Author: SK

I’ve been trying to find a right balance. A balance of weight and learning time in the morning. I’ve been fighting both for the past few weeks. It appeared that my weight is under control. But for some reason, it went up and it doesn’t want to go down! 🙂 Not good. Bottom line: I should keep it down, less than 185, or more in 180 – 185 range, not over. And never relax. If I go over, I need to get it down quickly, or it stagnates “turns into fat” rather and it’s harder to lose. I’m at 188 today. 🙁

Also fighting on the learning time front. I did well today. Got up, sat on the stairs for only a few minutes and took a shower soon. That allowed me to collect a pomo and allow me to find time to write. That is what I want to do on a daily basis.

I don’t want to relax and not keep improving. That’s not me and if I do that I know I will slide quickly.

There are always tough decisions to make. At work, I have to be more strict on work. I have to execute more strict, stay on top of people more. When we don’t do that, things slip.

But in general, things are moving along and that’s a great thing and a great feeling.

I have to discipline myself a lot more. I am missing out. I am missing out on reading and re reading a lot of books and resources I’ve compiled. I am missing out on learning new things. I am missing out on improvement.

I will need to get back into the flow of things. A spring can mess up my plans with allergy and sleeping aids. But that is just an excuse, nothing else. Following a rhytm that I’ve tested and that motivates me is the way to go. 

I am reading a lot on how to improve me as a manager, our process at work, and my design skills. That’s a lot of material to cover, lots of articles to read, lots of books to browse. I will not be able to do it if I don’t dedicate the time in the morning to it. I just have to do it.

My motivation has gone to the floor lately. When I wake up, I don’t come downstairs right away. I don’t read over the weekend. I have become a lazy bastard! That’s not what I want and that’s not who I am. I will need to go back to writing goals every night. That gives me motivation. That has worked for me before and will continue to work. Then I have to head straight down, not lay down upstairs. That should give me enough time to do what I need.

I had a really fun night with my kids yesterday. We were watching a sad but uplifting movie Camp. They were really into it and really loved it. I was sitting next to Victor on the big seat and Fabian was covered in a blanket, as he did not feel good. There were funny and tear moments in the movie. Felt like we bonded at the end, when I tried to make fun of myself. We then had a really good discussion about college with Fabian. Love those moments with my kids.

Time change is always a challenge. I am waking up early and feel really tired. Allergy season being here does not help. But I’m adjusting. I want to recover if need to, so if I am really tired I should still wake up at 6am. I will setup an alarm for that.

I also want to get back to writing these journal entries. Doing them in the morning, with my focus on a pomo 1st is not always working. I want to write for at least 5 to 10 minutes every day. So if I don’t get a chance in the morning, then I should still write at night.

I have some tough decisions to make as a lead. I have a guy that is a great talent, great mind, but that doesn’t use it enough. It is all going to waste. And for what reason? Distraction. Not enough focus. Focusing on things that don’t matter.

So I’m going to try the extreme alternative: give it up, dedicate yourself fully, 100%, to work related items or you find a job.

100% is an extreme

– phone, only if you get a call, put it on don’t disturb me mode

– internet, only at lunch time

No other internet or phone use. Extreme, yes. It’s like a cold turkey.

Things are moving in circles for me. So I started to read as the 1st thing when I sit down, at home, on the train and at work. That works great. I’ve been able to read a great deal more and I enjoy it. However, I’m noticing that I have not been writing as much. I think I need to change that. I need to allocate at least 5 minutes every day doing it. If that cuts into my reading time, it’s fine, it’s worth it. But I shouldn’t skip it. Practice, repetition is what makes me comfortable writing. I should do more of.

I was sick yesterday, or almost getting sick. I felt chills the day before and in the morning. But they went away, thank god, and I think I’m healthy. 

I got to spend time with Victor. And he is a character. In a positive way. They got a new challenge from school and he’s like, Daddy I need to read for 10 hours. Please set the alarm for 10 hours. I tried to explain to no avail. So I set it to an hour and after 30 minutes he stopped. He watched some tv and then turned it off and read again for 30 minutes. And btw, he just started kindergartner and he already knows how to read. I think that’s a big accomplishment.

We are all creatures of habit, aren’t we? I certainly am. But there are ways to get around that. 

One of the habits that is hard to break for me is sitting down in the living room right after I wake up. It feels good to sit down for a few minutes, sometimes more because I just woke up and that helps me wake up. But because this is right before work, I am eating into my learning time. And it’s not just a minute or two, sometimes it is 5, sometimes 10, and sometimes even more. How do I get around that? By sitting down on the stairs. It’s not as comfy so it only takes me a minute or two to come alive. I’ve been doing that this week and it’s been working. I will try to do that everyday.

The other habit that I have not cracked just yet is staying consistent in what I eat. I got to around 185 pounds, but lately it got up to 189. I feel heavy. But bottom line is that I have to find a way to eat more at work and less when I come home. I think that’s key to controlling my weight. When I come home so hungry I usually over eat. And I also have to stop eating snacks at night. That has a bad effect on my gut. But this is still ways for me to experiment.

I am trying a new approach to get my learning up. It’s working. I am able to collect more pomos now than before. But I see a side effect. The side effect is that I am not doing as much writing. More reading and less writing. It has to do with me being lazy in the morning and wasting 10 to 15 minutes early. I should get rid of that waste and I should be in good shape. It’s still the right approach: dig into reading, collect a  pomo and then write a journal entry. If executed well, I will have time for all.

I do see an increase in my desire to learn more, which I think is a result of spending more time on reading.