traaki scans the horizon

[traaki]

I articulated some six-month goals in February here. Tying my challenges to these longer term goals helps, so here's my six month check-in:
Become more financially stable.

• Establish one month of emergency savings. 50% done.
• Pay off my smallest credit card 
• Pay down at least 30% of the other card.  I've been doing good work but I will need to stay focused to hit this goal by the end of 2017.

Become more politically/socially active.

• Discover what I want to focus on. I've been running a small group of women who are exploring a run for office.
• Take action (phone calls, protests, letters, etc.) I have taken 10 actions this year. Would like to hit 15.
• Attend a city council meeting. No progress.

Become an even more awesome developer.

• Finish at least two video series that will help me be better at my job. This has proven not to be a very effective measuring stick. I have been watching as needed.
• Consider getting certified in April. Decided this was not the right thing for me right now.

Write more.

• I have been writing 10 minute chunks 2-3 times a week. * I'd like to increase that to 20 minute chunks 3-4 times a week. I have written and published more over the last 100 days than I thought feasible.
• I also want to be editing and publishing my work.

Do one full push-up. Nope. Not yet. Not really close, either. Just found this interesting article on the subject: http://www.100pushups.com/your-first-pushup/

 

For the last third of the year, I am committed to achieving one last goal in each of my categories (yes, I do keep my goals in categories) (yes, it's a bit obsessive) (yes, it does work): 

WRITING: Finish my poetry kickstarter.

DANCE: Finish my dance kickstarter reward.

RELATIONSHIPS/SOCIETY: Finish She Should Run incubator.

CAREER: Finish the sports card project I've been putting off.

HEALTH: Do 104 workouts this year (65/104). 

FINANCE: Establish one month of planned savings (~$5k). (I desperately want to start paying down my CC faster but this is a smarter choice. Dammit.) 

LIFESTYLE/ENVIRONMENT: Read 16 books (I'm at 9--got stuck on a Spanish language one! Gotta finish 1.25/month to get there.) 

 

Maybe I'll do more than that, but those are projects I WILL finish. It's going to be a lot of work and I'm going to need to be in tip-top shape to get everything done without losing my mind and/or burning out.  

 

To achieve those goals, here are my challenge items for this go-round: 

 

Quest #1: Three workouts per week (continuation from last challenge)

I had great success on this last challenge, but I've been at 2 workouts per week for about two years now.  I want to get three workouts to the level of ease that 2 workouts currently are.  I find myself taking a bit of a break on myself as long as I get the three workouts in--I'll know that this habit is for real when I no longer feel like I have to hold back in any given workout.  

 

Quest #2: Lights out by 10 pm every night plus a new mantra: I'm a morning person!! (work nights only)

I'm struggling to not tell you all about what a night owl I am but if you've been following along, you know that I have been doing a variation of this challenge for quite some time. I had some success with getting to bed on time last challenge, so I want to accompany the brute force mechanic of making myself go to bed with some mental work: I am a morning person! I love mornings! I get everything done in the morning!

(I feel like a fake peppy sales person right now but I'm going to get there, dammit.) 

 

Quest #3: Go for a 10 minute walk three days a week. 

Sure, it doesn't sound like much. But I've been keeping my head down at work and not getting up enough. Taking a 10 minute break to stretch my legs and get sunshine will only help my mental health and physical health both. I don't want to feel bad if I miss a day here and there, I want to feel like I killed it!

 

Quest #4: Spend 15 minutes a day on a project before 9 pm (5 days per week). 

So, all these quests to finish something...the scary ones are under career and dance as those are projects I've been carrying with me for WAY WAY too long.  There are obviously blocks on these tasks in my mind--I think I will need to apply some classic NF Mindset techniques to get through them.  I am also wary of taking on too much at a single time, so I'm going to use the snowball method on these babies.  The poetry kickstarter is easiest for me so I'm going to get that done and use the momentum from it to move forward.

 

First that means I'll use the bulk of these 15 minutes times for the Kickstarter for my poems.  If I manage to get that done by the time this challenge is over, I'll switch to the dance kickstarter (I swear my whole life isn't kickstarters).  Then the sports cards. But I am sure I'll also want to work on some of these other projects (e.g. She Should Run, reading, 

 

Phew. 

 

When I successfully finish this challenge, that will be three in a row--which means I get to complete another NF quest!

[traaki]

Using this post to keep track of the evidence in support of the idea that I am a morning person!

• I woke up early enough to do dishes before I went to work
• I biked to work 
• I was cheerful to strangers
• I got to work on time
• I woke up before my alarm
• I only snoozed once! 

[Twilight]

Holy moley you are getting things DONE.

[traaki]

2 hours ago, Twilight said:

Holy moley you are getting things DONE.

Hahaha.  Just last night I was like, "I feel burned out just trying to think of doing all those things" and am trying to talk myself into relaxing a bit on these goals.  I thought I might need to adjust the challenge but looking at it, it's pretty low key. I think it's the *rest* of my life that I need to adjust. 

[Jonesy]

I love how organized you are. The planner in me just squeals with delight!

 

On 9/10/2017 at 3:16 PM, traaki said:

Become more politically/socially active.

• Discover what I want to focus on. I've been running a small group of women who are exploring a run for office.
• Take action (phone calls, protests, letters, etc.) I have taken 10 actions this year. Would like to hit 15.
• Attend a city council meeting. No progress.

 

This is one badass goal and I love the first bullet point. I think this year has def been a political awakening for a lot of people, especially women. 

 

21 hours ago, traaki said:

Hahaha.  Just last night I was like, "I feel burned out just trying to think of doing all those things" and am trying to talk myself into relaxing a bit on these goals.  I thought I might need to adjust the challenge but looking at it, it's pretty low key. I think it's the *rest* of my life that I need to adjust. 

 

This is tricky. You don't want to burn yourself out already but you don't want to lose your goals. Maybe make a few priorities and the rest are more flexible?

[traaki]

26 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

I love how organized you are. The planner in me just squeals with delight!

Yesss!!! A fellow planner!  

 

27 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

This is one badass goal and I love the first bullet point. I think this year has def been a political awakening for a lot of people, especially women. 

 

It really has.  I used to be more politically active and kind of stopped after the brutal awakening that was the re-election of GWB.  But....obviously that hasn't been a good strategy.  I have zero interest in actually holding office but I feel like I would be better than any number of terrible, terrible people currently in charge, so.  

 

28 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

This is tricky. You don't want to burn yourself out already but you don't want to lose your goals. Maybe make a few priorities and the rest are more flexible?

Yeah...I'm like a Type B person locked in an eternal battle with an inner Type A person.  Last night I sat down and did some free writing, which led me to the realization that I just missed some really big stuff on my priorities list (like my sister moving in with us this month!!) and also underestimated the stress levels of some of the existing stuff...which basically amounts to what you suggested here.  Pick a few and let the chips fall where they may on the rest. 

[traaki]

ZERO MIDWEEK REPORT: 

 

Quest #1: Three workouts per week (1/3) - Tu

 

Quest #2: Lights out by 10 pm every night plus a new mantra: I'm a morning person!! (work nights only) (0/3) - 

I missed this on Monday by a LOT.  Turns out.... I may be a little too into football.  I couldn't get to sleep after the Monday night game. It's okay. You can take my nerd card. 

 

I also realized I was fudging the numbers by a good half-hour. I don't mind being a few minutes late but that's a lot of time I coulda been sleeping! I also have been struggling to get to sleep (is this what it is to get old?) but that isn't why I am counting these as failures. As long as I'm in bed with the lights off (and no phone in hand) by 10 pm, it counts. Which hasn't happened this week at all.

 

Quest #3: Go for a 10 minute walk three days a week. (2/3) - M/W

 

Quest #4: Spend 15 minutes a day on a project before 9 pm (3/5) M/Tu/W

 

All in all this is going just fine.  I need to take a lot of deep breaths and lower my expectations, but I will get my shit done! 

[traaki]

Naturally the thing I need to do when I'm feeling overwhelmed is add another quest, so.....

 

I'm starting the #Courageous15 tomorrow. I'm hoping it can overlap nicely with quest #4 as working on my kickstarter is making me feel so super scared. 

[Twilight]

Yeeeeah!!

 

You can be a nerd and like football, it's ok.

[traaki]

4 minutes ago, Twilight said:

Yeeeeah!!

 

You can be a nerd and like football, it's ok.

Hahaha, thank you! I feel like I like football in a pretty nerdy way, soooo...maybe that helps??

[Jonesy]

3 minutes ago, Twilight said:

You can be a nerd and like football, it's ok.

 

Damn straight! 

 

Math and sports go hand in hand! 

[traaki]

1 minute ago, Jonesy said:

 

Damn straight! 

 

Math and sports go hand in hand! 

Yes!! Good point. 

[Twilight]

8 minutes ago, traaki said:

Hahaha, thank you! I feel like I like football in a pretty nerdy way, soooo...maybe that helps??

 

One of my favourite authors edited an anthology called Geektastic, which has stories about geeks of all kinds, including sports geeks.  http://blackholly.com/books/geektastic-tales-nerd-herd/

[traaki]

On 9/15/2017 at 11:08 AM, Twilight said:

 

One of my favourite authors edited an anthology called Geektastic, which has stories about geeks of all kinds, including sports geeks.  http://blackholly.com/books/geektastic-tales-nerd-herd/

That sounds totally adorable.  Thanks for the recommendation!

[traaki]

END OF ZERO WEEK UPDATE: 

 

Quest #1: Three workouts per week (2/3) - Tu/Fr - D+ but that feels harsh

I missed the last one because I had family in town and we stayed up late talking on Saturday. Chose to sleep in instead.  

 

Quest #2: Lights out by 10 pm every night plus a new mantra: I'm a morning person!! (work nights only) (1/5) - F

Uh, yeah. I was IN bed and ready to sleep on time one night...then my partner called and kept me up to 10:20.  Still, I get credit for my part.

 

Quest #3: Go for a 10 minute walk three days a week. (4/3) - M/W/Th/F - A+

YES! A QUEST I SUCCEEDED ON!

 

Quest #4: Spend 15 minutes a day on a project before 9 pm (7/5) M/Tu/W/Th/F/Sa/Su - A+

ANOTHER SUCCESS!

 

----

 

Overall I feel not great about my zero week success. But at least I tried, and two of them were home runs. 

 

Two big questions right now: 

 

1) How can I get myself to bed on time?! 

This quest has been in my challenges for quite some time now and it never sticks. Though I am a morning person (mantra mantra mantra) now, it's not feeling natural at all.  I can succeed when I have someone around to remind me to take care of myself but otherwise nope. I'm going to shift it to 10:15 for the next week and see if I can hit, y'know, more than one night. If I'm having success there, then maybe I can move it earlier.

 

2) How will I work out with my new roomie? 

My sister will be moving in with us in about a month. In all ways this will be good for my health--she's also committed to working out and it's great to have a buddy.  She asked yesterday if I'd be interested in joining a gym with her. I've never joined a gym (I mean, since I started being an adult who took care of myself instead of a child who just felt bad about never going to the gym) but I have some serious reservations about it--I have a workout-in-the-living-room routine that works great for me.  That said I have thought about the gym now and again--it would be nice to be able to do jumping jacks without waking up my downstairs neighbor, for example.  Anyway, it's causing some stress.  I want to really commit to getting my three workouts in the rest of this challenge so I can feel like I'm meeting her with a solid habit. 

 

 

 

[Jonesy]

5 hours ago, traaki said:

Overall I feel not great about my zero week success. But at least I tried, and two of them were home runs. 

 

Hey this is what zero week is for! It's a trial period and gives you a good starting point for the challenge. Now it's time to take what you learned and make some tweaks.  

 

5 hours ago, traaki said:

Two big questions right now: 

 

1) How can I get myself to bed on time?! 

This quest has been in my challenges for quite some time now and it never sticks. Though I am a morning person (mantra mantra mantra) now, it's not feeling natural at all.  I can succeed when I have someone around to remind me to take care of myself but otherwise nope. I'm going to shift it to 10:15 for the next week and see if I can hit, y'know, more than one night. If I'm having success there, then maybe I can move it earlier.

 

This one can be hard if you don't make it a priority! I still fail at this one all the time. Also don't be upset with yourself if you have to start later and slowly work your way down to the bedtime you ultimately want. Build the habit then keep building on that foundation. Small steps are still progress.  Some rules that may help you;

-Set an alarm. When that alarm goes off you give yourself 10-15 mins to shut down electronics, put away anything you need to and go get ready for bed. Put phone on silent. 

-30 mins before you know you need to be in bed, turn off the TV, don't read and don't start a hobby that you get absorbed by. Instead opt for packing/making a lunch for the next day, start laundry, do some cleaning, put out your outfit for the next day, meditate, or do evening yoga. 

-Let others in your life know what you are trying to do.

 

5 hours ago, traaki said:

2) How will I work out with my new roomie? 

My sister will be moving in with us in about a month. In all ways this will be good for my health--she's also committed to working out and it's great to have a buddy.  She asked yesterday if I'd be interested in joining a gym with her. I've never joined a gym (I mean, since I started being an adult who took care of myself instead of a child who just felt bad about never going to the gym) but I have some serious reservations about it--I have a workout-in-the-living-room routine that works great for me.  That said I have thought about the gym now and again--it would be nice to be able to do jumping jacks without waking up my downstairs neighbor, for example.  Anyway, it's causing some stress.  I want to really commit to getting my three workouts in the rest of this challenge so I can feel like I'm meeting her with a solid habit. 

 

I think it's awesome she wants to workout with you! Maybe you guys can workout at home together first and she can read Steve's article. Lol.  If she really wants to join a gym, get her to join one that has free guest passes so you can go with her when she wants a buddy. I know it's not the BEST gym out there but with a black card membership to Planet Fitness, I can bring 1 guest to any location once a day. Or see if there is a gym that offers free trials. 

[Twilight]

Good luck to you!!

 

Setting a bedtime alarm helped me get into an earlier-to-bed routine, and then sticking to it meant that I really noticed when I didn't get enough sleep, so it became self-reinforcing.

 

I love my home workouts, but having a gym membership can be neat because you can try different things that you can't do at home. I don't like working out in front of other people, and that's a much bigger challenge for me than actually getting the workout in. Is there a specific thing that makes the gym undesirable for you?

[traaki]

22 hours ago, Jonesy said:

-30 mins before you know you need to be in bed, turn off the TV, don't read and don't start a hobby that you get absorbed by. Instead opt for packing/making a lunch for the next day, start laundry, do some cleaning, put out your outfit for the next day, meditate, or do evening yoga. 

I have the "get ready for bed" alarm, but maybe I need a "No new activities" alarm so I don't start something interesting close to the bedtime alarm.   Thanks for the idea!

 

22 hours ago, Jonesy said:

I think it's awesome she wants to workout with you! Maybe you guys can workout at home together first and she can read Steve's article. Lol.  If she really wants to join a gym, get her to join one that has free guest passes so you can go with her when she wants a buddy. I know it's not the BEST gym out there but with a black card membership to Planet Fitness, I can bring 1 guest to any location once a day. Or see if there is a gym that offers free trials. 

I'm definitely going to offer to have her join my workouts at home--I'm guessing she won't have a gym sorted out right out the gate.  I didn't think about the whole guest passes thing--that would definitely be more my speed.

 

7 hours ago, Twilight said:

I really noticed when I didn't get enough sleep, so it became self-reinforcing.

That's exactly the thing I am waiting for--the self-reinforcing pattern. I'm very sensitive to not getting enough sleep, but I also have a flexible work start time so it's easy to stay up late and go in late....and then the sad night owl cycle continues. 

 

7 hours ago, Twilight said:

Is there a specific thing that makes the gym undesirable for you?

I also don't like working out in front of people.  Navigating the social side of the gym takes a LOT of my energy (hooray introversion) and makes me dread going.  I can totally get myself into a workout at home with relatively little prodding but having to deal with traffic, parking, social anxiety...eeeesh it's not my thing.  Also it costs money, and I'm cheap.  BUT I think if I can make guest passes a thing, that might be ideal--I think it would be good for me to have some other equipment and try different stuff. 

[Twilight]

I so feel you on the gym! I worked out yesterday without my glasses - partly because they fall off my nose from sweat, but partly because it makes it harder to see the other people.

[traaki]

41 minutes ago, Twilight said:

I so feel you on the gym! I worked out yesterday without my glasses - partly because they fall off my nose from sweat, but partly because it makes it harder to see the other people.

Ha! I love this strategy...I will try it if we end up going to a gym. Thanks!

[traaki]

MID WEEK 1 UPDATE: 

 

Quest #1: Three workouts per week (1/3) - Tu 

Workouts scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday. 

 

Quest #2: Lights out by 10 pm every night plus a new mantra: I'm a morning person!! (work nights only) (3/5) 

YESSSSSS!!!! I'm doing well again. Starting to get tired on time again. I set a "don't start new stuff" alarm 30 minutes before my "get ready for bed" alarm, and that is helping. 

 

Quest #3: Go for a 10 minute walk three days a week. (1/3) - W

I will be walking again today and tomorrow. 

 

Quest #4: Spend 15 minutes a day on a project before 9 pm (4/5) M/Tu/W/Th

YOU GUYS! I LAUNCHED MY KICKSTARTER AND WE ALREADY HIT MY GOAL WTF

Feelin' like a boss. 

 

Here's the link to the project, since y'all have had to hear about it foreeeeeever. 

I kinda thought I could switch to a different project but I've been spending my 15 minutes a day on promo and that will likely continue for a while.  SILLY PROJECTS THAT NEVER END. 

 

All in all, this week looks like it's going to be a home run.  Good job, self. And thanks all for the encouragement and tips! 

 

[traaki]

END WEEK 1 UPDATE: 

 

Quest #1: Three workouts per week (3/3) - Tu / Fr / Sa - A

Switched it up--some friends were in town and wanted to go on a hike. 

 

Part of me was like, "Doooo fouuuuurrrrr" but then I realized I don't want to do four and I don't gotta do four. 

 

Quest #2: Lights out by 10 pm every night plus a new mantra: I'm a morning person!! (work nights only) (5/5) - A

Success!!!! I'm currently in the "stop starting new things" part of the evening and definitely feeling tired and ready for bed. 

 

Quest #3: Go for a 10 minute walk three days a week. (3/3) - W / F / Sa - A

I wish they were all during the work week, but I did get them done.

 

Quest #4: Spend 15 minutes a day on a project before 9 pm (7/5) M/Tu/W/Th/F/Sa/Su - A+

Well, feeling pretty awesome.  There's a whole lot of difficult emotional baggage that goes on with any self-promoting activity but I'm trying not to let it break me. I'm also trying to let this kickstarter be a success....I could feel myself starting to get disappointed for various reasons and that's just not awesome. 

 

OVERALL

Feeling really good about this challenge.  I have more kickstarter work than the time I'm allotting to it, but you know, it is what it is. I'm not doing it to drive myself crazy.  

 

I'm also feeling pretty good about the impending new roommate situation. I think it's going to get a bit hectic (my partner and I just committed to 15 minutes a night of house prep like cleaning, decluttering, packing every night) but I am feeling pretty solid in my habits on this stuff. Things are feeling pretty even and not too rollercoastery. 

 

I just have to remember that I can put the brakes on at any time. 

[Twilight]

Looking great!

[traaki]

Woo! In further evidence that I'm a morning person, I went to a 6:30 am dance party today!

 

[Jonesy]

I saw something like this in a Buzzfeed video. What a fun way to wake up in the morning!