Time to Re-Focus

As I mentioned last Thursday, I find the beginning of September does a lot to help me re-focus on my goals and be productive.  It probably helps that the weather has turned a little grey and wet here in Victoria the last couple days.  It also probably helps that I was traveling on the long weekend and had some time to ponder about my goals while waiting for my flights…

Of course, that didn’t help me get a post written in time to post on Tuesday this week.  Hopefully next week I will be back on the twice a week posting schedule.  Until then, I’ll briefly discuss my plan to re-focus on my goals.

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GTD at Work

When I started this blog, one of my first goals was to be more productive at work.  I didn’t really know how to go about doing that, so I put together a bit of a plan to achieve that goal, but it turns out that I wasn’t very good at following my plan… In the end, I gave myself a pass because the goal wasn’t super clear, and this year I didn’t even make any professional goals here on the blog.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was reading the book “Getting Things Done” by David Allen, and I promised that I would keep you appraised of my progress with the method of organizing and being productive… Well, I am still waiting to get the book back from the library, but have done quite a bit of online research and reading, and so have started implementing bits and pieces of it already.  (I’m sure I will change everything once I have actually read the whole book, but I figure starting something is better than procrastinating any further…)

Anyway, I’m still looking to increase my productivity at work, so I actually started implement the GTD process at work first, because I keep that separate from my personal stuff and it isn’t quite as overwhelming.  And if you read back to my plan for productivity that I made last January, it has some parallels to the GTD system, so I already was heading that direction before, I just didn’t quite make it all the way.  (GTD is the short form for “Getting Things Done”.)

I don’t really talk about the details of my work, only that I travel a lot.  I’m not going to change that; this blog is currently anonymous and I don’t want to accidentally say something about a project or a client that I shouldn’t.  So, no details for you, sorry, but I did want to share what I started for my GTD process, in case it might inspire someone, or maybe someone will have some pointers to share with me…

The Irony of Not Getting Things Done

One of my goals for 2016 was to read 12 books.  It has started me on a library kick (well, I guess I started the library kick last year when I got started on the KonMari method), and it has been really fun.  The online system that our local library has is awesome.  I can search books, put holds on them… it emails me when they are ready for pick up, and then I just head down on one of the evenings they are open late, or on the weekend to pick up my books.

However, the unfortunate part of all this is, I seem to keep picking books that are popular and so they have reservations, which means that I only have 1 or 2 weeks to read them, and since I only read very sporadically, I have yet to actually finish a book.  Yup, that’s right… We are six months in to 2016 (well, 7 tomorrow I guess) and I haven’t read a single book yet.  I have read lots of partial books… but have not made it to the end of any of the books.

One of the books that I just recently had to return when I wasn’t quite done is Getting Things Done by David Allen.  The irony of this is not lost on me.  I was laughing about this with a coworker one day at lunch when I was reading the book (a last ditch effort to get as much out of it as I could before I had to return it).  I guess I really need to apply the theories in the book, so I can at least finish the book…

I’m Away Again… So, What’s the Plan?

Remember last month when I discussed how when I go away for work, everything else just drops off the face of the planet?  Yeah… So, I’m away for work again, and that plan to have a plan in place before I went so I would be productive… Yeah, well that didn’t happen… But I’m writing this on Monday night, my first night away, so I’m going to put together a plan for this week right now… Let’s go over the five challenges that I discussed.

1. Exercise

The first issue that I was having was that I didn’t get any exercise while I am away… So I put together a mini fitness challenge for this week… Since it is already the end of Day 1, I left that as a complete rest day… And I know that on my travel day home (Day 7) I won’t be doing much of anything, so I left that as a complete rest day as well… Anyway, here it is:

2. Eating

This work trip is a little different than the last in that I’m staying at a work camp, not at hotels (meaning this site is more remote)… So, I get most of my food served to me from the camp kitchen, and I pack my lunch from the lunch fridge… It’ll be a bit of a challenge to stay away from the yummies, but I’ll try my best…  I did buy myself a selection of healthy snacks so that I wouldn’t be as tempted, but remember when I said I shouldn’t have a second plate at dinner… I didn’t re-read that until after dinner tonight… So, I had a second plate at dinner.  However, that second plate consisted of a green salad, so really that’s like a win, right?  Especially because I didn’t have any sweets after dinner.  In any case, with my challenge to keep a food journal going, I should be motivated to not eat the wrong stuff because I’ll have to write it down… Wish me luck!

Personal Challenge: How do I Keep Productivity Up While Away for Work…

So, did you notice me drop off the face of the planet there for about two weeks?  Yeah, I went away for work… And it seems that when I do that, everything else just stops happening… I don’t exercise, I don’t keep up with my writing, and I definitely don’t keep up on many of my goals… I haven’t even been reading many blogs, and definitely haven’t been commenting on them…

Work Travel Sucks the Life Out of Me…  

To be fair, we do work quite long days, but I should be able to at least get myself to do an easy 20-30 minutes of yoga or something…And I don’t eat well either… after a long day I am always really hungry… and then we eat at restaurants and I almost always order junk and over eat.  And after a long day, a nice big glass of wine or a cold refreshing cider always makes me feel good… so, I eat and I drink more than I should… and without the regular exercise that I normally get when I am at home, it doesn’t add up to feeling very good…

I have this grand idea that I will exercise, eat well and all the rest… but this last trip the only thing I was pretty good about is drinking enough water/tea to fill up my 8 daily boxes in my bullet journal.  I just get tired and lose all motivation… So I think I need some help.  And maybe an action plan.

I did have some luck last fall with exercise while I was away when I gave myself a fitness challenge.  Not resounding success, but some success…  So perhaps I need to get myself on a new challenge…

My New Bullet Journal

I hinted a couple posts ago that I might be starting a new bullet journal sometime in the near future, but it turns out that my old notebook was pretty much out of pages.  Setting up my monthly layouts for May just would not fit in the remaining pages… So, I used a few of those pages to plan out my new bullet journal and started fresh with my brand new Leuchtturm1917 for the month of May.

I promised that I would share my new bullet journal when I got going on it, so here it is… My new bullet journal!

The first thing I did was start a pen test page in the back so that I could check on how things write in the new book.  I was disappointed to find out that even in this new book some of my pens still ghost and soak through.  I also did go and buy myself a couple new pens… (even though I said I would wait until I win the biggest loser competition with my husband before doing that…)

I’m Back… Almost…

Well, we have arrived home from our European honeymoon adventure and are attempting to adjust to the time and our normal lives…

I have a lot of things to catch up on here on the blog, but since I’m still getting back in to the swing of things here at home, I don’t think I will attempt to get back in to a regular posting schedule this week.   But you never know, hopefully I get organized this weekend and can get back in the swing of things next week.  Fingers crossed.

First, I need to get my bullet journal back up and running.  I have some exciting news… My favourite souvenir from our trip is a new notebook, and not just any notebook… A Leuchturm1917!  (Is it bad that a notebook is the best souvenir of my honeymoon?  Besides the memories of course!)  Okay, and if I am completely honest, I actually bought two of them!  I was in Germany and figured since that is where they are from, I might as well buy one… And then thought I might as well buy two… Right?  But I still have some pages left in my old notebook, so I will continue using that one for a little while yet.  Don’t worry, as soon as I start on the new one, I will share the details with you.

2016 Goal #1: Get Organized

Happy New Year!

It’s that time of year where most of us are sitting down and making plans for the new year.  And I’m no different.  Last year I had already made all my goals for the new year before it arrived, but this year I was a bit slower… I’ve been debating on how I want to move forward with my goals and if I want to continue with some of the more basic habit based ones from last year, or if I want to just go for new goals only… Lots of humming and hawing… I think I’ve sorted it out now…

My 2016 Goals Brainstorming

But before I can do any of my goals, I need to get organized.  I need to have a place to keep track of my goals, my to-do lists, and whatever else I have going on… I had a notebook that I was sort of using for this over the past year, but I was so rigid on what I could put in it and I didn’t just let myself have fun with it, so it didn’t stick very well.  And I didn’t use it to plan… just to record (my failures)…

Enter Bullet Journaling.

Yup, I have started bullet journaling.  If you haven’t heard of it, it may just change your life… like seriously.  Like more than Marie Kondo’s method of tidying up (sorry Marie).  (I have seen a lot of posts of people using their bullet journal to declutter with the KonMari method though…)  Anyway, I had heard of bullet journaling before, but it wasn’t until ShyWriter over at writerstyle.wordpress.com posted about her plan to use a bullet journal in 2016 that I really dug in to it.  And I have been Instagraming and Pinteresting all sorts of bullet journal fun.  You can check out the original bullet journal concept at bulletjournal.com, but that’s just the basics… Look up the hashtag #bulletjournal or #bujo on Instagram and you’ll find some crazy artistic takes on what you can do with bullet journalling.

Getting back in the groove…

So here it is, Monday morning… I’m back to work today after 2 weeks off.  I’m sure today is going to drag on forever…

Most of my spare time on the weekend was spent crafting some thank you cards, but I did review my Sunday Plan last night.

1. I checked the calendar and determined what my evening activities are.  I coordinated a bit with my husband (still feels a little funny typing that out!) but I will have to have a quick chat again tonight for some things that I realized after he had gone to bed last night.
2. I made myself a somewhat ambitious to do list.  It might be a little too ambitious, but hopefully I can get most of it cleared off by the end of the week.
3. I didn’t go all the way through the week to list items I’ll need for the day… but I did for today, so that was prepared… In fact, I also loaded some stuff in my car yesterday so I wouldn’t have to worry about it.
4. I didn’t make a full week meal plan, but made a note of which days I’ll be home for dinner, which days have lots of prep time, and which need to have something quick… I’ll make the shopping list and tentative meal plan during lunch today and shop on my way home from work.
5. I did review our expenses on Friday, so there wasn’t much to add, but I did make sure things were updated.

Getting Organized: An Update…

I’m sure you were all waiting anxiously to find out how my first week of “getting organized” went… Or maybe not… but in any case, I’m going to give you a quick recap…

In summary, it didn’t go so well… but I still feel like there was some progress made, so maybe with a couple more weeks it will go a bit better…

I started the week off strong, with my Sunday plan completed on Sunday evening, I thought for sure I was in for a 100% success rate.  And while I did do some of my evening to-do list on Sunday night, I didn’t get it totally completed… my lunch was only half made, and I definitely left a few dishes in the sink… (not a good start)

So, Monday morning, when I slept through my 5:30 am alarm… Or hit snooze in my sleep… I’m not sure which really… the morning didn’t exactly follow my morning schedule… And then I didn’t have that extra time to make up for my slacking on the evening to-do list… Which of course means that I didn’t leave on time for work… and didn’t make my goal of 8am arrival at work.