Nothing to it

Wes

Rookie
Rookie
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
4
Hey all,

With the new forum going up [which looks great btw] figured I might join in on the fun and keep a weekly journal on the site ;) I’ve done of few of these journals in the past, usually to keep me on a schedule and track my progress on things I’m working on. Never created one on a message board though. Hopefully the public aspect of this one will act as another little motivator for myself or be of interest/use to someone else.

Main Areas I’m Targeting:

Independent Work / Studies -
This is the main thing I'm focusing on right now. I am learning a completely new field and industry with the aim to dive in as deep and as quickly as possible. I want to keep track of how many hours a week I’m putting in, as well as the quality of those hours. Right now I don't have a set amount of hours I want to target, I just want to have a better idea of my current commitment. Thinking of subdividing the hours into three categories…

a. Light Reading / Work: The easy and brainless stuff.
b. Deeper Studies / Work: The moderately difficult things.
c. Full-On & Creative Work: The tough shit.


Exercise / Diet - I want to stay on a strict gym schedule and eat well. I'm usually pretty good at both but I want to see how consistent I can get. For me that means….
  • Going to the gym EVERY day. Working out heavy all the time would be counterproductive but to build my gym habit as strong as possible I want go on my off-days and at the very least stretch + maybe do a bit of abs or cardio if my body is up for it.
  • Tracking ALL the junk and fast food I eat. I want to be at one cheat meal a week, max. No drugs or alcohol either, though I’m cool with swapping a cheat meal out for a few drinks (lets say a max of three).

Removing Bad Habits - A few extra little things I want to keep an eye on.
  • Responding to mail and emails slowly. I can be bad about responding in a timely fashion and it's not a great look professionally or otherwise. I want to get much better about replying to people within 24 hours so any time it takes longer I’ll track it.
  • Forgetting to floss/brush teeth twice a day. Hah all I have to say about this one is that cavities are expensive, lesson learned. Keep track should help my cause :)

I’ll update this every Monday for the next four weeks and see how these parameters are working for me. December 9th I can re-evaluate things and take it from there.

Time to get to it.
 

Wes

Rookie
Rookie
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
4
Hah, what a fucked up start to this journal it’s been. Laptop broke a few days in (finally got a new one this week) and to add to the fun I got sick the first week as well. Still kickin’ tho ;)

So updates… Pretty quickly found out the three categories of work was too complicated to track so I dumbed it down to one. Other than that everything has remained the same.


Week 1
Work: 8hrs 45mins
Gym: 2 of 7 days
Eating/Drinks/Drugs: 2 cheat meals / no drinks / smoked weed on two occasions
Responding: Good
Floss/Brushing: Perfect until weekend

Was doing good until the laptop went down in the middle of the week. Ended up killing time that weekend hanging out with a friend and ended up smoking + eating poorly those nights. Bad start but a start nonetheless.


Week 2
Work: 0:00
Gym: 0 of 7 days
Eating/Drinks/Drugs: 2 cheat meals / 1 drink / smoked weed once
Responding: Bad (lol didn’t even post here)
Floss/Brushing: Didn’t track but guessing like 50/50 on it

…It was fun not the best week for productivity. Actually it couldn’t have been any worse lmao. Didn’t do anything but fuck around, watch tv, and hang out with friends. No laptop so why try was my excuse to myself. A really poor one through - I could’ve done reading or other work and gone to the gym anyways.


Week 3
Work: 12:45
Gym: 3 of 7 days
Eating/Drinks/Drugs: 3 cheat meals / no drinks / smoked tobacco all weekend
Responding: Bad (^see last week)
Floss/Brushing: Forgot or lazy about 4/14 times.

Got my laptop back Monday and was pretty pissed at myself for the previous week. I channelled it well and Mon-Thurs ended up being my most productive stretch these past three weeks - killed it with everything. Out of town since then for Thanksgiving and visiting family/friends (hence the iffy overall totals and the massive tobacco binge) but this has been a much better week than the previous two and something I can build on.


Overall thoughts - 21 days in and it has been far, far from perfect. I’ve got to start somewhere through and on the bright side there is A LOT of room for improvement. :p Work is getting better and I want to see if I can up it to 15 hours next week and 20 the week after that. Going to the gym is still inconsistent but I’m confident I will get closer to going everyday as I continue. My eating habits has been OK but can be better, not much to say there. My lack of drinking has actually been great so far, however smoking almost every third day has not been ideal. Knowing who I’ll be hanging around the next few days before I get home the drinking/drug consumption will probably get worse but if I can have a clean week once I’m back I’ll be okay with it. Got to get better with the responses (note my inability to even post here weekly) and same with the dental shit.

Goals for this week is not to get TOO off track before I get home and when I get back to finish the week out strong. And to not be a total fuckwad and actually post here next Monday ;)
- Wes
 

Wes

Rookie
Rookie
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
4
Quick week 4 update - still on the recovery from hanging w family/friends but damn it was a good time. Wasn't the most productive week but tbh I have few regrets spending time with people I don't get to see very often. Pretty locked in at the moment and feeling like I can make this a good week. We'll see.
 

Tony D

Tribal Elder
Tribal Elder
Joined
Jul 26, 2018
Messages
429
Hey it's interesting to see what you're doing. Keep it up. I like the weed n drink too and sometimes it messes with my productivity. I'd say don't go a week without the gym if possible, as it will contribute to all your other positive habits.
 

Wes

Rookie
Rookie
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Messages
4
Hey it's interesting to see what you're doing. Keep it up.

Hey Tony I appreciate it! Gonna keep at it.


I like the weed n drink too and sometimes it messes with my productivity.

Yeah agreed. I’ve always felt that those sort of vices are like a balancing game for me - I don’t like fully avoiding them (e.g. great in moderation while socializing) through at the same time making sure they don’t snowball into other areas of my life is important. I’d say right now I feel like I’m in a pretty good place with it, though I’d be fine with not smoking at all right now given my current productivity-based goals.


I'd say don't go a week without the gym if possible, as it will contribute to all your other positive habits.

And again I fully agree :) The gym might be the strongest personal gauge for how productive I’m being. Really the only times I won’t go consistently are when I’m either
A. exceptionally busy and can’t make even an hour of free time OR
B. really off my game and/or lacking structure in life.
Usually the only way B happens is right after A, which was the case these last few months (super busy at my job, finishing school & graduating, then celebrating / traveling / moving / etc.) Getting back to the gym consistently will 100% help with the other positive habits I want to enforce.

---
The past week was solid btw. Went to the gym every day, had only one questionable meal (lol cookie dough is a weakness) and outside of a few e-cig hits from a friend’s pen was completely clean on that front. As for the personal work I put in 13 hours, which wasn’t too far off from where I wanted to be. Oh, and I also realize I never clarified WHAT exactly I’m working on in my first post. My primary interests are in audio engineering and music production, so what I’ve been pretty much doing a combination between readings, online classes, and my own creative work. Whoops xD

I also have a fair bit of interest in the nightlife industry (previously worked as a server + bartender at a few smaller places) and am going to start looking to get a job at a much larger spot if I can. I imagine the pay and positions available will probably suck at first compared to what I’m used to, however I really want to learn how some of the mega, vegas-style clubs are run and have heard from friends that the $$$ can really scale if you work your way into a good job with tips.

---
All and all the current short-term plan is shaping up to be…
  1. Keep being consistent with all the little things like eating well and going to the gym.
  2. Getting my personal-workload up to a reliable 20+ hours a week. From the past month I’ve found I can usually put in a good 3-4 hours a day before my mind starts struggling to take in information and work well. Occasionally I’ll be feeling inspired and can do more but as of right now that seems to be my daily upper limit for learning and creative work. So if 21-28 hours is what I can expect in a week at best, I’m thinking a week of 20+ good hours will be a solid target to aim for. Might also go back to CC and take a class or two in my field of interest if I can find something good.
  3. Get nightlife job mentioned above. Haha ya boy is ready to put up with some serious bitch-work at first. All part of the fun :)
 
Top
>