In Which Sarah Barr Does Some Careful Time Management [Planning] (#25)

[Sarah Barr]

Shut down a bit after I dropped out in December. Didn't come back in January because I've been pretty chronically tired, and am finally off to the doctor next week to see if there's anything behind that beyond the usual combination of stress and work (I have my suspicions). Still tired, of course, but I miss you guys, so I am back!

I have a great big project on the horizon that got approved last night! I am very excited and terrified about it. I am not expecting to get much rest in the next... 10 weeks unless I practice some dedicated self-management, so this challenge's goals are focused around that. 

(You'll get to hear about what it actually is after the official announcement gets made.)

 

Goal 1:

• To make sure that my food intake optimises my actually-experienced energy levels. NHS advice for this is to have a few smaller meals instead of a couple of large ones, and like most health advice, "stop being so fat" is on there too, so the calorie target is for gradual weight loss. 

• This would look roughly like:

  • 08:00: 2 boiled eggs, bit of fruit, cup of tea (~200kcal)

  • 11:00: Nuts (~200kcal)

  • (11:00:03: Stop giggling at the word “nuts”.)

  • 12:30: Whatever takes your fancy (~300kcal)

  • 15:00: Something else worth about 300kcal that must contain one vegetable or fruit

  • 18:00: Dinner (chilli and rice, roast chicken and couscous, or root veg soup and bread, all weighed out on prep day to amounts totalling about 500kcal)

  • 21:00: Something else around 200kcal (e.g. a Nakd bar, or a pint of Guinness if it's after rehearsals)

  • (Total calories: about 1700/day)

 

Goal 2:

• To make sure that my weekly food prep takes as little time as possible without resorting to ready meals or a life of pasta.

• I need to be able to get it all done in the space of about an hour. So one oven batch, Two hob batches, of the bung-it-in-a-pot-and-forget-about-it variety.

• Sounds like chilli-not-really-carne, lemon-roast fake chicken with onion and peppers, and root veg soup to me.

  - So I'd prep my three meals, all of which mean I just need to fry off one big batch of onions and divide between them

  • • Then while they're cooking I'll portion out some microwave rice (because sod it) for the chilli and chicken, and some bread to go with the soup. The bread then goes in the freezer so I don't absent mindedly munch on it.

    • Then I'll weigh out my nuts for the week's morning snacks. Never really liked being the kind of person who weighs her nuts, but I'm also the kind of person who giggles furtively at the phrase “weigh out my nuts”, so I'm sure I'll get over it.

 

Goal 3:

• To focus on bodyweight exercises, stamina in relation to weight, and flexibility

  • • I'm saving up for moving house in the summer, so as well as giving up take-away coffee I've had to give up my gym membership, so no lifting or warrior-ing for a while, sadly.

    • But I need to make sure I'm generally physically capable, so I'm picking up the slack by focusing on bodyweight workouts.

    • This will take the form of our old favourite, the Nerd Fitness BBWW, with my usual yoga poses and splits practice. I have too little room and too many bits of plate glass in my bedroom to warrant handstands practice, but I'll live.

    • It'll also involve some extra stamina-based strength work like planks and wall-sits.

    • Three mornings a week, at home.

 

Life Goal:

• Don't get eaten up by project plans. Using a strict time management schedule to do this, because I am going to need my rest, and a strict routine gives me peace of mind.

• I'll get out the A2 paper and the pens to write out a proper schedule, with tasks for the morning, during the day, and night-time, when I know exactly what's what.

 

Tracking:

UPDATE YOUR THREAD UPDATE YOUR THREAD UPDATE YOUR THREAD.

In addition, I'll have to put £1 in the Idiot Jar for every time I miss a goal that day. This includes paying a £1 fine for not updating my thread for two days in a row. 

 

*Insert various taking-off noises here.*

[DrFeelgood]

She's back! She's back!

 

[deftona]

Following along Sarah, it's great to see you again! 

[Sarah Barr]

Hello friends!! It's good to see you guys too! Every time I disappear for a challenge or so, I come back and you've all become tougher. It's awesome! 

[Snarkyfishguts]

Welcome back Sarah! You're darn tough too

[Shello]

37 minutes ago, Sarah Barr said:

Then I'll weigh out my nuts for the week's morning snacks. Never really liked being the kind of person who weighs her nuts, but I'm also the kind of person who giggles furtively at the phrase “weigh out my nuts”, so I'm sure I'll get over it.

*titters*  At least you are not alone.  

[Terah]

Welcome back!

 

1 hour ago, Sarah Barr said:

UPDATE YOUR THREAD UPDATE YOUR THREAD UPDATE YOUR THREAD.

I especially love this goal  

[Sarah Barr]

Planning update:

 

- Veggies bought - going to try and do prep this weekend among all the woodworking

- I now have room to do a workout in the morning, and am gradually trying to accustom myself to waking up in time to actually do a workout. 

- Slowly getting an accurate schedule together!

 

About it, really, but at least it's Friday so I have time to do more soon. 

[Snarkyfishguts]

6 hours ago, Sarah Barr said:

Planning update:

 

- Veggies bought - going to try and do prep this weekend among all the woodworking

- I now have room to do a workout in the morning, and am gradually trying to accustom myself to waking up in time to actually do a workout. 

- Slowly getting an accurate schedule together!

 

About it, really, but at least it's Friday so I have time to do more soon. 

 

Yay! Sounds like an excellent beginning  

[Sarah Barr]

Food prrrrrrrepped!

 

Lots of food!

 

I forgot I had a lot of stuff already in my cupboards so I deviated from the proposed menu:

- Vegetable and fake chicken jalfrezi with brown rice

- Mixed bean chilli

- Really tasty baked potatoes

I found Hawai'ian black sea salt in a shop and I'd always wanted to try it - I think it made my baked potatoes even tastier than baked potatoes usually are, but it might just be that I used, er, restaurant-levels of salt instead of the kind of salt itself. 

 

Also have a better idea of my schedule, now, which is good. Although it's fuller than I anticipated...

 

Taking a break to chug an energy drink before I get back to sanding some bits of poorly-planed plywood in a frantic fashion. I now know I have only about three days of full work available in which to finish the first stage of the project. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. It will be fine. It's not that far off being finished. I only have a couple more bits to cut out and sand and then it's all assembly. 

 

Ok, energy drink done, regret in chugging energy drink felt, time for Korpiklaani and avoiding splinters!!

 

 

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

Woo hoo you are getting it done!!! Woooo!

[Karma Krishok]

On 09/02/2017 at 8:59 PM, Sarah Barr said:

Life Goal:

• Don't get eaten up by project plans. Using a strict time management schedule to do this, because I am going to need my rest, and a strict routine gives me peace of mind.

• I'll get out the A2 paper and the pens to write out a proper schedule, with tasks for the morning, during the day, and night-time, when I know exactly what's what.

 

Oh, I recognise this one! What really helped me has been to plan everything in my Google calendar, even when it's just a document review, writing a memo or some other boring task. It gives me a warning instantly when I'm planning too much and it gives me the flexibility to change whenever it is needed. Good luck with the challenge & the project!

[Sarah Barr]

On 12/02/2017 at 3:00 AM, Karma Krishok said:

 

Oh, I recognise this one! What really helped me has been to plan everything in my Google calendar, even when it's just a document review, writing a memo or some other boring task. It gives me a warning instantly when I'm planning too much and it gives me the flexibility to change whenever it is needed. Good luck with the challenge & the project!

Thanks for the tip! I've started using my Google calendar instead of a paper calendar so I'm not relying on having access to the one place it's hung up in. Did have to set a daily email reminder to check my calendar but I'm sure it'll become a habit soon enough. 

 

[Ramble about tiredness that's mostly for the benefit of helping me process it]

Spoiler

Made a doc's appointment to see why I'm so tired - I wouldn't have done, but it's starting to affect my work. I know (I think I know, I'm tired as hell) I'm generally in bed for 7 hours a night but I don't think I get anywhere near 7 hours of sleep. Since today's Day 1 of challenge, I'm hoping the Small Regular Meals goal and the reduction in calories will help enough to let me cancel Friday's appointment. I'd cut out caffeine if I had a couple of free days I could safely sleep through to start with, because I know that does help eventually. Right now I just want to prop my eyelids open with coffee beans.

 

Small Regular Meals goal seems to be okay so far. After a discussion about scheduling with boyfriend, I ended up just moving all my woodworking stuff to his*. That way I can do woodworking and see him at the same time, and when I go home to mine I can relax without having the project hovering over me. In theory. My dreams are full of completely irrational project-related alarm bells (dumb things, like "what if this bit of wood impales a child's eyeball?" when I know that I'm going to sand it right down the next day as planned) - I suspect this is why I am not sleeping well. The fact that I know they're completely irrational isn't making them go away, annoyingly, and I can't really decompress without hearing them for long. I can go longer if I'm with my boyfriend or other people there and we're doing something interesting that takes some concentration, but while that makes the nonsense stop for a bit, it still takes energy and therefore doesn't work as recharging time. 

Not expecting the doctor will be able to do much - it sounds to me like some form of anxiety, and it may have to be a case of "do this self-help thing". But maybe they'll be able to give me a sedative or some more advice or something. I wish I were thin, so I wouldn't have to worry that they'll see fat, and hear tired, and ignore the fact that I've been fat for years, and only exhausted for six weeks, and tell me to lose weight, and leave it at that. Maybe that's irrational too. 

*I am grumpy about this. His flat is cramped. I would rather he moved his computer to mine, where all the tools I don't know if I need are, and all my prepped food, and actual space for us to both work in. But I am grumpy about everything right now, and at least this way we do see each other regularly.

 

 

[Terah]

I'm sorry you are still so tired. I know the feeling: I had been tired for the most part of my teen years and in my early 20's. I had gone to the doctor many times, but with no results. I finally went to a homeopathic healer. I still have periods when I am tired, but they get shorter and less frequent.

 

I hope it is something simple like low iron or a vitamin deficiency for you. But if the doctor can't find anything you could try a homeopathic healer. 

 

((Hugs))

[Sylvaa]

Hey! We are dealing with anxiety in my house too!

 

One thing we are doing is examining the irrational situation. It's too soon to tell if it'll work, but it might be worthwhile to try! We go through a few steps:

• Is it actually possible? This takes some creative license. So vampires need to be completely possible, but physics tells us that a car can't crash through the back of our house (it's too far from a road, there are trees in the way, and there is a large ditch). 
• If the irrational situation happens, what are the signs I need to watch out for?
• What is my plan in case the irrational situation happens OR how can I stop the irrational situation from happening?

We're also experimenting with "planning" anxiety time. So once a day, we have a scheduled time to think about all the anxious thoughts that are running through my step-daughter's head. Obviously, we can't plan when the anxiety hits, but we're working on, "I don't need to worry about this now, I can worry about it during my anxiety time". Again, it is too early to tell if it'll help, but I'll pass it along!

 

Good luck with the doctor! *fingers crossed*

[jmk]

Hello friend!

[WolfDreamer]

All really great goals! I'm kind of new to the team, so we haven't met yet, but I'm glad you're here. Let me know if I can support you in any way.

 

[Schaengel]

following along (or at least trying to say something motivational from time to time )

[Sarah Barr]

On 14/02/2017 at 4:41 AM, jmk said:

Hello friend!

HELLO FRIEND!

 

On 14/02/2017 at 6:43 PM, Wolfen said:

All really great goals! I'm kind of new to the team, so we haven't met yet, but I'm glad you're here. Let me know if I can support you in any way.

Thank you! Good to meet you, have a good challenge!

 

 

On 14/02/2017 at 8:15 PM, Schaengel said:

following along (or at least trying to say something motivational from time to time )

Thanks!

 

 

Update:

Buuuuusy. Head's still all over the place but I'm staying roughly on track with the small regular meals and the calorie limits. Completely forgot about strength training, though. 

And I forgot to update my thread yesterday so that's at least £3 in the Idiot Jar. 

It would probably be sensible to call this week a practice week, and start counting towards a forfeit after I've talked to the doctor instead of punishing myself. 

Calendar is helping. 

Got woken up by a washing machine at arse o'clock this morning. Want cry. Make coffee happen. Cry into coffee. 

 

 

[WolfDreamer]

47 minutes ago, Sarah Barr said:

Head's still all over the place

 

I pretty much live in this state all day long, which is why meditation and sitting still quietly is a challenge for me. I love that you recognize your faults and accept them as a part of who you are, while also recognizing that you are growing. Keep it up. :-)

 

[Sarah Barr]

Still not remembering to update regularly enough, but here's the update since Thursday:

 

- Re-downloaded MFP onto new phone to track calories

- Climbed Calton Hill this morning to scout out locations for our group, but it was HARD, so I'm climbing it three lunchtimes a week till Beltane, because sod not being able to breathe.

- Signed up for a new gym membership in a gym that one of my co-GOs can make it to - I think this'll be good, it's not in a basement like the last gym, and the view might help break the monotony that put me off going back to lifting these past couple of months

- Doc put me on an antidepressant that also works as a sedative. Side effects so far are that I get a little dizzy, but I've been sleeping much better. The antidepressant part won't kick in for another couple of weeks, but the sleeping-better is helping with the mood. Hopefully the exercise will also help.

- Speaking of exercise, everything hurts in a good way from jumping about like a mad eejit at the GO weekend. (A big chunk of it was bonding games. I have now mimed making blueberry pancakes at double speed using my feet instead of my hands. It was good and strange.)

- Small regular meals going well

- Calories not so well over the weekend, though, and not only did I not have time to food prep, but boyfriend ate one of my prepped meals. This week's food prep may be just a massive vat of lentil curry and rice.

- I've added "no pastries until after Beltane" to the veto list along with pizza, which has so far been successful.

- I think I'm used to checking the google calendar now, hurrah.

- Getting excited to meet the people who might become part of our Beltane group at the open meeting on Sunday.

 

(SHAMELESS PLUG: If you want to be involved in the Beltane Fire Festival, come along to La Belle Angele in Edinburgh at 12:30pm on Sunday the 26th. There are all kinds of performing, non-performing, high-commitment and low-commitment groups you can join.)

 

Back to work!

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

I'm always a fan of breathing. It sounds like you are taking charge! WOOT