I’m doing sets of 20 daily. The goal is to make it as easy to do 20 as possible. That is, I want to be able to do 20 as quickly as possible. I don’t want the last few to be a struggle. If I miss a day, I’ll do another set of 20.
Just to keep everybody updated, I am still waking up at 5 am. At this point, the waking up part is much easier than it was before. The only drawback to my experiment is that staying awake is sometimes a problem. The issue stems from working late or not going to bed early. When I work until midnight or later, it doesn’t give me much time to rest and be back at work the next day. Do that consecutively, and it wears you down. I’ve resorted to napping after waking up. I’ll wake up at 5 AM to keep with the challenge, but then I’ll nap for an hour from 6 to 7 to make up an extra hour of sleep. On days like today, when I have enough sleep, at least 6 hours, staying awake is not a problem.
I ordered some Moo cards to help promote http://shainemata.net, which seems to be working. Since I started the site, I’ve been getting more and more traffic. There are other blogs for which I have not written in a while that are still getting more visitors. However, if the trend continues, I’ll be passing them soon.
I had a setback on my goal, but I’m back on it. It was much easier to wake up today.
http://www.shainemata.net/2007/03/31/waking-up-early-day-one-or-day-four/
I’ve been checking out some of the better known bloggers to see what they are doing to blog successfuly. I’ve changed my blogging to shainemata.net
I started today after waking up at 6 for a couple days.
I want to ease into waking up at 5 AM. I was waking up at roughly 7:30 to 8. My intermediate goal is to wake up at 6 for a few days before jumping to 5 AM.
I need to stop staying up late to do stuff and wait to do them in the morning when I have a fresh mind.
The Mrs. and I have got our student loans current. There are a couple black marks on my credit that I need to address so that we can prequalify for a mortgage.
Some time back, I read Getting Things Done by David Allen. It takes a little bit of work to get the system going. I’m still working at it. With the help of 43 Folders, I am finding it easier to implement the GTD system. One important addition I’ve made is the Hipster PDA. Due to its flexible interface, the Hipster makes it easier to implement the GTD system. The best thing about this combination is that it allows you to clear your mind of junk. No more loose projects rattling around. I’m doing my weekly review tonight.
A few weeks ago, I reviewed my progress. I have 21 hours to go for graduation!
I will be working towards this goal this summer. I would like to earn more than that, however. The money will go towards paying bills and going to school another semester or two. If I can find a fair part-time job, then the money would be there for tight spots until I graduate. I just need this as a stash for emergencies when a paycheck doesn’t cover my needs.
Writing a book is one of my goals in life. I do think that it is in my future. I understand, from other writers, that a book “has to be written”. Meaning that the writer is merely a conduit for bringing the book to fruition. You don’t sit down and say to yourself that you are going to write a book about X,Y, or Z. It’s the other way around. X,Y, or Z needs a book and you are the one to do it.
As soon as I come across such a situation, I’m all over it.
Although my wife and I still have a few years before we can pull this off, we are gathering information so that we know what to do when the time comes. Here is the immigration site:
http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk
Looks like we may be able to get in as highly skilled workers. I need to look into job opportunities and cost of living to see how much we would have to earn.
I’ve been doing more writing and improving my style to make my blogging more appealing. I do have a small group of regular readers. I will be doing a writing project this summer where I will document my experiences as a migrant worker. I think this may attract a small number of readers.
It’s easier to do 35 push-ups now. It’s still a struggle to get there. My muscles just don’t want to give that little extra to exceed 35. This isn’t so bad. A while back they struggled to hit 30. I used to be able to do 40 push-ups back when I weighed 118 pounds in high school. Now, at a little over 150, I have more work to do. So, knowing that it’s more of a challenge now because of the extra weight, I feel better about it.
I’ve begun working towards this goal. I’m not running 21 miles yet. I’ve started out by run-walking 2 miles. Last night I walked 7 miles. I ran through a couple neighborhoods just so I could get to better lighted areas, but it wasn’t major running. I will try to walk longer distances and add more running.
