plan and evaluate on a weekly basis

In a mood to call this done – I’m evaluating more than I have all year through the medium of my other goals, and my diary is excellent for the planning part. Adios.

There are a couple of big things I’d like to be able say I’ve done at the end of this week.

• be back on top of my financial situation. My budget will be reinstated, and I will be feeling calm about money matters.
• have sorted out the receipts situation at long last – I will have collected them on Tuesday morning.
• have exercised every day this week.
• have made some good strides across the board in terms of university work, and feel more up-to-date than I do now.
• be relaxed and ready to have a fabulous time in Taupo – on the slopes for the first time since I was 13!

I feel like I’ve been a little latent on my goals of late and I want to gently up the ante this week, while bearing in mind that I can’t have it all at once – some areas will ebb while others will flow.

• by week’s end: notes typed up for all courses – should take about 8 hours
• thesis almost at second draft stage (meeting on Tuesday) – ten hours’ work minimum

• gym x 4 – Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday (long session), once on weekend
• good eating – sustained awareness about what I’m putting into my body. I can resist the cravings
• doctor’s appointment re IUD?

Finances
The first week of my super plan. I’m looking forward to seeing how it pans out, in an odd kind of way!

• five sessions of Take Twenty
• take time out (don’t want to sink bank into the stress of late last week). Reading will be especially good for this – I picked up a novel for the first time in a month last night, and it took a few attempts before my eyes actually took in the words on the page

• continue to have deliciously good times with Lover Boy
• rollerblading?
• lunch with G today

Time for a spot of planning and list-making. I’m going to try some compartmentalisation to make sense of all the ebbing and flowing that’s going on in my life.

University
This week, I am going to hand in the first draft of my thesis. I’m also going to get hold of the notes from the lecture I missed. Scheduling is vital, too. Tonight’s the night to start feeling on top of things.

Update – my first draft has been sent in! Brilliant. Now just to get hold of those lecture notes.

Finances
I will continue the good work regarding my savings. Look forward to calculating the percentage I will have reached after tomorrow. I could perhaps start thinking about drawing up a budget.

Work
The ulcer-inducing stress of last week will be over. I will take deep breaths and go back to doing what I do best. Am so looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into some good work tomorrow. Must fill out timesheet to ensure that I get paid.

Lurve life
Teehee. This definitely deserves a heading of its own. I am having an absolute blast with P. Things are light and just pure fun. More of the same for the rest of the week.

Friends and family
Mum has had some potentially devastating news, and I’m going to make a concerted effort to be there for her. Will speak to K tonight. Would love to try and get to the new Harry Potter with H. Breakfast with T, perhaps?

Exercise and self
Time to get back to the gym (I only made it twice last week). The aim is three gym sessions, and one long walk. Again, scheduling is vital. I’ve been feeling harried lately, and I know that yoga will help slow down that racing feeling in my head. Salutes to the sun in the morning.

Update: one session down.

That feels a little hazy, but it’s direction, right?

Return of the weekly evaluations. Whoop! Having come home, my regular schedule (or what there is of it) has been absolutely blown out of the water, and I need to reclaim my days using a broad overview. With that in mind:

• exercise: vital. Crosstrainer and weights. Walk in the evening.
• study: aim to brief ten cases.
• finish mum’s resume and cover letter. Apply for job online.
• French: 30 mins.

• study: aim to finish briefing cases and begin work on template. Look into possible topics.
• exercise: cross trainer, find squats/lunges of some sort.
• French: 30 mins.

• study: thesis. All day.
• exercise: walk and weights.
• work on resume.
• detox.

• hop onto public transportation for a day of exploration – oooh, goody!
• perhaps go out with M?
• French: 30 mins.
• detox.

• potentiality of going bungee jumping, so one day will this weekend may be a day off.
• study: intersperse thesis work with exam. Aim: 2.5 hours on each.
• French: 1 hour at some point.
• exercise: 1 hour marathon on cross trainer one day, epic exploration walk on the other.
• detox.

Feel much better and more organised for having done that.

is limping into retirement for time being, as I am tracking my weekly plans under my “overcome depression” goal. I’ll haul this out when I’m ready to move past the recovery stage and into some serious action!

I’ve just read over my last two entries for this goal, and it’s clear to me that I really was floundering. The sinking under was inevitable, I guess.

This week I am making the commitment to take action about the way I feel (building on good progress from my commitment-shedding last week). And I don’t mean gung-ho action, either, but rather some gentle, consistent and sustainable work on my state of mind. Think I will scoot over to my “empower myself to pull through” goal and post over there.

In more general terms, my week looks like this:
Monday – work, comps.
Tuesday – tutorials, cricket. (gym)
Wednesday – meeting, tutorial, Hons research, CBT research and down time. Counsellor at 2.30. BYO? (gym)
Thursday – comps round 2. Maybe a day at the library? ‘Flu jab?
Friday – budget time. P work. (gym)
Saturday – test in morning. Afternoon free thus far. Vision board?
Sunday – Free as a bird. (gym)

• reconcile role?

this week has been more about keeping my head above water than really planning or evaluating. It feels like there are a million pieces in my life that I’m trying to hold together, blindfolded, and with one hand tied behind my back. Ok, perhaps it isn’t quite that extreme, but you get the gist.

Things that I need to do for the rest of this week in order to keep afloat:

University
This weekend, I am going to take Saturday afternoon to get completely up-to-date with all my work. I estimate that this will only take around 3-4 hours, a feat which is entirely achievable. Tomorrow night, I will also send out the emails which have someow transformed into monsters in my mind.

Exercise
I will joyfully skip to the gym tomorrow before university, and will enjoy a cardio and weights session. The same shall happen on Saturday afternoon as a reward for hard study. Yes, I am going to reward myself with fitness!

Edit: slept in until 7 instead this morning. Will go to the gym tonight.

Me-time and me-things
Tomorrow, I am going to buy the second novel in the Twilight series, and I am damn well going to be unapologetic about it! Will also indulge in some TV-watching (which I haven’t done in weeks), a facemask, and some stretching. Might also do some writing.

Relationship
G and I have set aside Sunday to reinstate our big breakfast tradition, and we’re also going to spend some time talking about the big questions. If it’s a nice day, I’d like to catch some rays (perhaps reading at the war memorial, or in the botanical gardens?).

You know, I think I just had a bit of an epiphany. I have a tendency to make mammoth lists and then think that they need to be done right now. For this reason, things stress me out that just shouldn’t, because they’re happening in a month and I have plenty of time to get things done. In reality, it’s me stressing myself out with my it has to be done at this instant otherwise I might lose control mentality. Potential solution: create a running list of medium and long-term projects. Schedule action sessions for those projects into my diary for the weeks ahead, instead of working from a giant list that overwhelms me.

Things have rather been taken over by this crazy moving business – but that’s fine, it can’t last longer than three weeks anyway! So by the time April comes I will be able to start planning my time properly, with a new routine with less time spent travelling and more space at home to do things.

But for this week need to at least make an attempt to log the time I have available:

Then the weekend is basically out with parents and packing and preparations. I make that 4 hours – mostly it’s going to go on Piano I reckon. Will try my best to do some writing and so on during the day though. And a little bit of artwork/scrapbooking around the edges would be nice!

Kudos to the excellent Moose for this goal. I am very much in need of it at the moment, as I have a sense of impending doom whereby my life will swirl away from me in a terrible and unattainable whirlwind while I am left gasping for breath.

First of all, I need to evaluate where I am at. Categories, categories, categories.

Exercise
Doing well with this. Halfway through week 4 of CT5K. Would, however, like to pick up a lot more weight training instead of just the cardio. Mental block to exercising has somehow disappeared, and I often find myself craving a good treadmill session.

Weight loss
Fearful that progress might be too rapid, due to stress and resulting disappearance of appetite. Am down to 150.8lbs today and part of me thinks wheee, only 0.8lbs away from my first goal weight. The other part, however, cautions “is this really sustainable”? Would like to proceed carefully, stop weighing myself everyday and remembering that this is about a lifestyle change, not just the instant gratification of seeing the numbers on the scale drop.

Social activities
Methinks I just have too much. I am around my friends at law school all day, and then my evenings are chocka with functions and dinners (i.e. every single night this week). G is also an ever-present person in my life. Where, dear self, is the me time? I need this.

University and school-related commitments
This is one of the areas where I feel most overwhelmed, and where a good, solid list and timetable needs to be made. Will do this when I get to school today. I can feel the motivation bubbling away nicely, though, which is very reassuring.

Work
Good on this front. Have well-paying, steady jobs that I love doing. Just need to have a bit more of a think about where I’m going to fit them all in.

Finances
My bank account feels like a sitting duck. Will feel much better today when I have managed to get some money out of my cheque account and into my untouchable savings. Also, I want to sit down with myspendingplan.com and figure out a freaking budget. It’s about time.

Parents
I love my parents dearly, and I haven’t had a chance to catch up properly with either of them in the past week. Today, I am going to make this a priority.

Relationship
G and I have been communicating well lately. I still feel insecure, though. For the rest of the week, while I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed, I would prefer a “softly softly” approach to our relationship, where I see a bit less of him and have more time to get my own head on straight. Note to self: this means that it is unfair of you to get jealous if he goes to social functions without you.

No-drinking March
Lord, I hadn’t realised how hard this goal was going to be. It is alarming how programmed I am to reach for a glass of wine at social functions. I almost gave in at dinner at last, but restrained myself and settled for a ginger ale. Would like to make a substantive post on the goal related to this.

• exercise, particularly weight-training
• no more weigh-ins this week
• me time. Essential. I think I’m going to set aside tonight for that
• toned down social activities
• a comprehensive and updateable list about university and school commitments
• a timetable for the above, which also sets aside time for work preparation
• moving money into my savings account
• having a good, proper look at myspendingplan.com
• speaking to both of my dear parents
• toning things down just a little with G so I am not stressed and hurtful around him
• continued good work on the no-drinking front

This is an excellent plan for the rest of the week. On Sunday, I will sit down, set some more goals, and see which of my 43T goals (i.e. the more minor ones) I would like to focus on for the coming week. Wipes brow.