Things I did today

Due to poor sleep, I didn't quite get my day started at time I wanted, but I did get to PT exercises and enjoyed reading a fair amount of Asimov's Second Empire and I've got about 90 pages to go. Would be nice to finish that up tomorrow. It's been a lazy weekend, though I did get plenty of planned reading and chores done. Sunday, though, will have a review to see how much I've not done since this weekend was a bit of a lazy one. 

  What gave me energy today? My 1-3-3 method! I finished The 4 Hour Chef, meal planned next week, went to the grocery store, went for a wonderful and mild walk, as well as tidied up the kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher and at the conclusion of this blog post, will play piano and do some PT exercises. What tasks or interactions drained my energy? Nothing, really. It was a productive and fun day. What was my biggest win? Figured out the meal plan for the week including a completely new dish due to the main protein being on sale. What changes can I make for tomorrow? I think it's better if I put PT and piano nearer the beginning of the day, else things come up and I run the risk of playing piano at 11pm. I also wanted to catch up on other reading, so that'll also be a priority tomorrow. No scrolling the news. Nothing noteworthy there.

 I don't have any big plans for the weekend that would hamper forward progress on my goals, which is excellent. I ended up working an extra hour tonight because the afternoon went a bit crazy. That pushed everything else out for the evening, and while I did get to do piano and PT and write a blog post, it looks like I won't be reading much before bed. Ali Abdaal finished up the Productivity Challenge by offering a Productivity Club (for some amount of money) and a continuation of his Productivity emails every workday. While I don't believe I need to pay someone to keep me on task, I don't mind perusing free resources, so I'll stick with the free option. What gave me energy today? Visiting with my friend Jennifer at lunch. What tasks or interactions drained my energy? Finishing up files for an external client. I thought I was done previously, but the business added more information yesterday afternoon, which meant I had to go through the files again for completeness ...

 I made all 30 days, and did all of the homework. Now to choose which of those lessons best fit me into a system. There's the 3-3-3 method, the 5 minute rule, Timeboxing, 10-3-2-1 method, daily review, weekly review, quarterly review, annual review, play personalities, Pomodoro technique, Ideal week and time tracking. Some of those things I've already forgotten! I'm torn on the timeboxing stuff. I think it's helping but I'm not being extremely strict about it. I like the 3-3-3 method (that I then called the 1-3-3 method, was successful, the forgot about it) and I also like the daily review questions. Pomodoro I never got the hang of and also didn't care for random stops when I wasn't ready to stop. Tomorrow looks like a pretty standard day in the office. Hopefully it will be quiet. My PT appt went very well, and my physical therapist was happy with my progress. Excellent, since I've made it a goal! What gave me energy today? Learning about SQL triggers a...

Well, almost. I didn't get to do any professional development today, but that's fine - I just did regular work so I could get it out of the way.    What gave me energy today? Finishing a project, but to be fair, it didn't give me much energy. What tasks or interactions drained my energy? Co-workers loudly discussing how Taylor Swift has already ruined the Super Bowl for them. What was my biggest win? Finishing that project and getting a second to 80% complete. What did I struggle with? Getting in gear for my evening. I've done my PT, but it looks unlikely that I'll do piano. I'd rather read. What changes can I make for tomorrow? Happily, I can work from home tomorrow. Tuesday being the day where everyone is in the office makes it the worst day for me. I think I'll make Tuesday evenings just quiet evenings where I only do PT and enjoy reading.

I'll stop the alliteration, but today was really great. I listened to the "original" source, Debbie Millman, on the Tim Ferriss Show for more insight for the 10 Year Plan. (I put original in quotes, as she was introduced to the 10 Year Plan for a Remarkable Life from her professor.) I realize (but still will change) why I put so many "mights" in my previous attempt. So many of Millman's questions are directed to college-aged students - "Where will you live?" "What will your career look like?" "What kind of car will you have?" The answer to those are what I already have. In 10 years, I expect to live in the same city and have the same career. I also hope to have the same car, but it's already over 14 years old. A lot of my life is already decided - not in a way that makes me feel like I'm in a rut, but in a way that makes me settled and able to enjoy other things rather than worry about what career I want to be in. All he...

Timebox for Monday: Week 3: Become a certified Power BI Data Analyst Quarter 1: Finish Power BI Skill Track and do exercises in The Definitive Guide to DAX Complete Case Study Analyzing Job Market Data in Power BI (done) Have a similar level of fitness as my exercise partner Quarter 1: Create daily PT exercises habit Continue habit and find two small times, and one half hour, for PT (still not easy) Achieve intermediate level playing for piano Quarter 1: Play through all of Alfred's Adult Learner 1 and learn five fakebook songs Become proficient in these songs in Alfred's Adult Learner 1: The Entertainer Somewhere Over the Rainbow Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (at least I'll have enough time for that one) Find a fakebook song to learn (Also still not easy) Cook through the 4 Hour Chef Quarter 1: Read through 4 Hour Chef Read the first four lessons (done) Go through the Brent Ozar DBA Mastery courses Quarter 1: sp_Blitz exercises Walk through the second five errors ...