UPDATE / Week of January 4 to 10
REFERENCES: Going Up a Notch – THE PLAN — Notch #1 – GOALS for January — Notch #1 – BABY STEPS / Week of January 4 to 10
Here are the baby steps that were planned
and the progress that was made.
THE ROAD TRIP SHOW
BABY STEP:
Recording of Episode 1
must be 100% done by Sunday.
PROGRESS:
Not done. Not even close. I’ll be generous and say I’m 40% done.
So as of tonight, I’m not sure the show will be ready for its scheduled launch on Wednesday. Will know for sure by Tuesday. I’m crossing my fingers, as opposed to what I would have done in a not-so-distant past which is mentally crush them with a nail-studded iron bar.
Learning to let go.
Learning to be kinder to myself.
Learning to not make a big deal about a make-believe radio show — Hello?
JUSTIFICATION:
After listening to what I had recorded last month and finding it boooooring, I decided to destroy the tracks and start all over again. This means I had way more work to do this week than was expected.
Good news is, after a series of botched recordings, I finally began to relax and was therefore able to find the right tone and rhythm for the show. This happened yesterday — YESSS! I can’t begin to tell you what a relief it was for me to start having fun with this project instead of feeling the pressure to “perform.” Still, I have to be very careful not to get caught in the perfectionnist trap — darn that monster is hard to eliminate!
And I must add to this litany of excuses the fact I’ve been having problems with WordPress. It used to be I only had them with my French blog, but as of last Monday, posting on my English blog has also become a challenge. Will be updating both of them either right after the show’s launch, or before if the old version eats up too much of my time and energy.
ADJUSTMENTS:
I need to determine what my priorities are. This week, I should have concentrated on recording The Road Trip Show. It should have been my main creativity/productivity goal. Instead, I wrote 6 posts for my English blog and 5 posts for my French blog. A total of 11 posts this week. And that doesn’t include this update and its French version. For a grand total of 13 posts.
What was I thinking?!!
Of course this being the first week of The 12-Notch Plan, I had to present a detailed picture of what I had in mind as well as play by the rules and post an update. But I could have done without the post on the decline of my neighbourhood and the ones documenting my morning walks.
THE CONTEST
BABY STEP:
Create the product to be won
by 2 of the trippers on the Happy Bus.
PROGRESS:
Done! The illustration — which already existed but wasn’t “clean” enough for printing purposes — has been drawn over and is now ready to be sent off to CafePress.
THE HEALTHY ME
BABY STEP:
Walk at least 60 minutes every day.
PROGRESS:
Done… but overdone! I went from not taking the time to walk because I was too busy working, to walking 90 minutes yesterday and close to 3 hours today.
Not good for productivity.
ADJUSTMENTS:
Walk no more than 1 hour each morning, from 8 to 9.
And stop posting about my walks when I have more important goals to reach.
I have to mention how Julien Smith inspired me to make my morning walks a priority for both my physical and mental well-being. As I mentioned above, I tend to work, work, work, the day goes by, and I end up not taking my walk on account of it’s too late, too dark, I’m too tired, don’t feel like it, blah blah blah.
When I read Julien’s posts, How To Make Your New Year’s Resolution Actually Happen and Give in to the Machine, I had an aha! moment. It’s all about restriction… and creating habits. Check it out!
BABY STEP:
Eat 5 small meals every day.
PROGRESS:
Not happening. I’ve been eating mostly 2 meals a day. And pretty much the same thing every day.
JUSTIFICATION:
Because I don’t schedule it. Because I get absorbed by my work and forget about it. Because I don’t plan ahead to have food available and in a wide variety.
Because, because, because.
ADJUSTMENTS:
Plan ahead. Make sure I have enough food for the week. Set my timer and eat!
That’s it for this week.
See you tomorrow…
for another week of baby steps.
