progress report april 2008
Another late entry but April has been quite a productive month with some decisions about the future being made. That has meant some changes in the goals for this year.
Basically I want to learn Ruby on Rails and try and get a job as a developer in order to get a bigger flat and to go back to the world of work for a while. And that means a lot of work. My plan is to have at least 5 sessions of learning a week and so far it’s going pretty well.
Minimum of 100 miles per week
I have been quite near the mark but not quite there. Last week I did manage to do 99 miles which I’m happy with.
Meditation
I’ve written another post called Late Night Meditation in the Category Meditation Diary and I’ve been finding that there is a good time for me to do a spot of meditation on a regular basis.
Yoga practice
I’ve been doing this too. About twice a week and often combined with a bike ride. I don’t really have any plan at the moment but simply to get onto the mat and work intuitively. I have a sense of what I need to do having been practicing for so long.
Achievement Log
This is tricky on and I often wonder what should go in here. What do I consider to be an achievement. For someone who is lazy taking the rubbish out is major achievement. So doing something that is sort of mundane and everyday I would not consider to be an achievement. But then there are things that are a little way above that which don’t warrant cracking open the champagne but perhaps the sparkling wine.
I need to think about this one a bit more I reckon.
Bike rides
I’ve been on my Orpington loop a couple of times and I’ve been researching the possibility of joining Audax. I like the idea of Audax because it appeals to my idea of clocking up the miles and keeping a record of them. Hopefully I can go on one of their rides before the year is through.
Relaxing and fun activities
Most of the things that I do are relaxing and fun even though they are goals that I’m setting out to achieve. But yes, the idea with this one is to do something for its own sake like eating candy floss. But then it’s weird having it on the list because then it sort of becomes a goal. Having it on the list though is really to act as a reminder that I need to do things that aren’t goals or even steps toward a goal. But then if I’m doing things that I enjoy as my goals then do I even need these sorts of distractions?
eBAY Sales
I’ve sold 2 things on EBAY – Hurrah! A pair of old cranks and a set of old pedals. They didn’t go for much but that doesn’t really matter. The main thing is that I’m getting back into the swing of EBAY.
Clearing stuff out
There is money tied up in some of the things that I have and some others could be given away on Freecycle. But I could still chuck more. I really want to do this one and I really need to as well, but it just isn’t that urgent so it gets left behind.
Computer Off Day
I have been doing this one religiously and it has been proving to be a real winner. Each and every Sunday I don’t touch the computer. No blogging, no e-mails, surfing or coding. Nothing. Nichts. Nada.
It means that I can get on with those things that get neglected such as planning, reading (yes, paper books) and just reflecting on goals and plans. It also makes me really hungry to get back on there on Monday but with greater focus.
The Wheel Log
Well, I’m certainly on target. The orders are coming in thick and fast at the rate I need to complete my goal of a hundred wheels this year and they have all gone into the wheel log. Sometimes I think it’s a waste of time but then I look back at last year and all the wheels that I made and I have nothing – no record of what I did. So it’s all good.
Svenska
I’m going to knock this one on the head I think. Or at least put it on hold because now with the baby I don’t think we’ll be going to Sweden that often and that is the main reason for learning Swedish.
Learning PHP
I’ve been working through my book by Larry Ullman and I’m about halfway through. And I’ve been using the techniques there to build my new version of my wheel building site. I’m starting to get it and it doesn’t seem as difficult as when I first got into PHP last year.
Typing
I haven’t really been working on this month apart from trying to relax and focus on using my little fingers a bit more as they seem to do quite a lot, not just the shift keys.
Ruby on Rails
It was on the goal list last year and then it got dropped because I wasn’t getting anywhere with it but now it’s back and I’m actually making some progress. Why has this been reinstated? I’m going to write a full post about this so you can get the full lowdown.