Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 41

Thread: The new 8 week plan

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    4,192

    The new 8 week plan

    So, the last 8 week plan was in organizing your life, but that forum is actually more “organizing your environment” so I moved up here.

    8 weeks seems to be a pretty good chunk for me.

    so, for the next 8 weeks, ending just before new year:

    Work:
    keep up with my classes and students, ideally getting a little ahead on lesson planning.
    continue working on resolution of project I am pushing, but recognize that I do not have ultimate decision making control and therefor cannot make my desired outcome my goal. Only “do my best”

    home:
    clean and organize main living areas before winter holidays
    plant fall bulbs asap (it is still warm enough)
    get the barn in better shape for winter

    Health and fitness:
    continue yoga 3x a week except when travelling
    swim twice a week on school weeks (6 of the 8 weeks)
    make healthy food choices and not gain back the 3 lbs I have lost.

    pottery
    complete current class
    have a successful fall sale - this hinges on really focusing the next two weeks in production and planning.
    make work to use a credit I have for a particular type of firing before it expires (at the end of the 8 weeks)

    Personal
    decorate and bake for holidays at a reasonable level that I can enjoy, focusing on areas people care about:
    pies for thanksgiving
    fudge for the solstice/Christmas celebration with friends
    more pie and some breakfast cakes for christmas
    cutting and decorating a big tree
    shopping for or making and wrapping a reasonable number of gifts for the kids and hopefully finding one cool thing for dh.
    shopping for angel tree kids
    remember to relax and enjoy time off with family and friends

    i have three dates with dh and a party scheduled.
    i am going to cut back on the foodbank (going Monday but making no further promises - they get lots of help this time of year and I know I can’t go on the 12th because I have to drive dh to a medical procedure and I will be exhausted on the 19th.)

    I had some more thoughts, but reading that, that is enough!

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    6,248
    Okay that is a lot, but I realize it is for 8 weeks. I used to do more of that, post brain meltdown I am finding that I feel a pressure in my head when I push too much and I get an immediate sense of what is too much. It is good but a huge change for me.

    Here is my basic list right now, not organized (too much stress to organize) but at least down on paper

    Done yesterday
    * coaching session over the phone
    * run/walk
    * rented a pick up, took my daughter to put futon bed in storage, bought new ikea bed, delivered it, returned truck and built bed with her
    * ate noodles and co food
    * bought melty beads to make a large celtic knotwork melty bead project

    Today-ish
    * announce closing of meditation group on FB
    * run/walk
    * clean up room!
    * clean up car!!
    * take out trash (in car we don't have trash pick up)
    * find a new place to live
    * lead a dharma phone call
    * finish melty bead project (btw it looks great)
    * work on handwriting my crochet patterns into one notebook


    Week ish
    * keep going to work
    * adjust schedule to stay late and paint cabinet with chalkboard paint
    * schedule staff trainings
    * get parents to pay by Friday
    * pack up crap
    * sew curtains
    * Sunday go to retreat center for work day
    * oh yeah, have a birthday!
    * cook my own food
    * continue to find new place to live


    I am feeling tired so I am going for a run, or working on melty beads

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    California
    Posts
    1,368
    CL, initially looks like a long list, but in reading it, it seems very sane and balanced.
    I don't see finishing of the addition on there, is it done, and I missed it? I remember DH was ordering wood trim, and you were without floor covering last holidays.

    ZG, you didn't write as disorganized as you might have thought you would. You have short and long term projects, and it all sounds very reasonable.

    Good luck to you both!

  4. #4
    Yppej
    Guest
    In the next 8 weeks I want to:

    Start regularly walking indoors. As it got cold I had slacked off exercising, but I have a three story house and can get a workout at home.

    Get some contractors in to clear up a backlog of small projects. However, it can be hard to get someone to do little jobs in a strong economy. I will do my best.

    Keep my head down at work. Explore new opportunities that may come my way, but I do not have the time or energy yet to seek them out, and no vacation time left for interviews. Most places will not do them after hours.

    Get gifts for and celebrate multiple birthdays and Christmas, attend the company holiday party, and depending on the weather go on a short birthday trip.

    Read lots of good books.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    4,192
    Yay! I am happy to have company.

    Mschrisgo2, the addition is not finished. The floor is in boxes in the barn. The window trim is partly up and partly on order. Right now dh is working (not very hard) on the covers for the ceiling beams. It will not be done this year. That is ok.

    zoe girl, your list looks like a lot to me. But it is pretty organized. I am laughing that you are going for a run because you are tired. Remember you can not control the parents - only do your best.

    yppej, I like your last goal!

    i got a lot of pottery done today. Tomorrow is the last day I can do wheel work and have it done, and I need to finish my ornaments ASAP. Also tomorrow I will go to the food bank, and then not again until maybe December, but perhaps January.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    6,248
    Quote Originally Posted by Chicken lady View Post

    zoe girl, your list looks like a lot to me. But it is pretty organized. I am laughing that you are going for a run because you are tired. Remember you can not control the parents - only do your best.
    I just need them to pay or cut off childcare. I am doing well being firm on everything so far!

    I even ate food I made today, a baked potato with brocolli and cheese, and lentil soup with toast. Okay a little tea with sugar and a piece of chocolate also. Packed 2 boxes and got a special bag for all my hair stuff to make it easy to move, or live out of a suitcase if I want.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    4,192
    Zoe, cutting off childcare would be hard for me! Good luck.

    Told the food bank I would be gone for a while and met my goals on pottery yesterday.

    Meeting on the work project today also pulling my pottery from a local store for a few weeks - sales are non existent and I want the inventory for the pottery fair. May take some stuff back after.

    yoga yesterday, swimming today

    house is slowly getting worse, so I need to set a little time aside for that. Dh cooked and cleaned up the kitchen last night.

    i have been fasting during daylight this week, which has been a bit of a distraction, but also bumped my weight down. I don’t know if the loss will stay when I go back to normal eating patterns. I do know that I am not tempted to snack when I am working in the studio, so I need to respond to the urge to snack as a reminder to go work in the studio! That would be a great place to recover some of the time I can’t seem to find to get my work done. Any weight loss would be a bonus.

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    4,192
    I think I am going to skip my class this morning. The project we are working on today is not high on my priority list, and I am falling behind. The key will be to focus on producing work at home and getting my class stuff in really good shape for tomorrow, rather than dribbling the time away on whatever catches my eye.

    A key obstructionist (I mean player - insert rolling eyes) in the work project cancelled the meeting on Tuesday and wanted to reschedule for today, but I said no. His concern is that I “have my facts wrong.” I asked that he please send me an email with the correct information. The facts are independently verifiable, so I will simply call and verify his facts before the next meeting. If needed I can get the truth in writing from the agency in question. I am not going into work early so that he can tell me i’m Wrong in person.

    i picked up my pottery. I want to continue my relationship with the store, but there are significant pricing issues. One of them is that a co-owner of the store is mixing in used items as her own personal tag sale - so my hand-thrown bowl is competing with her fiesta ware bowl and hers is $4. Many of the crafters are also underpricing their work. It makes me grateful for Ben who runs our fall and spring sales. He says “you should have ONE $5 item. (One product, not one piece) if you have anything priced less than $5, I need to see it.” Last year he made a vendor put away a box of work that he was trying to sell for $1 each because the glaze color turned out odd. Ben told him “these require the same amount of work as the ones you like. When you put them out, you are undervaluing the work and talent of every vendor here. Have your clearance sale somewhere else, or reglaze them and charge what they are worth.” He ok’ed some $2 items from another vendor because they agreed that she could easily turn out 8-10 of them in an hour.

    keeping up with exercise.

  9. #9
    Yppej
    Guest
    One week in and I am walking indoors on weekends, need to add weekdays.

    Struck out with three different plumbers, so DS and I are switching gears and will try an electrician next. When people first turn the heat on for the season and discover problems with their furnaces plumbers get swamped. Hopefully things will calm down later.

    I have a call with a recruiter after work but don't have any expectations. She is based in NH but occasionally has jobs in MA.

    Got Christmas gifts for two people.

    I am reading lots.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    4,192
    Yppej, that sounds like a good start.

    way to go on the walking! And the shopping.

    you are doing the best you can with the things that are not in your control.

    i am still doing “just in time” planning for my classes. But i bought some materials that should help with one of them. My project is in the hands of other people right now.

    my home and barn are a mess. I did not get the bulbs planted and now it is too late. They will have to wait for spring.

    exercise is going well, food choices are variable. I regained the fasting weight, but am still down the original 3 pounds.

    i fired my kiln yesterday and am glazing work this weekend for my sale.

    I found a gift idea for dil yesterday.

    dh and I went out last night and had fun, but I am tired. Sleep is losing out lately, and I need to work on it, because I know it affects everything else. My biggest mistake s staying up and snacking when I am tired instead of going to bed, which I do because dh is not ready to go to bed.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •