Juliebarkley gets a job

[juliebarkley]

Juliebarkley walked through the streets of the city in awe. This was her first visit in a long time, and so much had changed since then. There was so much to see. The shops! The architecture! The shops! The people! And did we mention the shops? Shops selling weapons and armour. Masters who could teach combat, magic, and all manner of other skills. The possibilities seemed endless.

 

Her eyes drew her to a beautiful yew bow in a shop window a little off the main street. In her former life she would never have looked twice at it, but now - it would be so useful in defending the swamp. And it learning to use it would be fun, too. However, a quick glance in her purse revealed the sad reality. While she had been very frugal on the journey here, it was a long trip, and she had very little gold remaining. Even to stay in the city for a few days would mean that she would need more gold than she currently had.

 

Fortunately, in a city with so many shops and people, there were always things that needed to be done, and someone was always needed to do those things. So she walked into the courier's and enquired about the sign in the window. This job could be pretty fun, but it was going to involve a lot of lifting and walking!

 

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I am, once again, late to the party. I have been working on the goals below sporadically for the first week though, so I have not been totally neglectful of the FOUR week challenge format. On the record though, it'll be three weeks.

 

Physical: I need strong arms to do this job! And I will be racking up the miles, too.

1. Take a walk every day (approximately 30 minutes). Indoors, outdoors, running, walking - it's all good. The important things is to do it.

2. Do push-up program. And play on rings. Arm strength for the win! I found a book at the library called "7 weeks to 100 pushups". A quick glance at this shows it is a bit of a misnomer, as the beginner programs are 10 weeks long, but that's okay. I can currently do 10 ordinary pushups in a row without stopping. When I started at NF, I could do 5, maybe 6. That's improvement, but I know I could do better if I tried. My long-term goal is 50 in a row, so let's see how far I can get! The rings strengthen different muscles, and it doesn't take very much time with them to be exhausting! I will do this on my regular workout days (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday).

 

Financial: Fill that coin purse!

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. Anyone who saw my last challenge knows that my regular work has been an unhappy place lately. I have been putting time into working online and building businesses, both as a coping mechanism, and to provide a genuine, long-term alternative for myself. Work for this goal includes things like: applying for jobs (online or offline), doing actual work, doing training, research, or stuff like making profiles that are necessary for work (only necessary stuff - not underpants collecting!). To allow for real life unpredictability, if I miss time on one day, it can be made up on another day in the same week.

 

Social: Communicate with customers and make them smile!

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. I always struggle with this. I have trouble thinking of things to say to others, and have never been the type to post what I ate for breakfast to social media (because seriously, who would care?). But this is a good, supportive community, and I want to contribute more. Building social skills = good.

 

Life: Get to work on time and ready to go!

5. Do my morning routine every day. When I do it, I feel on track for the day and get things that are important to me done. When I don't, it can feel like the day is flying by and I have nothing to show for it. So do it already!

[WhiteGhost]

Following along  

[Scaly Freak]

Found you!

 

Following. Very curious to hear updates and success stories about the online job adventures.

[juliebarkley]

On 3/25/2018 at 11:40 PM, WhiteGhost said:

Following along  

 

On 3/25/2018 at 11:41 PM, scalyfreak said:

Found you!

 

Following. Very curious to hear updates and success stories about the online job adventures.

 

Thanks, guys! Always grateful to have you along.

 

Not off to the greatest start:

 

1. Take a walk every day. Yes! I did the thing.

2. Do push-up program. Not started yet, so technically yes? I am going to read some of the intro of the book before bed, so let's call that progress.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. No. Not off to a good start here.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Here I am! But I haven't looked at anyone else's yet. I should be able to do this before bed, though.

5. Do my morning routine every day. Sadly, no. I did at least have my vitamins.

 

I was badly thrown off by my awkward schedule today. I got home from work and I was so tired, as I did not sleep so well last night. So I slept for about 3 hours. Woke up, went to Beavers, and by the time I got back and ate, it was 9:30. And by now, I felt kind of headachey. I could have done a little work, but opted to do something less mentally strenuous that needed doing instead. I'm not thrilled that I'm behind on my stuff, but I didn't waste very much time today really, and I really needed that sleep.

 

Here's to a more successful tomorrow.

[WhiteGhost]

56 minutes ago, juliebarkley said:

Here's to a more successful tomorrow

[juliebarkley]

I did not realize when I began this challenge that I was going to have several days this week where I get home quite late and then have to get up quite early, leaving little time for challenge goals. This was poor planning on my part. Happily, this should end after tomorrow, and I will finally have a chance to catch up on my goals (and catch up with everyone else's challenges).

 

Failed to post yesterday. When you think you can both quit the browser and post to the forum, it is time to go to bed. So here's two days' worth:

 

1. Take a walk every day. Yup, both days.

2. Do push-up program. Yes! This first day was not so bad. Friday's targets look more challenging. I am both excited and nervous.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. Yes yesterday, but no today. I have a lot of catching up to do once I have some time off. It is still very doable - I am not too worried. I have also had tiring work schedules which have been hindering me this week, but shouldn't be such a problem later on.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Yes for today, but not yesterday.

5. Do my morning routine every day. Big fat fail. I blame work, but there is also a lot of forgetfulness and procrastination in there. If I don't do it on Friday, I have no excuses.

 

My first priority in improving my challenge results is to figure out how to get my morning routine on track when I cannot complete it in the morning. I really want to hit #5 tomorrow. I also have to study for an online exam, so #3 is going to be pretty important, too.

[juliebarkley]

I am looking for a challenge to post on before I head off to bed. I decided to glance over the challenges in the Level 1 forum first. Man! There are so many cool newbies joining this challenge!

 

That is all.

[Scaly Freak]

Daily walks, especially while the sun is out, are hugely under-rated for mental/emotional well-being as well as physical health.

 

I am concerned that Procrastination seems to be targeting you... we'll have to do something about that demon bitch at some point.

[juliebarkley]

On 3/29/2018 at 12:50 AM, scalyfreak said:

I am concerned that Procrastination seems to be targeting you... we'll have to do something about that demon bitch at some point.

 

Erm, yes. I quite agree.

 

Some parts of my challenge are going well. Others ... need some work.

 

1. Take a walk every day. Thursday, yes. Friday,  yes. Today, no.

2. Do push-up program. I did well on Friday. Hit all targets with no problems; last set was 12.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. Thursday, 2. Friday, 4. Today, 3. Pretty good! I have finished reviewing the study material for the exam I need to take, so tomorrow I will do the practice questions and start the exam.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. I think it is obvious that this has been poor.

5. Do my morning routine every day. Thursday, I'm not sure - maybe halfway? Friday, YES. Today, NO.

 

I am doing pretty well on 1, 2, 3, but failing pretty badly at 4 and 5. I could make excuses, but they would be just that. I need to force myself to do the thing until it becomes habit; no one is going to do it for me. And remind myself why I want to do it in the first place!

 

On an unrelated note, I will be trying something new and a little scary on Friday. My transportation from a work training session fell through, and I will have to take an Uber for the first time ever. I've no idea what the availability is like for the service in this area so fingers crossed that someone will be around and I can figure out how to use it and stuff! I don't want to have to walk 15km to get home (but at least I know I can if I REALLY had to).

[Scaly Freak]

Today isn't over yet, though, is it?

 

Congratulations on push-up progress and the online work!  

 

9 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

I am doing pretty well on 1, 2, 3, but failing pretty badly at 4 and 5. I could make excuses, but they would be just that. I need to force myself to do the thing until it becomes habit; no one is going to do it for me. And remind myself why I want to do it in the first place!

 

 

A wise strategy when battling Procrastination. Mainly because it's been proven to work.

[juliebarkley]

Today was pretty good!

 

1. Take a walk every day. First outside walk of the year! It was kind of cold and windy, but at least not too muddy. And there were birds chirping, and boats with fishermen. No green shoots yet, though. Spring is almost here for real!

2. Do push-up program. It was harder today, but I did it. Last set was 13, and it was hard.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. I may not have quite made it to 3 hours today. I did get through all of the practice questions, so now I am ready to start the real test tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Done. I meant to review some challenges, but I was fighting awful internet all day, and when I had good internet, I did work like a good girl.

5. Do my morning routine every day. I missed one thing only, and it was the least important thing. I'm happy with that.

 

It has been a good weekend. My brother is over to visit, so we have been playing board games and video games, and just chatting. I hope everybody is enjoying the long weekend!

[Chant]

It sounds like things are starting to come together for you with this challenge. It's great you were able to make progress and get in nearly everything you intended to do! 

[Scaly Freak]

19 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

 

It has been a good weekend. My brother is over to visit, so we have been playing board games and video games, and just chatting. 

 

That does sound like a great weekend.

 

And Awful Internet sounds like another evil demon... one that must be destroyed!

[juliebarkley]

5 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

And Awful Internet sounds like another evil demon... one that must be destroyed!

 

That is a demon that must be lived with - there is only one internet provider that I can use, and it is notoriously bad.

 

1. Take a walk every day. Did it. It was very tiring for some reason.

2. Do push-up program. Not today.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. I did 4 hours of exam taking today, and got an email instantly that I failed. This seems like an awfully fast rejection, so I googled it. It appears that I may have failed an identity check they do on having used the same email for another related company. It's certainly possible - I've tried out a lot of things over the years. Would have been nice to be kicked out before putting in all of this time, though. 4 hours of exam and at least as much again of study wasted.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Yup.

5. Do my morning routine every day. Oh darn. I knew I missed something today.

 

Well, so much for that job. Guess I'll be starting something else tomorrow. At least there are lots of options out there!

[juliebarkley]

Today was a lazy day of few accomplishments.

 

1. Take a walk every day. No.

2. Do push-up program. Okay, this I did do. Max pushups: 15. Max ever in my entire life: low twenties. Epic quest goal: 50. I'm starting to believe I might make it!

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. The four hours from yesterday is going to have to count for today as well. I'm irrationally disappointed about the failure yesterday. I opted to read NF instead.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Was I positive? I think so. So yes.

5. Do my morning routine every day. Blah. I'm gonna have to start forbidding myself things or something to get myself going, because seriously, self. Not cool.

[Scaly Freak]

Absolutely those four hours count towards today. Giving yourself time to deal with a disappointment or unexpected set-back in order to fully put it behind you, is not only permitted, it's encouraged.

 

As far as the morning routine, maybe you need to move things around? Literally. For example, if the routine involves a walk, putting all your walking clothes and shoes out the evening before will make it easier to get ready for the walk, which makes the walk more likely. Is it possible for you to do the opposite, and make the things yo are considering forbidding yourself more difficult to reach in the mornings?

[Chant]

There's nothing irrational about being disappointed that you put four hours of effort into something only to have it not work out for an unexpected reason. That's still work you did and effort you made with good faith intentions. You have every right to feel bummed about that. It counts.

[juliebarkley]

On 4/4/2018 at 8:48 AM, scalyfreak said:

Absolutely those four hours count towards today. Giving yourself time to deal with a disappointment or unexpected set-back in order to fully put it behind you, is not only permitted, it's encouraged.

 

On 4/4/2018 at 8:51 AM, Chant said:

There's nothing irrational about being disappointed that you put four hours of effort into something only to have it not work out for an unexpected reason. That's still work you did and effort you made with good faith intentions. You have every right to feel bummed about that. It counts.

 That counted for me for Wednesday for sure! The irrational disappointment was not so much that I failed (though that was disappointing). It was that the opportunity is relatively low-paying, so it's not like I couldn't find other things that pay similarly. It's just that I've done things like this in the past and was decently good at it, and don't get bored of it extremely easily.

 

However, I have an update. Yesterday, I got an email saying that the job was still open, so I could try the exam again if I wanted to (but this is the last time). I'll probably do it, but it I don't get any feedback on where I went wrong on the first one, surely I will just fail the second time, too?

 

On 4/4/2018 at 8:48 AM, scalyfreak said:

As far as the morning routine, maybe you need to move things around? Literally. For example, if the routine involves a walk, putting all your walking clothes and shoes out the evening before will make it easier to get ready for the walk, which makes the walk more likely. Is it possible for you to do the opposite, and make the things yo are considering forbidding yourself more difficult to reach in the mornings?

After failing again on Thursday to do my routine, I am trying to do a bit of both of these things. What seems to be happening is that I either start watching a video or reading the newspaper during breakfast. I finish eating without being done those things, so I stick with them until they are done, but then I have lost momentum for the rest of the routine. So today, I picked a book with short sections that give lots of stopping places - removing the perceived need to finish - and also told myself that I cannot touch the phone until I have moved on the rest of the routine. And it worked! The rest of the morning routine flows really well - one part leads to the next without thinking - but getting over that post-breakfast hurdle is going to be the challenge.

 

Two days in one:

 

1. Take a walk every day. Yes. It was snowing today (bleh!), but I saw the first buds and catkins on the trees (yay!).

2. Do push-up program. I should not have attempted this right after supper today. I only made 12 in the final do-as-many-as-you-can part. But I only needed to do 11, so I'm still winning.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. I worked for two hours yesterday, but didn't accomplish much, I feel. Today, I read a lot of work-related stuff and watched a webinar to try to figure out what sort of business I would like to build. Sort of in-between legit research and underpants collecting, but enough to count for two hours. The exam failure earlier and a few coincidental things are making me feel like the universe is pushing me in the "build a business" direction. The webinar was interesting and I am actually considering getting the course (the seller has a reputation for excellent content and genuinely caring about his students' success), but dang, it's expensive. I really need to know that that is what I want to pursue and investigate my options before taking the plunge. "Investigating options" will be tomorrow's job.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Did not do.

5. Do my morning routine every day. No to yesterday, yes to today (except one thing; good enough). Now to keep it up tomorrow.

[juliebarkley]

1. Take a walk every day. Yes. Nothing special, but I did it.

2. Do push-up program. Tomorrow.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. The overwhelm is real. So. Many. Options. And so much to learn. It is both discouraging and at the same time, exciting. There is so much potential out there! I have two major ideas that I am fleshing out (and a few other extra options thrown in for good measure), but I need to do a lot of learning (trying to write content, etc) before I consider taking anything live. Basically, if my first tries are bad that's okay (everyone's first tries are bad), but if I hate doing it, then there is no point in continuing further. I did way more than two hours of research today, and I will be doing more tomorrow. I'm not signing up for anything until I have a clearer idea of what I want to try, what I will need to learn to pull it off, and how realistic it really is.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Will do now!

5. Do my morning routine every day. Yay, it is working! Changing my reading habits during breakfast = not getting sidetracked = little mental resistance to getting the morning routine done. Woo!

[WhiteGhost]

2 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

Yay, it is working! Changing my reading habits during breakfast = not getting sidetracked = little mental resistance to getting the morning routine done. Woo!

Nice!  So glad to see it is working out for you

[Scaly Freak]

15 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

 

5. Do my morning routine every day. Yay, it is working! Changing my reading habits during breakfast = not getting sidetracked = little mental resistance to getting the morning routine done. Woo!

 

Nice! Well done on following through and making changes.  

[juliebarkley]

1. Take a walk every day. Yes. Interesting sidenote: while looking for a podcast to listen to, I found this interview with Steve Kamb.

2. Do push-up program. I made it all the way through and did 15 at the end. I physically could not do that 16th one.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. Packed up some sale books and did some research. Not as much as I had hoped for, but some.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Done!

5. Do my morning routine every day. Yes!

 

So I did not get quite as much as I hoped for done today, but writing out the above shows me that I did get real stuff done.

 

When I hopped in the shower today after exercise, I found a bucket of handwashing that I forgot about from yesterday. Contents: every bra I own. They are drip-drying now, but it looks like I will be wearing damp undergarments tomorrow.

[juliebarkley]

Let's call Monday a rest day and move on...

 

1. Take a walk every day. No. It might still happen tonight though, since my work from home time is used up.

2. Do push-up program. Made it through with little trouble, and on the last set did 21. That's a pretty big jump; we'll see if it sticks. Every day I look at the program and think "I might die", but then I do it, so I don't know.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. No. Nothing at all, and nothing yesterday either. Bad. Yesterday I was bleary and tired all day, and chose not to do the thing I had planned as I wouldn't have been able to focus adequately. Today I just ran out of time (but I could have done it earlier, or prioritized better).

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Yes.

5. Do my morning routine every day. This is the only thing I got done on Monday, and again today. It took some actual mental effort both times, so yay for me.

 

I was like a machine at work today. I swear I didn't waste a single minute. I am trying to get a whole bunch of programs pre-planned, so that when the time comes to run them, all I have to do is pick one that's already complete and print it out. I will be able to use them over and over for years into the future, and share them with colleagues. I have realized in the last few months that this is my natural tendency - front load the work, with the goal of massively reducing future work. Works great, unless you are working on a whole bunch of different stuff at the same time.

 

Edit: did the walk!

[juliebarkley]

1. Take a walk every day. Yep.

2. Do push-up program. Not on the schedule for today.

3. Do 2 hours of work online per day. Yes. I am reading lots of information, but not taking any action yet. There is lots to learn and I do need to do this research/learning/reading, but I also need to be aware of when I am venturing into underpants-collecting territory. It has been a bit of a mixed bag of necessary and underpants. Good news: I am getting clearer in my head where I want to go in the future.

4. Post on my own thread every day, and something positive on someone else's, too. Yes.

5. Do my morning routine every day. No. I ended up getting up late and not having time before work, then after, it was 9pm and who thinks about a morning routine at 9pm? Not me, apparently.

 

We have 30cm of snow forecast for the weekend, so that'll be interesting. Is it hitting the US, too? I have not paid any attention to where it is coming from.

[juliebarkley]

I have only just realized that this challenge ends this weekend. I really need to start these challenges on time - I thought I had another week! Maybe I can carry some of this challenge forward.