First Failure: March

I already missed my goal for the month. I did not blog last week. I will endeavor to do better, but I'm not that sad about this. It's not that consequential of a goal for me -- and perhaps that is why I failed at it in the first place.

While I try to do better, I will also make a point to spend time and develop a more rewarding goal for April. It's not necessarily better to set a goal just for the purpose of setting a goal. So, I'll make sure my next goal is something I'm more motivated to get behind.

New Month Resolutions: February Recap

Last month, it was my goal to be more productive at work. How did I define success? I gave myself a number/grade, on a scale of 1-5 every day, based on how productive I felt I was. I hoped to reach a minimum average  number for the month.

Along with my basic goal of a number, I gave myself strategies to help me focus every day. Those tips included:

1) Praying. I prayed every morning at work to help me with my goal. I found this helpful because when I pray for something, I know it's something that I really want. And to remember that I really want it helped me to work hard at that.

2) I used a spreadsheet and tracked my time usage at work, every day. This was also good motivation, as I didn't like reporting ill-spent time.

3) I had a goal for minimum time spent on productive tasks. This helped me not to go on over-drive and burn myself out. Once I reached my minimum, I could relax a little and feel accomplished, rather than over-stressing every minute of every day, and breaking under the pressure of having to be perfect.

4) I tried to use the 10 minute rule. If I ran into a task I didn't like and would normally procrastinate, I would try to do it for just 10 minutes.

5) I would also employ the like+don't like strategy. For example, if I have to be doing something mind-numbing and not so fun, I would let myself stream something while I worked, to make it kind of entertaining.

6) I tried to keep & update task lists, so I could easily refer back to the lists to find out what I should do next, after I finished something.

7) Stepping outside. A lot of my tasks at work seem ambiguous and it's hard to determine "next steps". To help me tackle them, I find it helps to imagine I am advising someone else about what THEY should do. Silly, and yet remarkably effective.

8) Breaking it down. Writing a publication is a big, generic task. When working on things like that and not knowing where to start or what the next steps are, I just try to think of one small action to do -- something that is "road-ready", like "skim reference articles and gather quotes", or "draft outline", etc. It's obvious, but not making a concerted effort to identify those specific things has really stalled me on projects in the past.

Of course, these tips and tricks only help me in as much as I remember to employ them. Some I remembered to do better than others.

Results are in: It WORKED! This actually worked. I am so satisfied from this experiment. Of course, every day was not a perfect day of productivity. But I liked the flow of this month's goal, because I was allowed bad days. I was allowed to fail once or twice in meeting my goal, because my achievement this month was not based on being perfect every day, or every week, but based on the average of all those days. And so bad days were just a blip that was cause for concern, rather than total defeat.

As for January's goal -- I was not perfect in keeping up with my January month goal to work out 3x/wk, but I did pretty well with keeping up with my exercise overall. The 2 weeks I didn't reach 3x/wk, I still worked out twice. And I'm back at keeping it up for March. Managing regular workouts is easier after having worked on that habit for a month. This month-long resolution thing is really just amazing.

The other thing I really like about the monthly resolutions is that rather than having a hyper-focus once a year on the fact you'd like to do better at something, you actually are directed to focus on your goals and personal improvement EVERY MONTH. And if you are too busy and miss a month, who cares? You have 11 other months that are still totally do-able.

My goal for March: To blog once a week. I don't know that this goal will be as life-enriching as being more productive and exercising, but I do like to blog. And I HAVE blogs. And I've thought before about having that goal. And if I don't think it adds much to my life -- it's only for a month. LOVE THIS!

Month 2 Resolution Update

So, I feel like I need to check in on this resolution. I checked in pretty much every week on the last one. I can only imagine all of your questions. Have you kept up your 1st month resolutions? Have you failed yet? Okay, so no one has asked, and you don't have questions. I'm just holding myself accountable -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First question: Can you really let it go of the resolution after 1 month?

Yes and no. Part of me was not sure if I would secretly require myself to stick to the old month resolutions, and then be crushed under the mountain of all my resolutions, as they piled up over time. Good news! I have not fallen to this disease of having secret requirements that my resolutions continue to exist longer than the month established.

THAT BEING SAID, I really did love working out 3x/wk, and feel like it is something I want to continue with. It makes me happy. But for the 1st week of February, I gave myself a break from the routine. I appreciated the reprieve on one level, but I also felt the nagging feeling I usually get when I'm not maintaining my desired level of fitness. So, in week 2, I am back on the wagon and on my way to having fit in my 3 workouts. And I hope, moving forward, I will mostly maintain that habit. Having done it for a whole month already, I think it will be easier for me to make that happen.

What about your resolution for February?

Ultimately, I did my research and I tried to set reasonable goals for myself. I gave myself only one goal, in the end. And I won't know if I've reached it till the end of the month. What is that goal?

Well, fortunately, I have been tracking my ability to focus at work for the last 7 months (I'm a nerd?), so I know for 7 months what my average level of focus is, on a scale of 1-5. I took that monthly average, and made it a goal to do slightly better than all of those averages. But I don't have to do a lot better.

I have mini-goals to help me:
-- a set # of minimum hours of productivity I would like to achieve every work day
-- start my day with a prayer asking for help with my goal

There are a few other tips & tricks I use that are more specific to a somewhat ADD personality, such as myself, to help me. So, how's it going?

1) Good. I think I will achieve my goal. And while this in no way means that I am perfect in my ability to be a productivity superhero, it is a comfort to me to know that I can improve in this, and AM improving.

2) It's difficult. So, I'm not technically ADD. But I do have a lot of the traits of someone who is. And there is a reason this is a goal of mine -- because I don't do it well or easily. To add to the challenge, I learned this week that concentrating on difficult tasks for long periods of time actually puts me in a bad mood. So, I have to learn how to moderate that and problem-solve, so I can be productive and happy at the same time. I imagine other revelations will occur as I press on with this goal. And I welcome the opportunity to learn more about myself.

As is true with any change, this resolution work is stressful. I'd say it's a good thing I am only requiring myself to work on this goal this month. But it makes me happy to know that I can achieve it and get better. Stress is not a bad thing.

Still I say, "Yeah for New Month Resolutions"!

New Month Resolution #2: Bracing For Failure

I'm only one month into the year, and I've already got a resolution done. It's great to start the year out with success! Especially because I foresee this streak ending very soon. :)

What about February? Ohhh, February.

So, I was looking over my resolutions lists of DO MORE and DO LESS, and I have come to a conclusion. I am in trouble. The Do LESS's on my list are good to work on, but they are SO MUCH HARDER. I don't have many habits, but the ones I do have are REALLY INGRAINED. Easier to make than to break, I guess.

I believe, with the DO LESS resolutions, I will most definitely fail. But I am going to try them anyway. It's not like I haven't failed before.

Then again, it depends on how I define failure. To succeed, I just need to be real. What am I really after with this goal? I want to IMPROVE myself, not PERFECT myself during the course of the month. . I want better, and I want sustainable. That's really what I'm after.

So, to set myself up so that I can succeedl, it's all about semantics, parameters, and definitions. How much less do I want to do? How much less can I realistically manage? How do I define failure? How do I know if I've succeeded? This is really just like January's goal of exercising 3x/wk. It would be wonderful if I exercised 6x/wk in theory. But it does not make my happy & healthy, and it's really too big a leap from how my life runs right now.

Resolution for February: Get on the internet LESS while I'm at work.

Possible Strategies:

1) have a timer so I can track how much time has passed when I DO get on the internet.
2) set an amount of time I have to work before I allow myself to check anything online.
3) provide myself with a short list of easy ways to get engaged with work when I am finding it hard to concentrate
4) set a max amount of time to be online each work day.
5) set a minimum amount of time to be engaged in work projects each day.
6) start my day differently than I normally do, just to mark the change in behavior and trigger a different approach

To help me set parameters: 
1) I am going to track my productivity and time usage for 3 days (not a long time sample, but it's all the workdays I have left before February), and then pick a percentage of improvement for the 1st week. Based on how it goes that week, I will decide if week #2 parameters need adjustment or if I should stick to week #1 levels.
2) I have a log that I have been keeping for the past 7 months where I actually have rated myself on a scale of 1-5 in my ability to focus on work. I may be able to incorporate this as an evaluative tool, to see if I have improved.

Are there any tips or tricks you guys use to keep the ADD part of you on-task and away from your favorite websites? It can be hard for me. It comes a little bit with the territory of endlessly having new kinds of projects that don't have obvious next steps.  That, and the fact that I'm me. But I know I'll feel better when I don't get distracted and just dig in and tackle them. And I think my boss feels better too. :)

Here's to trying. Here's to almost certain failure. Here's to hopes of a little bit of win.

Go Team Me!

Week 3: The Week I Conquered All

Yeah, so week three of my resolution. To avoid the torture of suspense, I DID in fact get in all my workouts. That being said, I almost cracked.  This week it felt like every challenge and pitfall that normally hits me came all at once.

Pitfall 1: Overzeal. Sometimes I get caught up in the fabulous feeling of being fit. And after one day of working out, I think, "Who needs a rest day? Let's work out again! Let's work out harder! Let's work out Four or even FIVE times! I love working out!" I had these thoughts after my 1st workout this week. And then I reminded myself that when I overdo it, I regret it. So, despite feeling this way, I did not go overboard. And thus, my overzealous self did not stop me.

Pitfall 2: I don't know who said that working out makes you lose weight. This is not always true. If that WERE always true, sumo wrestlers would be much smaller. I often gain pounds when I get more fit.  Of course, weight is not the only reason to seek after fitness. But when I see the scale creeping up (which I did this week) it's a little hard to remember that. But I did not let it stop me.

Pitfall 3: Impulsive eating. Sometimes I get really snacky. Is it related to hormones? I don't know. But I suspect it is. And on days when I have eaten more than I should (specifically, Wednesday and Thursday of this past week), I do not like to work out. Mostly because I'm still digesting. And I feel a little failure-ish, which sadly makes me want to just fail at everything. I also did not let this stop me.

Pitfall 4: Soreness. I would appreciate if all muscles in my body would commit to being sore for only ONE day after working out.  My muscles do not always agree with this, as they did not this week. And I WAS tired of feeling it. I did not let this stop me.

Pitfall 5: Sometimes work and meetings get crazy, causing some days to be virtualy impossible for working out. This happened. That's another reason I only shoot for 3 days. I did not let it stop me.

Pitfall 6: I have a really hard time sticking to a routine. Like ANY routine. I did not let this stop me.

So, here I sit, Tuesday after the week I conquered all, very satisfied with myself. I'm not at my slimmest. I did not behave perfectly with my eating habits. I am not being magically transformed into Gisele Bundchen. But I am satisfied with myself.  I have no issues of conscience, telling me I should be working harder. And I believe, despite the downers, that my physique and health is better for the wear and tear.

As much as I did get it done, it wasn't without periods of, ahem, extreme disability (to reference my graphic for this post). Ben tried to give me comfort when I was complaining about it by saying that I can pick a new resolution next month. I'm almost done. And it's true. I can. Only one more week and I will have achieved my goal. But I don't know if I'll be ready to give this one up in February. It feels so good! (right now, at least) Yeah for New Month Resolutions!

Working Out: Three is The Perfect Number

So, it's the end of the 2nd week of January. I'm done with week 2 of my resolution to work out 3x/wk. So far so good! I know so many people would be thinking, "Three times? That's not even worth making a resolution for. Wimpy." Perhaps that's true. But it doesn't change the fact that I haven't accomplished three workouts in a week with any resemblance of regularity in my recent past. And I don't really aspire to do more. For me, I just LOVE the three-times routine. Not two. Not four. Not five. DEFINITELY not six. Three. Here's why:

1. I find that if I only work out twice, while still good, I don't necessarily feel like I'm maintaining or improving on my fitness goals. So less than three doesn't seem to be enough to keep that nagging thought of "you're letting yourself go" out of my head.This being the case, it also follows that one is no good -- I feel like I'm on the border of falling off the wagon. And zero, well, I can literally feel myself becoming mush when I do that with regularity.

2. When I consistently work out 4 or more times per week, I become very susceptible to injury. Since I work out to be healthy, this seems counterproductive. And I am sore more than I like to be, as I don't have a rest day somewhere in there for that sensation to fully wear off -- which makes me eat too much food, as it's a means of numbing my soreness, and my hunger pangs kind of go bonkers -- also counterproductive. Maybe I could mitigate these effects by incorporating lighter workouts into my routine. Or maybe I just need to work up to more workouts more gradually than I have in the past. Regardless, my experience so far with 4+ workouts has been no bueno for sustainability.

3. I don't feel like going to the gym is the center of my life when I only work out 3 times. And while some people may like it as the center of their life, I do not. Some people may not mind the never-ending cycle of going to the gym, changing, working out, showering, changing again, reapplying makeup, getting back to real life, and washing ALL those stinky gym clothes -- I get overwhelmed by it when I do it too often. And in the words of someone with sass, "Ain't nobody got time for that".

I could have more reasons. But it seems only fitting to end on three. I just like that number.

New Month Resolutions: What, What?

                                  

I decided this year that rather than making New YEAR resolutions, I'd like to make New MONTH resolutions. I got the idea from a book called The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (recommended, in case that's not obvious). It's not really what she did in the book. More like an adaptation of what she did.

My resolution idea started with thinking of things I want to NOT do or do LESS of. And then I thought, well, it's not good to try NOT to do something unless you try to replace the thing you shouldn't do with something you SHOULD. So, I made a list of all the things I want to do LESS of. And I started pairing those with a list of things I want to do MORE of. 

I like do LESS rather than NOT do. For me, the things I'm working on aren't necessarily things I want to completely not do. At this point, I'm not sure I'm capable of not doing them, or that I even desire to completely not do them. And why set myself up for failure or for a nonworthy task? And why deal in absolutes if I don't have to?

So what made it on my DO LESS an DO MORE lists?

Examples of DO LESS

don't read the news so much

don't waste time of Facebook

don't pick at your poor lips so much

don't eat so many sweets

etc, etc.

Examples of DO MORE

Blog More

Work out regularly

Draw more

Work more on fixing up the house

etc., etc.

Well, I haven't yet decided which of my LESS things to focus on, so I think I'm going to save that for February. I know, I know. Such a cop out. But they're harder. I think starting out my 1st month with a gimme task that is very doable is a good idea. So for January, my do MORE is to work out 3 times per week, every week. Typical? Yes. But I'm amazingly reenergized by the idea that I only have to manage this for one month in order to be successful.

One week of the new year has passed. How did I do?

I worked out on Monday, and then again on Thursday at the gym at work. I woke up today (Saturday) and felt determined to get in my necessary third, but didn't feel like I had much giddy-up. In fact, I had no giddy-up. I usually very much like working out and have energy for it. But that may be the reason I don't do it regularly -- becaus I prefer to only work out when I feel like it. Still, saturdays are usually one of my favorite days for a boogy-down session. But I really wasn't feelin' it. So, I indulged in a lazy, read things on line and plan nothing kind of Saturday morning. At last I said enough is enough, and went downstairs to work out. I put my jammin' music on and tried to get into it. After a warmup song I was feeling just as rusty as if I had just rolled out of my bed. New plan: I would go with a more deliberate work out. I didn't specify how long these workoutts had to be. They only have to have happened. So, I went about the business of my pseudo-crossfit routine that I made up a few months ago:

15 squat jumps

25 crouching leg lifts on each side

30 crunches

12 girl push ups

Repeat 3 times. 

I did this. Then I felt done. Then I felt worse than done. Then I felt dizzy. Then I felt like I was cramping. Then I felt like I should go to the toilet. Then I went to said toilet. Then I puked. Then I felt a little better.

Do I believe throwing up is a good idea? No. Am I still glad I got through my 3rd workout for the week? Yes. Might I now agree with my dear niece who told me this workout made her nauseous when I got her to do it with me during Thanksgiving Break? Yes. Might I rethink the composition of said routine? Jury is out, but it's possible. The truth is, I managed said workout at least 8 or so previous times without the above reaction. And, to its credit, it makes me sore and I always feel like I kicked my butt afterwards. And after all, isn't that why I'm working out?

My workout may need tweaking, but I think I'm liking the new resolutions model so far. 

What are you up to in the spirit of the New Year?