monthly report march 2010
Another busy month has passed by with not much of thought for my goals or my plans for the year. At least not in formal way i.e. actually sitting down and taking time to reflect upon them. But the cogs in my brain have been busy whirring away and so every now and again I have these little flashes of insight which I then have to write down and apply. It’s as though I’ve done all this so many times that on some level in my mind it just continues. In spite of the busy workload I have some sort of inner calm that guides me through it all and gives me a feeling of confidence that continues to drive me forward. And that’s what it’s all about really: that it doesn’t matter too much on the rate of progress but that there is progress and that I continue to take steps forward toward my goals. And I can have faith in myself that there is some sort of inner life manager that takes care of these things in spite of the fact that I haven’t had my walks along the canal on a Saturday and sat down to look over my goals.
So how come I’ve been so busy? Much the same as January and February really. I’ve had a couple of extra yoga classes to teach, more websites to develop, more wheels to build and of course my java programming course. Yeah man. That’s what it’s been all about. It hasn’t been possible to take Saturday as a day of reflection so a lot of my thinking and reflecting has had to be on the fly. There has been a slight sense of panic and I wondered if I had taken on a bit too much. In fact I even missed one deadline which has never happened before.
One of the little insights that I had was to have a clear schedule for my week. Times when I build wheels, when I study and when I do web design. The yoga classes already have permanent fixtures so it was just a case of fitting things around them. So I came up with the following:
- Monday – spend the day with Maya and teach yoga
- Tuesday – build wheels, teach yoga, then study
- Wednesday – build wheels, teach yoga
- Thursday – teach yoga and study
- Friday – web design
- Saturday – web design and maintenance tasks
- Sunday – teach yoga and study or web design
My course is about to finish on Thursdays and the next one will be on Tuesdays so it’s only logical that I devote the time slot to study from now.
One of the difficulties of being freelance or working from home is that it can be easy to lose focus, so having a clear dividing line of when I do what makes it much easier to focus on on thing at a time. So far it’s working well and I’m getting a lot done and working my way through the backlog.
OK, so enough of the general state of affairs and my ways of coping. Let’s take a look at the specifics.
120 miles
With that extra yoga class at the other side of town this has been fairly easy and I’ve just hit the 21,000. I haven’t even been out to celebrate my 20,000 which was supposed to be an extra special one. I can feel the increase in fitness, not only on the bike but off it too. But I’ve also had a fall, a flat tyre and a dented rim. Well, if you ride more then you increase the likelihood of stuff happening. I need to keep it in tip top condition but it’s actually a filthy mess and in dire need of a clean.
Meditation
That 5 – 10 minutes after my morning pages has taken hold as a regular thing and I look forward to the time when i will have a couple of longer slots at some point. But at the moment it’s not that way at all. I don’t want to force this at all. If the urge isn’t there, then it isn’t there. But I know that it is there. The seedling is slowly growing. I just need to give it time to take root and slowly mature. Again it’s all about faith and trust in myself.
Yoga
Well I’m teaching a bit more but that doesn’t count. Although I have gone over the idea that it does sort of count. But a couple of weeks ago I came up with a very simple solution which was something that I used to do for a little while and which was also very effective. The idea was simply to arrive at my class early and then do my own practice for a while before the class. When I have done this in the past it was effective for 2 reasons. For one I am in a space where there are no distractions. It’s an empty exercise studio. And secondly it gets me in the zone, the yoga zone ready for my class. I feel good in myself that I have done some yoga and I feel more focused and energised to teach my class. I’ve done a little bit and it has been really interesting. Another of those little insights I’ve had on the fly.
Friends
This one has been rather neglected this month. Apart from a couple of chats on Skype I haven’t really had that much social interaction. And given my current workload you can see why. I often wonder why they never seem to get in touch with me rather than me chasing them. But I don’t really want to discuss those ideas right now.
De-clutter
Sadly there is even more clutter. My room is full of wheels, even under the bed. Empty cardboard boxes from bike part deliveries with delivery notes strewn around the place and little piles of paper. One thing that will hopefully inspire me to take some action is that I will be moving house in three months time so I would rather not take too much junk with me. But I’m already of the mind that thinks I could sort out my “don’t know” pile when I’m there. Oh dear.
Goalless
With all the extra work I wonder if there is any time to do any of this. But I seem to have time to have a quick blast of Halo 2 or spend an hour on Evony. These are obviously great fun but somehow don’t seem as fruitful as visiting a gallery or going for a nice walk. But again we can’t force these things. I do get engaged and absorbed and they do give a sense of downtime which I really need right now. They stop me worrying and I can just play. I haven’t read a novel in a while and a bath would be nice too. I need a few more ideas. I did watch a movie the other night though, which was great.
Programming
Well, the C programming is now java programming and I am approaching the end of my ten week course at City University. I have been enjoying it immensely but I have found it difficult to find time to study. I have been going into the computer labs between my yoga class finishing and course starting which gives me around four hours of study time. But given the amount of material that we have been covering this clearly isn’t enough. But the main thing is that I’m enjoying it and that I’m realising that I could do this as a career. The aim of doing this course, as well as learning to program was to see if I liked it and could see myself pursuing this as a career. And I think I can. So I’m going to sign up for the second one and hopefully have a job by the end of the year. So what have I really learned? That I need a structured learning environment and to be around others with a similar level of interest and motivation.
Health plan
I do have a health plan for 2010 which I wrote out before christmas. Now and again I remember bits from it. It was all to do with BMR and whole lot of strategies to increase my BMR. Strength training, small meals etc. etc. I need another brain wave to make it happen.
What went well
I have been doing this quite sporadically but again seem to be falling into the trap of looking for really big things. Or perhaps when truly noteworthy things do happen then lesser ones seem very small next to them. They appear to be insignificant and not worthy of note. But the point was to make a note of the small things. But even more than writing, the main reason was to get me to think about them.