Weekly 1
This is my first week of recording my progress on various things I want to work on or do every day. Different levels of priorities for each, but generally the goal is to move forward on these at least every week.
Exercise
My goal is strenuous exercise for around three total hours over a week.
I've tried to make my exercising about as simple as possible. If all else fails for one day, do as many six-count burpees as you can (just short of failure) and do that for three sets. If I need a rest day, go on a walk, bike, or some other activity that is active but not wildly strenuous.
So far, I am at three sets of ten burpees, but it's going up every day so far. If I combine this workout with occasional rock climbing and yoga, I feel like this will round out the otherwise inconsistent exercise patterns I have held for years.
Meditate
My goal is 10 minutes a day. I had one session on one day this week. That's more than I have done in the last couple of months, so I'll take it. I have some blockers on this for some reason. They are going away the more I just move forward without over-indexing on my anxiety.
Journal
My goal is to get at least a page in of free-writing a day. I used to write more of a daily summary, and while that's useful, it felt very boring and not something I actually looked forward to at all.
I didn't get to this every day, but mostly. It felt good to just clear my head and name some anxiety at the start of my day.
Use screens mindfully
My goal is to spend less time overall and be more intentional about the time spent. I tend to just mindlessly sprawl out in front of my phone or TV when I am emotionally exhausted or am avoiding something.
I almost always regret the large amounts of time I rack up. First step is noticing when I'm in that mindless state, which meditation helps.
Face difficult emotions
When I find discomfort, I tend to subconsciously pivot quickly to something else that is a quick fix with very little risk, usually a screen of some kind. Ny goal is to face these things head on and deal with them as soon as possible. Similar to above, first step is noticing when it happens. Once I have this, I can move on to what I can do next in those situations.
I noticed some last week but meditating more regularly will help create more distance between action and reaction.
Expand comfort zone
(EDITED 20240114: forgot to go over this)
Did not really figure out a way to address this. I need direct action steps to really do something to expand my comfort zone. This is otherwise too ambiguous.
Work on the house
I'm working on renovating a very dilapidated house I bought. My goal is spend at least 10 hours a week working on the house, either research or action, though action is preferred. If I don't make continued progress, it will never get done.
This week, we almost finished prepping the first set of rooms for ceiling insulation and drywall. Next steps are to finish that and order the materials. I'm really happy with the trajectory and want to keep moving forward. It has been very helpful having friends and family who are excited for us and eager to help.
Help my community
My goal is to be more involved with my community and give back. I have problems getting motivated to act on pretty much anything, even things I love and know will be good for me. I love to volunteer and it leaves me feeling a sense of purpose, but again it has that issue of motivation. I want to do what I can with the resources I have and get _involved_, not just donate money (though I want to do that as well, where I can't put my time).
I did not do much this week, but I have a few places I can put my time this week, like Food Not Bombs PDX and PASS, and can give my money to any of the houseless people I see during my day or people asking for help on Mastodon.
Act instead of analyze
My goal is to do the thing I'm worrying about if I notice worry and I can determine what I am worried is not founded in reality or doesn't matter that much. I tend to get into analysis spirals instead of just going and doing the thing. Even if I half-ass it and it turns out bad, I usually feel better than not doing it at all (obvious exceptions apply). Many things I don't do have very little to no negative stakes aside from self-talk, so I want to fight that with empirical evidence.
This week I noticed this with meditation and exercise. When I just did it instead of thinking too hard, I did _something_, which is a lot better than nothing.
Put time into lockpicking
My goal is to spend at least an hour a day on lockpicking. I just picked up this hobby, and like most hobbies, I expect to plateau somewhere around the end of this month. I want to give it a real go, so this is to help me get past the part where it is not novel and exciting but it is still engaging. I tend to drop hobbies at that point and want to see what happens if I more pointedly spend time with it.
This week I've put in a good amount of effort towards this. It's very fun!