[Ahyar Dreamspark]

This challenge is (mostly) a continuation of the previous challenge where I was doing Daily Quests. Because I figured that if I did Daily Quests in Final Fantasy XIV without a problem, then surely I could do the same in Real Life too, right?

 

For those of you who have read any of my previous challenges, feel free to start laughing.

 

The previous challenge daily goals were:

 

- Sun salutations every morning, followed by a 1 min plank. The Sun Salutations have happened probably 4 times, and so have the planks. The problem here consisted of "morning".

- 4 min Tabata workout on the Assault Bike every morning. See above. This daily goal was also made more difficult due to the drama surrounding the use of the Assault Bike.

- Sweep the main floor every evening (because the wind from the Assault Bike sends cat and dog hair flying EVERYWHERE and I don't want to have to sweep in the mornings). Bed time arrived and I was like "nah".

- Intermittent fasting (easy, because making food is annoying  and this means I'll have to do it less). This was probably the only goal I stuck with from March 5 until Today (ongoing). Less effort, more win!

- Go to bed at a reasonable hour (easier because if I'm sober I get tired around 9 PM because apparently I am Old™ now). And also this.

- Daily bodyweight workout (the details aren't 100% figured out, so this goal may be left out, or implemented mid-challenge). The details are still not 100% figured out but I've done something each day and that will have to do.

 

Okay, so there were at least three Dailies that survived the last challenge (and by "last challenge" I really mean the last 2 weeks of the last challenge because that's about when I started crawling out of the depression shit pit).

 

I would like to establish some kind of a morning routine, though, which is difficult due to the aforementioned problem of mornings. And then an idea hit me in the face: why don't I do my FFXIV Dailies in the mornings? This would both a) be something I actually look forward to doing, and b) have a higher likelihood of getting me out of bed without pressing the snooze button 4 to 12 times. All I would need to do is clear space on the desk that is conveniently located at the foot of my bed and put the gaming laptop on said desk. It's not an ideal desk since it doesn't have much space for a mouse, but it's not like I need to be super precise to do daily quests on FFXIV.

 

Week 0 goals:

- UNCLUTTER THE DESK. Because if the desk is cluttered then I can't put the laptop on it and therefore can't do FFXIV dailies in the morning.

- Find a spot for the alarm clock.

 

Ongoing goals:

- Stick with the Slow Carb Diet until April 21.

- Do some physical exercise daily.

- Attempt to get >7 hours of sleep.

- Keep alcohol consumption to a minimum.

 

Right. All of this until April 21 because I'll be traveling during the last week of April, so this will be a 4-week challenge. Or maybe 5 week anyway since I'm still doing these goals during week zero. So, uhh...7ish week challenge in total since I've been doing these goals since March 5?

[fleaball]

Here for all the daily daily-ing!

[Scaly Freak]

Here for the dailies and decluttering! 

[Scaly Freak]

Hey, how're things going? How are you doing?

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

On 4/7/2024 at 7:56 PM, Scaly Freak said:

Hey, how're things going? How are you doing?

 

The desk is still cluttered and all the good habits I had established in the last challenge (slow carb diet, not getting wasted daily, getting almost-enough sleep) went out the window shortly after I made the original post 🙄 I...don't know why this always happens. It's like the moment I give myself a goal, even if it's something easy and/or that I am ALREADY DOING, then some subconscious part of my brain is like NOW I'M GOING TO DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE LOL. It's frustrating. I actually enjoy posting on these forums, but ghosted due to having practically /shamequit. 

 

I know that NF Steve often says that we never start over from square one because each failed attempt gives us more experience. So far it seems that the only "experience" I've gained from all these failed attempts (and I'm batting 100% when it comes to failing at these challenges) is that goals don't work and that challenges don't work. So...I don't really know what to do anymore. I don't want to just quit these forums because I like it here. I enjoy how quiet it is on the NF forums, and how these forums don't have ads or a fucking algorithm deciding what I get to read.

 

Eh. If I can unclutter the desk before leaving for my trip (April 22) then I'll count that as a win. Then maybe I can just copy/paste my original post into a new thread when it's time for the next challenge, because apparently I don't learn from my failures.

 

[Ranger Hal]

From what I've seen of these forums, challenges vary quite a bit from person to person and from challenge to challenge. I've seen challenges where the goal is just to show up and post, ones where the goals aren't ever mentioned because writing them down will make them not happen, ones where there are no goals and the thread is just a place to hang out, ones where there are no overall challenge goals, just a list of things to do that's developed every day as things come up, and many more variations. If this challenge isn't working for you, it's okay to try something that looks different. If your thread doesn't have any goals and is more like a journal of what's going on in your life, or a bunch of pictures, or songs you enjoy (or if you start out posting one sort of thing and that changes over time), that's fine. We'll just be happy you're here.

[Scaly Freak]

7 hours ago, Ahyar Dreamspark said:

I actually enjoy posting on these forums, but ghosted due to having practically /shamequit. 

 

There is no need to do that (also, you made some of us worried  ) We've all quit on our challenges more than once. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

Wow y'all I am such a fucking useless bag of human flesh. Just had a major meltdown over not being able to tie a string on the back of a picture frame that I've wanted to hang on my wall for the past *checks notes* ....8 years. The crying, hands shaking, mom-has-to-do-it-for-me kind of thing. Like...I don't even have words to describe how fucking useless I am at life. "But at least I can work!" I used to tell myself, except the last 2 days have been such an executive dysfunction hell that I've only done like 10% of the things I wanted to get done and everything is like this and I leave for a trip on Monday and FUUUUUCKKKKK.

 

And when the picture frame is finally put up (can I operate a hammer and a nail properly, or will that be daily meltdown #2? It is a mystery!) I'll probably be reminded of this every time I look at it 🙃

 

Living independently is looking more and more like an unattainable goal. Fuck everything.

 

(Edit: the reason why this is relevant to this challenge is because this picture frame has been on my desk for the past 8 years and is currently the last thing I need to deal with to FINALLY unclutter the desk. But of course "hang a picture frame" has to be an Extreme Challenge all on its own. FML.)

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

Update: I'm practically quitting this challenge, mainly because I leave for my trip in about 15 minutes and I will be spending the next 10 days driving and chilling in a place that looks like the Shire from LotR and I will want nothing to do with this Real Life bullshit while I'm there. In other words, it's going to be an actual vacation. Here's hoping that this recharges spoons/spell slots/energy/whatever.

 

See you all in 10 days.

[Ranger Hal]

Have an awesome vacation! Here's to recharging all the spell slots!

[Scaly Freak]

8 hours ago, Ahyar Dreamspark said:

I will be spending the next 10 days driving and chilling in a place that looks like the Shire from LotR and I will want nothing to do with this Real Life bullshit while I'm there. In other words, it's going to be an actual vacation.

 

This sounds amazing and wonderful. Disconnect from everything, as much as you can, and enjoy the break! We'll be here when you get back