Juliebarkley gets to work

[juliebarkley]

I have missed the last couple of challenges, but I am back! Since the last challenge (three challenges ago...) I lost a job offer, interviewed a week later for another job (almost as good), was offered it, and started last week. Therefore, in the last challenge period, I worked in three different places and NF was not my focus. Now I am feeling better about my job situation, and am ready to get to work on here as well!

 

1. Work on solidifying current habits. The three habits I've been working on regularly are 1) pray every evening; 2) walk 30 minutes a day; 3) check my todo list daily. #2 is automatic now, hurray! #1 is middling, and got really lazy on #3 while on holiday and didn't pick it back up. Plan: by the end of week 0, set a better time/trigger for habits 1 and 3 to set myself up for success.

 

2. Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day. This should get me outside and get me lots of happy sun vitamins. Ideally, this will happen during the daily walk (see habit 2 above), but can happen any time throughout the day as long as the sun hasn't set yet. Plan: I started doing this during the last challenge that I never jumped into, so keep it up!

 

3. Get a plan to get strong. So at the moment, I do regular pushups and not much else. Could be worse, but should really be better. My main mental block is that I don't have a good feel for how exercise progressions work, and I don't have cool human tricks in mind to achieve that would give me direction. I really felt the lack of these in the last challenge when I somehow hurt my ankle bending over to pick up my phone and couldn't walk for three days, and also hurt my wrist opening a door. (Man, that's embarrassing) I couldn't do my regular exercises for like a week, and didn't know what I could do instead. I have some bodyweight books which surely have this info, and I know there are free websites out there - I just need to put it all together for myself. This challenge, it happens.

 

4. Stop procrastinating, you fool! My inbox (real and email) are stuffed to the gills, plus I started a project to get rid of some of my ginormous book collection, but I have not worked on it much since vacation. As you may know by know if you have followed my challenges at all, I sort of kind of hoard information that I might want later, but which I then never get around to acting on (or start but never complete), making me perhaps the ultimate underpants gnome? The goal for each of these, ahem, "collections" is to make them smaller by challenge end through either taking action as appropriate or sweet sweet purging. This is my current status:

 

Books:

Spoiler

... plus a couple of shelves that didn't make the photos.

 

Inbox (plus my long-term stored "should work on" files because why the heck not):

Spoiler

 

... plus 912 flagged emails and an unknown (but likely relatively small) number of opened but unflagged emails.

 

 

Achievable goals:

Books: Finish the Bs by the end of the challenge. The piles you can see on the ground in photos 1 and 4 are the remaining B books. Bi-Bz, to be exact. It's a big letter. :/

Email: 10,000 or lower by challenge end, for a decrease of about 2500 messages, with Google down to at least 3500. No more than 875 flagged.

Inbox: Chances are good I can't clear it, but I will try. However, I pass if I can put a ruler across the top of the basket and have it rest on both sides without touching the basket contents.

Long-term files: Bonus item only. To be considered if goal on another category is achieved early.

 

Lastly,

 

5. Be on here every day. Post on my own thread daily. And someone else's daily. Not too hard, but at the same time, very hard.

 

Starting tomorrow. Let's go!

 

[WhiteGhost]

Hey, welcome back!

 

2 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

non-burning sun exposure

Very important qualifier there

 

2 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

I don't have a good feel for how exercise progressions work, and I don't have cool human tricks in mind to achieve that would give me direction.

What overall outcome would you like to have?  Knowing where you want to get is the most important part of figuring out a workout program, and then once the program focus is identified you can work out the specific progressions you need to get there.

[Snickie]

5 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day.

I live in Florida and I don't do this like I should... I'd have to do it at 7am to not die of heat stroke.

 

5 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

 

Books:

  Hide contents

... plus a couple of shelves that didn't make the photos.

 

Inbox (plus my long-term stored "should work on" files because why the heck not):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

... plus 912 flagged emails and an unknown (but likely relatively small) number of opened but unflagged emails.

 

 

 

We just cleared out a bunch of my dad's books and other stuff from his closet so we can move his precious games that he hasn't played in 13+ years from the garage into his office so we can tear down the shelves in the garage so we can put up a ramp so he can go places in his new chair that he can't drive well yet without having as much chance to fall down in the garage. So I feel the books.

 

Good luck, you! 

[juliebarkley]

19 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

What overall outcome would you like to have?  Knowing where you want to get is the most important part of figuring out a workout program, and then once the program focus is identified you can work out the specific progressions you need to get there.

Good question. Beyond general improved strength, I don't have a real goal goal. I need inspiration and direction for my fitness endeavors. I'd like to be able to do at least one pullup, but I know I need to work on more than arm strength to be balanced (plus pullups need more than just arm strength anyway). Ditto handstands. I like many parkour tricks (the simpler, less dangerous ones), but lack a place to practice vaults or hangs. Parkour is more of an agility and control discipline than a strength-based one. I'm hoping if I start looking at the end goals of the progressions in the resources I have, I'll see some and think "yes, I'd like to do that, please! Take me there!"

 

If you have suggestions, inspire me.

 

16 hours ago, Snickie said:

We just cleared out a bunch of my dad's books and other stuff from his closet so we can move his precious games that he hasn't played in 13+ years from the garage into his office so we can tear down the shelves in the garage so we can put up a ramp so he can go places in his new chair that he can't drive well yet without having as much chance to fall down in the garage. So I feel the books.

No, good luck to you! I do not have such a pressing reason as you to get this in shape. Sadly (?) this is after a solid book Konmari session last year reduced the amount considerably.

 

What sort of games is your dad so attached to?

 

1. Work on solidifying current habits. Nothing yet.

2. Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day. Went for a walk despite light rain and lots of skeeters.

3. Get a plan to get strong. Nothing yet.

4. Stop procrastinating, you fool! Nothing yet. No wait, I added some papers to my inbox and didn't check email, so backward progress for the day.

5. Be on here every day. Time to go be social.

[WhiteGhost]

1 hour ago, juliebarkley said:

Good question. Beyond general improved strength, I don't have a real goal goal. I need inspiration and direction for my fitness endeavors. I'd like to be able to do at least one pullup, but I know I need to work on more than arm strength to be balanced (plus pullups need more than just arm strength anyway). Ditto handstands. I like many parkour tricks (the simpler, less dangerous ones), but lack a place to practice vaults or hangs. Parkour is more of an agility and control discipline than a strength-based one. I'm hoping if I start looking at the end goals of the progressions in the resources I have, I'll see some and think "yes, I'd like to do that, please! Take me there!"

 

If you have suggestions, inspire me. 

It sounds to me like even though you don't have a specific goal in ind, you kind of have some general direction which is a great place to start out.  You have identified 3 specific things that you want to work towards (pullups, handstands, parkour) so maybe for now work on things that will get you closer to these goals.  You can always refine or change it from there, but it sounds like a good starting place.  Are you starting from zero for pullups and handstands?  Depending on where you are now I can suggest some possible progressions

 

For parkour, there are a lot of things you can work on that don't require anywhere special.  Even before getting into vaults and hangs, you can start working on things like safety rolls (all you need is a carpet or a grassy area), precisions (all you need is a clear area and maybe a curb, stick or a rope or something to be  the landing target) or even things like simplified tic-tac spins that can be done on a curb or a step.  You could even put out paper plates or some other kind of flat marker and work on strides (again you just need a clear area).  

[Scaly Freak]

On 6/27/2019 at 11:34 PM, juliebarkley said:

 

Books:

  Reveal hidden contents

... plus a couple of shelves that didn't make the photos.

 

 

I still maintain it's impossible to have too many books.  I don't care what your pictures imply.  

[juliebarkley]

On 6/29/2019 at 2:05 AM, WhiteGhost said:

It sounds to me like even though you don't have a specific goal in ind, you kind of have some general direction which is a great place to start out.  You have identified 3 specific things that you want to work towards (pullups, handstands, parkour) so maybe for now work on things that will get you closer to these goals.  You can always refine or change it from there, but it sounds like a good starting place.  Are you starting from zero for pullups and handstands?  Depending on where you are now I can suggest some possible progressions

I like to play with lots of stuff, rather than go for superhuman mastery in one thing. It is my life pattern. Hence picking a thing can be tricky.

 

For handstands I am going from zero. I think I can do one chinup thanks to the arm strength from the pushups I have done. This is more than I could do as a child; I remember a gym day in middle school where we all had to do one chinup before we could finish for the session, and they had to give up on me as it was just not going to happen. I could barely even lift myself a little bit. I have only attempted them at a friend's as I do not have a pullup bar myself, but I do have rings. I should be able to adapt something similar to work with those? (Clearly I need to get the Handstands and Rings programs when they are on sale!)

 

On 6/29/2019 at 2:05 AM, WhiteGhost said:

For parkour, there are a lot of things you can work on that don't require anywhere special.  Even before getting into vaults and hangs, you can start working on things like safety rolls (all you need is a carpet or a grassy area), precisions (all you need is a clear area and maybe a curb, stick or a rope or something to be  the landing target) or even things like simplified tic-tac spins that can be done on a curb or a step.  You could even put out paper plates or some other kind of flat marker and work on strides (again you just need a clear area). 

Ooh, I do have grass (no carpet, though). As long as it doesn't need a paved or perfectly flat area I should be able to make it work. I need to check out some of those basic moves!

 

On 6/29/2019 at 6:55 PM, scalyfreak said:

I still maintain it's impossible to have too many books.  I don't care what your pictures imply.  

Five years ago I would have agreed, but I have had too many  "I have that book, but it's in one of the 20 crazy heavy boxes stacked in an awkward dark corner that will take 2 hours to search through if I'm unlucky" - and then I might find I don't have it after all. Knowing I had good books I would never read even if I wanted to (and that my son couldn't get to either) because finding them was such a huge hassle it made me just not want to bother, I finally broke down. Less will bring more enjoyment. I do have a large ebook collection. That can grow as big as need be because it only takes a keyword search to find whatever I want.

 

Two days' updates together:

 

1. Work on solidifying current habits. #1 was good yesterday - hooray! I walked today but not yesterday. On my way home, the dark clouds were blowing in, and shortly after I got home, they broke in a dramatic lightning storm that was striking very close by - directly across the river, I think. By the time the rain stopped, the sun had basically set. #3 I have not done either day - I need to think about this one.

2. Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day. Was cloudy on my walk today, but noticed sunshine later in the day and went out to read a book in the sun (a graphic novel in my purged pile that I wanted to read one time only).

3. Get a plan to get strong. Listened to @WhiteGhost above? Nothing else yet.

4. Stop procrastinating, you fool! I pulled my son's books out of the B piles and put them for him to do first sort, as he is away for another couple of weeks. Did the final sort of the BE books. After restacking the remaining B titles, it doesn't look so bad actually But then I always think it will take less time that it really does. Nothing yet on the physical inbox (of doom). Email is at 12546, with Google at 3805 (so up a little). I was picking off obvious junk for the most part, but there was a good article with some solid food for thought. In summary, if you won a million dollars, what would you do with it? Would you accelerate your current plans? If so, is there anything you can do to accelerate them now? Or would you make a big life change, like move or quit your job? If so, this probably means you are not satisfied with some aspect of your life, so how can you work towards changing that thing today?

5. Be on here every day. So, just before I came on here yesterday, the power went out. This was not actually from the storm, but a planned outage that I had half forgotten about that came a little early. Now that I can be, I am here.

 

[juliebarkley]

I have just gotten back from my daily walk, but today my walk had a purpose. I've been eyeing these for a few days now, and they were finally ready:

 

 

Supper tonight will be milkweed and sage risotto with parmesan. Sooo delicious!

[juliebarkley]

Happy Canada Day! Today was a day of fireworks and relaxing.

 

1. Work on solidifying current habits. #1 and 2 were great. I have yet to improve my action plan for #3. This is a must do for tomorrow.

2. Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day. I was lovely and warm and I spent lots of time in the sun enjoying it.

3. Get a plan to get strong. Should have, could have, but didn't.

4. Stop procrastinating, you fool! I sorted my physical inbox into three piles: to do, to file, and recycling. This is the pile that headed to the recycling today:

Next step will be to deal with the filing.

5. Be on here every day. Time to go be social.

[ohlemontine]

So... just asking for a friend... whatcha doin with the purged books? I... I mean my friend, is always looking to expand their physical book collection.

[KB Girl]

Oooh my, I don't know wether to drool over those books or cringe in sympathie! My email inbox actually looks very similar. 

 

About getting strong- if you're not sure yet what exactly you'd like to work towards, or even if you are, it could be good to just work on the basics of all movement patterns.

At my gym we boil it down to 5; squatting, (hip)hingeing, stepping, pulling and pushing. If you pick something to do for all 5 then you can at least start and figure out from there which progressions/movements you'd like to do. 

For example; goblet squat, single leg deadlift, walking lunges, (assisted) pull-ups, (assisted) pushups. 

(pullups aren't really a pulling movement, but I can't actually think of a bodyweight pulling movement at the moment..)

[WhiteGhost]

14 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

Supper tonight will be milkweed and sage risotto with parmesan

I used to see those when I was a kid, but I had always heard they were poisonous.  Seems I was lied to by some 4th graders 

 

9 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

I can't actually think of a bodyweight pulling movement at the moment.

Uh, bodyweight rows?  Also, pullups can be modified in a bunch of ways to vary up the specific muscles that are doing the pulling, but I am really curious - If you don't consider them a pull exercise, what category do you put them in?

[KB Girl]

26 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Uh, bodyweight rows?  Also, pullups can be modified in a bunch of ways to vary up the specific muscles that are doing the pulling, but I am really curious - If you don't consider them a pull exercise, what category do you put them in?

oh yes, rows! I consider pullups to be a pushing exercise.. I know it seems odd, but I don't go by what your arms are doing, I go by which plank you are trying not to break. Push = front, pull = back. Does that make sense? it's hard to explain for me in English. 

[WhiteGhost]

8 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

Does that make sense?

Not even a little bit    I am very interested to understand what you mean, though, because it is a completely new way at looking at workout organization to me and I am super curious now

[KB Girl]

18 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

Not even a little bit    I am very interested to understand what you mean, though, because it is a completely new way at looking at workout organization to me and I am super curious now

hehe I'll try again (sorry Julie for hijacking!) I'll put it behind a spoiler for scrolling reasons; 

 

 

So if you're doing a pushup you're trying not to bend in your back and if you do bend it'll be hollowing your back.. if you do a pulling movement, like rows or a deadlift you're also trying not to bend your back but if you do then it'll be a rounded back instead. So push = trying not to hollow your back, pull = trying not to round your back. 

 

I know most people don't give a flying f*ck wether they hollow their back when they do a pull-up, but they should. The transfer to a muscle-up for example is much easier when you don't let your back hollow. 

 

(I might not be using the right terms, this took a bit of google translate) 

 

It's a very useful way to look at workout organisation because you can look at what the goal movement is and then plan strength training accordingly. So for example I program for waterpolo players- so I'll look at their sports movements and decide which of the 5 components are most important for them and then find a strength exercise in the same component that also mimics the goal movement (and have the least chance of injury). So for example they throw the ball and they can throw hardest if they don't let their backs hollow too much- so to strengthen their throws I should pick pushing movements. 

 

We also use it for general population who just want to get stronger- so we'll analyse all 5 components and pick progressions accordingly. There will always be 1 or 2 components that are weaker, like collapsing knees in the squat OR collapsing knees in the lunge, they take different approaches to fix. 

And if you just generally want to get stronger then you should make sure to cover all 5 components to be well rounded. 
 

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

Ah, ok.  That makes more sense.  Basically if you don't support your core which way is your back going to bend.  I am not sure I would ever think to organize movements that way (I just look more at what the primary muscles are doing and then work on core strengthening exercises as a supplement) but at least I can understand the logic behind it  

 

1 hour ago, KB Girl said:

sorry Julie for hijacking

Don't be too sorry, thread hijacking is how people get to three pages by the end of zero week  

[KB Girl]

1 hour ago, WhiteGhost said:

Ah, ok.  That makes more sense.  Basically if you don't support your core which way is your back going to bend.  I am not sure I would ever think to organize movements that way (I just look more at what the primary muscles are doing and then work on core strengthening exercises as a supplement) but at least I can understand the logic behind it  

 

Don't be too sorry, thread hijacking is how people get to three pages by the end of zero week  

hehehe. 

 

The bold bit is exactly what I was trying to say. If we ever decide to do our trainers courses in English I'll have you help me translate  

 

It just makes more sense to look at movement chains instead of primary muscles when you're training for a sport (or for everyday life) or even for skills I suppose. It's pretty useless to have big biceps if you don't have the core coordination/strength to back that up. Or big quads when your hip won't support any pivoting movements.

[Scaly Freak]

3 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

 

Don't be too sorry, thread hijacking is how people get to three pages by the end of zero week  

 

For a moment there I thought I was in a Warrior thread!

 

2 hours ago, KB Girl said:

It just makes more sense to look at movement chains instead of primary muscles when you're training for a sport (or for everyday life) or even for skills I suppose. It's pretty useless to have big biceps if you don't have the core coordination/strength to back that up. Or big quads when your hip won't support any pivoting movements.

 

All of the above apply to barbell compound lifts too, it's one of the reasons I like them. I learned the great importance of core activation and strength from trying to grow my overhead press.

[KB Girl]

3 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

All of the above apply to barbell compound lifts too, it's one of the reasons I like them. I learned the great importance of core activation and strength from trying to grow my overhead press.

Yea the only thing missing from most barbell work (and KB work too) is stepping. Add some farmer's walks and you're good though. 

[juliebarkley]

On 7/2/2019 at 8:18 AM, WhiteGhost said:

On 7/2/2019 at 7:17 AM, KB Girl said:

sorry Julie for hijacking

Don't be too sorry, thread hijacking is how people get to three pages by the end of zero week  

I've never had a thread hijacked before and am honoured that you have chosen me. I am learning a lot from this, so please feel free to do it again.

 

On 7/2/2019 at 5:52 AM, ohlemontine said:

So... just asking for a friend... whatcha doin with the purged books? I... I mean my friend, is always looking to expand their physical book collection.

I sell some on Amazon if the profit margin is there. The rest, donated or recycled, depending on condition. Is there a particular sort of thing you are interested in? I have eclectic and wide-ranging interests.

 

On 7/2/2019 at 6:19 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Seems I was lied to by some 4th graders 

Yup. Every part of the milkweed is edible, but the latex is bitter and it needs to be boiled and drained off to get it out (not with the flower buds so much, though). Plus like most plants, the older it is, the tougher and more bitter.

 

On 7/2/2019 at 6:07 AM, KB Girl said:

My email inbox actually looks very similar. 

It's crazy easy for it to build up. My oldest flagged emails go back to 2014, with two even earlier than that (I'm really good at ignoring things I've set aside for "later"). My inbox trouble stems from the fact that I funnel everything to my email so I have only one place to look to keep track of things. When the Yahoo Groups I followed moved to Facebook, I set up all my Facebook notifications to arrive by email (because I never go to the site unprompted). Ditto YouTube, and some blogs and websites, though I have many set to go to Pocket instead (I have been whittling Pocket down too, but not as part of this challenge). All my NF followed thread posts go to email, too. You can see how it would fill up fast with only a few missed days. I have a few things I should unsubscribe from, but most of the email is stuff I do want. Ideally, I would want to keep on top of less stuff, but I'm not there yet.

 

Two days together again as I was really tired last night, so I did the smart thing and went to bed early.

1. Work on solidifying current habits. I'm switching the time for habit #3 - the current time assigned to checking the todos is interfering with other activities, and then I don't remember to come back to it. For prayers, not waiting till I'm about to drop from tiredness before going to bed would solve my problem, because that IS the problem. I'm going to try an assigned, fixed time for the next week, and see how that works. Fingers crossed!

2. Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day. I was victorious.

3. Get a plan to get strong. I have a bunch of days off this weekend to really stick into this. I don't think I'll have time tomorrow to really organize my thoughts and resources. If you want to help, remind me on Friday morning.

4. Stop procrastinating, you fool! I did a little email (let's see: 12394, of which 3793 Gmail), but I added a couple to the flagged pile (913 - no progress there yet). I sorted the entire remaining B pile on first sort and decided to get rid of a childhood collection of Thornton W. Burgess books. They may or may not be worth something; we shall see. No progress on the inbox except that I had a very overdue library book in there that I brought back to the library.

5. Be on here every day. I've only made it every other day, but it's a heck of a lot better than months away.

[WhiteGhost]

On 7/2/2019 at 9:30 PM, KB Girl said:

If we ever decide to do our trainers courses in English I'll have you help me translate

Sure, hit me up  

 

On 7/2/2019 at 9:30 PM, KB Girl said:

It just makes more sense to look at movement chains instead of primary muscles when you're training for a sport (or for everyday life) or even for skills I suppose. It's pretty useless to have big biceps if you don't have the core coordination/strength to back that up. Or big quads when your hip won't support any pivoting movements.

I don't disagree with anything you wrote here but I just wouldn't group exercises this way.  I can understand your rationale though, and I suppose it could make sense when talking with athletes or people who have a strong background in both exercise and physiology.  Trying to get people who are just getting started to understand that pullups fall into a push category is probably too much mental gymnastics to make sense.

 

1 hour ago, juliebarkley said:

I am learning a lot from this,

I often learn a lot of thread hijackings  

[KB Girl]

6 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

I had a very overdue library book in there that I brought back to the library.

that's definitely something! 

first week is looking great

[Scaly Freak]

10 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

It's crazy easy for it to build up. My oldest flagged emails go back to 2014, with two even earlier than that (I'm really good at ignoring things I've set aside for "later"). My inbox trouble stems from the fact that I funnel everything to my email so I have only one place to look to keep track of things. When the Yahoo Groups I followed moved to Facebook, I set up all my Facebook notifications to arrive by email (because I never go to the site unprompted). Ditto YouTube, and some blogs and websites, though I have many set to go to Pocket instead (I have been whittling Pocket down too, but not as part of this challenge). All my NF followed thread posts go to email, too. You can see how it would fill up fast with only a few missed days. I have a few things I should unsubscribe from, but most of the email is stuff I do want. Ideally, I would want to keep on top of less stuff, but I'm not there yet.

 

This, or rather, this whole notion of everything coming into one inbox and piling up, used to be my work email. It added tremendous stress to my workday to have years of emails sitting there staring at me every day. I stared researching ways to organize my work email, and customized my own system, and started implementing it a couple of months ago. I'm stil nowhere near the point where my inbox is used exclusively only for today's inbound emails  (to be sorted into folders or deleted), but I'm getting there. Just knowing that i am actively working to take control over the daily email avalanches makes a huge difference in stress levels.

 

My advise is to start doing web searches on "how to organize email" with or without your email client name in the search, and start reading everything that brings you. Discard what you don't like or what doesn't apply to you, memorize what looks like it would work for you, and keep going until you have collected enough methods and techniques to build your very own email organizing system, tailor made for your needs.

 

Good luck!

[juliebarkley]

On 7/4/2019 at 2:25 PM, scalyfreak said:

My advise is to start doing web searches on "how to organize email" with or without your email client name in the search, and start reading everything that brings you. Discard what you don't like or what doesn't apply to you, memorize what looks like it would work for you, and keep going until you have collected enough methods and techniques to build your very own email organizing system, tailor made for your needs.

This may be a thing for the future. I'm not sure - if I filter things into other folders, I fear I will simply be adding additional complexity to the system and more things to check or have things pile up. I do like having only one place to look for new info coming in. Over time, I simply need to cut down on what's going in there. Let's call it a work in progress.

 

On 7/4/2019 at 10:20 AM, KB Girl said:

that's definitely something! 

It's a little less impressive when you realize that I work at the library...

 

1. Work on solidifying current habits. So far, switching the times for those two habits has been successful. I hope this simple tweak will make a big difference.

2. Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day. I thought I didn't take a walk today, but the newspaper I picked up reminded me that I actually did. Success.

3. Get a plan to get strong. I worked on books today instead, so this will have to be a tomorrow job. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this!

4. Stop procrastinating, you fool! A stack of 15 books completed and a stack about hip height moved into the discard pile. Now only my maybe pile is left to check. A little email done too, though Gmail has gone up a little. I didn't spend too much time on this today, but the time I did spend was on longer items.

5. Be on here every day. I spent a decent amount of time catching up on what folks have been up to while I was away, but haven't posted on a new thread yet.

[juliebarkley]

Today we finally had some relief from the heat and humidity, and it was glorious. I also had a chance to check out the new Mexican restaurant in my little town, and had a hibiscus and loroco bud taco and a beef empanada (my first ever empanada!). The rumour mill was right - the food was delicious.

 

1. Work on solidifying current habits. I checked my todo list at the appropriate time for the past two days, but forgot about the time switch for the prayers yesterday and was exhausted by bedtime. I realize that I am an hour late right now - will get on that after this post! The walking habit is automatic now, and I love it. I just need to get a heck of a lot of data entered into Walk to Mordor as I have not been rewarding myself properly by entering it immediately.

2. Get at least 30 minutes of non-burning sun exposure each day. All good here.

3. Get a plan to get strong. I have been looking at the books and resources I have gathered for the past couple of days, and I have a growing pile of ideas and exercises to check out. I have not started putting them together into any sort of cohesive or actionable plan (which will be fun - I really like sorting data!). That can wait until I have browsed all the things for ideas (end of week 3 I stop no matter what I have, but hopefully earlier I will have a big enough pile of exciting possibilities).

4. Stop procrastinating, you fool!

- Books: nothing done.

- Inbox: filing done. Added some magazines to the inbox from the book discard pile. Decided to move a few files from the long-term files category into storage, as they are work-related and my job role has changed, making them irrelevant for now.

- Email: did a little for breaks from the fitness browsing, so it is slightly improved. I have yet to focus in on this goal - most likely I will do so after the books are complete.

5. Be on here every day. I did the "stay up till exhaustion" thing and didn't get a posting in. I should have done it earlier - I really don't have an excuse. I have been consistently posting every other day this week, so room for improvement.