arup’s blog

This month seems to have flown by busy teaching classes, doing IT support and web design. No time for bike rides or leisure. One thing became clear though, that I need to rethink my strategy a bit as the web design has moved from being a hobby to real work. I am learning more and more and applying what I learn. But it means that I need to make time for leisure too and cut out less important things in my life. I mean that I need to formally drop them so they stop rattling round in my head, calling for attention.

Pilates

Have completely lost my way with this after so much initial enthusiasm. It’s always the way of things isn’t it. But have been trying to apply it to everyday life, but it’s difficult when the foundation isn’t quite there.

Meditation

Keep planning it and not doing it. I still do the five minute sit after the morning pages, but that’s it really. I seem to be frightened of it in some way. Let’s see what happens in November.

My own yoga practice

Have been doing this especially as I’m now teaching fewer classes than before. I need to do it. One of the things that my clients complain about is that they feel stiff after sitting at a desk all day. Now I’m doing the same. It’s great to stop and get on the mat.

Diet – eating well, keeping my target weight

Hmm. Just about hanging there. My weight has crept up over the past month and the health factor has certainly gone down too. It’s not worrying me too much, but I am concerned that much effort will be needed to shift the extra weight if it gets out of hand. What’s more worrying is the bad food. It’s good fun of course, but I’ll end up paying by low energy and long term health factors. Still taking the vitamins though, at least that is something.

Bike rides eg London to Brighton etc

I did think about doing the London to Brighton on my own during October as it hasn’t been too cold and the weather has been pretty good. But way too busy. I would certainly like to do my ride down to Orpington in Kent but will have to leave it till next month. Have been doing my hundred miles a week though, so my fitness is pretty good.

Reading

I’ve got stuck halfway through the Fatherhood book and feel that I can’t start anything else until I’ve finished that. But when does fatherhood really finish? So I think it’s time to pick up that Dostoevsky that I’ve been meaning to start.

Trips to visit friends

Keeping in touch but not by actual meetings. Facebook has been a great help and I’ve managed to contact a couple of people that I haven’t seen for ages. But there’s nothing like actually spending time having a cup of tea and a chat.

Selling things on Ebay and having a clear out

Well on the case with this one. There was huge pile of stuff sitting in the living room after clearing out the storage room and little by little it has gone down to two boxes. Ebay, charity shops, Freecycle and generally just giving things away. It was hard to throw away eight years worth of morning pages books, but am I ever going to read them again? I didn’t miss them when they were in storage and I still don’t miss them.

I’ve often thought of scanning old documents and discarding the paper version, but still would I ever make reference to them? Mostly not. Use it or lose it.

Pampering and ‘me’ time

One thing that I’ve hit upon toward the end of the month was to sit down during my plan the week session and set my working hours for that week. It then makes it clear when I’m at work. Knowing this I can also be at leisure without that guilty feeling that I should be working. The massage didn’t happen this month but has been booked for the beginning of next month. I must make a list of what I consider to be pampering. There’s more to it than baths and massage.

Reviews in the blog – films, books, exhibitions etc

I wonder why I have this as a goal because I never seem to think about doing it and the thought of it seems like a chore. Perhaps I’ll just have to cross it off the list.

Wheel building

Still ticking over. Certainly more than one a month. Still getting plenty of enquiries and I would say that it’s more like three a month on average. Not going to advertise on ebay for a while though as I’m getting enough just through the website and from the fixed gear forum.
arup’s wheel building pages

Working on my Svenska

Well just after finding a Swedish teacher I just don’t have the time and as it’s not really essential to my health and well being I think that I may have to drop this one too. I know that I could listen to the radio now and again. But I would rather be clear and just drop it for now. Better to just cross it off the list and then add it again later rather than keep carrying it forward to the next month. Shame though, as I was enjoying it.

Music and Songwriting

I actually took one of my guitars of its hook on the wall and played a song. I also listened to a track that a friend had given me to mix a few months ago. But my musical aspirations have drifted into the background. It’s not something that I’m going to quit, but at the same time it’s not something that I can engage with right now. Playing through that song made me realise that if I put this to one side for a while, a year or two it won’t be gone. It may gather some dust, but that’s all. Still two months to go till the end of the year, so still a chance to write a song.
Songfight

Songfight entries of Bell Green

Business Plan

This has been thoroughly investigated and then well and truly dropped. I still have no regrets, which means that it was a good decision.

Learning PHP

Going very well. The book is really good and uses examples that can be put to use immediately. It’s all about having that regular slot, otherwise these things don’t happen. There’s something about php that I really like, as though it’s warm and friendly. There is a lot to take in, but most of it is sticking.

Typing

I used the outcome frame (an NLP technique) to ascertain my goals with this one. I did a few tests to work out my current speed and then made a target. Currently it is at 34 wpm. So getting up to 50 wpm is very realistic and would help me tremendously in all the things I do, such as blogging, writing e-mails and code. It’s hard to actually imagine being able to type any faster, but then it’s harder to imagine not being able to type at all.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 5:51 am and is filed under progress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.