I have entirely and unashamedly stolen the premise of this post from my friend Sarah - you can find her blog, Not Found, at 52weeksof.blogspot.co.uk - as it ties in nicely with my recent 'Oh No She Didn't' post where I confessed to terrible procrastination and laziness. In light of how this year is already running away with me, I have taken my sad little 2013 list and added to it, creating:
25 Before 27 - 25 things to do before my 27th birthday last updated 20th April
I am 27 on the 6th of June. So yeah, I haven't given myself that much time...
Some of these things are already in progress and others have yet to be started, so I will try to update the post every so often to indicate how I'm doing. Feel free to chivvy me along, or join me for any enterprise that takes your fancy!
1. Take a Pilates class
Already doing this, most Saturday mornings. I get the giggles during some moves and I'm pretty sure the teacher thinks I'm a weirdo as a result.
2. Hang the paintings in my house
One of them is up! Five or so to go...
3. Finish knitting my scarf
Some progress, it's over halfway now!
4. Finish knitting Stan's jumper
I got too scared to carry on with this when I dug it out and realised I couldn't remember all the pattern alterations I had made. But there are only the sleeves and sewing together to go - what could possible go wrong? - LOTS. LOTS COULD GO WRONG. STILL TOO SCARED.
5. Lose a stone
Now 6lb down :)
6. Run 5k
Yeah this might be the trickiest. I managed 4k about two months ago and it nearly killed me. Latest run was 2k with several stops :( still a run is better than nothing.
7. Learn to make cheesecake
8. Finish my children's story
I started this when I was at University so it's been a long time coming!
9. Party with my sisters
10. Send six letters (or more)
I've sent two!
11. Become Mac-literate
My sister has volunteered on this one, just need to book a session.
12. Learn to use ExCel properly
Still winging it and my toolbars keep screwing around :(
13. Take or at least book a marketing class
14. Mend at least three broken items of clothing
15. Get my wedding ring mended or replaced
Even my grandma is onto me about this so I am booking a date with the husband to go choose one.
16. Plant flowers
DONE! Senetti, lavender and sweet peas.
17. Enter a writing competition
18. Complete and send my modeling portfolio
Had a shoot, still waiting on the photos.
19. Book my MA graduation
20. Get a good magazine subscription like a grown-up
Suggestions welcome!
21. Have another tennis lesson with Stan
DONE! I have improved, apparently. And nobody cried which is a bonus.
22. Watch Stan play a match
23. Finish reading six books
I've got three on the go at once, it's confusing. And people keep lending me more.
24. Re-connect with my great-grandmothers
Both are over ninety and wonderful women, full of love and stories - I really should have made more of an effort in the last few years to have them as part of my life.
25. Make something creative for my home
I have no idea what, at the moment. I can paint, sort-of, and I can sew, sort-of, and I can glue things. Wish me luck...
I do actually need to get myself into gear if this is going to be realistic, but I know I do better with targets than without them, so as long as I'm not punishing myself over anything that is genuinely not possible, it should be fine.
Do you have any goals set at the moment?
Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 March 2015
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Oh No She Didn't
I'm a list girl. Need to shop? I write a list, ensuring I don't have to painfully drag six heaving bags to the front door, plastic handles threatening to cut off circulation to half my fingers, only to realise I forgot something vital like toothpaste. Need to remember work assignments? Calendar list. Need to write letters to relatives to thank them for gifts I've temporarily misplaced? Post-it list. Need to plan a surprise party without leaving hints around the house? Phone list. It soothes me to know that anything significant in my life is likely to be recorded somewhere, waiting for me to notice it and take action.
Today I found a list from November 2013 of things I felt would be valuable enterprises in my life. Some of them were pretty basic, others fairly long-term aspirational. The thing that immediately struck me was that out of thirteen things, I've only done two and started working on another two - so that's what, about a 30% success rate? (Don't be mean, maths isn't my strong suit). Here's the list:
Re-learn French.
Latin dance classes.
Paris.
New Zealand.
Write a book.
Finish knitting Stan's jumper.
Join a choir.
Become healthier/fitter.
Write to friends more often.
Move house.
Graduate.
Study something new.
Do a life drawing class.
I didn't write these in order of importance or intended achievement; it was more a case of as they occurred to me, and I'm sure there were - and definitely are - other items worth including. I don't realistically expect some of them to occur for a good few years, if even this decade. The ones I have achieved are graduating (four years late, that's another story) and moving house, while I'm currently working on my fitness and writing to people more frequently, so I can count some successes. But it made me sad to see how many of them should have been at least started by now and in reality hadn't been given more than a second thought since that list was penned. I just haven't got around to it.
There's an adage I could readily apply here: 'procrastination is the thief of time'. It was originally written by Edward Young in his poem 'Night-Thoughts', published in the 1740s, but it was probably Dickens who brought it more into common parlance when he had Mr Micawber reference it in David Copperfield. He added what I always thought was a valuable exhortation:
'Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!'
It's a great Dickensian image - some grubby slip of a boy in a dirty shirt, dipping his slim hands into pockets and suddenly, we've lost an hour, a day, a month. Collar him indeed - that sly spoiler of our best intentions! Only when I move away from the imagery and really think about it, how do I collar procrastination? It's myself I need to grab by the scruff of the neck and march off to be disciplined - my own failure to manage my time that needs addressing.
My family and close friends will know I'm terrible for biting off more than I can chew. It's not actually that I'm incapable of achieving what I commit to, necessarily, just that I fail to plan properly to achieve it. I never allow enough time for the things that matter, either because I underestimate what is required or because I allow myself to be distracted by less important things, but things that shout louder. 'Pick me, I'm urgent, you need to do this NOW!' they squeal, and sometimes they're right but often, more often than I would like to admit, they're just the boggarts on the tasklist. I'm afraid that if I don't deal with them straight away terrible things will happen - they appeal to my lack of confidence, a victim mentality, the idea that all this is happening to me. The only way I can take control is to face those fears head-on, and stop shifting the blame onto external circumstances.
I'm going to re-write that list this week, and I'm going to find a way to make some of them reality in the coming months. I'm sure there will always be other important or urgent things to deal with, but the fact is that we need to make space for recreation, for relationship, for bettering ourselves, if we are ever going to be of any use in life. Please feel free to challenge me on this if you see me or write to me - I always need the reminder! I'll aim to post progress on the blog periodically as a little victory record, so I can turn my oh no she didn'ts into oh yes she did.
Today I found a list from November 2013 of things I felt would be valuable enterprises in my life. Some of them were pretty basic, others fairly long-term aspirational. The thing that immediately struck me was that out of thirteen things, I've only done two and started working on another two - so that's what, about a 30% success rate? (Don't be mean, maths isn't my strong suit). Here's the list:
Re-learn French.
Latin dance classes.
Paris.
New Zealand.
Write a book.
Finish knitting Stan's jumper.
Join a choir.
Become healthier/fitter.
Write to friends more often.
Move house.
Graduate.
Study something new.
Do a life drawing class.
I didn't write these in order of importance or intended achievement; it was more a case of as they occurred to me, and I'm sure there were - and definitely are - other items worth including. I don't realistically expect some of them to occur for a good few years, if even this decade. The ones I have achieved are graduating (four years late, that's another story) and moving house, while I'm currently working on my fitness and writing to people more frequently, so I can count some successes. But it made me sad to see how many of them should have been at least started by now and in reality hadn't been given more than a second thought since that list was penned. I just haven't got around to it.
There's an adage I could readily apply here: 'procrastination is the thief of time'. It was originally written by Edward Young in his poem 'Night-Thoughts', published in the 1740s, but it was probably Dickens who brought it more into common parlance when he had Mr Micawber reference it in David Copperfield. He added what I always thought was a valuable exhortation:
'Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!'
It's a great Dickensian image - some grubby slip of a boy in a dirty shirt, dipping his slim hands into pockets and suddenly, we've lost an hour, a day, a month. Collar him indeed - that sly spoiler of our best intentions! Only when I move away from the imagery and really think about it, how do I collar procrastination? It's myself I need to grab by the scruff of the neck and march off to be disciplined - my own failure to manage my time that needs addressing.
My family and close friends will know I'm terrible for biting off more than I can chew. It's not actually that I'm incapable of achieving what I commit to, necessarily, just that I fail to plan properly to achieve it. I never allow enough time for the things that matter, either because I underestimate what is required or because I allow myself to be distracted by less important things, but things that shout louder. 'Pick me, I'm urgent, you need to do this NOW!' they squeal, and sometimes they're right but often, more often than I would like to admit, they're just the boggarts on the tasklist. I'm afraid that if I don't deal with them straight away terrible things will happen - they appeal to my lack of confidence, a victim mentality, the idea that all this is happening to me. The only way I can take control is to face those fears head-on, and stop shifting the blame onto external circumstances.
I'm going to re-write that list this week, and I'm going to find a way to make some of them reality in the coming months. I'm sure there will always be other important or urgent things to deal with, but the fact is that we need to make space for recreation, for relationship, for bettering ourselves, if we are ever going to be of any use in life. Please feel free to challenge me on this if you see me or write to me - I always need the reminder! I'll aim to post progress on the blog periodically as a little victory record, so I can turn my oh no she didn'ts into oh yes she did.
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