Juliebarkley works on phase two

[juliebarkley]

As the weeks went by, Julie collected any removed many piles of underpants. Some areas of the swamp looked much cleaner, and she smiled at her successes there. Other areas, well, let's just say that they're works in progress. But the cleaning had revealed which areas of the swamp were worst hit by the underpants invasion and suggested the source - ground zero, if you will. A hill, near the southern edge of the swamp, covered with blackberry vines (and now, underpants). Julie set out to examine it.

 

As she approached the hill, she heard a song echoing from the depths of the earth. A catchy little ditty. She began to hum it as she reached up to pluck a striped set of blue boxers from a thorn.

 

"I'll take that, thanks!" A funny little man (where had he come from?) snatched the boxers from her hand and began to run off. Instinctively, she tripped him. "Oof!"

 

"Sorry about that! Here, let me help you up." The man brushed himself off, but looked about to run. "I have a whole bunch more underpants at home. You can have them if you like." His eyes glowed. She had his attention. She gestured around. "Did you lose your underpants? Can I help you in some way?"

 

"You'll see," he said. She followed him around the hill a short way, and watched him twist a small rock. A small door, covered with grass and invisible before, popped open. The little man dashed inside, and Julie followed carefully. The song she had heard before was loud now, and there were sounds of machinery and work all around. Hundreds of little men were carting around piles of underpants, loading them into machines, and looking very industrious indeed.

 

"You see that machine over there?" He pointed at a large machine being loaded up by four men. "Malfunctioned. Instead of sucking underpants in, it blew them out. Underpants went everywhere. Got to go to work to collect them again!"

 

Julie's eyes widened. "What do you do here?"

 

The man grinned. "Phase one, collect underpants."

 

"Okay, then what?"

 

"Phase three, profit!"

 

"What's Phase two?"

 

"....?"

 

"Maybe I can help you with Phase two. And collecting underpants."

 

A cheer rose on hearing the words "collecting underpants", and the song began again.

 

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As far as I can tell, the phase between "Collect underpants" and "Profit!" is some combination of making a plan, taking action on that plan, and building habits to maintain progress. To make this here challenge, I had to put together a plan, so the challenge will focus on the action and habit portion, with a particular focus on habits. I am great at working towards a goal, but terrible at the daily maintenance required to maintain progress.

 

If you were following last time, the items in this challenge will look very familiar to you. The main difference is that I am trying to build them into habits by linking them with specific times or events throughout the day, while scaling back some so I don't burn out or abandon. I also now have a copy of The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, which I am planning to read to help me solve my habit problem.

 

1. Neither underpants collection nor phase two can happen without a healthy strong body. Move every day.

I realized during the Abs & Core Challenge that while I really like the variety of the Darebee challenge and will likely be trying more from that site, I like having a purpose for the exercising I am doing. A goal to work toward. I am currently working on backbends (ultimate goal: bend straight to the floor - and maybe even stand up again) and pushups (goal: 50 with good form), but I'd like to have one more cool thing to work on. Achieving a pistol squat? Something to do with rings? Parkour looks fun, but I live in the land of winter and don't have easy access to a playground (or even a wall of appropriate height). I'll think about this, but I'm open to suggestions!

 

I have an established time for my exercise days, which are an actual habit that I have (yay!). I'm going to extrapolate this time as a "movement" time every day, to work on movement goals that are quick and not a workout as such.

 

So we have:

Exercise days: pushups, other strenuous goals needed! Probably pistols.

All days: Darebee challenge (at least until it's done), backbends, any other fun things I want to learn.

Tai Chi: A separate item, as I am linking it to my supper instead of the usual exercise time. I don't mind doing this at work when I eat supper there.

 

2. Phase two involves action. Do the Work.

I have made some advances in my business workings towards my ultimate goal of financial independence. I still have a long way to go between the "collect underpants" and "profit" stages, however. I have several income streams currently active, and a couple more at the idea stage. I took advantage of Black Friday and snagged myself some cheap web hosting and Udemy classes. I am hoping to get a website built this challenge, amongst other work that needs to be done. But I do still have a job to go to, so I have limited energy for more work. Goal: work on business stuff at 2pm on days when I do not have regular work, for a minimum of 30 minutes. 

 

3. Do the Work on existing former habits as well.

Trying to revive and strengthen my prayer and posting habits!

Prayer every night after brushing teeth.

Post on my own challenge every day at 10pm. Ideally, I will post on someone else's too, but I surely need to post on my own.

 

4. Collect underpants (to get rid of).

I have made progress on chipping away at my piles of procrastination, but there is so much more to be done. I can't keep up the pace I set before, so I am scaling back. Roll my d20 when I wake up. If it is not a regular workday, I must work on this item. If it is a workday, I can work on it if I want to. If not, it becomes the item for the next non-workday.

 

My room is also a disaster. We replaced the flooring, so all of the furniture got rearranged, piles of stuff were created, and ... they remain. Also I am not the tidiest person at the best of times. I took accountability pictures of my room exactly as it is now, which will be spoilered below when I figure out how to get them here. I'll update them every week and try to shame myself into improving my space. To be worked on as a prelude to the task item that I roll my d20 for.

 

Edit to show the state of my room at the start of this challenge:

https://imgur.com/gallery/Sx2r2B4

[Jean]

Suddenly, pineapples! a small figure steps out from under some big-sized blue long johns, his big reddish nose pointing toward the underpants lass, a white beard still half burrowed into the underpants lying all around.

 

Hey, but what if there's no 'phase two'? That'd be crazy, right? But still... what if? ...

 

He scratches his nose for some time, then his beard, then the underpant still covering most of his head, then lets a spark shine out of his wide opened eyes and smiles widely at Julie.

 

Let me tell you a story.

 

Imagine that underpants are bricks. Do you like bricks? Everybody likes bricks! So, see, you have all these bricks here lying around, doing nothing because the damn machine won't work!

 

He reaches under the underpants layer and grabs a rock, which he quickly throws toward the strange machinery. He sighs.

 

But let's forget the blasted machine for a moment. So, you have bricks and they're just sitting there. Sure, you can read the manual and build the castle that was sold on the box but couldn't you also... I don't know, assemble them on the fly?

 

Say you have this crazy idea springing into your head. What do you do of it if you don't have bricks? Nothing, I tell you! But if you have all these bricks lying around, waiting for you to grab them, to combine them and to make them shine like crazy snowflakes? You just pick'em up and make whatever you can that suits your fancy. But there's just so many of them, bricks, so you can just keep combining them to build whatever pleases you, on the spot!

 

He seems definitely carried away, looking mad at the very least, his mind departed to some strange land where plans and underpants combine themselves to build structures, and trees, and butterflies, and treespawning butterflies and who knows what else?

 

So, you know, maybe planning and sticking to it isn't for everybody. Maybe collecting underpants is a gift and it gives you the flexibility you need to build whatever you want whenever you want because... look around you! There's so many of 'em! What couldn't you build with so many bricks?

 

I tell you now: people follow plans because they ever only have the one underpant. Ok, make it seven because they have some basic sense of hygiene but you? You are the Pied Piper of Underpants! You can do anything you want!

 

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Following!

 

I love your quests, have fun and a little crazyness with them.

 

EDIT: Oh, and as a wonderful game once told me: "While your character doesn't need to eat, remember that you do. We don't want to lose any dedicated players." And that goes for sleep too.

 

[juliebarkley]

19 hours ago, Jean said:

Following!

 

I love your quests, have fun and a little crazyness with them.

 

EDIT: Oh, and as a wonderful game once told me: "While your character doesn't need to eat, remember that you do. We don't want to lose any dedicated players." And that goes for sleep too.

 

Always glad to have a new person along for the ride!

 

Crazy? Well, I try.

 

So, you noticed the posting time, eh?

 

19 hours ago, Jean said:

So, you know, maybe planning and sticking to it isn't for everybody. Maybe collecting underpants is a gift and it gives you the flexibility you need to build whatever you want whenever you want because... look around you! There's so many of 'em! What couldn't you build with so many bricks?

 

Hehe, but I'm so good at making plans and never taking action. After, collecting underpants feels like action at the time. Perhaps they will come in handy someday after all! It is the pull of the dark side... must... resist....

 

Well, I got everything done today, which is a good thing. But at the right times - that part was less successful. So only semi-helpful to habit building. Tai chi happened on cue. Business time was pretty close - I had to box up the cats for the vet at the proper time, so I did it after that. Prayer will be at the correct time, in like 15-10 minutes. That is actually more than I thought, now that I have typed it all out. Maybe I didn't do so badly after all. Still, I'm going to actually write the challenge out properly and post it up rather than rely on my memory for tomorrow.

[juliebarkley]

1. Neither underpants collection nor phase two can happen without a healthy strong body. Move every day.

- today was an exercise day, and all three components (backbends, abs, and pushups) were completed. I'm thinking of going back through the abs challenge again, as I have forgotten which ones I found easy and which were very hard (and therefore, I should do more of). I was reminded of this by today's, which was killer. #21 in the challenge, for anyone interested. It looks so easy, but by the second set it is NOT!

- Tai chi was done a little late because I had a half hour video to watch and it didn't fit in the allotted time.

 

2. Phase two involves action. Do the Work.

- today was a regular work day, so nothing done here. I was pretty tired when I got home. I might still do a small mindless thing that needs doing.

 

3. Do the Work on existing former habits as well.

- prayer was on time and good yesterday, woo!

- posting is happening now. A little late, but close enough. I may have to revise the time as I did not leave myself enough time to shower after exercise.

 

4. Collect underpants (to get rid of).

- oops, rolled now! Rolled a 4 - ticked off two tasks that I've already done (woo past me!) and today's actually looks like a nice thing to sit down and do with a podcast on (remove duplicates from my ebook collection). Maybe I will work on it tonight, after all.

- yeah, I need to get those room photos uploaded...

[juliebarkley]

1. Neither underpants collection nor phase two can happen without a healthy strong body. Move every day.

- Yesterday was a successful exercise day. I decided to go back a week in the pushup plan as it has been so long since I have advanced. Backbends were successful today and yesterday. I got all the way to the floor smoothly today! If I'm feeling brave, I may try to bend straight to the floor with a spotter to assist tomorrow. Abs were incredibly easy yesterday, but almost impossible today. I may have been doing the exercise wrong.

- Tai chi was done at work today for the first time ever. I need to review how the pieces go together before I learn any more bits because I am forgetting things. Unfortunately, the video I am watching does not repeat the previous day's movements as the movements are only a small part of the lectures.

 

2. Phase two involves action. Do the Work.

- I did some work yesterday, but only the bare minimum. I won't have time to do any today, but it was a regular work day.

 

3. Do the Work on existing former habits as well.

- All successful on the prayer front!

- Clearly I did not post yesterday. I am posting now, so that's good.

 

4. Collect underpants (to get rid of).

- Rolled today, but since I failed to work on my underpants pile either day, I shall have to do that first.

- Agh, stupid photos.

 

I am good with hitting my goal times before 9pm. After 9pm, it has been falling apart. I may have to rethink these times. I am not always able to start things at 9pm, because that it pretty much when I get home, so I often don't eat until then, throwing everything off.

[WhiteGhost]

Hi, late but following.  

[juliebarkley]

On 12/9/2018 at 9:32 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Hi, late but following.

Howdy!

 

Since the last update, I have not been super successful.

 

Friday - Santa Claus Parade day in town, and I was walking with the Beavers on their float. Of course, this was the coldest day of the winter so far, -20 degrees. Though we dressed for the weather, it was still pretty chilly as none of us were used to this level of cold yet (this was about ten degrees colder than any day so far). Got home, jumped under blanket, didn't come out again, end of challenge for the day.

 

Saturday - got a migraine a couple of hours after waking up, end of challenge for the day.

 

Sunday - catchup from the previous days. Some challenge stuff, but not like it should have been.

 

Monday and Tuesday - fell off the wagon. Need to get myself back on there.

 

It wasn't all bad. On each of these days, I did do some challenge stuff, but not all of it.

 

1. Neither underpants collection nor phase two can happen without a healthy strong body. Move every day.

- Pushups were on track - this is a solid habit. I passed the week, so I am back to my nemesis week today.

- Backbends were missed a couple of days (SO not being upside down with a headache!). Today I had my first ever fail at getting back up the wall. :( I did do the drop straight to the floor (actually, low couch) that I mentioned last update. I landed on my head a tiny bit, but it went pretty well actually.

- I think I did one from my ab challenge? Bad me!

- I spent like half an hour one day watching and reviewing a s-l-o-w video of the sequence I've learned so far and practising the steps. I'll practise tonight for a few minutes.

 

2. Phase two involves action. Do the Work.

- Actually, I think I nailed this one. :)

 

3. Do the Work on existing former habits as well.

- Ooh. All is not successful on the prayer front.

- Clearly posting sucketh.

 

4. Collect underpants (to get rid of).

- Not a whole lot. Rolled today, then neglected to look at what the task was. That's not helpful, self!

- Stupid photos get posted tomorrow barring my house burning down or something. You have my solemn guarantee. I actually did do some tidying up!

[juliebarkley]

1. Neither underpants collection nor phase two can happen without a healthy strong body. Move every day.

- This was not a workout day. Unfortunately, it was not a backbend or abs day, either.

- However, I did review the next bit of the tai chi that I learned. This is good. But I think I have to return the course I was doing tomorrow, and it'll be a while before I can get it again. Boo!

 

2. Phase two involves action. Do the Work.

- Listed a considerable number of books for sale today. They can be seen in my photos, as they are not yet put away.

 

3. Do the Work on existing former habits as well.

- Yesterday was a success!

- Posting is improving. Not on time, but improving.

 

4. Collect underpants (to get rid of).

- Shoot, I looked at the task, and now I can't even remember what it was? Need to do better here.

- I am as good as my word and my house didn't burn down - first post edited with photo link, and most recent photos here: https://imgur.com/gallery/LIUJHPG

[Jean]

Space reclaiming is happening, yay!

[WhiteGhost]

Glad your house didn't burn down so we could get some pictures  

[juliebarkley]

Hi!

 

So, as you might be able to tell from the lack of updates, the challenge has not been going so well. The times I picked for habit setting are just not working well for me, and I have been inconsistent in virtually every category. I have also had a few days where I felt inexplicably sluggish and just could not get up the energy to do anything. Here's a mini-summary of my last week or so:

 

1. Neither underpants collection nor phase two can happen without a healthy strong body. Move every day.

- Failed my pushups week on the final rep, but did better than I have done in a long time. I have hope still. Abs challenge has been spotty. Backbends have been much more consistent. I can walk down the wall without too much difficulty, and can usually make it back up without support. I'm working on getting tai chi I have learned so far solid before I learn more. I keep messing up the last two moves, but I'm pretty good before that. I've been doing this most days.

 

2. Phase two involves action. Do the Work.

- I have done basically no work since the giant book listing day :(. I have a few books on WordPress out, so I'm hoping I can get the basic site up and running very soon. Plus a bunch of other stuff I need to get to.

 

3. Do the Work on existing former habits as well.

- Prayer time has not been perfectly consistent, but has not been too bad overall.

- Posting here has been rubbish.

 

4. Collect underpants (to get rid of).

- I have not done a single task, including the one I didn't do last time I posted.

- I have made a little bit of room progress (just a little). I'll get a picture up here tomorrow perhaps, for challenge end?

[Scaly Freak]

You should come join us in the Holiday Mini Challenge! It's almost relaxing, and very simple. No underpants to collect or anything.