traaki says no.

[traaki]

OKAY! 

 

So, last challenge was a keep-on-keepin-on kind of challenge. I'm gonna mix it up and see how it goes this time, which means zero week = experimentation time! 

 

I've been thinking I'll try a monthly theme. This month: JUST SAY NO.  I want to be more aware of all the stuff I let into my life (both physical and emotional) and I want to say no to more of it. I don't need to help that random recruiter on LinkedIn! I don't need to go check out that sale! NO.

 

 

 

And now, draft one of my quests: 

 

Q1: Daily salads!

I'm tired of eating freezer lunches at work, so I'm planning a daily salad (see last challenge for details).  My goal is to eat salads four of five work days. 

 

Q2: Skill practice/flexibility work

I'd like to eventually tackle the GMB Elements course, but my major concern at this point is the time investment (daily workouts are not my current jam).  I currently stretch after workouts (so, approx 3 times per week).  I'd like to add one session of stretching & skill practice.  I'm thinking hamstring stretches (maybe the splits challenge but without the challenge part) and/or handstand work.  Mostly I just want to start building some fun exercise into my schedule.

 

Q3. Social media ramp-down

I check social media more than I'd like to.  This week I want to just *track* how much I time I spend on facebook & twitter (using TimeStats chrome extension). 

 

Q4. TBD! 

Possibly something to help me remember my monthly theme, or possibly not. We'll find out soon enough!

 

 

 

[Manarelle]

Following again. Love the idea of zero week as a trial period. Also, I fully support and encourage saying no (politely) more; it's become a lost skill in today's world. 

[@mu]

On 2/6/2018 at 4:33 AM, traaki said:

I'd like to eventually tackle the GMB Elements course, but my major concern at this point is the time investment (daily workouts are not my current jam).  I currently stretch after workouts (so, approx 3 times per week).  I'd like to add one session of stretching & skill practice.  I'm thinking hamstring stretches (maybe the splits challenge but without the challenge part) and/or handstand work.  Mostly I just want to start building some fun exercise into my schedule.

 

Is GMB Elements a daily programme? I'm surprised they don't have an alternative for 3 or 4x a week. I did another of their programmes and they gave a lot of options. I liked their approach though, it was very enjoyable despite the amount of pushups Would definitely recommend (I did Parallettes 1).

[Norgaard]

elements is aprox. 20 minutes of daily practice. But quite fun.

 

you can look into focused flexibility, that makes a program to the target areas. But doesn't take longer than 10 minutes or so  I really like it.

 

Like your salad idea feel free to post if you need ideas

[raptron]

Get on iiiit.

[traaki]

On 2/6/2018 at 7:22 AM, Manarelle said:

Following again. Love the idea of zero week as a trial period. Also, I fully support and encourage saying no (politely) more; it's become a lost skill in today's world. 

Thank you! There are so many opportunities/obligations/articles/etc these days and it can be really tough to say no.  I definitely start to get worried I'm closing a door I don't want to--but I have really clear goals so it should be easy to assess when an opportunity is not productive. Or that's what I tell myself!

 

16 hours ago, @mu said:

 

Is GMB Elements a daily programme? I'm surprised they don't have an alternative for 3 or 4x a week. I did another of their programmes and they gave a lot of options. I liked their approach though, it was very enjoyable despite the amount of pushups Would definitely recommend (I did Parallettes 1).

 

14 hours ago, Norgaard said:

elements is aprox. 20 minutes of daily practice. But quite fun.

 

you can look into focused flexibility, that makes a program to the target areas. But doesn't take longer than 10 minutes or so  I really like it.

 

Like your salad idea feel free to post if you need ideas

I'm so glad you both jumped in with info! Dug in a bit more on GMB's site. They say it's 45 minutes/6 days a week, but it sounds like it can be more flexible as needed. So, I'm still gonna sit tight for this challenge but if my skill practice/flexibility quest goes well, I'm gonna do it! For now I'm taking to heart my lessons in dance improv, this article, and getting some fun in my life. 

 

5 hours ago, raptron said:

Get on iiiit.

[@mu]

6 hours ago, traaki said:

For now I'm taking to heart my lessons in dance improv, this article, and getting some fun in my life. 

I love this, really, about GMB's approach. The play / creative bit.

[Norgaard]

6 hours ago, traaki said:

 For now I'm taking to heart my lessons in dance improv, this article, and getting some fun in my life. 

 

 

Sounds awesome!! good luck

[traaki]

ZERO WEEK REPORT!!

Q1: Daily salads!

I did it! I EVEN ORDERED A SALAD AT A RESTAURANT. I never do that. This is going well.  I need to make sure I'm ready for this week (might need some more protein) but you guys I LOVE SOME FRITOS ON MY SALAD. I've been thinking a bit about *why* I wanted to do this, and the main thing is that my frozen lunches were a little too much science for my comfort.  The chicken I've been using is a little science-y so maybe when it's time to get better at salads I'll change that (I don't know, baking like 20 chicken breasts at once and freezing them?) But for now, build the habit!

 

Q2: Skill practice/flexibility work

I did ten minutes of playtime on Thursday night--some stretches and mobility stuff, playing around from moving in a squat and bearing weight on my hands. Turns out that playtime is kind of hard for me. 

I'm a workaholic!!

 

 

I also did a yoga session for one of my workouts.  I keep kicking my former dancer self for being so self-hating about my physical abilities--I'm so much weaker and less flexible now! But I'll get there. 

 

Q3. Social media ramp-down

I don't have the data available to me on this so I'll report back tomorrow.  But overall here are my thoughts: I spend the most time & energy on a slack I'm in.  Which feels so much less gross than Facebook (although lord knows what irresponsible and unethical things they do with my data) but is also way more compelling.  I am interested to see where I spent my time in my web browser, but I'm thinking I need to mute that slack for at least a couple of hours a day.  I'll determine my week 1 quest details once I have my data, but for now I think I'm going to set a timer to remind myself to snooze slack for a few hours a day. 

 

Q4. No journal.

Keep a list of things I say no to as my days go by to try to wake myself up to the opportunities I take and those I don't. 

[Happienumber]

Starting off strong!!

[traaki]

An update on my social media ramp-down: 

 

I just changed my Do Not Disturb settings on Slack so I have 2 hours of no notifications in the middle of each work day. Now I'll have to break the habit of going to Slack proactively when I'm bored/stressed/anxious/whatever but at least we have one less incoming distraction for a short while each day. 

 

Here are the stats from my browser tracker: 

"Nope" means sites I don't want to spend any time at during work (twitter, facebook and 2048).  So, for this week, I'd like to keep that percentage under 40%.  I'm going to use Self-Control (the app, not the personal quality) to enforce that for a few hours each day. I may break it into more categories (e.g. health, money, etc) but for now I'm okay with it. 

 

In the past when I've tried to reduce social media I find myself making up stuff to do instead of just getting my work done (e.g. all of a sudden I'll start looking at retail sites or obsessively researching hair cuts or whatever).  Since that's not really fixing the problem and only shifting the bad behavior, I'm going to try to stay alert to that behavior shift & try to notice what's causing it and why. 

 

tl;dr: omg be mindful already. 

[Manarelle]

2 hours ago, traaki said:

In the past when I've tried to reduce social media I find myself making up stuff to do instead of just getting my work done (e.g. all of a sudden I'll start looking at retail sites or obsessively researching hair cuts or whatever). 

 

You're not alone in this, if it helps. Hang in there, it is possible to overcome. 

[@mu]

10 hours ago, traaki said:

I'm going to use Self-Control (the app, not the personal quality)

 

Love that sentence
Great goal though, and interesting stats you got. Part of me wants to stay in denial I think
Well done on your week zero, starting off strong indeed!

[traaki]

On 2/12/2018 at 1:40 PM, Manarelle said:

You're not alone in this, if it helps. Hang in there, it is possible to overcome. 

It's true.  I am starting to notice when the urge towards undirected busyness/distraction comes on and have been somewhat able to at least take a deep breath and figure out what to do with myself.  Here's hoping that pattern continues!

 

On 2/12/2018 at 9:35 PM, @mu said:

Love that sentence
Great goal though, and interesting stats you got. Part of me wants to stay in denial I think
Well done on your week zero, starting off strong indeed!

Thank you! I think it's okay to be in denial if you are happy with your situation! I just started to feel a lot of anxiety and worry and realized that social media was definitely a contributing factor. 

[traaki]

Q1: Daily salads!

Things I've learned: OMG dressing is important. I forgot it one day this week and ended up running to the grocery store during lunch to buy some...and it is *not* as good as the kind I've been using.  Unfortunately, the kind I've been using is only available from a restaurant that does not ship their dressings, and is 800 miles away. 

I must persevere. May try making my own dressings? The ones from the store are so....science-y. I tried to find one that seemed relatively food-like but it's still kind of weird and not that good.

 

Q2: Skill practice/flexibility work

Tonight or maybe tomorrow I'll be on this jam. 

 

Q3. Social media ramp-down

I upped my slack snooze to 3.5 hours.  I've paused my inbox on gmail. All around I'm starting to get less jittery when I don't have the socials to give me a little dopamine hit. 

 

I'm also trying to use a pomodoro timer and to stay focused for at least one session (25 minutes working, 5 minute break).  I find that even one or two sessions will really take down my level of panic and distraction. 

 

Q4. No journal.

Going well! Yesterday was really busy, which meant I didn't keep it, which I think is probably related to why I didn't feel great about my day. 

[raptron]

DRESSINGS AT HOME, OH BOY YOU ARE IN FOR A TREAT! I love both of these tahini based ones: https://food52.com/blog/10296-tahini-dressing-two-ways. The classic vinaigrette (vinegar + oil) is an easy place to start. This one is great and tangy https://food52.com/recipes/25681-no-frills-miso-dressing. If you like creamy ones, you do usually need something like yogurt or buttermilk to work with, but they are still pretty easy! Poke around online.

 

I do confess though that Trader Joe's has a creamy cilantro dressing that I adore and buy frequently.

 

[traaki]

2 hours ago, raptron said:

DRESSINGS AT HOME, OH BOY YOU ARE IN FOR A TREAT! I love both of these tahini based ones: https://food52.com/blog/10296-tahini-dressing-two-ways. The classic vinaigrette (vinegar + oil) is an easy place to start. This one is great and tangy https://food52.com/recipes/25681-no-frills-miso-dressing. If you like creamy ones, you do usually need something like yogurt or buttermilk to work with, but they are still pretty easy! Poke around online.

 

I do confess though that Trader Joe's has a creamy cilantro dressing that I adore and buy frequently.

 

Yes! Raptron to the rescue! Those all sound good but I confess the miso one has piqued my interest. 

I'm not totally opposed to store bought dressings...so maybe I'll stop in at TJ's and see what I can find. 

[traaki]

I discovered a subreddit called NoSurf that's ALL ABOUT curbing internet addiction. YES!! 

 

I've also been having a ton of success this week with using (and more importantly *respecting*) my pomodoro timers.  Sometimes it means I just kind of wait anxiously until my break comes but still, keeping the discipline matters and it's helping.

[Manarelle]

Sounds like you're making good progress... I think the "waiting anxiously until the break comes" is a natural part of building discipline, where you're dedicated to the cause but your hindbrain hasn't quite gotten the message yet. How was the rest of the week? Were you able to find a good dressing to keep you rolling?

[traaki]

On 2/17/2018 at 6:23 PM, Manarelle said:

Sounds like you're making good progress... I think the "waiting anxiously until the break comes" is a natural part of building discipline, where you're dedicated to the cause but your hindbrain hasn't quite gotten the message yet. How was the rest of the week? Were you able to find a good dressing to keep you rolling?

Yes, I think the building discipline work is still ongoing.  I am continuing with my existing salad dressing for the time being, mostly because I haven't had a minute to plan meals and get the stuff for the new one. 

 

As for how the week went, welll.....I'm still trying to remember. I spent all weekend (Sat til today) at a board gaming convention, which was fantastic and draining and great and sometimes hard and all of the things, and now I barely remember how real life works.  But I shall endeavor to report: 

 

Q1: Daily salads!

According my records, I succeeded!  I had just....regular lettuce which needed to be chopped every day, which was less than ideal but also 100% fine. It's kind of satisfying to spend a bit of time on food prep to get my mind off whatever coding problem I'm stuck on, to be honest. 

This week I'm in a training at work all week where they are providing the food. I'm guessing they will provide some greenery, so I'm going to make sure I have some....but I'm not going to sweat the challenge. 

 

Q2: Skill practice/flexibility work

Ruh-roh.  Totally failed at this one (does sitting in a deep thinking posture for hours at a stretch count?!)  I'll make an extra effort to get some stretch time in this week. 

 

Q3. Social media ramp-down

This is feeling really good! As you can see from my stats, I went from 43% last week to 29% in the nope category.  I also really dedicated myself to using pomodoros to keep myself focused.  These stats don't include things like time spent on my phone or on other browsers, but I think I'm catching like 90% of the trouble even so.  

This coming week, I'd like to get that under 20%.  I think that will be do-able given the training alone, assuming that it's actually engaging. 

 

Q4. No journal.

I kept a no journal most days, though as I'm getting better at the social media stuff, I have less to record. 

 

But.....I will say my brain is buzzing with two subjects I'm super excited about: 

1) A poetry class I signed up for that starts this Wednesday. I'm really excited because I've been wanting to take it for a while now, and I have the money saved up. But I'm still finishing the kickstarter rewards and I think it's going to get a little crazy in the overlap.  

2) I am feeling a very strong urge to write an RPG.  I....I've only played one D&D campaign, never DM'd anything, but I really like it and am excited about the possibilities of writing, like, a micro-RPG and releasing it.  Sadly, this urge came on *after* I pulled the trigger on the poetry class.  (On the other hand, it's not too surprising, I feel like the act of saying to myself "it's okay to start being creative again" unleashed a monster.) Today I bought and read a pretty small indie game and will try to get that to the table ASAP.  I'm hoping that this urge can bubble a little while longer without losing the excitement....we shall see, I suppose. 

 

Trying to use my anxieties about all of that be a reminder and motivator to keep saying NO to the bs and YES to the good stuff. Let the good stuff crowd out the nonsense. Keep my to-do lists short.  And keep taking deep breaths.  

[raptron]

Awesome progress with avoiding those nope sites. 

 

Use your poetry class to come up with D&D riddles?  

[RogueLibrarian]

Hi! I am a firm believer in using salad as a vehicle for delicious dressings. If you're eating them that often, you'll probably want to change the ingredients up some -- I often make an easy salad with chopped broccoli as the base instead of lettuce. I usually throw in a can of chickpeas to add a little protein to most of my salads.

 

I sympathize with breaking the social media addiction. I uninstalled Facebook from my mobile devices recently just to help break my habit of opening it when I'm bored.

[traaki]

1 hour ago, raptron said:

Awesome progress with avoiding those nope sites. 

 

Use your poetry class to come up with D&D riddles?  

YAAAAASSS raptron knows all the answers to life. 

 

1 hour ago, RogueLibrarian said:

Hi! I am a firm believer in using salad as a vehicle for delicious dressings. If you're eating them that often, you'll probably want to change the ingredients up some -- I often make an easy salad with chopped broccoli as the base instead of lettuce. I usually throw in a can of chickpeas to add a little protein to most of my salads.

Broccoli....broccoli? not lettuce? THIS IS AMAZING. OMG I am trying this next week. 

[Happienumber]

That is seriously the BEST idea!!

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[@mu]

On 2/20/2018 at 8:59 AM, traaki said:

Q3. Social media ramp-down

This is feeling really good! As you can see from my stats, I went from 43% last week to 29% in the nope category.  I also really dedicated myself to using pomodoros to keep myself focused.  These stats don't include things like time spent on my phone or on other browsers, but I think I'm catching like 90% of the trouble even so. 

Very impressive change!
What will you be doing during your poetry class? it sounds interesting.