Naxius Sins.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

Because doing shit that's against the rules is always more enticing.

 

SLOTH:

 

“We liked the idea of Balem not liking to walk, and so he floats everywhere. His life is so

effortless that he doesn’t have to dirty himself with the business of putting his feet on the ground very often.â€

  - Lana Wachowski

 

Okay, I probably wont be slothing it up to THAT extent, but you get the idea.

 

My main goal this challenge will be to sleep more. Unlike "relaxing", amount of time spent sleeping actually can be measured. This is the most important thing I can do for myself right now. I NEED. TO. SLEEP. MORE, and everything else will follow since I'll actually have energy to do shit.

 

Other than being more motionless due to the additional sleep, I also need to do less things in general. I'll still be going to work and going to the gym regularly, but other than that I need to do less things. Will I still do things? Of course. But they will be things that are important, or that I enjoy.

 

 

GREED:

 

It is also a commodity that I can't manage worth a shit.

 

I need to start being greedier where my free time is concerned, and not say YES to things as much. My free time has been getting sucked out of my life at an alarming rate lately. Most of the things I say yes to are automatic people-pleasing anyway, and not always things I actually enjoy. Needless obligations are not something I need right now.

 

These sloth and greed themes sort of work together. I might roll both of them up into "sloth" within week 1, and do greed all by itself in a future challenge. We'll see how things go. Also, quests written in red are ones that will be graded.

 

Side quests (ie, shit to do with my newfound free time):

 

Envy: I envy people with a lot of money. This means I need to get a lot of money to make the envy go away, which will likely be done by not spending (too) frivolously, and by finally getting this coffee reselling business off the ground. Goal: pay off half my student loans by 2017.

 

Wrath: My rage will destroy a mountain! Specifically, the mountain of clutter in my room.

 

Gluttony: I am going to cook healthy foods as a part of a 6 week challenge at the gym I go to, and then I will EAT ALL OF THIS FOOD. I will batch-cook things on Wednesdays and Sundays.

 

Pride: RIPPED ABS! Like this:

 

 

Lust: Or Thirst. These two are close enough, and I need an extra quest in here to satisfy the new rules, so thirst it is. I will drink more water! 3L/day should be enough. I had this habit down before, but then I started to sleep less and less and OOPS ALL THE WATER GOT REPLACED BY COFFEE.

[LittleTurtle]

Yes to all of this!  And that photo…isn't that Eddie Redmayne?  I have a bit of a crush on him.  

[petefeet]

Let's get this done kiddo!!!!

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

Yes to all of this!  And that photo…isn't that Eddie Redmayne?  I have a bit of a crush on him.  

 

It is Eddie Redmayne XD I cosplayed that character at a con a few months ago. He is my current favorite character, along with Loki.

 

 

Let's get this done kiddo!!!!

 

LET'S DO THIS!!1

 

(Also, it keeps borking the quote when I try to add a quote to an edit x_X)

[Silverwitch]

I hear you on the needless obligations! Needless obligations are … well, needless.

Decluttering can be very satisfying, I know that from my last challenge - and it has a lot of positive side effects! 

 

Good idea to focus on health with eating better, and getting more sleep. Sleep is indeed essential, even though one sometimes behaves as if it wouldn't matter. It DOES matter!

 

Good luck with your goals!

[Sunmage]

Sleep is to awesome to be a Sin!

 

Welcome back!

[Teirin]

*Firefly quote about the sins and Mal being a fan of all of them*

[auntdinosaur]

Oh, what a beautiful theme. I think it's nice to give yourself a little sin now and then. 

 

Good luck with your goals. I especially like Greed. I think claiming your own time is very important.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

Updated the original post, because I felt like there needed to be another Jupiter Ascending gif in there.

 

 

I hear you on the needless obligations! Needless obligations are … well, needless.

Decluttering can be very satisfying, I know that from my last challenge - and it has a lot of positive side effects! 

 

Good idea to focus on health with eating better, and getting more sleep. Sleep is indeed essential, even though one sometimes behaves as if it wouldn't matter. It DOES matter!

 

Good luck with your goals!

 

Decluttering is WONDERFUL! I threw out several things last challenge, but then family members brought more things in my room. Now I need to declutter more things. Oh well, will get to it!

 

Sleep is ALWAYS the first thing to get cut whenever I get busy (by, say, taking on stupidly time-consuming projects at the last minute). Now my newfound free time will be used to work on projects way ahead of schedule.

 

 

Sleep is to awesome to be a Sin!

 

Welcome back!

 

Oh, what a beautiful theme. I think it's nice to give yourself a little sin now and then. 

 

Good luck with your goals. I especially like Greed. I think claiming your own time is very important.

 

Thanks for the WBs and good luck!

 

I know sleep isn't really a sin, but oh well. Sometimes it's like today's ridiculously fast-paced society does treat extra sleep and relaxation time like a sin, though :\

 

I wonder how many people I'll piss off by saying no to things.

 

 

*Firefly quote about the sins and Mal being a fan of all of them*

 

Lol!

[MaD MaLKaV]

It feels good being bad to accomplish good, right?  Lust for water?  Thirst/lust; close enough.  Actually, maybe you shouldn't enjoy the water THAT much.  Knocking out the student loans is a great goal; I should totally consider the same, but I got a bit lazy after re-financing to a really low rate.  Hope to see it go well for you!

[shaeon]

Hey Naxius! I had to stop by and say I love the inspiration for your goals! I wish you luck with your deadly sins over the next 4 weeks!

[Jett]

Ooh, neat theme.

 

PS, I saw your dragon mask on tumblr and it looked awesome!

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

It feels good being bad to accomplish good, right?  Lust for water?  Thirst/lust; close enough.  Actually, maybe you shouldn't enjoy the water THAT much.  Knocking out the student loans is a great goal; I should totally consider the same, but I got a bit lazy after re-financing to a really low rate.  Hope to see it go well for you!

 

YES! Thanks for the Lust/Thirst suggestion. I'll go edit that right now, this way I won't have a random quest that doesn't fit in the theme. To enjoy water that much, I'll...I don't know. Add lemon juice or a few drops of maple syrup to my water or something?

 

I'm trying to toss 1k at it every month, which is way more than I need to. I figure I may as well take advantage of living at home while I can o_O Once the coffee reselling thing gets off the ground (probably not this challenge, but the next, or later this year) this might even go faster in the later parts of the year.

 

...Student loans can be re-financed? God damn lol

 

 

Hey Naxius! I had to stop by and say I love the inspiration for your goals! I wish you luck with your deadly sins over the next 4 weeks!

 

Thanks! I will be sure to sin my little heart out X)

 

 

Ooh, neat theme.

 

PS, I saw your dragon mask on tumblr and it looked awesome!

 

Eeeeeeeee! Glad you liked it! I completely forgot to post final progress pics on NF actually. Lack of sleep makes Nax forget all the things.

 

The pics/tumblr post is here, for anyone else who wants to see what I was wearing on New Year's Eve.

 

There is much work to be done on it still, but now that I know I can pull a mask like that out of my ass in one week, I am totally motivated to do a similar bone helm for my future Necromancer (Diablo II) cosplay, and maybe a Kylo Ren mask at some point this year after my current in-progress costumes are done. I'll just make sure I give myself more than one week to do any similar masks, because of sleep-related worries.

[shaeon]

Very nice mask!

[auntdinosaur]

Ooh, I love the mask. That's a lot of creativity/skill. 

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

It would probably be wise to figure out when I need to go to bed in order to wake up well rested for work the next day, eh?

 

I've been getting up for work at 8 AM lately, mainly because I've been slamming the SNOOZE button between 6:50 and 8:00 every day. On both the alarm clock and the cell phone. Yet, I have managed to not be late for work ever (the one time where I was 2 minutes late because of that clusterfuck of a hailstorm/blizzard doesn't count). If I get enough sleep, the advance wake-up time may not even be necessary, so I could get away with setting the alarms for 7:40 and 7:45 assuming I wake up without dat snooze. Even if the two alarms aren't needed, I would still rather have two just in case a power outage happens and knocks out the regular alarm clock.

 

Almost every article I've read says that people need 7 to 9 hours of sleep, so I will shoot for 8 until I figure out the best amount. If 7:40 is the wake-up time, this means I need to be asleep by 11:40. Assuming that I won't fall asleep right away, bed time should be at 11. This will allow me to read a little, etc.

 

I tried setting the alarm for 7:40 this morning and found that I woke up much more well-rested than usual. Also, limited myself to two coffees during the day.

 

 

Very nice mask!

 

Ooh, I love the mask. That's a lot of creativity/skill. 

 

Glad you all like it

[LittleTurtle]

Eeeeeeeee! Glad you liked it! I completely forgot to post final progress pics on NF actually. Lack of sleep makes Nax forget all the things.

 

The pics/tumblr post is here, for anyone else who wants to see what I was wearing on New Year's Eve.

 

There is much work to be done on it still, but now that I know I can pull a mask like that out of my ass in one week, I am totally motivated to do a similar bone helm for my future Necromancer (Diablo II) cosplay, and maybe a Kylo Ren mask at some point this year after my current in-progress costumes are done. I'll just make sure I give myself more than one week to do any similar masks, because of sleep-related worries.

TIME OUT!!!  You made that mask?  Like…with your bare hands?!  It reminds me of the Labyrinth…it reminds me of the babe…

[Silverwitch]

Awesome mask! You have put a lot of work in this, and it turned out verrrrry well!

 

Shooting for eight hours sleep is a good idea, after a while you will figure out anyway how much sleep you need. Which might be a tadbit more, or also a bit less. But first you need to give yourself a chance to figure it out, and this is the hardest thing to do if one is used to not really making sleep a priority. Actually, sleep counts also as self care and preserver of creativity, because the brain sorts itself during sleep. Think of it as a computer: defragmenting happens at night, so powering up for the day runs somewhat smoother!

 

I am also having no more than two cups (okay, mugs…) of coffee per day, and found out that I feel better that way. Coffee belongs to breakfast for me, but in the beginning it was hard to reduce because I was sort of a "heavy user" with up to eight big cups during my work day. Moving away from my desk usually meant a hike to the coffee machine. 

After a while, I noticed that my concentration was getting better. Which I find interesting, because I feared the opposite.

 

I am curious what your experiences will be!

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

TIME OUT!!!  You made that mask?  Like…with your bare hands?!  It reminds me of the Labyrinth…it reminds me of the babe…

 

Awesome mask! You have put a lot of work in this, and it turned out verrrrry well!

 

Thanks! The crafting was fueled entirely by panic, caffeine and red wine lol

 

LittleTurtle, one of my friends who was going with me to the NYE Masquerade was actually planning on making King Jareth's masquerade mask, from Labyrinth. The base of it started falling apart a few days before, though I still hope she makes it for any future masquerades.

 

 

Shooting for eight hours sleep is a good idea, after a while you will figure out anyway how much sleep you need. Which might be a tadbit more, or also a bit less. But first you need to give yourself a chance to figure it out, and this is the hardest thing to do if one is used to not really making sleep a priority. Actually, sleep counts also as self care and preserver of creativity, because the brain sorts itself during sleep. Think of it as a computer: defragmenting happens at night, so powering up for the day runs somewhat smoother!

 

I am also having no more than two cups (okay, mugs…) of coffee per day, and found out that I feel better that way. Coffee belongs to breakfast for me, but in the beginning it was hard to reduce because I was sort of a "heavy user" with up to eight big cups during my work day. Moving away from my desk usually meant a hike to the coffee machine. 

After a while, I noticed that my concentration was getting better. Which I find interesting, because I feared the opposite.

 

I am curious what your experiences will be!

 

Wow, this going to bed at 11 thing is not happening very well yet. Monday night I was under the covers at around 11:10, and yesterday it was more like 11:20. Was I able to fall asleep before 11:40? Of course not I ended up getting more than 7h of sleep on both nights, at least. It wasn't the 8h I was hoping for, but yay anyway?

 

It's a bit tough to get in bed before 11 when I get out of the shower at the end of the day and it's like 10:50 (and then I need to brush my teeth, feed the cats, etc.) I seem to be suffering from last year's excessive commitments, but once the things I said I'd do are all done then most people know that I can no longer do as much. I mean, I'd like to have more than one evening per week (if that) to myself? From the looks of it, this will not be happening this week. It's like nothing has freaking changed.

 

Making sleep a priority is a lot harder than anticipated X( I'm thinking I'll ax the water quest. I'm having much more water than usual anyway (and much less coffee) but I'm not actually counting the glasses I'm having. Oh well. Still progress! Not going to count the cooking quest either, as I already have an accountability system (sort of) at the gym for that.

 

Trips to the office coffee machine are also a willpower drain, since aaaaall the pastries are next to the coffee machine ;P

[petefeet]

 

 

Wow, this going to bed at 11 thing is not happening very well yet. Monday night I was under the covers at around 11:10, and yesterday it was more like 11:20. Was I able to fall asleep before 11:40? Of course not I ended up getting more than 7h of sleep on both nights, at least. It wasn't the 8h I was hoping for, but yay anyway?

 

If you feel rested, I would call it a YAY!

 

I seem to be suffering from last year's excessive commitments, but once the things I said I'd do are all done then most people know that I can no longer do as much. I mean, I'd like to have more than one evening per week (if that) to myself? From the looks of it, this will not be happening this week. It's like nothing has freaking changed.

 

It's ok to say NO   kiddo, just try it with me right now. Yes I'm fucking serious, now do it... I can tell you're faking Nax, now do it... NNnnooo... See? It's not impossible.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

I've gotten a tiny, tiny bit better maybe? I did make it clear to some friends that I'd no longer be attending a certain weekly meeting. Or at least not regularly. If the topic happens to be something I can contribute to, then I'll go. Lately I've just been sitting there (after showing up late because I needed to eat) and not doing fuck-all.

 

Productivity dates with friends are still a go since I usually end up doing tedious tasks at friends' places, hence I can be social AND do things at the same time.

 

I might have to go to the gym at 6 AM tomorrow and it's not likely I'll be able to fall asleep by 9:30 tonight to account for the earlier bed time, so I had a "special" candy that someone at work gave me. It will hopefully make me tired in the next hour.

[LittleTurtle]

Thanks! The crafting was fueled entirely by panic, caffeine and red wine lol

 

LittleTurtle, one of my friends who was going with me to the NYE Masquerade was actually planning on making King Jareth's masquerade mask, from Labyrinth. The base of it started falling apart a few days before, though I still hope she makes it for any future masquerades.

NICE!  

 

 

 

=

 

[Teirin]

You should post pics of the collar, if you haven't already. 

[petefeet]

"Special" candy... I caught that kiddo! <g>

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

You should post pics of the collar, if you haven't already. 

 

Oh right! I forget if I have or not? I was rather sleep deprived when I was making it...and it's still not even like halfway done, haha. I should start working on it again, before ECCE in May.

 

Psst, Teirin, you should come to ECCE also Then both you and Pete can shame me if the collar isn't finished!

 

I'll post pics of it when I get home later. For those who haven't heard me complain about this particular cosplay project yet, I am trying to make a replica of Balem Abrasax's collar, from Jupiter Ascending. The original was 3D printed and is stupidly detailed. There are some pictures of it on the costume designer's blog, here: https://sharonsmith.carbonmade.com/projects/5495625 (first four images). Since I don't have a 3D printer, I need to make it out of Worbla. It's been...interesting, let's just say.

 

 

"Special" candy... I caught that kiddo! <g>

 

I was totally asleep before 10:30 haha! The special gummy candy was great for sleeping, and the effects were like mindfulness in a candy format. No joke, one hour after having it, I was mindful of everything, without even trying to. Makes me think I've been doing mindfulness wrong all along? lol

 

It also made me care less about things. This worked maybe TOO well because, while I woke up on time to go to the early gym session this morning, I ended up just...going right the fuck back to bed because why not. I was actually well-rested, too. My reasoning was that I was only doing this (morning gym) so that I could go to the gym again later in the afternoon because it was a commitment I had made. In reality, going to the gym once per day for the next three days will be enough, especially since I have not been recovering fast/well enough lately.

 

(I might have gone in the AM if this month's workouts didn't generally last two hours. Because of this, it's sort of hard to fit breakfast, feeding the cats, and showering in the short 20 minutes between morning gym and work x_x)