Friday, April 25, 2008

Goals Update 8

Since it's been four months, I figured I'd spend a bit of time redoing this list. There are goals that should either be added, changed, or cut out completely.



First off, the ones I'm cutting off the list.

1.
Do a book review for Jade's blog. Jade isn't even around much because she's so busy, and hasn't done a video in months. If she ever does get the site off the ground and starts keeping some sort of regular update schedule, I'll be more than happy to do a few reviews. But at the moment I don't see the point in spending the time recording and/or editing.

2. Nano 2008. I'm taking this one off until at least September. Even if I do spend time planning this year, I won't be doing it before then. There's no need to update every two weeks just to say that nothing has happened.

3. Update this blog, etc. I wanted to update this at least once a week. I've done at least that (with the exception of my job hunting hiatus).
I've also been writing in my journal regularly. It's become enough of a habit that I don't really think it needs to be on the list anymore. As far as I'm concerned, this one can be considered completed. ^_^

4. Continue my education. This one is coming off, not because I don't plan to do it, but because I can't right now until I get situated financially. I've already done all of the research, all that's left is applying and actually going. As I start working and get the time and extra money, I will be applying to various schools. But it's another goal that doesn't need to be on here, just so that I can say every two weeks that nothing has happened because I'm broke.



The goals that are getting changed around a bit:

1. Finish my degree/get a job. This one is just going to be "get a job" from now on. I have a couple of classes left for my degree but I don't know when I can take them, only because I don't know when they're offered. No point in keeping this goal if they're not even available until next spring. As soon as I can take them I will, and then I'll finish my degree. Until then, a job is my priority.

2. Exercise 3 days a week. This one's getting bumped up to 5 for a while. If I continue to easily meet this goal for the next month or two, I'll cut it off the list as well. The point was to make regular exercise a habit for me. Once it's habit the reminder isn't really necessary, unless I decide to change the goal to fitting in longer workouts, or something like that.



Completely new goals:

1. Organize my stuff and get rid of unnecessary clutter. I need to go through all of my clothes and get rid of stuff that doesn't fit anymore or that I just won't wear. I also need to get rid of books; I have boxes of my mom's stuff and half of them I don't even want. Or already have my own copy of. Same goes for movies, games, random boxes of stuff, etc. I need to get myself organized. Once I get rid of what I don't need I'm going to rearrange what I have left.

That's the overall goal, but it'll change from update to update. I want to break it into manageable chunks. So...first I'll get the books done. I'll get together the books I don't want, and either put them on BookMooch or donate them to the library. I'll also sell what I can of my old textbooks and take the rest to the paper recycling place. Once I'm done with that I'll organize the books I have left. Pack some of the ones I don't read as often and store them, and rearrange my shelves.

I'd like to have that done by the next update, but since I'm posting this entry late, I'll give myself two updates if necessary (until May 23rd).

2. This one ties into the first, kind of. And to the goal I've had of finishing stuff, though it's a bit more specific. I want to get through the books, games, and DVDs that I've borrowed from friends. At the moment I have multiple shelves of borrowed stuff. A couple dozen books, about a dozen seasons of shows thanks to Chris, some movies, a handful of games. I'd like to return some of these things and free up that space.

This one is going to change from update to update too; I'm going to set specific things I want to get through. It might seem stupid, but having a tangible goal actually does help me. I'm aiming for May 23rd with this one too. I want to finish Buffy season 2, and all of the movies I've borrowed from people (there are only three). Also, I'll finish at least three of the borrowed books I have and really get into one of the games. Doesn't matter which.

Wow, those got rather complicated, but they're the only really specific goals I have and I needed to take some time outlining them for myself. Hopefully they work out.



And last, updates on the goals that are being carried over from the old list. I'm making some of them more specific so it's easier to measure my progress, but the overall goals aren't changing at all.

1. Finish my Nano novel. Getting there, slowly but surely. I've still got a long way to go, but I'm working on it regularly. Going to start trying to write at least 10 pages between updates, or edit 20 pages. That number will hopefully go up, but I want to start realistically.

2. Play the flute and piano. I've still been playing the flute. Aiming for twice a week for half an hour. Mom still hasn't gotten to me on the keyboard. I'll see her a few times over the next couple of weeks, between her birthday, my grandmother's birthday, and Mother's Day, so I'll bug her then.

3. Write every day. Nearly there on this one. Word wars would help probably, but even without having anyone to war with regularly, I've been doing well.

4. Let other people read my writing. Parts of my Nano are nearly ready for this I think. Not sure who to send it to though. I know I'm not going to post it here or on the forums or anything.

5. Read 104 books. I'm about 3/4 through this, I think. So I'll probably be able to cross this one off in the next few updates.

6. Take some trips. Should have the hotel booked for Otakon soon. Now I just need a way to pay for it. Still hoping to find a job soon so I can do that and still get out to visit Chris at some point.

7. Learn Japanese. I've been working on this but not getting as far as I'd like. For now I'm going to do one podcast per day (they're short so if I skip a day I should easily be able to make it up), and also practice the writing every day. That's probably about 20 minutes a day of work, which should be easy.

8. Physical therapy for my hand. I lost my stress ball, which is a problem. I've still been doing the exercises that don't use it though.

9. Time management. Slowly improving. It's taking longer than I'd like, and I have more off days than I'd like, but I'm making progress at least. This has been a problem for me for years, so it's going to be rough to get myself out of my old habits.

10.
Start buying less stuff, and finish what I have lying around the house. I bought two books and got another through BookMooch. However, I finished a couple of games, and quite a few books and shows, so I'm still doing well on this one.

11.
Learn Photoshop. Haven't done anything with this; I haven't had the time or the patience. I'm going to get through at least two tutorials by the next update.

Whew, this was long. No wonder it took me forever to get written. But hopefully I'll make even more progress on these now that I've reevaluated and reorganized what I want to do.


On another note, happy 21st birthday to my brother! Hope you had a great one, and damn your school for scheduling final exams the next day! ^_^

Friday, April 11, 2008

Goals Update 7

1. Finish my degree/get a job. I'm doing better with my lighter load of classes at least. I've also applied at a number of places, and I have a list of places to get through by next week. Hopefully something there pans out, and soon.

2. Continue my education. I'm still going to apply to schools for admission next spring, I think. I don't see any reason why I couldn't transfer and start taking classes regardless of whether I've finished an associates degree or not. At the very least I'll apply to the school where my mother works, as I wouldn't even have to pay an application fee.

3. Finish my Nano novel. Been working on both of them a bit lately. I'm hoping to get back into word wars to get even more work done. (Chris, I'm looking at you!)

4. Nano 2008. Still not worried about this, though the more I work on my older novels the more I feel like doing a sequel to one of them.

5. Play the flute and piano. Emailed my mom about the keyboard but haven't had an answer. I only got to it a couple of days ago so I'm sure she'll get back to me soon. Played my flute a bit more. I really need to get new music.

6. Write every day. I'm still doing fairly well with writing, though I think I'm going to try and make a habit of doing it at a certain time. I think I'll stick with it more that way, just like I've stuck with the workouts as long as I do them just before lunch. I just need to figure out a time that works.

7. Update this blog, etc. Obviously I haven't updated this, though I think I'm still close to my once a week goal regardless. Started the daily pages again too. I want to keep up with those if I can and get back to my journal.

8. Let other people read my writing. If I keep the pace I've had, I should have parts of both of my novels fixed up enough to let other people read. Possibly in the next month, or even sooner.

9. Exercise 3 days a week. Still easily doing 3-4 days. Going to aim for 4-5 days from now on. Once I get used to that I'll start adding some extra time to each workout. I'm also going to have to come up with new types of workouts so I don't get bored. Thankfully the weather is getting better so I'll be able to get into hiking and biking again, and then swimming once summer starts.

10. Read 104 books. This one is no issue. Hell, at the rate I'm going I'll finish double that by the end of the year.

11. Take some trips. Right now I'm only worrying about Otakon. Once I get a job and save for that, I'll try and fit in a few other trips. Still hoping to get to Philly sometime over the summer, but we'll see. I wouldn't mind getting to see a few other friends as well, but I'm not sure that any of them live close enough for that to be feasible.

12. Learn Japanese. I've been slacking on this the last couple of weeks. I need to get back to it while it's still fairly fresh in my mind, so I'll get back into the podcasts over the weekend.

13. Physical therapy for my hand. I can force my finger to bend completely, which is more than I've been able to do since I broke it. Getting better bending it on its own as well. I've been working on writing normally (with my finger actually bent instead of the funny way I learned to write right after I got the cast off) along with the regular therapy, which has seemed to help.

14. Time management. Still improving here, now that I'm not so busy. I would like to get a lot better with this though. To be honest, I think I'm doing better because I have to work around when I can take the car out to look for jobs, and not because I'm actually getting better at organizing myself. >_>

15. Start buying less stuff, and finish what I have lying around the house. I've been doing well with this. I've finished up quite a lot of half finished books and series that I've had sitting around for months. I've actually been spending free time doing these things instead of aimlessly surfing the Internet, and it's made a big difference.

16. Do a book review for Jade's blog. Okay, so I lied about having one done for this time. I'm going to try and get two or three out of the way this weekend if I'm not busy. Then I won't have to worry about it again for about awhile.

17. Learn Photoshop. I fiddled with this for a few hours the other night. I didn't make anything very good, but I managed to figure out some of the effects I could use, and how to do some basic functions. I found a site with a lot of tutorials that should help as well.

I actually have another goal or two I was going to add, but I don't think I will at this point. This damn list keeps getting longer and longer, and I'm not crossing anything off. At some point, I'm going to overhaul the list and take some goals off. Some of the things I've made habit enough that I don't really need this list to remind me, like updating this or working out. Others I can actually accomplish, like getting a job, getting in school applications, and doing those book reviews. Once I get rid of aat least some of what's on here now, I may consider adding new goals.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Hiatus

For personal reasons, I'm going to be taking a bit of a break from the internet. I have a number of issues that I need to take care of, and I need time to myself so that I can handle them. I know that's rather vague, but I'm not going into specifics on here.

You can all still reach me at my Yahoo email address, if you want or need anything. I might be on MSN on occasion as well, though I doubt I'll be chatting. I honestly won't be in front of the computer much. But if you leave me a message there I'll eventually get it.

I'm not sure if I'm going to continue to update this blog, which is one reason I'm making this entry (the other being that this is the easiest way to reach everyone). I'll probably do the goals updates when they roll around, but aside from that I'm not sure if/when I'll post anything else. It'll depend on my mood and if I have anything to say, I suppose.

Hopefully I'll get everything worked out in the next month or so, and then I'll be around regularly again. <3