[UnquietBones]

Tis the first challenge of the year and thanks to the December Mini, I'm raring to go!
 

1. Get to bed earlier

I am really really horrid at this right now, so this is going to be my hard goal for the challenge. I think this might have more of an impact than anything else, but it will be interesting to see. I will also be trying out a few things to see if it helps me get to sleep and stay asleep, so it will be a little more complex than just 'change the time on the alarms'.

 

Week 1 - Bed 9, Lights Out 11, Awake 745

Week 2 - Bed 9, Lights Out 1045, Awake 730

Week 3 - Bed 9, Lights Out 1030, Awake 715

Week 4 - Bed 9, Lights Out 1015, Awake 700

Week 5 - Bed 9, Lights Out 10, Awake 645

 

2. Take more daily steps

I am at 2k average right now, but I'm not trying at all and on dog walk days it gets up to 6k... so I'm hoping this one will be a medium-easy win. I have a treadmill for rainy days, but I'm hoping to get most of the steps via cleaning/decluttering the house and dog walking (when it's not raining).

 

Week 1 - 3k steps average

Week 2 - 3.5k steps average

Week 3 - 4k steps average

Week 4 - 4.5k steps average

Week 5 - 5k steps average

 

3. Work on shoulder flexibility and being able to keep arm raised (without weights)

This one is my 'not sure about' goal. It's not something I can really fix in a single challenge, so this time around I am just going to look up a bunch of various streaches and bodyweight excercises. I'll get a baseline for where I'm at and what I can do... and then update the goals as needed. I meant to get it done before the challenge kicked off, but, err... life happened.

 

Week 1 - Experiment with a bunch of things

Week 2 - ???

Week 3 - ???

Week 4 - ???

Week 5 - ???

 

-----------------------------------------

 

Other things I will also be doing and probably commenting on: Artwork, Writing, Cleaning, Decluttering, Cooking, etc.

 

-----------------------------------------

 

I used the following BuJo/Planner printables (may be tweaked as the challenge goes along):

2022 Overview - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1zlf3E_RJRhHap1errir22Zp5RjHutsA8a3rnMVeriAo/edit?usp=sharing

Goal Brainstorming - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1bKbZ9C2_u3-8uofp5BNnm3i8W7i9qs-ga016a2KOLFk/edit?usp=sharing

5-week planning page - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1JRvBceRfOeKqEFE8shiEVGG5x1Nj1b7hqsRh4uZAD4A/edit?usp=sharing

1-week tracking page - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/18hTMHjX3ufmUCMxDh6z1sEnPefCpMKsImpASB6BqK4w/edit?usp=sharing

[Artemis Prime]

I like the incremental changes to your goals throughout the challenge. Very smart way to approach it!

[UnquietBones]

On 12/30/2021 at 1:30 PM, Artemis Prime said:

I like the incremental changes to your goals throughout the challenge. Very smart way to approach it!

I'm hoping it will turn out easier that way... but the fuzzy idiots have woken me up at 7am twice in a row, so the 'get up earlier' part of the timeline might get co-oped by the cat (who goes an wakes up the dog if I ignore him in the mornings).

[UnquietBones]

Prep for tomorrow...

• I need to set all the reminder alarms on the fitbit and the phone for various things throughout the day.
• I need to set my wake-up alarm for the week
• I need to reset my fitbit goal
• I need to figure out how I'm going to track which shoulder exercises I find and which ones are a go/no-go

 

Right now it looks like the 3k steps goal is about where I'm at right now (with sufficent dog walking days). It's supposed to be rotten weather for at least part of next week so it will be interesting to see if I can keep it up.

[Manarelle]

On 1/1/2022 at 9:02 AM, UnquietBones said:

I'm hoping it will turn out easier that way... but the fuzzy idiots have woken me up at 7am twice in a row, so the 'get up earlier' part of the timeline might get co-oped by the cat (who goes an wakes up the dog if I ignore him in the mornings).

 

I think this falls under the "accountability/ have friends help you" concept. Following!

[UnquietBones]

So... yeah. Not the best first week, but not as horrible as I thought it might be. I ended up getting sick (not covid, thankfully!) on Friday and that rolled through the weekend. So, adjusting plans a smidge going into next week.

 

1. Get to bed earlier

Zero issues with this (in fact due to not feeling well I went to be earlier some nights). Staying with the set goal for Week 2 of Bed 9, Lights Out 1045, Awake 730

 

2. Take more daily steps

I did two days of dog walking (Sun, Thurs) and two days of treadmill (Tues, Wends) to get 4/7 wins for the week and got VERY lucky and managed the 3k average that I was aiming for. It was crazy cold Monday due to the snow storm and my joints were not up to walking-- and Friday and Saturday I was napping in bed sick.

I've been feeling better as the day goes on today, so I'll probably jump on the treadmill for a bit to see if I can hit 3.5k. Staying with the set goal for Week 2 of  3.5k steps average. (So far the dog is loving this challenge! )

 

 

 

3. Work on shoulder flexibility and being able to keep arm raised (without weights)

 

This one was a complete fail. I found some videos I could follow along with, gave them one try... and then tossed this habit to the side without thinking about it again.

 

So. Time to really re-evaluate this. I'm going to spend some time tonight brain-dumping on why I don't want to do it, why I'm forgetting that I'm supposed to be doing it, etc. It may be because I was too vauge, I may need to do something as simple as write down a specific number of reps of X and then put a post-it on the wall so I remember to do them before bed. Dunno, but I'm going to be stubborn and not give up on this one!

 

Revised goal for Week 2: do something with my shoulders once a day.

[Manarelle]

1 hour ago, UnquietBones said:

So. Time to really re-evaluate this. I'm going to spend some time tonight brain-dumping on why I don't want to do it, why I'm forgetting that I'm supposed to be doing it, etc. It may be because I was too vauge, I may need to do something as simple as write down a specific number of reps of X and then put a post-it on the wall so I remember to do them before bed. Dunno, but I'm going to be stubborn and not give up on this one!

 

Is there an ultimate goal on this one, like "I'll be able to hold an iron cross for 10 seconds" or something? Ok, that's super extreme, but what's the motivation for you on the shoulders? 

[UnquietBones]

15 hours ago, Manarelle said:

 

Is there an ultimate goal on this one, like "I'll be able to hold an iron cross for 10 seconds" or something? Ok, that's super extreme, but what's the motivation for you on the shoulders? 

 

Nope, just 'I sort of wish my shoulders didn't hurt as much and I could move them more'... which is not particularly enthralling.

 

After much thought (and some experimentation) I've decided this week's goal will simple be 'hold you arms straight up for a count of 30 and streach up as high as you can go for the last 10.' I can do this any time I want, instead of having to set aside actually time to follow the videos, and it's a challenging thing so as I get better I'll notice!

 

Next week I'll add something else to go with that, but I'm trying to pick things that I can do quickly and I can do anywhere. That way as I remember 'hey, I was doing the thing!' I can just stop and do it.

 

As I head through the challenge I may end up with something less random, but it seemed to work yesterday (and this morning), so I'm rolling with it for now...

[UnquietBones]

It's 15min minutes earlier. Not an hour or two hours or... WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FALL ALSEEP!?!

...10:45 is kickin my butt in a way 11:00 didn't even come close to. Darnit.  Time to revamp the strategies!  (On a good note, my 'randomly streach arms upwards' is going quite well. Win some, lose some I guess. )

[juliebarkley]

On 1/10/2022 at 11:27 AM, UnquietBones said:

Nope, just 'I sort of wish my shoulders didn't hurt as much and I could move them more'... which is not particularly enthralling.

Just curious - do you have the same issue with your shoulders when your arms are bent? Like do you have trouble with keeping your arms up to wash your hair, for example?

[fearless 2.0]

loved the links in your intro post! fellow bujo writer here. Reading this thread has inspired me. thanks for that!  

lots of fun dogwalks for you!  

[Manarelle]

Hey hey, how'd the week go for you? And I hear you on the sleep time... I can not get to bed earlier than 10:40, no matter what. Super annoying!

[UnquietBones]

I fell off the wagon hard last week, due to a cold front, a storm, and the corresponding aches and migrane (woo?). But I'm back on track for this week, although I've fallen back to the Week 3 goals for now.

 

I tweaked the weekly tracking log so I can do all three goals at once (it was too much hassel to flip back and forth between the single pages): https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1OYBbUZyX8ULN6rL4FlbZh3esllcD5_R7NMPWPhGmdAU/edit?usp=sharing

 

I've also changed my shoulder goal to be a 'movement' goal and will be trying to focus on being active around the house (cleaning, laundry/aka stairs, etc.)  I'll circle back around to specific movement types next challenge.

 

Mostly just using this week to rev my goal-chasing self back up. Thankfully the wagon's always there to hop on again, so I just have to keep moving forward!

[UnquietBones]

On 1/12/2022 at 2:28 PM, fearless 2.0 said:

loved the links in your intro post! fellow bujo writer here. Reading this thread has inspired me. thanks for that!  

lots of fun dogwalks for you!  

I'm glad you've found them useful!

I still haven't quite found a layout that works 100% for me, but I'm getting closer... I'm really happy about the way the disc-bound planner and hole punch are working out! It's been a blast working out my own tracking methods instead of relying on somone else's layouts.

[UnquietBones]

On 1/20/2022 at 7:28 PM, Manarelle said:

Hey hey, how'd the week go for you? And I hear you on the sleep time... I can not get to bed earlier than 10:40, no matter what. Super annoying!

 

GAH! It was such a week!   I swear I basically turned into a Martha burrito and didn't move for 10 days... stupid cold, stupid storms... oh well.

But I did a monthly layout for Jan that tracked all my walks and treadmills and I'm crazy happy with the progress! I've been out a LOT more and BucketDog really loves it so... motiviation!

[fearless 2.0]

thats what dogs are for!  they get us moving. 

[UnquietBones]

So, it's been an odd sort of challenge, I think it's a combination between biting off a bit more than I could chew (three things was a bit much), forgetting that cold weather ko's me, and not understanding that changing sleep schedules is much harder than you'd think.

 

On a good note, January had 31 days and I went on nine dogs walks, which is just shy of twice a week and that is a LOT more dog walking than I'd been doing. Hoping to keep that streak up!

 

I'm trying to think about how I want to handle the last challenge week and decided to just... roll with it. I'm going to continue going out for dog walks whenever the weather permits, I'm going to try and get more general chores/clearning done around the house, and I'm going to keep looking for some sort of 'fun' non-walking exercise that I can do.

 

All in all, not my best response to a challenge, but certainly not my worst!