bdwilson

I'm still here! Sort of. I pop in and out, at least I think I've dropped just about everything now I've fallen back on just trying to hit the things I need to do every day at this point. I don't know. I'm just detached from the goals I had last time and can't really figure out what I want to be working on. Though my bed time and wake-up times have slipped a little. Not enough to throw anything off, and I'm still clinging to not getting a negative point on either, but it's slipped enough that it's bothering me. I think I'll focus on sorting that out for the end of the challenge. That and still checking in here might be enough.

September ended with mostly Common, which is better than it felt like I haven't created a tracker for October, as I'm still playing with other ways to do things. I'll try and settle on one this week so I don't spend a whole month trying to find a new system *lol* In the meantime, I did manage to get some things done last week, so that felt good.

That's a good idea! I remember wanting to look into Zumba at home sometime last year, but then I forgot and never did Thank you! It's not always that cold here, but last year sucked. I've heard some people say this year is on track to be the same, so I'm trying to get prepared. From what she said, I think it's similar pretty an "I-did" list. She keeps track of the things she's done and other successes. That way she's not always looking at what's still left to be done. I am terrible for making progress and moving on, only to forget that I've actually made the progress and start feeling like I'm getting nowhere. The list might help if I could remember to do one

That's fantastic! Good for you for getting back to it after a break

D'oh! Maybe they'll at least help?

I'm clinging to that one lately *lol* As long as I pop in here, even if it's just to complain or ramble, at least I'm hitting that mark I need to consider this. Someone I know on another site keeps a ta-dah list along with her to-do list, which is a great idea. I'm less good at keeping track of those things, but it might be time to work it back in. In the meantime, I'd almost forgotten I'd set up Beeminder for my to-do list, but fortunately remembered when I'd almost derailed as opposed to actually derailed. It has served its purpose, in that not wanting to give them money got me to actually do things on my to-do list the last two days. Whee! I also convinced myself to go for a short walk yesterday and a longer walk today, so I might try to at least hit the short one on my afternoon breaks. We're getting to the point where it will be too cold for that here, soon, so I might as well do it while I can. And try to come up with a plan other than "let's just not walk, yeah" for winter But anyway, with those changes I actually hit a couple of Good days here, which is a nice change.

Checking in, mostly to try and keep up the habit of checking in I think I might've figured out part of what's going on, at least as far as why I'm not connecting as much. Rambling behind the spoiler tag. I don't think that's all of it, but I do think it's some of it. The more I check-in, the more I get the sense of "I've already failed why bother" and the whole system I'm using kind of reinforces that. Therefore, new system! Once I figure out what it is... I'm a little sad though. I love those itty bitty calendar.

I recognize this is something of an obnoxious answer, but it's also true: I hate every single part of cooking, from shopping for ingredients to plating the food. I was going to count the dishes too but yeah, I'm actually okay with that part My current plan of attack is to get a set number of meals I can prep on auto-pilot. If I don't have to pay attention to it, I can passively hate it instead of actively hating it, which is easier to handle In the meantime, at least it earns me a point. And I kind of need them, because I am not feeling this challenge at all. I scored another Poor day on Saturday, and other than that I've mostly been hitting Common by the smallest margin. I'm not sure what's different between this month and last. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm playing a video game again at the moment (Star Wars: The Old Republic, which I pick up and play with focus, then set down for months or years) and mostly I'd just rather do that than the things that earn me points. It's easier to manage both on holidays On one hand, I make time for hobbies very rarely, so I don't really mind that I'm giving it a lot of time now. On the other, I have other things that should get done. But I think that's part of the distraction. Anyway, I might have to think about this a little more, even though the challenge has already started. Really, though, my goal is to engage with it and that's not happening, so I have to solve that to pull it off. Mostly complaining out loud here. This is one I'm going to have to find the answer for on my own, I think.

Go for it! That situation sounds really frustrating

I like how you've picked out a few to focus on, and I like this goal, too. Adds some forward-thinking in

Yeeesss... I really need more of those quick meals. I was counting cooking as part of chores last month, but I really, really hate it. I'd rather get the chores point from doing dishes or laundry I'm hoping making it a point on its own will help. I'm also trying to figure out a base list of meals I don't despise preparing, so I can just make them routine. *fingers crossed*

That's a good idea! It might work better for me to refresh every week or two, to keep my focus up That can be what I try to sort out this week. It's pretty similar this time, though the lines on the tracker started to blur together at the end so I've changed that I noticed I wasn't at all interested in gardening, despite it being on my list, so I've decided if I actually do it, that can go under chores. The same with decluttering, which I really thought I was motivated to do, but turns out not. I've added cooking, which was something I started doing again over my holiday and am trying to keep up even though I don't enjoy it. I've also added a couple of projects and things. So, September tracker looks like this (though I've added "Track Food" and "Read" to the trackers I didn't have items for yet when I took the picture.

Just for the record, here's my tracker for the end of August.

Congratulations! Enjoy your break

Going with this title for now. I'll see if I come up with something better My primary goal for this challenge is to still be attempting to hit my goals in the last week. I've stopped paying attention around that stretch in the last two, and it'd be nice to get all the way through one. I'll keep running with my points system, too, though I've shaken up the categories a little and need to pick my priorities. I also dropped some categories when I reviewed my tracker and saw a few that only ever got done if I was going for a Rare or Epic day. I can roll them into other things if need be. Light on details for this post, but I'm putting it up now so I actually do it before the challenge starts

Well, I pretty much ignored everything for the last week of the challenge That's twice now, so I might have to find a way for a mid-challenge refresh or something. Anyway, last week was mostly Common with two Poor, so meh. It went incredibly well! The goal is only about 100 pages, so really short to be calling it a novel, but it's still a fun time I will be back for the next one! I should set my thread up. And then, like, continue to check-in for the whole thing

I hope you have a fantastic time at Dragon*Con!

That video is great! Also, I love the picture and am a little jealous I hope you can figure out the shocks of pain

How'd the last week go? (Asks the person who hasn't been around in all that time )

That's a pretty self-explanatory thing. Their explanation sounds like crap Oh no I hope the doctor is able to give you something to help

Yay! Congratulations Enjoy your holidays!

I expected to be back to post, and then I played video games all my free instead But I'm doing pretty good hitting my points before slacking off, so that's a plus. Wednesday Total: Good (12) Thursday Total: Rare (15) I'm on track to get my epic day today, assuming I go to bed on time and get enough sleep. Then tomorrow the 3-Day Novel starts, and I will be very busy, so I'll be happy with a common day each time. My scoring is a little adjusted for the writing tasks, since I have different goals there for the next three days. Other than that, I want to get a decent amount of sleep, but I won't be scoring negatives if I go to bed late or come in under. Probably won't be back until Tuesday, thought that's not so different from my current track record Have a fun weekend everyone!

Okay, last post was over a week ago. Eep! Not going to do a breakdown for each, but here's the totals: Tuesday Total: Good (13) Wednesday Total: Good (14) Thursday Total: Good (10) Friday Total: Common (5) Saturday Total: Rare (17) Sunday Total: Rare (16) Monday Total: Good (13) Tuesday Total: Good (13) Did okay, except Friday which was "life happens" just as far as other things that needed to get done. Doing okay keeping up on my holidays, even though I'm also taking a break before the 3-Day Novel this weekend

Heh! Not quite jinx'd, but more mis-planned it. I kinda forgot that the last week before some time off (staycation) is busy Made it through without a problem, but it did mean I dropped off forums for a while, though I tried to pop in and read when I could. I should look back and see when I posted the last update Thank you for asking!

I'm sorry. I use reactions to say I'm listening, even though I suck at interaction and rarely know what to say Thank you for mentioning it has a negative impact. Apologies again.