traaki takes care

[traaki]

This is mostly a placeholder but here are my thoughts at the moment: 

 

Goal 1: Walk 4 times per week. 

Goal 2: Prep at least 3 lunches per week, five breakfasts and five snacks. 

Goal 3: Write and post a poem every day. 

Goal 4: Meditation/focus goal?

 

Next week is a big conference that is always super exhilarating and super exhausting, and this year promises to be more of both. So basically all my goals for week one are out and I'm going to be doing something.  I think: 

 

Goal 1: Stay hydrated (3 nalgenes per day)

Goal 2: Lie down on the floor for ten minutes every day. 

Goal 3: At the end of the day, review your notes and prepare a checklist of tasks/ideas etc to pursue when conference is over. 

Goal 4: Check-in with my conference buddies at least once a day. 

 

Okay, that's it for now. 

[Manarelle]

That's so frustrating when things interrupt the challenge setup - do they not KNOW the important of building habits? Sheesh. Good luck with the conference, I'm sure a third goal will come to you once things kick off. You've got this!

[traaki]

17 hours ago, Manarelle said:

That's so frustrating when things interrupt the challenge setup - do they not KNOW the important of building habits? Sheesh. Good luck with the conference, I'm sure a third goal will come to you once things kick off. You've got this!

Right?! Can't all conferences and vacations happen during zero week?!

[Loveable_Bouncer]

Following you once more!

 

Wowza with the extreme change in the challenge, at least the conference will be kind of fun xD

 

Points for flexibility!

[traaki]

 

6 hours ago, Bouncer the Resilient said:

Following you once more!

 

Wowza with the extreme change in the challenge, at least the conference will be kind of fun xD

 

Points for flexibility!

Hi, Bouncer!!

[traaki]

Okay, I remembered that one thing I'd like to work on this challenge is attention span.  I'm not sure what the actual challenge goal will be, but I have a touch of time to pull that together.  I feel like I've been extremely unproductive at work and some of that is conference prep, but some of that is just bad habits.  

 

Ideas: 

• Use pomodoro timers
• Get to work first thing (no email or other distractors) 
• Make to-do lists in the morning
• Turn off my phone at work
• Remove most distracting slack channel (but I love this slack channel...)
• Block all social media on computer
• Meditation
• Track my time for a week to see where it is going

I also added my last goals for the conference mini-challenge up there--creating a list of ideas at the end of each day, and checking in with my conference buddies.  

[Loveable_Bouncer]

34 minutes ago, traaki said:

Ideas: 

• Use pomodoro timers
• Get to work first thing (no email or other distractors) 
• Make to-do lists in the morning
• Turn off my phone at work
• Remove most distracting slack channel (but I love this slack channel...)
• Block all social media on computer
• Meditation
• Track my time for a week to see where it is going

 

I feel you on all of above xD I will be doing similar things this week (Meditation for me though is allowing myself to mindlessly go into nature)

Maybe roll a die? Or maybe the one you think would be the most flexible with whatever might be thrown at you. 

 

I'm curious what your conference is about?

[traaki]

Well, y'all, I'm still alive. 

 

The conference is over, I went to House on the Rock, and now I'm back at home...and I only suffered one minor flesh wound.  

 

Conference report: I kept hydrated, laid on the floor at least three times in four days and stayed connected to my buddies. Making a to-do list ended up being way harder than usual because much more of my time was spent socializing than attending sessions (and I ain't sorry!)  Sadly, I did skip all my workouts for the week. I regret that because a) there was a nice workout room at my hotel and b ) I'm now slightly injured and working out is harder.  Things I learned: Just bring my sneakers or commit to in-room workouts. I work out barefoot at home so didn't think of it, but I felt super self-conscious about trying to work out in bare feet or in my boots at the hotel.  

 

Post-conference report:
So....the injury.  I whacked my foot on a bolt at the bottom of a water slide and now have a vicious laceration on my heel. Probably should have had stitches, and as the doctor said, "Well, this will probably end your career as a heel model." Anyway, it's healing pretty darn well (is it weird that I've been writing little songs about/for it?) but still hurts a LOT when any weight is on my heel (like, I can't sleep on my back because the weight of my foot is too much). Had to cancel my first sensory deprivation tank experience because it seemed like a really terrible idea to soak the wound in warm salty water for like 2 hours. 

 

So walking is right out. The walking I have to do as part of my daily life is throwing my alignment out of whack, so I'm going to replace that item with general self-care, which means: Asking my partner for a leg/hip/back rub-down when I need it, getting an actual professional massage, and practicing self-massage/stretching on my lower half. 
 

Meal prep: Sundays are proving too difficult for lunch prep.  I don't know what to do about that just yet. I've been finding ways to feed myself but they don't always feel great (e.g. cold pizza for lunch).  Solution needed. 

 

Poetry writing: This is picking back up post-con.  I'm posting them on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/100daysoflittlepoems/ if you want to follow along. 

 

Focus/meditation: I'm just now picking my actual goals, but here they are:

• Make to-do lists in the morning (one for work, one for personal), and keep a running list of tasks that come up but are not on the list so they stop bouncing around my head.
• Meditate one minute a day.

Overall I feel like I'm having a hell of a time coming back from the conference but slowly I am getting back in the saddle. Writing this post has already helped immensely. 

[traaki]

On 4/23/2017 at 8:19 PM, Bouncer the Resilient said:

I feel you on all of above xD I will be doing similar things this week (Meditation for me though is allowing myself to mindlessly go into nature)

Maybe roll a die? Or maybe the one you think would be the most flexible with whatever might be thrown at you. 

 

I'm curious what your conference is about?

ooh I totally missed your roll a die idea.  Maybe next challenge I will do that!! 

 

The conference was DrupalCon, about the open-source CMS Drupal, which is how I make my money (and apparently also how I make my friends. )

[Loveable_Bouncer]

18 minutes ago, traaki said:

I whacked my foot on a bolt at the bottom of a water slide and now have a vicious laceration on my heel. Probably should have had stitches, and as the doctor said, "Well, this will probably end your career as a heel model." Anyway, it's healing pretty darn well (is it weird that I've been writing little songs about/for it?)

 

At least you have a story to tell, and I would usually say "it sucks, but no regrets." Ugh sorry to hear though it is a pain, I would be complaining about it. Writing songs is probably the healthier way of doing things, and maybe helping your healing process!

 

30 minutes ago, traaki said:

Overall I feel like I'm having a hell of a time coming back from the conference but slowly I am getting back in the saddle. Writing this post has already helped immensely. 

Remember you  are back! Even when again life throws new things to make it interesting, you are back at it! (Which is a huge achievement in my book). 

 

38 minutes ago, traaki said:

The conference was DrupalCon, about the open-source CMS Drupal, which is how I make my money (and apparently also how I make my friends. )

*googles* Ohh that makes sense now. Because you were working on webpages for your goals so many moons ago.... That's awesome that you found people! (especially when it could have been more work and no play just as easily). 

[Manarelle]

Welcome back! Sorry to hear about your injury - they're sure you didn't injure the bone in there? Good call on the self-care, too. I ignored that when I fractured my ankle and fixing the resulting imbalances took a good while. Give yourself time and care and you'll get back to/find new things. 

[traaki]

On 5/4/2017 at 5:25 PM, Bouncer the Resilient said:

At least you have a story to tell, and I would usually say "it sucks, but no regrets." Ugh sorry to hear though it is a pain, I would be complaining about it. Writing songs is probably the healthier way of doing things, and maybe helping your healing process!

 

Remember you  are back! Even when again life throws new things to make it interesting, you are back at it! (Which is a huge achievement in my book). 

 

*googles* Ohh that makes sense now. Because you were working on webpages for your goals so many moons ago.... That's awesome that you found people! (especially when it could have been more work and no play just as easily). 

Man! I am not getting notifications on my own thread so didn't see these. 

 

Thanks for the encouragement! And what a memory.   I forgot I had some website goals back in the day.  

[traaki]

On 5/5/2017 at 8:32 AM, Manarelle said:

Welcome back! Sorry to hear about your injury - they're sure you didn't injure the bone in there? Good call on the self-care, too. I ignored that when I fractured my ankle and fixing the resulting imbalances took a good while. Give yourself time and care and you'll get back to/find new things. 

As I said to Bouncer, I failed to get notified of my own thread so didn't see these.  

 

But thanks for checking in! I assume they're okay with the bone--he did a lot of prodding and mostly it wasn't painful so I think it's good. I do feel like I haven't had a flesh wound that hurt this bad for this long in quite some time.  

[traaki]

Quick update: 

 

Still struggling this challenge.  I don't know if it's just me but like *everyone I know* seems to be having a super hard month (my partner, my sister, me, my project at work....) I feel so overwhelmed with stuff to do and my energy and attention span are just completely gone. 

 

Injury-related self-care: I haven't been as good about self-care as I'd like (whether that's the cause or the result of my general malaise is tbd).  But I have been taking care of it and trying to get 8 hours of sleep every night.  Still can't walk normally but it doesn't hurt.  I did one workout without any foot-weight-bearing activities and am planning one for tomorrow.  I'm falling behind on my 104-workouts goal for the year but I know this slump will pass. 

 

Meal prep: I'm trying to buy my way out of this one with limited success. I discovered little cut veggie/fruit packs in the grocery store and bought 5 of those.  That helps--it's better than nothing--but I'd like to limit them as a) they are more expensive and b) they make a lot of plastic waste.  I also decided to buy *different* frozen lunches in the hopes they would make me more full; that experiment is ongoing though I looked at the nutritional content of what I ended up with and my eyes bugged out.  SO.  I also bought some pre-cooked brown rice, canned beans, and an African peanut sauce--next week when I have no plans for meal prep I'm going to try mixing that stuff up in a bowl and having that for lunch. If it's tasty maybe I'll make this a thing and try some frozen veggies in it too.  I just really need my food prep routine to be less fragile. 

 

Poetry writing: Again, failing but not totally. I wrote and posted two poems last night.  I want to get to 100 poems regardless and I also have some bigger ideas about this project, so I'm still excited about it. Just not sure why I can't seem to be as productive as I'd like. 

 

Focus/Meditation: I haven't done a single minute of meditation.  Tonight when I get home I will do it.  I *have*, however, made a fresh to-do list every day and that has been helping a lot. I've also noticed that drinking chamomile tea seems to steady me and get my focus a little stronger.  

 

Wish I could wrap this up with a big "I know the problem, I have a solution" summary but mostly I'm just sort of flailing right now.  It doesn't help that I've been out of town 3 weekends in a row and am leaving tomorrow for ANOTHER trip.  Then when I return we'll have house guests for almost three weeks.  I think probably getting more exercise and sleep will be a big thing. Having time to settle into my routine.

 

I also have a sort of feeling that there are boundaries I need to draw around certain activities and projects and I'm still sort of figuring out what those are. I really *like* all the things I'm doing but something isn't working and I don't want to be this tired/busy/frazzled all the time.

[Manarelle]

On 5/10/2017 at 7:53 PM, traaki said:

Wish I could wrap this up with a big "I know the problem, I have a solution" summary but mostly I'm just sort of flailing right now.  It doesn't help that I've been out of town 3 weekends in a row and am leaving tomorrow for ANOTHER trip.  Then when I return we'll have house guests for almost three weeks.  I think probably getting more exercise and sleep will be a big thing. Having time to settle into my routine.

 

Hmm, let's see... no down time, no prep time, no rest time: that couldn't possibly have any effect on self-improvement goals, could it? (That's meant as teasing sarcasm, not mean sarcasm). Hope you get some time to yourself soon. Get better and prioritize that self-care!

[Loveable_Bouncer]

On 5/10/2017 at 6:39 PM, traaki said:

And what a memory.   I forgot I had some website goals back in the day.

And growing up I would be given the "stalker" nickname. 

While I keep doing circles on my own goals, I keep seeming to see the progress with everyone else. 

 

I would also agree with Manarelle on the "no downtime". Hope some of the fun is helping you with the stress, or has at least worked out in the system of things working (yup that didn't make sense). 

[traaki]

 

On 5/17/2017 at 9:10 AM, Bouncer the Resilient said:

I would also agree with Manarelle on the "no downtime". Hope some of the fun is helping you with the stress, or has at least worked out in the system of things working (yup that didn't make sense). 

 

On 5/17/2017 at 7:07 AM, Manarelle said:

 

Hmm, let's see... no down time, no prep time, no rest time: that couldn't possibly have any effect on self-improvement goals, could it? (That's meant as teasing sarcasm, not mean sarcasm). Hope you get some time to yourself soon. Get better and prioritize that self-care!

Thank you both! It seems silly but it really helped to have somebody else say it. I realized yesterday that I have just been feeling AWFUL about the world for...about a month, which is about when I stopped having my regular life.  And by "awful" I mean I was starting to catch myself thinking things like, "Is it even POSSIBLE for two humans to understand each other".  Which....c'mon, Traaki. That's no way to get through this life.

 

In terms of challenge, I have not really been able to keep it in the forefront and I am going to feel okay with that. Still, no harm checking in on the goals: 

 

Walking = not so good, but my foot is healing okay.  I have been trying to be mindful of reducing any compensating movement patterns as quickly as I can without reopening the wound.  I feel a little out of sorts still but have tried to keep massaging my lower legs in particular. 

 

Meal-prep = Okay.  I have been better about just *making something happen*, even if it's not quite what I'd like. I still have the rice/beans/peanut sauce option for next week and have continued buying little veggie trays as a stopgap measure until things calm down. 

 

Poems = Okay.  I have been writing about three every five days.  Some poems are good, some not so much. I'm getting better at working so quickly. I want to turn this into a larger project when it is done--maybe something like a Patreon? 

 

Mindfulness = I have meditated twice. It's a start! I also have been good about starting my day with a to-do list/high level summary and that seems to be helping. I also...this was a tough one...didn't have coffee today in favor of chamomile tea.  I think it helped. I want to do a little more experimenting with that--I've found that chamomile in the afternoon has had a strong calming/focusing effect so I am wondering if starting my day off that way will be better.

 

This is likely the last check-in I'll do on this challenge.  I'm torn about the next one--this one imploded so thoroughly and I think I may just want to give myself a rest.  That said, I've fallen off the twice weekly workout train after a good long streak of doing it and ... I don't know.  We'll see.  If not this next challenge, I'll be back in July after my trip to SCOTLAND!!! 

[Manarelle]

Modern society isn't really set up for self-care, but it's so vital to well-being. Way to get a start on the meditation! Every bit helps, in the long run. 

 

If you do decide to make a next challenge, might be worth it to simply down to just one thing you want to focus on, and let the others come back when you're feeling ready for them. Either way, I hope you enjoy the upcoming trip!

[traaki]

3 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Modern society isn't really set up for self-care, but it's so vital to well-being. Way to get a start on the meditation! Every bit helps, in the long run. 

 

If you do decide to make a next challenge, might be worth it to simply down to just one thing you want to focus on, and let the others come back when you're feeling ready for them. Either way, I hope you enjoy the upcoming trip!

 

Thanks, Manarelle!  It's a good point about narrowing down to just one thing. I might do it if I can find something that feels like it will be a good fit with my trip, which starts about three weeks into the next one. Otherwise, the challenge after that starts *right* when I get back.