
6. make plans with 2 friends I haven't seen in a long time (Done one, working on the second)
7. book laser appointment again (DONE - and the appointment is done too already)
8. find a vet, and take cat to vet for checkup (DONE - took him yesterday. Kitty does NOT enjoy going into his carrier, and he disliked his overall vet experience. Loves the dental food the vet gave me though.)
Condo
9. move more stuff to storage locker (I need to go through my fabric stash, which is why I've been putting this one off. I have a pile of fabric that I want to move to the storage locker, but in order to get it into the locker with the other fabric I need to pull everything out and repackage it. Daunting.)
Craft
12. finish green tiger blanket (Almost - need to finish binding the sides. I'm 1/3 of the way done hand sewing it closed. I'm very pleased with how it looks so far, but it is painstakingly slow.)
13. start working on red sweater (not until green blanket is done)
14. figure out pattern for frog pillow (not until green blanket is done)
Financial
15. make RRSP appointment (I have put this in my phone as a reminder. If I listen to my phone, it's very effective at telling me to do things. But I have a bad habit of ignoring the reminders, or moving them to later days. Like booking the juice cleanse . . . )
16. figure out a new budget (I get paid tomorrow at my higher rate, so I'm waiting until that happens to do this one)
I haven't really been thinking about my goals much. This isn't really helping me get anywhere with getting them done. At least by blogging about them I'm getting a (kinda) weekly reminder about them. By putting things in my phone I find that I'm still getting things done, they're just not getting connected to accomplished goals in my brain. But the whole point is to get things done. So it doesn't matter whether they connect - I just have to do them!
Here's where I am on my goals:
Work
1. get to work on time 2x per week (Accomplished for this week! I am giving myself a small 5min window as well. Meaning, before 9:05 counts as 'on time'.)
Fitness
2. be active at least 3x per week (Accomplished for this past week; I have 2 regular activities for the rest of October, so I only need to come up with one other activity each week. I'm obviously hoping to do more, but 3 will be my minimum.)
Health
3. book juice cleanse (I know, I'm procrastinating! Even groupon is nagging me, telling me to go use my groupons.)
Personal
6. make plans with 2 friends I haven't seen in a long time (Done one, working on the second)
7. book laser appointment again (DONE - and the appointment is done too already)
8. find a vet, and take cat to vet for checkup (DONE - took him yesterday. Kitty does NOT enjoy going into his carrier, and he disliked his overall vet experience. Loves the dental food the vet gave me though.)
Condo
9. move more stuff to storage locker (I need to go through my fabric stash, which is why I've been putting this one off. I have a pile of fabric that I want to move to the storage locker, but in order to get it into the locker with the other fabric I need to pull everything out and repackage it. Daunting.)
Craft
12. finish green tiger blanket (Almost - need to finish binding the sides. I'm 1/3 of the way done hand sewing it closed. I'm very pleased with how it looks so far, but it is painstakingly slow.)
13. start working on red sweater (not until green blanket is done)
14. figure out pattern for frog pillow (not until green blanket is done)
Financial
15. make RRSP appointment (I have put this in my phone as a reminder. If I listen to my phone, it's very effective at telling me to do things. But I have a bad habit of ignoring the reminders, or moving them to later days. Like booking the juice cleanse . . . )
16. figure out a new budget (I get paid tomorrow at my higher rate, so I'm waiting until that happens to do this one)
I haven't really been thinking about my goals much. This isn't really helping me get anywhere with getting them done. At least by blogging about them I'm getting a (kinda) weekly reminder about them. By putting things in my phone I find that I'm still getting things done, they're just not getting connected to accomplished goals in my brain. But the whole point is to get things done. So it doesn't matter whether they connect - I just have to do them!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Full speed ahead
A few days after writing out my October goals, I thought I was being a bit lofty in my ambitions. But now, 9 days in, I'm feeling pretty good about it. I've done better than I thought I would. I realized that most of my goals, even though I've broken them down into lots of categories below, fit into 2 bigger categories. The obvious one is health, the fitness and health goals are to help me get back to a healthy weight. And stop me from gaining anymore weight.
The second grouping is organization, in a broad sense. I want my life to feel more organized. I don't want to feel like I'm always rushing to get somewhere (like work) or like I have so much on my to do list that it's paralyzing. With that also goes all of the storage/cleaning goals - if my environment is organized, I'll feel more organized. Which will lead to a better feeling overall. At lease I certainly hope so. If it doesn't, at least my to do list will be significantly smaller.
Work
1. get to work on time 2x per week (My work is really flexible - if I show up late, I stay late. But I just got promoted, so I'm trying to break my bad habit of being late all the time. This goal is going to reoccur each month, until I'm getting there on time more often than not)
Fitness
2. be active at least 3x per week (Working on this - I'm already regularly active once a week, I'm trying to increase that to be healthier, and help me on my overall goal of losing weight and inches)
Health
3. book juice cleanse
4. figure out a healthy calorie consumption level for losing weight DONE
5. start tracking calories and eating healthier DONE
(I joined www.sparkpeople.com, once you put in your weight loss goal and timeframe, the site calculates a healthy daily calorie range for you, and there is a feature that allows you to track your meals. There's also a lot more to the site too! So far I've been doing fairly well at keeping within the calorie ranges. I exceeded on Thanksgiving, but I was expecting that and compensate by eating healthy earlier that day. I'm still struggling with getting enough protein, but since the site also tells me whether I've met my protein goals for the day, I think I'll be able to get a bit better.)
Personal
6. make plans with 2 friends I haven't seen in a long time (Done one, working on the second)
7. book laser appointment again
8. find a vet, and take cat to vet for checkup
Condo
9. move more stuff to storage locker, get rid of stuff in storage locker (Done second half of goal)
10. get roommate to deal with some stuff in the hallway (DONE)
11. start going through jewellery (DONE - I spent a good chunk of this weekend cleaning and organizing my jewellery, as well as purging a fair bit of it. It all looks so great now, I can't wait to wear it. There was so much jewelery I was forgetting about)
Craft
12. finish green tiger blanket (Almost - need to finish binding the sides. I'm still deciding between doing it by hand and making it look pretty, or doing it with the sewing machine and sacrificing looks for sturdiness. I'm leaning towards hand sewing right now, and might try to do this tomorrow night or on the weekend. I'm so close I just want to finish it!)
13. start working on red sweater (not until green blanket is done)
14. figure out pattern for frog pillow (not until green blanket is done)
Financial
15. make RRSP appointment
16. figure out a new budget
Next post I'll take out the goals I finished for this one, and so on for each post, until there are no goals left! Now I have to get on the remaining goals. Otherwise, my list won't get smaller.
The second grouping is organization, in a broad sense. I want my life to feel more organized. I don't want to feel like I'm always rushing to get somewhere (like work) or like I have so much on my to do list that it's paralyzing. With that also goes all of the storage/cleaning goals - if my environment is organized, I'll feel more organized. Which will lead to a better feeling overall. At lease I certainly hope so. If it doesn't, at least my to do list will be significantly smaller.
Work
1. get to work on time 2x per week (My work is really flexible - if I show up late, I stay late. But I just got promoted, so I'm trying to break my bad habit of being late all the time. This goal is going to reoccur each month, until I'm getting there on time more often than not)
Fitness
2. be active at least 3x per week (Working on this - I'm already regularly active once a week, I'm trying to increase that to be healthier, and help me on my overall goal of losing weight and inches)
Health
3. book juice cleanse
4. figure out a healthy calorie consumption level for losing weight DONE
5. start tracking calories and eating healthier DONE
(I joined www.sparkpeople.com, once you put in your weight loss goal and timeframe, the site calculates a healthy daily calorie range for you, and there is a feature that allows you to track your meals. There's also a lot more to the site too! So far I've been doing fairly well at keeping within the calorie ranges. I exceeded on Thanksgiving, but I was expecting that and compensate by eating healthy earlier that day. I'm still struggling with getting enough protein, but since the site also tells me whether I've met my protein goals for the day, I think I'll be able to get a bit better.)
Personal
6. make plans with 2 friends I haven't seen in a long time (Done one, working on the second)
7. book laser appointment again
8. find a vet, and take cat to vet for checkup
Condo
9. move more stuff to storage locker, get rid of stuff in storage locker (Done second half of goal)
10. get roommate to deal with some stuff in the hallway (DONE)
11. start going through jewellery (DONE - I spent a good chunk of this weekend cleaning and organizing my jewellery, as well as purging a fair bit of it. It all looks so great now, I can't wait to wear it. There was so much jewelery I was forgetting about)
Craft
12. finish green tiger blanket (Almost - need to finish binding the sides. I'm still deciding between doing it by hand and making it look pretty, or doing it with the sewing machine and sacrificing looks for sturdiness. I'm leaning towards hand sewing right now, and might try to do this tomorrow night or on the weekend. I'm so close I just want to finish it!)
13. start working on red sweater (not until green blanket is done)
14. figure out pattern for frog pillow (not until green blanket is done)
Financial
15. make RRSP appointment
16. figure out a new budget
Next post I'll take out the goals I finished for this one, and so on for each post, until there are no goals left! Now I have to get on the remaining goals. Otherwise, my list won't get smaller.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Game on!
I decided to take September off, and not worry about goals or doing anything. This turned out to be a really good idea, because it gave me time to think about where I want to place my focus. I decided against doing a set number of goals or following a specific goal oriented program. Even if I made one up for myself. This month I realized that there are certain areas of my life where I want to make improvements. Maybe improvements is a bad word. There are areas of my life where I feel like there are things I need to do or should do, but they keep getting passed over for other things or forgotten. If I set things out here as goals to get done, hopefully it will help me out a bit. Then I will have fewer things hanging over my head making me feel guilty. The goals are going to be my big picture to do list for the month. I tend to keep running to do lists that never seem to get shorter. The main idea here is to start shrinking those lists.
October will be my test month, to see how it goes. I'm going to try to keep my individual goals small and manageable. And the categories I've come up with so far are just areas that I think I need to improve/get stuff done. I'm not going to commit to only these categories, or always having goals in each category. Flexibility was lacking in the 101 goals project, so being able to make changes after a month is important to me. The goals need to be relevant if I'm going to be motivated to complete them. Here we go:
OCTOBER GOALS!
Work
1. get to work on time 2x per week
Fitness
2. be active at least 3x per week
Health
3. book juice cleanse
4. figure out a healthy calorie consumption level for losing weight
5. start tracking calories and eating healthier
Personal
6. make plans with 2 friends I haven't seen in a long time
7. book laser appointment again
8. find a vet, and take cat to vet for checkup
Condo
9. move more stuff to storage locker, get rid of stuff in storage locker
10. get roommate to deal with some stuff in the hallway
11. start going through jewellery
Craft
12. finish green tiger blanket
13. start working on red sweater
14. figure out pattern for frog pillow
Financial
15. make RRSP appointment
16. figure out a new budget
Wish me luck!
October will be my test month, to see how it goes. I'm going to try to keep my individual goals small and manageable. And the categories I've come up with so far are just areas that I think I need to improve/get stuff done. I'm not going to commit to only these categories, or always having goals in each category. Flexibility was lacking in the 101 goals project, so being able to make changes after a month is important to me. The goals need to be relevant if I'm going to be motivated to complete them. Here we go:
OCTOBER GOALS!
Work
1. get to work on time 2x per week
Fitness
2. be active at least 3x per week
Health
3. book juice cleanse
4. figure out a healthy calorie consumption level for losing weight
5. start tracking calories and eating healthier
Personal
6. make plans with 2 friends I haven't seen in a long time
7. book laser appointment again
8. find a vet, and take cat to vet for checkup
Condo
9. move more stuff to storage locker, get rid of stuff in storage locker
10. get roommate to deal with some stuff in the hallway
11. start going through jewellery
Craft
12. finish green tiger blanket
13. start working on red sweater
14. figure out pattern for frog pillow
Financial
15. make RRSP appointment
16. figure out a new budget
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
That's all, folks
Since I'm going on vacation tomorrow (yay!) today is the last day for goals. There isn't going to be any time to squeeze in any more goals after I head out. I am glad to report that I managed to finish all the free rice donations yesterday, so that is one goal that gets completed. Overall, I completed 76 of my goals. That's a pass, right?
Short post today - I need to go to bed! While I'm on vacation, I'm going to try to figure out where I want to go from here with the goals. Whether to keep doing them (probably) and more importantly, what format do I want to follow. And while I'm at it, I figure I should probably come up with some goals for the first round of whatever I'm doing!
Short post today - I need to go to bed! While I'm on vacation, I'm going to try to figure out where I want to go from here with the goals. Whether to keep doing them (probably) and more importantly, what format do I want to follow. And while I'm at it, I figure I should probably come up with some goals for the first round of whatever I'm doing!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Tick tock
Almost there! So close on my free rice, only 9,000 to go. I've been good for the past little while, and have been remembering to do it. Now that I'm so close, I'm confident that I will get that goal done. The rest of them, not so much. When the buzzer finally goes, I think I will have 76 goals completed. Unless something miraculous happens and I somehow get another one done. But I'm not counting on that.
Instead of thinking about the goals I'm supposed to be doing, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do next. This has not been helping me get anything done, of course. But since I realized a long time ago that I'd checked out on a lot of my goals, I'm not overly concerned with getting them done. There are a few that I really want to do, like the free rice goal, but the rest don't really matter to me.
I'm toying with the idea of doing monthly goals. Mainly because I think it would be easier to keep track of. It's pretty hard to forget the last day of the month, but if I was doing 100 day goals or something, I'd have to keep track of an arbitrary day. Normally, I'm all over the abitrariness,just not this time. This time, laziness is winning the battle. My thinking was that I could set 5 goals at the beginning of each month. The goals can be pretty much anything, even silly things like "get a massage". Basically, I'm going to use the goals as a to do list. Getting 5 things done each month seems to be a pretty reasonable target, to me. And since they are my goals and it's my plan, I'm the only one that matters!
Instead of thinking about the goals I'm supposed to be doing, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do next. This has not been helping me get anything done, of course. But since I realized a long time ago that I'd checked out on a lot of my goals, I'm not overly concerned with getting them done. There are a few that I really want to do, like the free rice goal, but the rest don't really matter to me.
I'm toying with the idea of doing monthly goals. Mainly because I think it would be easier to keep track of. It's pretty hard to forget the last day of the month, but if I was doing 100 day goals or something, I'd have to keep track of an arbitrary day. Normally, I'm all over the abitrariness,just not this time. This time, laziness is winning the battle. My thinking was that I could set 5 goals at the beginning of each month. The goals can be pretty much anything, even silly things like "get a massage". Basically, I'm going to use the goals as a to do list. Getting 5 things done each month seems to be a pretty reasonable target, to me. And since they are my goals and it's my plan, I'm the only one that matters!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Knit knit knit
I have been on a knitting kick lately. Maybe it's because it finally rained, so it's a lot cooler out and that makes me feel like knitting again? Whatever it is, I don't mind it. I actually finished a square the other day, and I've started on another one. I also took some time one afternoon and sewed in all the ends on the squares that were done. Then I blocked them all. They are now ready and waiting for more to be done, so they can go into a blanket.
Even though I'm not going to be bound by the goals after August 31, I'm going to keep knitting the squares. I have way too much yarn not to keep going! Hopefully I can convince some other knitters that I know to help me out too. If I'm left on my own, it may be years before I have enough to make a blanket. Right now I have 28 squares done. 20 more to go to make a blanket.
No new goals done this week, just more slow progress on the goals that take a lot of time.
Even though I'm not going to be bound by the goals after August 31, I'm going to keep knitting the squares. I have way too much yarn not to keep going! Hopefully I can convince some other knitters that I know to help me out too. If I'm left on my own, it may be years before I have enough to make a blanket. Right now I have 28 squares done. 20 more to go to make a blanket.
No new goals done this week, just more slow progress on the goals that take a lot of time.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
The countdown has begun
21 days to go! One last hurrah! I'm going for a final push on goals to get as many done as possible. I had to accept that berry picking isn't going to happen. After writing my last post, I tried to find a place to go and pick. Apparently the picking season for berries is very short, and had already ended. The previous time I had looked, they hadn't started! The lack of rain this year made the season even shorter than usual according to some sites, and there was damage to baby plants earlier in the year which also didn't help. So that's one more goal on the 'fail' list.
I reviewed my food journal and noticed a few bad habits. I tend to graze if I don't have something planned for a meal; I eat too much bread and cheese (or starchy food and dairy) combinations instead of rounded snacks; I'm not getting enough fruits and vegetables. Also, when I just grocery shop and buy random things instead of buying specific ingredients to make recipes I've chosen, a lot of my food ends up going bad in the fridge before I eat it.
My plan to fix these is to plan out my meals better. I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I've been going through a cookbook to make healthier meals. Since then, I haven't grazed other than for snacks, which hasn't been often. I've been sticking to the planned meals without any problems. And I've been making sure to include a good portion of fruit at breakfast, to increase my fruit/vegetable intake each day. Before I was basically only eating toast with peanut butter and jam on it for breakfast, which isn't the healthiest thing I could choose. Lately I've switched to having Greek yogurt with a bit of granola and a lot of fruit. I even switched over to plain Greek yogurt. I was wimping out and getting vanilla flavour before.
I only have 50K to go on Freerice - I feel like I'm getting there finally. 50K is manageable. I'll probably be on the website on the last day, frantically answering questions to try to complete the goal. And I have started deleting emails again in the last email account I have to deal with. It's the one that I use the most and have had the longest, and it is slow going. But it's going!
I reviewed my food journal and noticed a few bad habits. I tend to graze if I don't have something planned for a meal; I eat too much bread and cheese (or starchy food and dairy) combinations instead of rounded snacks; I'm not getting enough fruits and vegetables. Also, when I just grocery shop and buy random things instead of buying specific ingredients to make recipes I've chosen, a lot of my food ends up going bad in the fridge before I eat it.
My plan to fix these is to plan out my meals better. I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I've been going through a cookbook to make healthier meals. Since then, I haven't grazed other than for snacks, which hasn't been often. I've been sticking to the planned meals without any problems. And I've been making sure to include a good portion of fruit at breakfast, to increase my fruit/vegetable intake each day. Before I was basically only eating toast with peanut butter and jam on it for breakfast, which isn't the healthiest thing I could choose. Lately I've switched to having Greek yogurt with a bit of granola and a lot of fruit. I even switched over to plain Greek yogurt. I was wimping out and getting vanilla flavour before.
I only have 50K to go on Freerice - I feel like I'm getting there finally. 50K is manageable. I'll probably be on the website on the last day, frantically answering questions to try to complete the goal. And I have started deleting emails again in the last email account I have to deal with. It's the one that I use the most and have had the longest, and it is slow going. But it's going!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
A minor success is still a success, right?
I finished a goal! Never mind that I'm still 32 goals short . . . I'm finding that even with the modified goals, I'm not having much luck at getting them done. The motivation still isn't there for all of them. Some goals are going ok, like going to the gym. And I bought a deal voucher for a juice cleanse, I just have to figure out how to do it still. I'm counting that goal as half done, since I've made the commitment to do it within a time frame (before it expires!). Depending on how the deal works and when they can deliver the juice, I may not be able to get it done before the deadline. If I can at least get it booked by the deadline, I will count it as fully done.
Apparently after I finish my blog post each week, most of the goals leave my head and are not really considered again until it's time to write the next blog post. Unless I can work on that, I don't have much chance of getting them done. I'm kind of stumped though on how to fix this. Other than posting signs all over saying "GOALS". I kinda think my roommate might object. Maybe it's just because the deadline is looming. There isn't much chance of getting all of them done, so subconsciously I'm not bothering to try anymore. To counteract this, I'm trying to come up with plans to get some of them done.
If all goes well, I will be planting a tree this weekend. And going berry picking. So keep your fingers crossed that I can manage to pull it off. I need to do some research on how to do these things, like where to acquire a tree that will survive, and whether there are any berry picking farms on the way or nearby to where I'm headed. That will get me 2 more down. I just went back to the typing test site, and tried some of the typing tests. I managed to score a 63, which handily beats my 49 from before. 1 goal down!
Overall, the best I can probably achieve is 92 goals. There are 9 goals that I know that I'm just not going to get done by the deadline. For example, sew a sundress. Since I'm actively trying to lose weight, I don't want to make a dress that fits me now. I'd rather be hopeful that I will actually lose the weight that I want to lose, and therefore inches around my hips/waist, and make a sundress later. Since I won't achieve the healthy weight for my height before the end of August (at least not in a healthy way!), I know that the sundress will not get finished. Now that I know this, I am going to olnly focus on doing my achievable goals. If I can manage to focus on them at all!
Apparently after I finish my blog post each week, most of the goals leave my head and are not really considered again until it's time to write the next blog post. Unless I can work on that, I don't have much chance of getting them done. I'm kind of stumped though on how to fix this. Other than posting signs all over saying "GOALS". I kinda think my roommate might object. Maybe it's just because the deadline is looming. There isn't much chance of getting all of them done, so subconsciously I'm not bothering to try anymore. To counteract this, I'm trying to come up with plans to get some of them done.
If all goes well, I will be planting a tree this weekend. And going berry picking. So keep your fingers crossed that I can manage to pull it off. I need to do some research on how to do these things, like where to acquire a tree that will survive, and whether there are any berry picking farms on the way or nearby to where I'm headed. That will get me 2 more down. I just went back to the typing test site, and tried some of the typing tests. I managed to score a 63, which handily beats my 49 from before. 1 goal down!
Overall, the best I can probably achieve is 92 goals. There are 9 goals that I know that I'm just not going to get done by the deadline. For example, sew a sundress. Since I'm actively trying to lose weight, I don't want to make a dress that fits me now. I'd rather be hopeful that I will actually lose the weight that I want to lose, and therefore inches around my hips/waist, and make a sundress later. Since I won't achieve the healthy weight for my height before the end of August (at least not in a healthy way!), I know that the sundress will not get finished. Now that I know this, I am going to olnly focus on doing my achievable goals. If I can manage to focus on them at all!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Progress!
Not much progress, but some is better than none. I finally drew something, after all this time. Just one thing so far. I'm working on it. I find I have trouble deciding on what to draw. I need to be less picky, and just do it instead of obsessing about it. The whole point of that goal is just to draw. No masterpieces expected.
Now that I'm back from vacation, it is time to get going on the healthy eating. So far I've made all my meals from a healthy eating cookbook. I think I'm off to a good start. I've planned my meal for tomorrow already too, also from the same cookbook. I like this cookbook because it gives instructions on how to prepare meals for 1 or 2 servings. Much easier than trying to halve recipes that I find in other books or online. My plan is to get to the point where I'm planning my meals for the week, and making sure my menu each day is balanced. This should also stop me from buying my lunch at work (saving money) and from mindless grocery shopping (saving time and money!) It would be nice if I could work it so that I'm mainly only buying fresh items, and occasionally stocking up on staples.
I'm trying to be good about donating at Freerice.com. There is 80K left to go on my goal. Still quite a bit to do before the time limit. But it feels like it's in the home stretch now, like it's attainable finally. Maybe because now it's measuring in the tens of thousands, instead of the hundred thousands! I considered adding another cell reminder to donate. But then I decided that would be a bad idea - if I have too many cell reminders, I will probably start to ignore them and they will no longer be effective. And then it's just fail all over again.
Now that I'm back from vacation, it is time to get going on the healthy eating. So far I've made all my meals from a healthy eating cookbook. I think I'm off to a good start. I've planned my meal for tomorrow already too, also from the same cookbook. I like this cookbook because it gives instructions on how to prepare meals for 1 or 2 servings. Much easier than trying to halve recipes that I find in other books or online. My plan is to get to the point where I'm planning my meals for the week, and making sure my menu each day is balanced. This should also stop me from buying my lunch at work (saving money) and from mindless grocery shopping (saving time and money!) It would be nice if I could work it so that I'm mainly only buying fresh items, and occasionally stocking up on staples.
I'm trying to be good about donating at Freerice.com. There is 80K left to go on my goal. Still quite a bit to do before the time limit. But it feels like it's in the home stretch now, like it's attainable finally. Maybe because now it's measuring in the tens of thousands, instead of the hundred thousands! I considered adding another cell reminder to donate. But then I decided that would be a bad idea - if I have too many cell reminders, I will probably start to ignore them and they will no longer be effective. And then it's just fail all over again.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Score 1 for the cellphone
Cellphone reminders are going to run my life eventually. Seriously, sometimes I feel like the only way I get things done is if I set a reminder in my phone. I shouldn't be complaining too hard though - the end goal is to get things done, the means to the end doesn't matter so much. If my head is too full of other things, I may as well use the technology that I have.
Not a whole lot has happened since Sunday, but I'm trying to stick to following my 'blog when reminded' idea that I came up with. When I arbitrarily chose Tuesday, I wasn't really considering the very small time lapse between posts. Oops. I suppose I could have skipped posting today, but I'm also going to be away next week without internet access (yay vacation!) and that seemed like a long time without posting.
I was very proud of myself on Sunday for actually following my workout plan. I am currently making up another workout plan for tomorrow morning. I'm still feeling Sunday's workout a bit, but if I want to get in the habit of exercising regularly I just need to do it. I'll get back in workout and recover faster eventually. I'm not saying 'back in shape' purposely - that will take longer. Tomorrow morning will also be Day 3 of an attempt at a no-snooze week. Day 1 and 2 went ok, but Day 3 will be an earlier start, so it's going to take a lot more willpower!
Not a whole lot has happened since Sunday, but I'm trying to stick to following my 'blog when reminded' idea that I came up with. When I arbitrarily chose Tuesday, I wasn't really considering the very small time lapse between posts. Oops. I suppose I could have skipped posting today, but I'm also going to be away next week without internet access (yay vacation!) and that seemed like a long time without posting.
I was very proud of myself on Sunday for actually following my workout plan. I am currently making up another workout plan for tomorrow morning. I'm still feeling Sunday's workout a bit, but if I want to get in the habit of exercising regularly I just need to do it. I'll get back in workout and recover faster eventually. I'm not saying 'back in shape' purposely - that will take longer. Tomorrow morning will also be Day 3 of an attempt at a no-snooze week. Day 1 and 2 went ok, but Day 3 will be an earlier start, so it's going to take a lot more willpower!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Blog fail. again.
Well, so much for being better at blogging! Clearly this is not something I'm cut out for. Since I apparently suck at remembering to do it, I'm going to try something new. I'm setting a reminder in my phone. It works for other things, maybe it will work for this.
What have I done lately for goals? Not a whole heck of a lot. I've been doing free rice a little bit. I hit 400K today, and I'm going to do some more before I go to bed. I went through a patch where I was being good and doing it regularly, but that fell apart a bit lately. We'll have to see how it goes.
Today I made myself sit down and evaluate my weight. I am currently the heaviest I have ever been. I'm not much heavier than I was when I started, but I am still heavier. I don't think I have enough time to get within the prescribed healthy range for my height by the time that the goals end. Instead I'm going to try for being 7 pounds lighter by then. That's approximately a pound a week, which is manageable and can be done in a healthy way.
I've been trying to get motivated about doing the goals, but it's been so long since I set them. They aren't all important to me anymore. Or I've realized that the goal that I set was a bit ridiculous - either not meaningful, or not really achievable when considered with the other goals. I also really underestimated the amount of time that I would have to put into the goals. Although that may also be that since I've become disillusioned with them, I am no longer making time. A bit of a catch-22.
This did lead me to think of a different way to go about the goals, in general. I was previously considering doing it again, and setting another 101 goals. I even started a list. But I think instead, I might break it down. Set mini goal lists instead of a mega list. Every 100 days, set 10 goals that I want to accomplish. Similar to a to-do list in a way, but it wouldn't have any normal, day-to-day things. With a shorter list and a shorter time frame, I think I would feel more pressure to get them done right away, instead of putting them off because I have so much time left. Each set of goals would also be a lot more relevant to my life at the time, and there would be less risk of circumstances changing while I was in the middle of a set. Coming up with 10 goals is also a lot less daunting than 101!
What have I done lately for goals? Not a whole heck of a lot. I've been doing free rice a little bit. I hit 400K today, and I'm going to do some more before I go to bed. I went through a patch where I was being good and doing it regularly, but that fell apart a bit lately. We'll have to see how it goes.
Today I made myself sit down and evaluate my weight. I am currently the heaviest I have ever been. I'm not much heavier than I was when I started, but I am still heavier. I don't think I have enough time to get within the prescribed healthy range for my height by the time that the goals end. Instead I'm going to try for being 7 pounds lighter by then. That's approximately a pound a week, which is manageable and can be done in a healthy way.
I've been trying to get motivated about doing the goals, but it's been so long since I set them. They aren't all important to me anymore. Or I've realized that the goal that I set was a bit ridiculous - either not meaningful, or not really achievable when considered with the other goals. I also really underestimated the amount of time that I would have to put into the goals. Although that may also be that since I've become disillusioned with them, I am no longer making time. A bit of a catch-22.
This did lead me to think of a different way to go about the goals, in general. I was previously considering doing it again, and setting another 101 goals. I even started a list. But I think instead, I might break it down. Set mini goal lists instead of a mega list. Every 100 days, set 10 goals that I want to accomplish. Similar to a to-do list in a way, but it wouldn't have any normal, day-to-day things. With a shorter list and a shorter time frame, I think I would feel more pressure to get them done right away, instead of putting them off because I have so much time left. Each set of goals would also be a lot more relevant to my life at the time, and there would be less risk of circumstances changing while I was in the middle of a set. Coming up with 10 goals is also a lot less daunting than 101!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Blog fail.
Apparently when things get busy in my life, the blog is one of the easiest things to cut. Followed swiftly by the rest of my goals. When I started the project, I didn't really think about the fact that the last couple of months would come at my busiest time of work. And this year was busy - crazy busy. I was working over 60 hr weeks, often not getting home until late. I basically came home, made lunch for the next day, and then went to bed. For three months. Not every single day, but enough to wear me out. And working at least one weekend day for those months. So needless to say, I did not get much done on the goals. I realize that I have now completely missed my target end date. Rather than write off the project completely, I've decided to give myself an extension to August 31st. Yes, I failed to complete the goals in the required time frame. But the whole reason I started the project was to do some things that I've been meaning to do for ages. And I still want to do some of those things, so I'm going to try to do as many of the goals as I can. We'll see how it goes!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Ta da!
Woo! More goals down. I finally took a first aid course, I am now certified to save people again. I also discovered that I had forgotten to write down one of the biographies that I had read, which means that another goal is done! I'm slogging away at them slowly - I now have 59 goals completed! Slow progress is still progress at least. Although it is sloooow.
There are a few goals that I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to do. The carbon footprint especially. Every calculator I can find asks for information that I just don't have. All of my utilities were always included with my rent. I can't answer any of the housing questions at all. And the landlord and I didn't exactly part on good terms, so even if I wanted to I don't think I could ask him for the details.
I do think that I've reduced my carbon footprint, even if I haven't been able to calculate it properly. Since I started the goals challenge, I have moved into a condo building instead of a house, so my impact on the earth for heating has definitely gone down. The house I was living in was awful for heat, my room was always freezing so I was using a heater constantly during the winter. Now that I have other units on either side, the heat comes on occasionally but not often. We were able to leave it off completely for quite awhile.
My commute is shorter now as well. Right now I'm sometimes taking the bus for 1km for part of it because it's cold out. But as soon as it warms up, I won't be doing that. So my overall use of the transit system has decreased. Since those are the two biggest factors, I'm thinking that I can count that goal as done. I already composted and recycled as much as I could, so there was no change there. Another small change is that I started shopping at a consignment shop. So not only do I get a great deal on some great stuff, but I'm also reducing my impact by buying clothing second hand. There, now I'm up to 60!
There are a few goals that I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to do. The carbon footprint especially. Every calculator I can find asks for information that I just don't have. All of my utilities were always included with my rent. I can't answer any of the housing questions at all. And the landlord and I didn't exactly part on good terms, so even if I wanted to I don't think I could ask him for the details.
I do think that I've reduced my carbon footprint, even if I haven't been able to calculate it properly. Since I started the goals challenge, I have moved into a condo building instead of a house, so my impact on the earth for heating has definitely gone down. The house I was living in was awful for heat, my room was always freezing so I was using a heater constantly during the winter. Now that I have other units on either side, the heat comes on occasionally but not often. We were able to leave it off completely for quite awhile.
My commute is shorter now as well. Right now I'm sometimes taking the bus for 1km for part of it because it's cold out. But as soon as it warms up, I won't be doing that. So my overall use of the transit system has decreased. Since those are the two biggest factors, I'm thinking that I can count that goal as done. I already composted and recycled as much as I could, so there was no change there. Another small change is that I started shopping at a consignment shop. So not only do I get a great deal on some great stuff, but I'm also reducing my impact by buying clothing second hand. There, now I'm up to 60!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Oh right, goals.
I've been forgetting about these. But for the past few days I've been trying to get back on track. I now have more than half of the goals fully completed. I'm already at 56! By the end of next weekend I will be at 57 at least (but I'm going to try for higher!)
There are a few goals that I didn't properly consider when I was setting the list. They are good goals, but basically impossible to do and get the rest of the goals done. Right now I'm trying to decide what to do about those goals. The way I see it, I have a few options. I can give up (boo!), rewrite some goals, or extend my deadline. I'm thinking that a combo of the last two options is the best bet. I can rewrite the goals to be something manageable, and give myself an extension so that I have some hope of getting them done.
This is something that I've been wrestling with for a bit. I feel like if I extend the timeline or make changes to the goals that I set than I am 'cheating' in order to complete them. But at the same time, what is the point of setting the goals if I'm not going to get them done? To me, it's more important that I get the goals done, not the timeline. If I end up taking a bit longer, at least I'm getting them done. I prefer that to the alternative, which is just blatantly not getting them done and not trying, since there's really no point in trying.
I haven't fully decided yet what I'm going to do. I'm going to wait on it for a few days, and see how far I can get with the goals in the meantime.
There are a few goals that I didn't properly consider when I was setting the list. They are good goals, but basically impossible to do and get the rest of the goals done. Right now I'm trying to decide what to do about those goals. The way I see it, I have a few options. I can give up (boo!), rewrite some goals, or extend my deadline. I'm thinking that a combo of the last two options is the best bet. I can rewrite the goals to be something manageable, and give myself an extension so that I have some hope of getting them done.
This is something that I've been wrestling with for a bit. I feel like if I extend the timeline or make changes to the goals that I set than I am 'cheating' in order to complete them. But at the same time, what is the point of setting the goals if I'm not going to get them done? To me, it's more important that I get the goals done, not the timeline. If I end up taking a bit longer, at least I'm getting them done. I prefer that to the alternative, which is just blatantly not getting them done and not trying, since there's really no point in trying.
I haven't fully decided yet what I'm going to do. I'm going to wait on it for a few days, and see how far I can get with the goals in the meantime.
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