Lateral Planet: One Day At A Time

[Lateral Planet]

Hi folks, long time no see. I totally flaked on my last challenge (despite the super cute wombat theme) and the one before that... and the one before that. Basically, I've been struggling to stick with my goals for weeks at a time. After carefully making plans for how awesome I'll be for the upcoming month, something trips me up two weeks in and I never quite manage to revive that initial spirit.

 

Lately the thing tripping me up has been just a general sense of being overwhelmed. There's a lot going on in life right now, and I seem to keep oscillating wildly between "I'm totally on top of things" and "I'll never get on top of things". It's exhausting. So in light of all of the above I'm committing myself to only one goal for now: every day, create and maintain a to-do list.

 

I hope to achieve a lot with this single goal. The main thing is it'll help my time management by setting out a clear plan for everything I need/want to do each day. Putting the plan on paper will also relieve some of the pressure on my brain to remember stuff. I can just take things one day at a time rather than try commit to a five-week exercise goal or whatever. I don't even need to complete everything on the list each day; I just need to make a list and use it, and that's enough to foster the consistency and mindfulness that I really need right now.

 

I'll also try to check in here once in a while and visit some other threads (something else I totally failed to do last time). Good luck everybody!

[Jupiter]

Sounds like a great challenge. Good luck to you as well.  

[Countess D'If]

Setting one goal that you know you can accomplish is such a balm for the soul. Good for you and good luck! We're pulling for you!

[Tateman]

Good luck this challenge. Are you still mentoring the new person still? 

[juliebarkley]

Best of luck with your goal! Are you sitting down to write the to-do list first thing in the morning or at the end of the day?

[Lateral Planet]

2 hours ago, Countess D'If said:

Setting one goal that you know you can accomplish is such a balm for the soul. Good for you and good luck! We're pulling for you!

Absolutely, after a lot of lofty goals fizzled out lately I've decided to set the bar super low! Best of luck to you to!

 

1 hour ago, Tateman said:

Good luck this challenge. Are you still mentoring the new person still? 

Yep the training for the job takes about two years, so this is my life now. Annoyingly our workload has been so crazy lately that we haven't been able to take a step back and do any formal training, which is another factor making me feel overwhelmed. Hopefully the super time management skills I build in this challenge will help a bit. 

 

1 hour ago, juliebarkley said:

Best of luck with your goal! Are you sitting down to write the to-do list first thing in the morning or at the end of the day?

It's only day two but so far I've been doing the list in the morning and then updating it throughout the day when I get a chance. I've already added a few things for tomorrow's list though, so it's very ad hoc.

[Lateral Planet]

Monday is done, so far so good! I managed to finish off everything I planned for the day, plus a few extra things that popped up. I was going to share a pic as evidence but my handwriting is so terrible it wouldn't have helped. Perhaps I should add "practice writing calmly" to tomorrow's list!

 

Another thing I did was construct a big list of everything for quick reference. This is for stuff I've had in the back of my mind for ages and haven't gotten around to, like renewing my passport (not that I could use it these days), cleaning the oven, updating some spreadsheets etc. Then I can pick something off the Big List and actually nominate a day on which to do it. I have some free time tomorrow, probably enough to go to the post office and start my passport application, so on the list it goes!

[Lateral Planet]

Tuesday went well and Wednesday is on the right track so far. I didn't make it to the post office but I did achieve everything else I planned for this morning. The post office mission has been migrated to tomorrow's list. I'm determined to get it done this week, dangit!

[Tateman]

17 hours ago, Lateral Planet said:

Tuesday went well and Wednesday is on the right track so far. I didn't make it to the post office but I did achieve everything else I planned for this morning. The post office mission has been migrated to tomorrow's list. I'm determined to get it done this week, dangit!

You got this!  

[Lateral Planet]

3 hours ago, Tateman said:

You got this!  

I totally got this! I just collected the forms and got my picture taken, and now my godawful post-lockdown haircut is preserved as my official portrait for the next 10 years 😅 

 

I made time for the post office errand by postponing lunch, intermittent fasting style. I'm going to start integrating such healthy habits into the list from next week, but for now it's all about getting through the days with a clear head while things are so hectic.

[Lateral Planet]

It's Sunday, and so far the daily list has worked quite well for me. I managed to do everything I planned to, and I've identified a few things to tackle next week. Next week I'm enjoying a leisurely 9 to 5 at work (as opposed to the crazy overtime I've been doing the last couple of weeks) so with the excess brain power I'm going to start working on some healthy habits. But also I don't want to overwhelm myself so I'll just focus on one thing at a time. Tomorrow I'm going to start with food tracking (not restricting, just tracking) and gradually work up from there.

 

Something else I'm pleased about is that I'm using an old notebook rather than going out and getting a new one for this. I love stationary shopping, but I'm no good at journalling. I think part of it is that I keep trying to establish it as a daily habit in January, but nothing ever happens in those first three weeks of the year so the habit never settled in. As a result I've got a lot of lightly used notebooks laying around, so it feels good to resurrect one rather than to add another to the pile!

[Countess D'If]

On 10/31/2020 at 9:17 PM, Lateral Planet said:

I love stationary shopping, but I'm no good at journalling. I think part of it is that I keep trying to establish it as a daily habit in January, but nothing ever happens in those first three weeks of the year so the habit never settled in. As a result I've got a lot of lightly used notebooks laying around, so it feels good to resurrect one rather than to add another to the pile!

 

I love a stationary store, an office supply store, a paper store, the pen section of Target. I need intense adult supervision or no one (my bank account, my minimal storage space) is getting out of there alive. 

[Lateral Planet]

6 hours ago, Countess D'If said:

I love a stationary store, an office supply store, a paper store, the pen section of Target. I need intense adult supervision or no one (my bank account, my minimal storage space) is getting out of there alive. 

Absolutely! I'm trying to make an effort to actually use some of the stuff I already have... so I can justify getting more I have a literal rainbow of post-it pads and highlighters in my desk drawer at work. Is it necessary? Not at all. But it makes me happy every time I see it, so it's totally worth it.

[Lateral Planet]

I've been swamped by a couple of big projects lately and they've both sort of come to a grinding halt. Hopefully I can make some progress in a few days but for now it's out of my hands. So my daily list is pretty short right now!

 

Been doing OK with the food tracking. I won't lie, there's been a fair amount of stress eating lately. Writing it down has certainly helped with my awareness. I'll start reining it in gradually.

[Lateral Planet]

So far so good with the daily list, it hasn't let me down yet. I gave myself a few quiet days to recuperate but Friday was perfect for a more ambitious set of after-work goals. I made a plan for house-hunting tomorrow, I vacuumed the living room and I'm dominating the laundry right now.

 

Next week is going to be another crazy one at work (that's four in a row, boo!) So this weekend I need to strike a balance of taking time to relax but also getting a bunch of stuff done so I have less to worry about during the craziness. Top priority is meal prep, but also a bit of cleaning wouldn't do any harm. We'll see how we go!

[Lateral Planet]

The house-hunting was getting me down this morning. Firstly, there was nothing good on offer this week, and secondly, it was really saddening coming home to our grubby house after seeing also those spick and span ones. Especially because my mother-in-law has been joining us and I hate having guests over when I haven't cleaned. At least the place was tidy. So I spent a few hours being cranky about it in front of the television, and then I got off my arse and deep-cleaned the bathroom.

 

It's all very well wanting to "wait for things to calm down" before undertaking a big project like cleaning the house or losing 10 kilos. It makes sense; I want to devote my whole attention to the project so I'd better wait until other commitments are easier so I can focus. But I'm having to accept that things just don't calm down, especially in 2020, so instead of waiting forever I just need to get to it.

[Lateral Planet]

Got a few things to add to the list this week. All that fabulous cleaning I did on the weekend has absolutely enraged the eczema on my hands, so priority 1 is getting that back under control. I'm also interested to start doing intermittent fasting again because it always worked well for me before. At the very least I need to limit my chocolate snacking; tracking food last week made that very clear! I'm going to start by bringing limited rations to work with me so I can have one chocolate bar and no more. It's another crazy week at work so we'll see how it goes!

[Countess D'If]

Yikes! I'm sorry about your hands. That sounds painful. Hopefully it won't take too long to clear up. That's a bummer of a response to cleaning because it's always so nice once you've had a deep clean - it's a huge load off. Having an eczema flare up isn't fair (yes, I know mom voice that lives in my head, I KNOW life isn't fair!).

Good luck with the tracking this week, I'm recommitting to tracking, too!

[Lateral Planet]

3 hours ago, Countess D'If said:

Yikes! I'm sorry about your hands. That sounds painful. Hopefully it won't take too long to clear up. That's a bummer of a response to cleaning because it's always so nice once you've had a deep clean - it's a huge load off. Having an eczema flare up isn't fair (yes, I know mom voice that lives in my head, I KNOW life isn't fair!).

It's super lame. And not even from irritating cleaning chemicals but from the hot and sweaty rubber gloves that were protecting my skin from the chemicals! But I've been diligent in my treatment for the past 24 hours so there's already a vast improvement. Plus I'm feeling extra clean now that the shower is free of gunk, worth it!

 

3 hours ago, Countess D'If said:

Good luck with the tracking this week, I'm recommitting to tracking, too!

It's a very useful habit, although it's annoying to start off. But this morning I woke up feeling icky and I could easily see it's probably because I didn't have enough water yesterday, so I know that's something to work on to improve today.

[Lateral Planet]

I've been doing well with my new eating goals. On Monday I had lunch, dinner, a snack, a cuppa tea and a can of coke zero, all within my planned eight-hour eating window. Tuesday was exactly the same, and then when I got home it turned out Husband had bought a little cake from the fancy bakery as a treat for us. I decided to go ahead and have some because it really is a rare treat and I hadn't had much sugar that day at all (as opposed to the last time he surprised me with cake, when I'd been gorging myself on shortbread creams all day). But you know what they say, never two days in a row, so today I'll make an extra effort to stick to my sugar and timing goals.

[Lateral Planet]

Oh I forgot to say I'm also getting a little exercise done as well. I'm having to park my car a few minutes' walk away from work, and I'm making an effort to do a slightly longer walk to the side entrance rather than the front. It's not a lot, but it adds up to a few extra kilometres of walking each day. I won't lie, though, I'm feeling very unfit after so many months of minimal exercise (surprising absolutely nobody).

[Jupiter]

2 hours ago, Lateral Planet said:

I won't lie, though, I'm feeling very unfit after so many months of minimal exercise (surprising absolutely nobody).

 

No worries, you'll get there again. 

 

[Tateman]

On 11/10/2020 at 2:57 PM, Lateral Planet said:

Oh I forgot to say I'm also getting a little exercise done as well. I'm having to park my car a few minutes' walk away from work, and I'm making an effort to do a slightly longer walk to the side entrance rather than the front. It's not a lot, but it adds up to a few extra kilometres of walking each day. I won't lie, though, I'm feeling very unfit after so many months of minimal exercise (surprising absolutely nobody).

I have been thinking this of myself too. Just thinking back to last year even. Little by little though, I think we will get back to where we want. 

[Lateral Planet]

On 11/11/2020 at 12:21 PM, Jupiter said:

No worries, you'll get there again. 

 

Thanks, slow and steady!

 

46 minutes ago, Tateman said:

I have been thinking this of myself too. Just thinking back to last year even. Little by little though, I think we will get back to where we want. 

It's very frustrating to think, "I never used to get this puffed going up this hill!" But it is what it is. And the good thing is that it doesn't have to stay that way! We'll get back there. 

 

I've finally reached the end of four consecutive weeks doing overtime, and I'm wiped. But I finally managed to get my passport done, and I made a tiny start on Xmas shopping. Going to take the weekend to recharge and get back to business on Monday. We're well into spring now so it'll be nice if I can make a regular habit of walking after work, and not just A to B walking, but walking just for enjoyment.

[Lateral Planet]

Had a very lazy Saturday. I barely got off the couch other than to refill my water and eventually to cook dinner. It was fabulous taking some time to relax. 

 

And now it's Sunday morning and I got to chorin' to make up for it. Made some banana bread with some neglected bananas, vacuumed, did a load of laundry, changed the bedsheets (finally done with the electric underlay for another year!), all before lunchtime. It's very satisfying and now I have the afternoon to relax a bit more before diving in to another week of work. Just four more weeks until things really quieten down!