Such a pleasure to spend two days at home. Cleaning, cooking, washing clothes and bedding. Not doing any work, per se. No negotiating, no chat, no BS.
Temptations: Sherlock, The Closer seasons 6 & 7, The Vampire Diaries, Dexter season 2, and the Nook.
Good news: I feel more relaxed and I am bored. Tomorrow is the last day of the old time, and May 1 I start working on my new goals. I need to get ready for my trip, and to finish cleaning and de-cluttering my house. I have to go back to daily writing in order to get back on a regular routine and complete the present manuscript so I can send it off.
Bad news: two more days of class, plus grading and evaluations. Sigh. Not bad, and not terrible, I just feel like I'm over the school year of 2011-2012. Ready to enjoy a month just about me. Hurrah.
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
2012 Goals: The Beginnings
Given my ambitious personal goals for 2012, it is time I get started, right?
Having thought it over, my January goals are the following:
Daily energy: this is the toughest, because it will require long-term changing of habits involving meals, exercise (ugh!), and hormones. You can't buy or find energy--you have to make it, yourself, by doing things differently. Not my strong suit. But... necessary. Changes will include:
Submitting the second mss. means writing at least five times weekly, with a weekly page tally of about 25-40 pages. I'm 2/3 of the way through this mss., but need editing time as well. That means one to two hours daily for writing.
Enriching my group work might already be solved: I have an invitation to join a local women's group in my area of expertise, I am working with a local theatre group already on a solid project, and I have a social group that should be meeting again (for the second time) this month. Again, just needs scheduling.
And the work on donations, selling, and the house? One shot deals, each of which require some preparation time but nothing too much. I can get one of these done per week, or over a particularly empty weekend.
What accomplishing these means is that by the end of this month, I'll feel better (although I am considering that the "energy" issues are really a three-month project, considering the need to change old habits for grounded, new ones), my bank account will be leaner and meaner, my house will be cheaper & warmer, more clutter will be gone, I'll have two new group relationships developed, and I'll be moving onto mss. #3... a great kick-start to 2012!
Having thought it over, my January goals are the following:
- Resources/Health: improve my daily energy, so I don't feel quite so tired at the end of every day
- Resources: deal with money issues hanging on from 2011 and re-think spending for 2012
- Creative Closure: submit second mss. to editor by 1.31
- Community: develop one new and one old "group"/community for 2012
- Living Situation: Goodwill, Salvation Army, and eBay by 1.31; insulate front and back doors
Daily energy: this is the toughest, because it will require long-term changing of habits involving meals, exercise (ugh!), and hormones. You can't buy or find energy--you have to make it, yourself, by doing things differently. Not my strong suit. But... necessary. Changes will include:
- eating every 3-4 hours;
- increasing complex carbos (fruits and vegs, whole grains with B vitamins) to match already present proteins;
- taking vitamins daily;
- taking hormones every day;
- exercising 30-40 minutes at least 4 times weekly;
- getting 7-8 hrs. sleep every night;
- scheduling/organizing all of same, so as not to get behind/stressed.
Submitting the second mss. means writing at least five times weekly, with a weekly page tally of about 25-40 pages. I'm 2/3 of the way through this mss., but need editing time as well. That means one to two hours daily for writing.
Enriching my group work might already be solved: I have an invitation to join a local women's group in my area of expertise, I am working with a local theatre group already on a solid project, and I have a social group that should be meeting again (for the second time) this month. Again, just needs scheduling.
And the work on donations, selling, and the house? One shot deals, each of which require some preparation time but nothing too much. I can get one of these done per week, or over a particularly empty weekend.
What accomplishing these means is that by the end of this month, I'll feel better (although I am considering that the "energy" issues are really a three-month project, considering the need to change old habits for grounded, new ones), my bank account will be leaner and meaner, my house will be cheaper & warmer, more clutter will be gone, I'll have two new group relationships developed, and I'll be moving onto mss. #3... a great kick-start to 2012!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Resolutions -- or Goals! -- for 2012
It's that time of year again, and I have to assess 2011's goals and repurpose them for 2012.
Thankfully, this is not too hard to do, since I have been pretty steadily working on each of my 2011 goals and thinking a lot during the last week about how to revise them for 2012.
Here we go!
2011's goals were, as I took them in this blog:
Living Situation: 100% improvement, maybe 150%. No more crackhead landlord, no more cracker box, reduced rent, more green space, and more light. Thsi one was a total success, despite sacrificing a good deal of savings on the 3-month overlap of spaces.
Resources: Time is a constant battle, between "shoulds" and "want tos." Yo, I'm human. However I did add the Rescue Time Robot to my desktop, and it tells me I am 79% more productive than average. So shut up, Critic's Voice! Money is another, different battle, but this year I did pretty well. I have a more affordable appartment (and even though I might only be saving $100/month, the happiness factor makes that huge). I rearranged my retirement $$ is a way that makes me feel more secure. I opened several successful venues of frugality for decluttering, including selling unwanted items. Energy is the real battle, and that's the 2012 focus.
Community: This, too, was a success. I joined a short story group of women I enjoy and while we've only met once, I look forward to more meetings. I opened myself to the performing community in town, and am building bridges there. I opened myself to the community on my campus, and am trying to open out of my division, my school, and into the university in a positive way. I need to set more goals here, however, and be open to groups of strangers.
Creative: This was a big success! I sold my first novel (coming out in June!) and have almost completed the second, which I am certain will be equally salable. I sent out my short plays in a month-long binge and have had one hit so far, and three rejections (so I've got a long way to go). It felt great, however, challenging myself to complete and submit projects.
Overall, 2011 was a good year in terms of my goals. I plan to build on that in 2012:
Improve Overall Health: not much change here in direction. However, I plan to focus specifically on maintaining good habits (like using the humidifier every night) while building new ones (like 30 minutes of movement every day). I'd like to add daily meditation and vitamins, but I think I'll be conservative in this area, since it is one that truly needs daily focus.
Resources: As ever, my biggest battle will be managing time. I have come to hate scheduling and to-do lists. And yet.... I need a new car, I need a new mattress & box spring, I need to pay down (or off) my credit cards. All worthy goals, all hard to do at the same bloody time! This year I want to build on my basic foundations of frugal saving and repurposing and decluttering: I find that I am about done with the wholesale donations to Goodwill, etc., and while that is an easy and intelligent manner of getting things OUT OF MY HOUSE (and onto my tax savings) I must needs find other ways to open what one of my favorite blogs refers to as "additional revenue streams." And finding new energy is part of the Health intiatives above, plus the hormones.
Community: continued reaching out, across phone, email, work/personal connections to develop relationships with new people/groups as well as people I already like, love, and connect with.
I am so tired of negativity, including my own. I really believe everything is an opportunity, seen in the right light. Context and response are everything... they can turn what looks like failure or an impass into something wonderful. Not to be goopy or stupid about it, but to stop letting myself define my view by others' vision. Ugh! Especially since I am butt-tired of the men in my life having stupid, negative, misanthropic outlooks anyway.
Oh, does that sound negative? Nope: it's all good.
Thankfully, this is not too hard to do, since I have been pretty steadily working on each of my 2011 goals and thinking a lot during the last week about how to revise them for 2012.
Here we go!
2011's goals were, as I took them in this blog:
- Improve Overall Health
- Change My Living Situation
- Manage My Resources
- Build a Better Community
- See Creative Work to Closure
Living Situation: 100% improvement, maybe 150%. No more crackhead landlord, no more cracker box, reduced rent, more green space, and more light. Thsi one was a total success, despite sacrificing a good deal of savings on the 3-month overlap of spaces.
Resources: Time is a constant battle, between "shoulds" and "want tos." Yo, I'm human. However I did add the Rescue Time Robot to my desktop, and it tells me I am 79% more productive than average. So shut up, Critic's Voice! Money is another, different battle, but this year I did pretty well. I have a more affordable appartment (and even though I might only be saving $100/month, the happiness factor makes that huge). I rearranged my retirement $$ is a way that makes me feel more secure. I opened several successful venues of frugality for decluttering, including selling unwanted items. Energy is the real battle, and that's the 2012 focus.
Community: This, too, was a success. I joined a short story group of women I enjoy and while we've only met once, I look forward to more meetings. I opened myself to the performing community in town, and am building bridges there. I opened myself to the community on my campus, and am trying to open out of my division, my school, and into the university in a positive way. I need to set more goals here, however, and be open to groups of strangers.
Creative: This was a big success! I sold my first novel (coming out in June!) and have almost completed the second, which I am certain will be equally salable. I sent out my short plays in a month-long binge and have had one hit so far, and three rejections (so I've got a long way to go). It felt great, however, challenging myself to complete and submit projects.
Overall, 2011 was a good year in terms of my goals. I plan to build on that in 2012:
Improve Overall Health: not much change here in direction. However, I plan to focus specifically on maintaining good habits (like using the humidifier every night) while building new ones (like 30 minutes of movement every day). I'd like to add daily meditation and vitamins, but I think I'll be conservative in this area, since it is one that truly needs daily focus.
- January-April: make it a habit to spend 30 minutes every day in movement of some kind
- May-August: add daily meditation (which will work with my 2012 summer plans)
- Sept-December: add supplements and vitamins
- get a mammogram
- get a colonoscopy
- get a dermascan
Resources: As ever, my biggest battle will be managing time. I have come to hate scheduling and to-do lists. And yet.... I need a new car, I need a new mattress & box spring, I need to pay down (or off) my credit cards. All worthy goals, all hard to do at the same bloody time! This year I want to build on my basic foundations of frugal saving and repurposing and decluttering: I find that I am about done with the wholesale donations to Goodwill, etc., and while that is an easy and intelligent manner of getting things OUT OF MY HOUSE (and onto my tax savings) I must needs find other ways to open what one of my favorite blogs refers to as "additional revenue streams." And finding new energy is part of the Health intiatives above, plus the hormones.
Community: continued reaching out, across phone, email, work/personal connections to develop relationships with new people/groups as well as people I already like, love, and connect with.
- Habitat for Humanity: in the Dallas area
- Alum group: for connections and fundraising/support of current programs
- Short story group
- Theatremakers/academics/women in both
- Finish and sell second and third novels
- Binge with short plays in February and Sept-Oct
- Journal daily: dreams, ideas, etc.
- Finish and send two reviews
- Finish and send encyclopedia entries
- Polish and send two articles (from ALA papers, 2011) to journals
- Present two-three conference papers (one scheduled, July)
- Blog daily (in either blog) and continue to post my own photos
I am so tired of negativity, including my own. I really believe everything is an opportunity, seen in the right light. Context and response are everything... they can turn what looks like failure or an impass into something wonderful. Not to be goopy or stupid about it, but to stop letting myself define my view by others' vision. Ugh! Especially since I am butt-tired of the men in my life having stupid, negative, misanthropic outlooks anyway.
Oh, does that sound negative? Nope: it's all good.
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