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Day 4 – Five Goal-Tracking Methods

October 6, 2019 by Suzanne

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So it’s not really Friday. I get that. But it’s the post that was meant for Friday, so here we are. One goal of a 31-day series is to get back in the habit of writing every day (or, rather, writing something other than for work). It’s a process.

To finish out the week of talking about tools I use to help me keep my life on track, I want to mention apps that I use to keep up with goal progression. I love making resolutions, but for most of my life, I would make them and then promptly forget about them. I think a lot of people have that experience. When I started tracking my goals, though, I had more success. Here are five of my favorite ways to track my goals:

  1. Club Pilates app – I know. Again I’m talking about it. I just love it. And now that I have a new phone that actually supports the app, I can track a lot of my health goals as well as schedule and keep track of my classes. Every smartphone comes with a health app, though, so even if you don’t go to Club Pilates, you can still have an easy way to track just about any health goal you have.
  2. Goodreads – I started with a goal of 100 books for the year. Then I extended it to 120. No matter how small or big your reading goal, though, you can track it with Goodreads. I also get a lot of recommendations from friends on this site/app.
  3. Spreadsheet – Looking at a long-term goal can be daunting. It’s important to break down resolutions into smaller goals. To this end, I keep a monthly spreadsheet that tracks daily progress toward goals. I broke my five resolutions into ten smaller goals, and I set a monthly goal for each. Then I tally each day that I reach part of the goal. For those of you who like to bullet journal, this can be not only helpful but cathartic.
  4. Fetch – I’m not sure how long Fetch has been around, but I love it. If you can’t tell, point systems really work for me. For the last few years, I have wanted to cook more at home and make better food choices. But if I don’t have groceries at my house, it’s not happening. Fetch rewards me for buying groceries. I’ve been using it for three weeks and just like magic, I have food in my house. I’m also more than 75% toward my first $10 reward. I do enjoy free things, and free things that help me meet my goals? Double bonus.
  5. Art journal – Different people use art journaling for different reasons. When one of your goals is to pursue creative expression more often, however, it can be a way of showing the progress of that goal. My art journal is a collection of collages, found and blackout poetry, stained-glass-style doodles, and song lyrics I want to set to a melody at some point (yes! I’m excited about it, too.). I have a pretty broad range for what I consider creative pursuits, but I track most of them by art journaling about them.

Do you make goals? If so, how do you keep track of your progress?

 

I’m talking about making my own luck this month.

Posted in 31 Days, Friday Five, Getting It Together, Lucky, Music, Poetry, Resolutions, Writing | Leave a Comment »

Day 3 – Rituals

October 4, 2019 by Suzanne

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I don’t make good choices if my phone is near, so I have an old school alarm clock.

I am not a morning person. I don’t fall asleep easily before 1:00 a.m., no matter how busy the day has been. This means I don’t wake up super early. I don’t seem to need as much sleep as other people do (I do pretty well on 6 hours a night), but I’m not sure if this is really a thing (requiring less sleep than other humans) or if I’m secretly exhausted and just don’t know any better.

Unfortunately, I have a job that requires me to be awake and at least a little productive by 8:30 a.m., so I’ve had to learn to fake it as a person who functions in the morning at least enough to show up to said job fully dressed and vertical.

The best way to fake it is to have a morning ritual that prepares me physically and mentally for the day.

There are a lot of suggestions on the intrawebs for making mornings go more smoothly. There’s even one that suggests that such suggestions can bring me joy. That seems a lofty goal for an a.m. time that starts with a number smaller than 11, but I appreciate the optimism.

My weekday morning ritual is designed to get me moving, motivated, and out the door. I start with about 10 minutes of stretching. I try to clear my mind of anything but how the muscles feel and how I’m breathing during this time. At this point, I am usually still in bed, so I look for a reason to get up. I try to think of the thing I’m most looking forward to that day. Once I’m up, I can get ready pretty quickly. I shower in the mornings, even if I showered the night before, because it wakes me up. I fill up my water bottle and grab my lunch before I leave.

How quickly I get out the door in the mornings is partially dependent on the success of my bedtime routine. It takes longer to grab a lunch, for example, that I have not yet packaged into portable containers. Showers are quicker if I washed my hair the night before. If the last load of laundry is still in the dryer, I will have to wait until it tumbles a bit to knock the wrinkles out of that skirt I inevitably need in order to get dressed.

Having patterns and routines helps me manage a busy schedule. It also provides a safe shore to swim toward if I wake up badly or if I can’t seem to get to sleep on time.

What do you need to get your day started or wind down?

 

I’m writing about creating my own luck this month. See the anchor post here.

Posted in 31 Days, Getting It Together, Lucky, Mental Health, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Day 2 – Have a Plan

October 3, 2019 by Suzanne

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The Boss of Me

Maybe there are people in the world who are lucky as they can be who never plan anything. They flit through life, spontaneous and free, taking problems as they come and magically making it through relatively unscathed. If you are one of these people, that’s awesome. I hope your life always goes this way and that you never run up against any hardship that you can’t handle in the moment.

I am not one of those people.

Creating my own luck could not happen without my planner. It has all my lists – the to-do list, the errand list (which can be distinguished from the to-do list as things that require leaving the house to do them), the grocery list, etc. It runs my life. Once, I thought I lost it, and I almost had to call in sick. Luckily, it was just in another bag. Crisis averted.

As you may imagine, I am incredibly particular about my planner. For a long time, Kate Spade made my favorite. It had all the elements that I needed and none of the extraneous fluff that I knew I wouldn’t use. Alas, when I was looking for my 2018 planner, I discovered that Kate Spade was no longer offering the yearly planner but rather one for the academic year. No. Just…no. So I had to find a new one, and since it was December and I had yet to order it, I had to find one fast. That was when Emily Ley’s Simplified Planner came into my life. I loooooove this planner. I will let you peruse the website at your leisure (and if you love planners like I do, you’re gonna want to). It’s perfect for me. I’ve already ordered my new one for 2020, and I think we’re going to be very happy together.

My planner helps me manage life overall. Time management strategies help calm me down and keep me grounded. Life doesn’t seem as overwhelming when I can look at it all in writing. Feeling lucky starts from a place of general stability, and having a plan helps me get to that starting point more often.

Do you organize your life? If so, what tools do you like to use?

 

I’m writing about creating my own luck for the month of October. See the master list of posts here.

 

 

Posted in 31 Days, Getting It Together, Lucky, Simplify | Leave a Comment »

31 Days of Creating My Own Luck

October 2, 2019 by Suzanne

This sign was up at Salon LaPage when I went for my appointment in March. I had to grab a snapshot.

 

Lucky is the word I chose (with some trepidation) to guide my year. Sometimes the word I choose lends itself to a lot of reflection and sharing. Sometimes it lends itself to more action than words. This year, I think it’s both, and I’ve been lacking in the reflection part.

One reason for this is that I didn’t actually take the time to define what I think lucky looks like, so the first thing I want to do in this series is remedy that. For me, lucky means having things you work toward (and occasionally even things you don’t) go your way in a reasonably smooth manner. I know. Still pretty vague. It’s hard to pin down because it’s hard to see this happening in the moment. What’s easier to pin down are some of the elements that in retrospect have paved the way for situations to unfold seamlessly. Perhaps some of these elements ring true for you as well:

  • Organizational and social structures that are designed to reward the work their leaders claim to value
  • A solid personal support system
  • Minimization of the influence of structures and persons who fail to provide the support I would expect from something/someone whom I trust to provide
  • Habits that move me toward my goals and the person I’m becoming
  • Good timing

This doesn’t totally set the stage for what I think of as lucky, but it’s a good start. The areas of my life where I feel the luckiest are not necessarily the ones where I work the hardest, although work is usually a crucial part of the process. The main factor that seems to determine success is my environment. This discovery has been empowering. While I cannot conform what others do or give (nor would I want to – they have as much right to set their own boundaries as I do), I can choose where and to whom I give my own energy. What a difference it makes when it’s to people who give it back.

I suspect this is how other people make their own luck, too.

Another reason I’ve been lacking in reflection, though, is fear. I’ve been afraid to address the thing that most often gets in the way of luck, and I’m definitely nervous about sharing it. Anxiety is hard. It’s hard to feel lucky when something simple like getting out of bed and getting to work on time is derailed by waking up in panic mode. It doesn’t matter if it wakes me up earlier than I intended to get up. The sheer volume of time it takes when this happens to get to a place where I can stand to be around lots of sounds and people in anything resembling a coherent and productive fashion renders any extra time useless. Anxiety messes with my schedule, and that pisses me off. There is also an acute social aspect to my anxiety, which makes a lot of things challenging, such as finding people (or a therapist) with whom I can connect enough to relax and trust their support.

A lot of the techniques I’m discussing in this series are about how I create an environment in which I can thrive. Even though my process is very specific to me, I hope that parts of it can be helpful to you or maybe give you some ideas on how to find the support you need in your life.

Sundays will have an overview of the week’s topic. Monday through Thursday will include some of the strategies I use. Since this week is short, I’m going to spend tomorrow and Thursday taking about general tools that help with everything. On Fridays, I’ll share strategies I have heard good things about, things I’d like to try, or things I don’t personally use but might be helpful to you.

Finally, Saturdays will be a practice of being more candid about my personal struggles. I’m confident with practicalities, so I tend to hide behind them. But they don’t tell the whole story. I want to tell my story better.

I’ll also link each post here for reference.

Welcome to 31 days of creating luck!

Day 2 – Have a Plan
Day 3 – Rituals
Day 4 – Five Methods for Tracking Progress
Day 5 – On Being on Time
Day 6 – Lucky at Home
Day 7 – Fueling Up for Real
Day 8 – Reboot

Posted in 31 Days, Getting It Together, Mental Health | 2 Comments »

Friday Five – TV and Me

September 13, 2019 by Suzanne

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There’s a meme going around on social media that asks you to list the five shows that you would have someone watch to get a good sense of you and your taste. Yesterday, a coworker asked me to identify my favorite fandom. These tasks were harder than you might think.

I love TV. I don’t get to watch it very often, and I certainly don’t keep up with shows very well, as I do not have cable and forget to keep up with streaming. But I love TV the same way I love all storytelling. I think the stories we choose to tell and the ones we pay attention to do say a lot about us.

So here is my attempt at answering the 5-show question.

  1. Ally McBeal – Ally McBeal was on the air when I was in grad school. It resonated with me on several levels. Ally’s struggle with feminism and trying to hone who she was as a woman in the world sort of mirrors what I was sifting through at the time, and that was what drew me to the show. What got me hooked, though, was its portrayal of loneliness and what that looks like on different people. As someone who has felt alone/lonely for large portions of my life, I often feel misunderstood when writers try to address the issue. They almost always get it wrong (or, at least, wrong for me). Ally McBeal was right on the money. Also, John Cage is my favorite TV character of all time, so there’s that.
  2. The Newsroom – I knew an Aaron Sorkin show had to make the list. I like every show of his I’ve watched. I admire the way he writes. I love The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. But I love The Newsroom the most. It speaks to the importance of integrity and being great at whatever you choose to do. Where it really wins with me, though, is the rampant idealism, often expressed through the Don Quixote theme that runs through it.
  3. Firefly – Firefly is my fiesty side. I grew up watching…no, that’s inaccurate…being subjected to westerns. Traditional westerns are hard for me, because I didn’t always see the “good guy” as someone who was all that good. A lot of them were jerks, frankly. Even when the characters on Firefly are jerks, though, there is usually a reason behind it that is consistent with a code of honor that I can get on board with.  And in this world, people who are different aren’t necessarily wrong. In fact, people who are different seem perfectly capable of operating a ship in the middle of nowhere just fine. Firefly is what I wish all westerns were.
  4. Elementary – I love all things Sherlock Holmes. Love the books, love (almost) every interpretation that’s been filmed. Elementary stands out, though. I particularly like this version of Sherlock and Mycroft. I also love that Watson is female in this series. I like gender bending original stories, and this show does it well.
  5. Pushing Daisies – A theme you may have noticed in this list is an absolute adoration of whimsy. Pushing Daisies is my favorite whimsical show. The writing is perfect. The characters are amazing, and the acting is fantastic. It’s a tragedy that it only lasted two seasons.

I’ve watched Gilmore Girls so often I can quote it, but it’s often just background noise. So that doesn’t really scream “reflect me and my taste” to me. Smallville is the only fandom I kept up with for any length of time while it was happening, and I am definitely a sucker for superhero shows (Flash. Arrow. Supergirl [omg Cat Grant!].). But there were seasons where the fandom critiques and fanfiction were all that got me through it. The five shows listed do a great job of reflecting my general taste.

Posted in Fandom, Friday Five, TV | Leave a Comment »

I Think I’ll Call Her Mona

August 30, 2019 by Suzanne

I am not what anyone would describe as an early adaptor. It’s not a point of pride for me. I see the benefit in upgrading to the newest model of a device whenever one can. It’s cool if you do that. I just am not that person.

Having said that, I am having a bit of a honeymoon with my new phone. I’ve named her Mona. She is sleek and sexy and looks super hot in her stripey Kate Spade cover.

Mona is an iPhone X (yes I know it’s not the newest but it’s the one I wanted so let’s all move on). We met at the Verizon store after I told the sales guy I was there to upgrade my phone. He was utterly professional until he saw my old phone and realized just how old she was (like…they don’t even make the adaptor for it anymore). Then he made a face. He pulled it together quickly but I know in his head he was still sniffing derisively at Margeaux.

I forgive him. He probably had the very latest phone the moment it came out. He just doesn’t understand a long-term relationship like the ones I have with my devices. I get it. I didn’t used to get attached.

My first two cell phones were bare bones models. No frills. Just the calls (and the texts), ma’am.

Then I met Cherry O.

Cherry O was a red LG. Still not a smartphone but so, so much fancier than what I had before. The camera was better than the digital camera I had, so I was able to get rid of my camera, and I’ve never gone back. I assigned everyone their own custom ringtone. Cherry O and I had a great run. Then one day she died. Just…out of the blue. No warning (well, no warning other than the myriad of pointed emails I got from Verizon telling me to hurry and upgrade already).

I was devastated, but Margeaux helped me through it.

Margeaux was my first smartphone. She, too, was an iPhone. Margeaux helped me get over Cherry O by introducing me to Instagram. I love Instagram. I follow some really delightful people there. Margeaux let me do that. I also joined Duolingo, which is a super easy way to practice my Spanish and German and gently ease in to French and Italian.

This week, though, Margeaux and I broke up. It was amicable. There are no hard feelings. It’s not her, it’s me (it was totally her).

Enter Mona.

If Mona were a person, she’d be CEO of her own company that she dreamed up and built from nothing. She would live in a Cape Cod style home with a huge backyard. She would grow her own vegetables, make jam, and have friends over for supper every Sunday night. She would know how to tango and provide her own tech support. She would do all of this and make it look easy.

I love all the storage I have on this phone. I love how much faster it is than my last phone. I love that it supports all four (five?) of my book apps. And I love it allows me to type this post out to you from the comfy chair in my living room without having to wrangle my laptop.

I am smitten. I think Mona and I will be together for quite some time.

Posted in Fun, What I'm Into | Leave a Comment »

Reading Shift

August 16, 2019 by Suzanne

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This is my view from the desk in my office. It’s amazing that I actually get any work done.

The benefit of cleaning my office is that I can actually see the books I have as I organize them.

The drawback of cleaning my office is that I can actually see the books I have as I organize them.

Last night was a light writing night, and it’s a good thing, because I definitely spent a good hour going over which books I want to read next. There are so many I haven’t read, and so many I want to read again. Just right there on my shelves.

And what you see is only about a fourth of the books I have (…in my office. There are other bookshelves by my kitchen and in my bedroom. There are so many books.).

Many of the book lovers I follow on social media have been tackling their unread shelves, and I want to start doing the same. It will start slowly, as I have a lot of unread library books left to read this year. As those dwindle down (probably around Christmas), I think my goal will probably shift to reading the books my book clubs read, listening to audiobooks, and diving into the books I own.

There’s so much joy on my shelves waiting to be discovered!

Posted in Books, Getting It Together, Resolutions, Uncategorized, Writing | Leave a Comment »

Day 2 – #24in48

July 21, 2019 by Suzanne

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24 hours of reading/listening

I’m very excited that I finished! Twenty-four hours of reading a book or listening to audiobooks in just one weekend. As expected, my goals were loftier than time allowed, but I finished:

  1. Becoming by Michelle Obama
  2. The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington
  3. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

I also read/listened to a little bit of:

  1. Being Dead by Jim Crace
  2. Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
  3. Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber

I finished earlier this time than I usually do, probably because I didn’t leave my apartment at all until this morning, and that was just because I wanted a croissant to go with my coffee. Even that brief outing didn’t cut into my time, since I have Scarlet on audio CD (yes, my car still has a CD player).

After a busy few weeks at work (with both jobs), this relaxing weekend was just what I needed!

 

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The #24in48 Reading Marathon – Day 1

July 20, 2019 by Suzanne

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An ambitious stack. I am never at a loss for something to read.

It’s 24in48 weekend!

The book stack above is misleading. I don’t expect to get to all of those books this weekend, of course. Well, I might at least start all of them. I just like choices.

I have three goals this weekend:

  1. Finish a lot of books that I’ve started. I normally have four or five books on my currently reading list. Right now? I have ten. I won’t finish all of them this weekend, but I bet I can whittle down the list a bit. I am almost done with the following, so I’m focusing on them:
    * Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon
    * Placemaker by Christie Purifoy
    * Grace, Not Perfection by Emily Ley
    * What Unites Us by Dan Rather
    * An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
  2. Read Being Dead by Jim Crace and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion so I am ready for discussion at book club on Thursday.
  3. Have The Michelle Obama Experience
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    I have the book, audiobook, and a coffee mug that my friend (also named Michelle) got me when she went to hear her speak in Dallas. Theoretically, I can read along while listening to Michelle Obama and drinking out of a mug with her words on it. I may save the majority of the audiobook for my next road trip, though, because it’s 19 hours long, and while I have no qualms about listening to most audiobooks at double or triple speed until the reader’s voice sounds like a cartoon mouse, it seems disrespectful to do that with memoirs.

Now back to reading!

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Friday Five – What I’m Into (This Week)

July 19, 2019 by Suzanne

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Hello! This weekend, I am embarking on a 24in48 marathon of luxurious reading. After the 70- and 80-hour work weeks I’ve been having, I am very excited about adding extra money to my Aspiration account, but I am also really looking forward to this much needed break. Here are some things I’m into.

  1. First, lists of books and book shops. I love fantasy novels .  I also find this list intriguing – a particular book to read at each age. Someday, when I have time off, I may do a few days of just rambling through bookstores in the area.
  2. I have a confession. I’ve always loved Cats. Some people sang 80s songs into their hairbrushes. Me? McCavity: The Mystery Cat. [I mean, I totally sang 80s pop. And punk. And…I like to sing.] It’s strange and confusing and of course it is because that’s what you get when Andrew Lloyd Webber adapts T. S. Eliot poetry into a musical. I cannot wait for this movie to come out. If you go see it with me, prepare yourself for the moment when Jennifer Hudson sings Memory on the big screen, because I will cry. Already teared up just during the trailer. It’s just gonna happen.
  3. I joined a cookbook club, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made this year. We meet once a month, each bringing a dish and the cookbook we found it in to share with others. One big decadent potluck. There are daily posts on the group page about things like classic pasta dishes and the best lemonade ever.
  4. I’ve already signed up for next year’s writer’s retreat to be held at Maplehurst. If you’ve read any of Christie Purifoy’s books (I’m currently soaking in Placemaker. Highly recommend.), you are probably familiar with Maplehurst’s story. You should join us.
  5. I’m officially moving my yearly Hemingway party to the fall. I had it later last year, and that was nice. It makes sense. Work is less busy in September or October, and it’s cooled off enough that I can actually bake without it taking 14 years for my apartment to cool off. As I’m planning, I hope to keep this advice in mind.

What are you into these days?

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Music, Nostalgia, What I'm Into, Writing | Leave a Comment »

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