Just One Week

Break-Time

2010-03-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

It's working!! I've been turning off my email/gmail/reader/cell/facebook/co-workers, and I'm getting stuff done! The inertia has passed and I'm finally making progress. However, I am still finding it challenging to work for 60 consecutive minutes. I do a lot of problem solving, writing computer scripts, and statistics - and my head starts to hurt. Literally. Sometimes I need to get up from my computer and walk around and clear my head for a few minutes. A few minutes. This is where I'm having a problem.

Because instead of walking around, I usually go on a mental break by turning on my gchat or checking my google reader. And then, as though I stepped into a magical time machine, an hour has passed. Poof!

I need to start setting a time limit on my breaks. I downloaded Alarm Clock, and today I'm going to set the timer during breaks. When the timer goes off, it is time to return to my dissertation. There are many different alarm sounds to choose from. In the spirit of Skinner week, maybe I should have one sound to signal starting work (i.e., the end of a break) and a different sound to signal break-time (i.e., the end of work). If lemonade were a sound, that is the sound that I'd like to signal break-time.

How long of breaks do you take to recharge?

**Photo by Paula Patton

Interuptions

2010-03-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I channeled B. F. Skinner to become more deliberate and disciplined in making progress on my dissertation. I'm happy to report that I finally completed an analysis that had been paralyzing me for weeks. Once I began working, it was easy to continue, and I ended up having a very productive day. Though my goal was only 1 hour of uninterrupted work, I ended up spending a few hours engaged in my dissertation - however I don't think I ever had a full hour without interruptions.

I kept a list of yesterday's interruptions as they happened:

Text from husband; reply. Which lead to checking email on my phone.
Going to chat with the boss about my analysis problem
Another text and reply from husband.
Met with colleague regarding my analysis problem. Conversation drifted into other topics.
Received phone call
G-chat regarding the evening's dinner plans
Checking my email. Still emailing.
G-chat regarding my friend's difficult boss
Check blog stats
Still gchatting about my friend's boss
Coworker stops in to chat. Repeat. Repeat.

Your comments yesterday were incredibly helpful! I am taking your advice and today I'm going to:

wear headphones (but what should I listen to?)
not log into email (and thus gchat)
turn my phone on mute and put it in my drawer (so I don't see the red flashing light telling me I have emails!)

Do you wear headphones while you work? What do you listen to?

**A funky collage from John W. Golden

B. F. Skinner

2010-03-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

As I set out to be productive today, I was reminded of a story I'd heard about the psychologist B. F. Skinner. Considered by many to be the most influential psychologist of the 20th century, Skinner studied human behavior - including his own productivity. (You may recall hearing in school that if you studied drunk, you should take the test drunk - that's basically Skinner.) He researched the environmental factors that influence behaviors.

Skinner wished to maximize his writing productivity. After much observation and measurement, he determined the ideal time and environment to write. Skinner began his writing each day in a study in his basement where distractions were minimized. A bell rang at 5am each morning signaling to him that it was time to begin writing. He wrote until 10am, at which point he went on a walk, marking an end to that day's writing. Through measuring his output (words), he had determined that 5 hours was the maximum amount of time that he could continuously write. Skinner is also one of the most prolific psychologists, publishing 21 books and 180 articles - so I'd say that his method worked well for him!

I would love 5 solid hours of productivity each day. I have a feeling that if I charted my daily activities, what I stretch out over 12 hours could be accomplished in much less time. Much less! I would like to complete my dissertation by the end of May. I know that my goal is realistic if I exercise self-discipline and consistently work on it each weekday. But drawing on yesterday's post, I cannot go from zero to five hours overnight. I will fail. Instead, this week I'm going to 1.) make changes to my working environment (in my lab) to make it more conducive to productivity, and 2.) each day I'm going to increase the uninterrupted time I exclusively dedicate to my dissertation.

Today I will spend 1 hour working on my dissertation. I will be turning off: gchat, google reader, email, my blog - everything that is not dissertation related. I will not spend time on other work related tasks for that hour. I'm not sure what I will do about my co-workers - maybe a "Do Not Disturb" sign? I will make one daily goal for my dissertation, and I will work on that goal for 60 minutes straight without interruption. Tomorrow I will increase the time (90 minutes? - 120? - it depends on how today goes). And maybe I'll even incorporate a bell...

What takes away from your productivity at work?

**Gouache illustration by Hranilovich
**I think I'm going to read one of Skinner's autobiographies. I pulled some of the info for this article from various online sources (including Wiki) and the rest from my recollection of a course lecture. This probably won't be the last time I mention Skinner!

Sunday Sayings

2010-03-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday, I post a new saying that helps to inspire me to create new habits, finish my projects, and reach my goals.

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. ~ Sir Isaac Newton's first law of motion

For the physicists out there, I know that this is not a direct quote. Originally written in Latin, his first law, sometimes called the law of inertia, has been stated in numerous ways, but the definition is always the same.

While still in grade school, my father was always talking about momentum (which I know is more relevant to the Newton's second law, but let's ignore that because the second law doesn't sounds as "pretty"). Towards the end of summer, it was time to start "practicing" for school. He would explain that my siblings and I could not simply go from the academic inertia of our summer routine (of sleeping in and playing with friends) to the movement of our school routine (homework, studying, and tests) over night. And thus for the last week or two of summer we would "practice" going to bed early and waking up early. Those last days were spent doing errands to get ready, such as shopping for school supplies and cleaning our room. While my brother and I complained about "practicing for school" (my sister LOVED it), I now understand its utility.

My father continued to talk to us about momentum when we entered college. He said that we should study a little each day because once we stopped studying, it would be hard to start again. His words ring true today with regard to both my daily habits and my dissertation progress. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can find "the unbalanced force" to start the ball moving again. I'm hoping a productive Monday, leads to a productive Tuesday, which leads to a productive week.

Where do you find "an unbalanced force" to get you moving again?

**For all that I know, "practicing" for school was my mother's idea. She certainly did the majority of the enforcement and had to deal with the majority of our complaints. Oh, those last days of summer.

Thank You! - I Now Have a Hobby

2010-03-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

I've spent a good deal of time in ice-breakers. You know, where you go around in a circle and say your name, where you are from, and then a fun fact about yourself. Typically people mention their hobbies. Reading, running, and knitting are frequently mentioned. Occasionally I have felt really bad about myself when colleagues have listed oil painting and french literature as hobbies. (Side note, they weren't lying!) I've never really had hobbies to mention during these ice-breakers. Talking to my sister, drinking wine on my sofa, hanging out with friends - these sound like non-hobbies, especially considering that the readers, runners, and knitters also do these things. (I was once in an ice-breaker where someone listed Reality TV as a hobby; I wanted to be her friend!).

At various times in the past decade, I've tried to become a reader, a runner, and a knitter. I've joined book clubs and I even attended one meeting of a knitting club. I purchased cool running toys (like that ipod attachment). I like all of these activities in theory, but I obviously never enjoyed them enough for them to actually become true hobbies.

But now, I have a hobby! Blogging has become my hobby! I greatly enjoy spending time each day writing posts and looking at Etsy art for the blog. I enjoy figuring out html, I enjoy responding to comments, and I enjoy visiting my readers' blogs. I have found a hobby that I both make time for and enjoy. I was very nervous to start blogging, but your support through both reading and commenting on my blog has taken away my apprehensions. Thank you!

Also, a little while ago, Lauren from Wife & Blog and Mrs. D from Life of a Doctor's Wife, awarded me some blog awards. Thank you! Your support means so much and is incredibly appreciated. I am also supposed to pass these awards forward, and so I want to thank my very first readers and commenters who (like Lauren and Mrs. D) helped me out when my blog was just a few weeks old:

Thank you to all my readers, followers, and commenters for helping me to create not only a habit, but also a hobby!

**Painting by Stray Dog Arts

When Life Removes Items From Your To-Do List: Sad Edition

2010-03-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

A few minutes into writing yesterday's post, when reflecting on the joys of having Life remove items from my to-do list, I became painfully aware of the items Life has removed against my will. As much fun as it is "crossing" these household items off the to-do list, it has been a sad reminder that sometimes Life takes things off of the list that you wish you could have actually done. I lost several items from my to-do list this past Fall when my maternal grandmother passed away. Send her more letters. Too late. Plan a visit. Too late. Send her the wedding video. Too late.

Whereas I took pleasure in watching some items leave the list yesterday (I don't even know how to seal granite), it is incredibly sad to know that I will never be able to acquire the habit of calling my grandmother regularly or visiting her more often. As I updated my to-do list yesterday, I realized that the most important thing on the list is categorized under Other - Visit my paternal grandparents.

The sad reality of being in an interstate marriage is that our time is spent traveling for work, traveling to see each other, traveling to see our parents, best friends, and my siblings. Holidays, weddings, 30th birthdays, showers, bachelor parties - we travel a lot. My extended family is spread around the country and we do not have reunions nor see them on the holidays. As a result, I haven't seen my grandparents since our wedding in the summer of 2008. And yet of all the items on my to-do list, I am putting the least amount of effort into scheduling a trip to see them. It makes me very sad to reflect on my habits and projects and realize that I spend so much time worrying about flossing and dishes, and so little time worrying about the things that really matter. The time to schedule a trip to see my grandparents is now, because I don't want Life removing this from my list. And because I miss my grandparents.

**All of the images remind me of my late grandmother. Art work by Chelsea Victoria, Violet Bella Photography, and Lola's Room.

When Life Removes Items From Your To-Do List

2010-03-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

This week, my husband's company will close on their condo in Workville, and next week he will finally leave his shabby hotel and move into his fabulous new digs. In June, I will pack up our condo in Homeville, and move into an amazing rented apartment with my sister in Internshipville. These moves represent a lot of changes (mostly good) and one change is that several things just fell off of my to-do list! Poof - they are magically gone!

Getting a new nightstand and dresser for our bedroom - off the list after 3 years. Seal the granite - off the list after 4.5 years. Finish trim and paint built-in shelves - not anymore! I'm not actually doing any of these things, rather they've been removed from the to-do list. Removed by Life. Technically, I could have removed these items from my to-do list at any point in the past several years. However, the fact that we are moving magically removes so many things from the to-do list, including the vague "decorate," without leaving any guilt.

The granite, I'm pretty sure it was sealed before I moved in, but I always wanted to reseal it. The shelves, they held our books just fine without being painted white. Our bedroom, it had a dresser and a nightstand, we just thought we'd like newer (coordinating) furniture. Why were these items on the list if we were never going to do them? Why were they languishing on the to-do list, only providing me with guilt but not motivation?

It's amazing how I view these items differently now that I don't have to do them. What items have languished on your to-do list? Is there a way for Life to remove them from your list if you don't have the strength to remove them yourself?

**Drawing by Virginia Kraljevic

How You Start Your Day...

2010-03-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

... is how the day goes. At least for me. If I jump out of bed when the alarm goes off, avoid my laptop while getting ready, and dive into work (instead of email) when I arrive at lab - the entire day is very productive. However, if like today, I snooze my alarm clock for 2 hours, start looking at blogs/facebook/email while having breakfast, and find myself still on the sofa at 9:25am, I tend to have a fairly unproductive day.

Sure, I could still turn the day around, but if I reflect on past behavior (as an excellent predictor of future behavior) I know that the way my day starts is the way my day goes.

Some things I can do the night before to make sure that my day always starts well:

Stock the cupboards with breakfast food
Lay out my exercise clothes/work clothes
Pack my work bag (with my laptop in it)
Make tomorrow's lunch
Post the next day's blog post
Tidy our home
Write tomorrow's to-do list
Go to bed by 10pm

Some things I can do in the morning to start the day off right:

Get up when the alarm goes off
Shower/get ready before eating breakfast
Leave my computer in my bag - do not check email/read blogs/compose a post

I'm going to try and turn today around and hopefully tomorrow I will start the day right.

**Painting by Cori Dantini

March Goals

2010-03-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

A new month is here! I love that the first of the month falls on a Monday - what a great way to begin the week! The first of a month is always so hopeful for me. Maybe this will be the month where I finally complete some lingering projects/am more productive at work/develop some better habits. I always feel like my failures are erased and that the new month holds so much potential. I optimistically think that this will finally be the month where I look back and say "Wow, I accomplished a lot."

I wanted to start the month on a good note, so last night I prepared. I printed out my March Gold Stars list and hung it in my bathroom. Finally! I've been doing a very poor job of tracking my goals, and this week, my JOW (Just One Week) habit is to track my habits for an entire week. I tend to track my habits when I'm doing well, and promptly stop tracking when things are going poorly. For better or worse, this week I will track my habits.

Last night after dropping my husband off at the airport, I went to the grocery store. Thinking about the new month gave me an unexpected surge of motivation and I purchased a week's worth of lunches and then promptly went home and assembled them. It was so easy grabbing my lunch out of the fridge on my way to work this morning - I'm going to try and maintain that habit throughout the week as well.

I hope that everyone had a great first of March. I think we are all going to have a wonderful month!

*I'm moving soon; I shouldn't be thinking about new art work. But I just love the Encaustics from Ali Herrmann.

Sunday Sayings

2010-02-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday, I post a new saying that helps to inspire me to create new habits, finish my projects, and reach my goals.

The end of a melody is not its goal; but nonetheless, if the melody had not reached its end it would not have reached its goal either. A parable. ~ Nietzsche

This quote was in the 3rd chapter of The Happiness Project that I reviewed yesterday. It is tempting to look to the future for happiness. I will be happy when... my dissertation is defended, my husband and I live in the same state, I'm pregnant, we buy a house... It wasn't difficult to compose that list as those are all things that I'm genuinely looking forward to, however I truly am happy now. I spend a lot of time on this blog lamenting the habits I don't yet have, but I do currently have a few pretty awesome habits, and one of those habits is my ability to be happy in the moment. A few readers asked me to discuss my interstate marriage, and I will soon, but suffice it to say that my husband and I have maintained our positive attitudes and I'm very glad that was a habit that I already had.

When I find myself focusing overmuch on the anticipated future happiness of arriving at a certain goal, I remind myself to "Enjoy now." If I can enjoy the present, I don't need to count on the happiness that is (or isn't) waiting for me in the future. The fun part doesn't come later, now is the fun part. ~ Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project - Aim Higher

2010-02-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

For the past year, I've been a regular blog reader over at The Happiness Project. For those of you who haven't read Gretchen's blog, she is a former lawyer who spent a year test-driving different theories (from Oprah, Aristotle, and modern researchers) about how to increase happiness. I will be reviewing a chapter of her book The Happiness Project each week for my Saturday Review.

In the third chapter, March - Aim Higher, Gretchen sought to receive more happiness from her work by launching a blog, enjoying failure, asking for help, working smart, and enjoying now. This is the first chapter where I had difficulty relating to the author.

I started paying close attention to how I spent my days. Were there pockets of time that I was wasting? Could I find the equivalent of loose change under the sofa, like an overlooked habit of watching a Law & Order rerun every night? Alas, I was running pretty close to efficiency. If I was watching a rerun, I was paying bills at the same time.

Pretty close to efficiency?! I cannot relate. I don't know anyone who would describe themselves as working at (or near) maximum efficiency. I also cannot relate to the way she effortlessly adds, and more impressively maintains, habits at a whim. Her methodical nature is further evidenced throughout the book and is both enviable and a bit sad as I imagine some of her behaviors may be anxiety driven. Regardless, I found several gems in this chapter, so many in fact that I had a hard time choosing which passage to write about.

By doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished. We tend to overestimate how much we can accomplish in an hour or a week and underestimate how much we can accomplish in a month or a year, by doing just a little bit each day.

I always overestimate how much I can accomplish in a day. Around 2pm each day, regardless of how productive I've been, I realize that many items on my to-do list will not get crossed off. This leads to a feeling of failure, which leads to decreased productivity, and by the end of the day, I just feel guilty. I need to be more realistic when I write my daily to-do lists.

And then there are the big projects (a wedding album for my parents) and the huge projects (my dissertation) that sometimes seem too overwhelming to complete. And yet, by putting in a little time each day, they somehow, almost like magic, get done. I'm 50 pages into my dissertation, the data is 98% collected, and analysis is underway. I just need to maintain momentum and have confidence that with a little work each day, this too shall get done.

Waiting For the First

2010-02-26T16:55:00.000-08:00

Photo by Country Dreaming

When creating new habits or breaking bad habits, many people wait to start. Few start today. I am guilty of this. I like to wait until the first day of the week, the first day of a rotation, the first day of a month, the first day after a big event... I like to wait for firsts. This causes problems for me. I wait until a Monday (the first day of a week) to start trying a new habit. If I fail to do that habit on Wednesday, I give up and try again the following Monday.

This failure is most evident in my sad, pathetic, gold star list. The February list is blank! This is not because I've abandoned my habits, on the contrary, but I have abandoned tracking my habits. And while some habits have continued to thrive, some habits need to be tracked or they don't get done. I've written numerous posts about my failures in measuring my goals. I keep telling myself that I will resume using my Gold Star sheet on Monday - and when Monday comes and goes, I decide to start the following Monday. I should stop waiting for firsts. Today is a perfectly good day to start. And yet, I think I'm going to wait until Monday - the first of the week AND the first of the month - it is irresistable.

Are there any habits that you are waiting to start on Monday?

Motivate Me

2010-02-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

I returned from my morning bootcamp and promptly sat on the sofa - and I've been stuck here ever since. Today I do not want to shower, blog, work, clean, or even talk to anyone. I just want to sit on my sofa. I'm lacking motivation to do just about anything except look at moving announcements online.

But I know that I need to accomplish a few things today, because if I don't, I will feel very guilty tonight. Ridiculously guilty. And so I am now blogging and then I will shower, and then I will make a list of everything that I have to do and I will choose three things. Just three things. And I will do them without procrastinating. Anything else that I get done today is merely a bonus. How do you motivate on the days with malaise?

**All cards are from Tiny Prints. I've ordered holiday invitations and baby shower invitations from their site and I'm always super impressed with the quality, price, and super fast delivery. I will (most likely) be ordering our moving announcements from them... but which one should I choose?

Feelgood List Discount & Winner

2010-02-23T10:32:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all of the readers who entered our first giveaway, a personalized Feelgood list from Julie of Up Up Creative. Thank you for taking the time to comment; I really enjoyed reading about the habits that you would put on your Feelgood lists.

Unfortunately, there can be only one winner, but Julie has been so very kind and is offering all of our readers a 10% discount on their very own customized Feelgood list! To take advantage of the generous discount, contact Julie through her fabulous Up Up, The Blog.

Now I am starting to brainstorm what I would put on my Feelgood list. For the "everyday" section, I would want to list the habits that make me the happiest: making my bed and new blog post. In the "thrice weekly" section, I would put flossing, exercise, and send a card. I need to do some more brainstorming for the "a la carte" section - I'll probably steal a few from all of your wonderful suggestions!

And now to announce the winner! (Drum roll....) Congratulations Carla, from MamaHeartsBaby, for winning a customized Feelgood list! Carla commented:

What a genius idea! So many things I'd want to put on this sweet little list. One that stands out & that I'm working on right now:

Have a regular story time with my family - not necessarily reading out loud (but that's fine too) but just all of us with a good book in the same room. Just makes me all warm and fuzzy thinking about it.

Carla, I hope that you enjoy your Feelgood list. What a wonderful new habit - family reading time! Please stop by to let us know how your new habit is growing!

**The calendar at the top is another beautiful item from Up Up Creative.

I'm Moving!!

2010-02-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

This morning, at 5:30am, I found out that I am moving. Similar to a medical residency, people in my field participate in a Match selection process. That means that this morning my peers and I received an email telling us where we will be moving this summer for our 12-month internship.

The internship match is a protracted process that began last June and finally ended today. I'm happy to report that I received my first choice and I'm very enthusiastic about my new internship program. However, it is tempting to skip over this huge milestone and think about how my to-do list just quadrupled. Quadrupled!! Every item in our house will either 1.) stay in our home city with my brother, 2.) go into storage, 3.) go with my husband to his work city, or 4.) go with me to my new internship city. All of our stuff will come back together next summer when we both move back to our home city. I also have to sell my car, find an apartment, transfer bills...

I need to remember that the items on my to-do list involve stuff. Internship is an exciting accomplishment - the last step to finally receiving my Ph.D. I've worked very hard to get to this point in my career and I'm going to consciously ignore my to-do list this week and celebrate this achievement.

*Colored pen sketch by Artitorium.

**My first giveaway closes at 11:59pm (PST) tonight, so comment now for a chance to win a Feelgood list from Julie of Up Up Creative. Her Feelgood lists are beautiful, customizable lists for your personal goals or habits. And they are yellow!

Sunday Sayings

2010-02-21T03:00:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday, I post a new saying that helps to inspire me to create new habits, finish my projects, and reach my goals.

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. ~ James Openheim

I have spent the past several months trying to create some positive habits. Many of the habits are small (flossing, keeping dishes out of the sink, making my bed) and I have yet to achieve perfection with any of them. But this blog is not about being perfect, it is about being happy. Both visual and mental clutter distress me. Dishes in the sink and an unmade bed are a nagging visual to-do list - and it used to be a to-do list that I never completed. Making progress (in the absence of perfection) on these small things has brought me unexpected levels of happiness. So often my friends and I fall into the trap of "I will be happy when..." I am pregnant? My dissertation is finished? I live in the same city as my husband? We all know that by the time those goals are realized, there will be new ways to finish that sentence. So I am trying to be happy today. And if that means working on silly small habits like flossing and making my bed, that is okay with me.

**My first giveaway closes tomorrow, so comment now for a chance to win a Feelgood list from Julie of Up Up Creative. Her Feelgood lists are beautiful, customizable lists for your personal goals or habits. And they are yellow!

The Happiness Project - Remember Love

2010-02-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

In the second chapter, February - Remember Love, Gretchen sought to strengthen her marriage by quitting nagging, not expecting praise, fighting right, not dumping, and giving proofs of love. Research has shown that a good marriage is one of the factors most strongly associated with happiness. Like Gretchen, I know my marriage is not in trouble. But we are only 18 months in, and my husband and I would like to maintain our strong marriage even when life gets more difficult with both happy additions (babies!!) and inevitable sad losses. I teared up on the airplane (in the center seat between two large men) while reading her descriptions of her husband.

One of the great joys of falling in love is the feeling that the most extraordinary person in the entire world has chosen you. I remember being astonished when, after I pointed out my new boyfriend, Jamie, to my law school roommate, she admitted, "I've never seen him before." I honestly couldn't imagine that everyone's eyes weren't drawn to him every time he walked down the hallway or into the dining hall.

I look at my husband through those same eyes - I can't believe he chose me! And yet, as Gretchen points out, I know I sometimes take him for granted.

Jamie is my fate. He's my soul mate. He pervades my whole existence. So, of course, I often ignore him. ... I'd fallen into the bad marriage habit of being less considerate of Jamie than I was of other people.

The Happiness Project has me looking at habits in multiple ways. There are good habits that everyone has on their lists (exercise, flossing) and bad habits that everyone can easily recall (smoking, poor eating). But we often forget about the habits in our everyday interactions with people. Nagging, ignoring, and snapping at your spouse are bad habits that may develop slowly over time, but they have the potential to be exhibited and reinforced several times per day. These interpersonal habits may seem small relative to habits like smoking - but they may have a much larger impact on our day-to-day happiness.

**My first giveaway closes on Monday, and you can still comment for a chance to win a Feelgood list from Julie of Up Up Creative. Her Feelgood lists are beautiful, customizable lists for your personal goals or habits. And they are yellow!

Resolution Recap

2010-02-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

This year I made two New Year's resolutions. The first was to blog daily. With a few exceptions, I've been able to accomplish that goal.

My second resolution, however, was a couple's resolution. My husband and I resolved together to send more cards or written correspondence. The hope was that by sharing a goal, we'd help each other achieve it. I'm sad to report that not a single card has been mailed in 2010. Zero. That means we've failed to acknowlegde several friends' birthdays, send thank you's for the generous Christmas presents we received, or thanked our friends who hosted me while I was interviewing for internships.

I think part of the reason for our complete failure has to do with our current living arrangement; my husband lives in another state during the week and comes home around 10pm on Fridays and leaves at 6am on Mondays. Rae has asked me to write about how my goals/habits/life are effected by this distance, and our failure on our couple's resolution is just one example.

My husband always tells himself (and me) to pack a positive attitude. We've been able to see a lot of good in our current situation, though we look forward to it ending in 18 months. One of the positives of being apart is that when we are in the same home, we have very high quality time together. Less TV, more talking, and lots of cuddling. One of the negatives, we tend not to spend our time doing anything that feels like work - and our resolution to write cards now sounds more like a chore than something pleasurable.

My plan for next week is to choose cards and address envelopes so that when my husband does come home the following weekend, we are ready to sit and write out cards. 30 minutes per weekend would be sufficient if we did it every weekend. But making plans and enacting a plan are two very different things - let's see if I follow through!

**My first giveaway closes on Monday, and you can still comment for a chance to win a Feelgood list from Julie of Up Up Creative. Her Feelgood lists are beautiful, customizable lists for your personal goals or habits. And they are yellow!

**The beautiful cards are from Sweetbeets. Maybe if I got really pretty cards, I'd write more letters?!

Week of Firsts

2010-02-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

This week has been a week of firsts.

My first giveaway launched over the weekend, and you can still comment for a chance to win a Feelgood list from Julie of Up Up Creative. Her Feelgood lists are beautiful, customizable lists for your personal goals or habits. And they are yellow!

And today brings another amazing first, my first guestpost! Jess is a jewelry designer from Chicago who started the blog Makeunder My Life.

My philosophy, is the idea that everyone is a designer of their life and we use intentions (conscious or otherwise) to guide and shape our actions and environment. Sure there are lots of things we cannot control in our lives, but how we respond and design our lives accordingly is up to us.

Jess asked me to write a guest post for her Design Your Life series discussing the intentions I have for my life. I ended up with a list of 9 intentions, but I chopped it down to 4 (I need to be more concise!). In the post, I focused primarily on what I learned during my college years. Since over a decade has passed since that first day at college, I've obviously picked up a few more stories and intentions! If this is something that interests you readers, I can share my other 5 intentions in the upcoming weeks.

And did I mention there are pictures?! I am attempting to keep some anonymity, so I tried to choose pictures of my face somewhat obscured. The picture from the top of this post is from my trip to Croatia with my best friend - another story that I had to chop due to length!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on my intentions and my first guest post!

Try Again!

2010-02-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I tried to do my 30-minute clean before bed, and I failed! I had the time, but I obviously lacked the motivation and laziness took over. I can hardly motivate to do my nighttime skin routine, I don't know why I thought I would be able to turn off the TV, close my laptop, and leave the sofa to clean!!

Yesterday, I attempted to clean in the morning before I left for work. Again, I failed. After breakfast, I started dawdling on the internet (reading blogs and answering email) and before I knew it, two hours had passed! Off to work I went. And so when I got home from work last night, I decided to "do it first." Before I turned on my computer, before I called my husband, I changed into sweats and set the timer for 30 minutes of cleaning. I would still prefer that I clean in the mornings, but I think it is more realistic to aim for a 30 minute clean as soon as I get home.

I think cleaning would be more fun with these cute gloves from Julie Meyer.

*Don't forget to enter JOW's first giveaway: Customized goal lists.

Morning Cleaning

2010-02-16T01:00:00.000-08:00

This week I am attempting to "clean while it's clean" for 30 minutes each day. I am hopeful that this week's JOW (Just One Week) habit will result in a perpetually clean home. Now I need to decide the best time of the day for my 30 minute clean: morning, after work, or before bed?

Beautiful photograph by Tracey Capone

I'm very tempted to clean in the mornings before I go to work. Mornings for me are always full of possibility (today may be the perfect day!!) and I'm always overly optimistic as I make the day's to-do list. Tasks I schedule for mornings typically get done. But where in my mornings would this fit?

6am - Wake up (clap-on!)
6:15 - Leave for bootcamp (M-W-F)
7:30 - Return home to eat, shower and dress
8:45 - Leave for work

To be very honest, I spend a lot of time dawdling in the mornings (reading blogs, watching reality TV, day dreaming) and I often take advantage of one of the perks of being a 5th year graduate student - I can wander into lab at any time I please. So while I aim for 9am, I probably only reach my goal once per week. However, with this dawdling comes guilt. I need to be logging at least 40 hours per week at lab in order to finish my dissertation before I leave for internship, and so I really shouldn't schedule my 30 minute cleaning to interfere with me arriving at lab in a timely manner (and I'd hate for anything to get in the way of my dawdling!).

Each day this week, I am going to attempt cleaning at different times to figure out what works best for me. Last night I cleaned right before bed, today I will clean in the morning, and Wednesday I will clean immediately after work. I will report the results throughout the week and on Thursday I'll choose the one I liked best.

**I hope that you enter my first giveaway, a custom goal list from Julie of Up Up Creative.

Clean While It's Clean

2010-02-15T08:55:00.000-08:00

While growing up, my siblings and I had several chores: vacuuming the stairs, cleaning our bathroom, sweeping the kitchen. In hindsight, our chores should never have taken us more than 30 minutes per day, but my chore time would often quadruple with procrastination, day dreaming, and peppering my mom with questions. The most common question - Why do I need to clean when it is already clean?

My mom is a big believer in "cleaning while it's clean." Why - so it never gets dirty. It sounds both idiotic and brilliant: if you clean something that is already clean, it will never be dirty. And at what point does the freshly vacuumed rug go from clean to dirty anyways? Instead of waiting for something to become dirty, you can maintain the cleanliness.

Cleaning a dirty sink can take 5 minutes, wiping down an already clean sink can take 15 seconds.

Since our cleaning service gave us the benefit of pushing the reset button, my JOW (Just One Week) habit this week will be to spend 30 minutes each day doing maintenance cleaning. I will set my timer, play some music, and clean. My hope is that a daily 30-minute cleaning habit will result in a consistently clean house. Wish me luck!

**Don't forget to enter JOW's first giveaway for a beautiful, customized goal list.

**This is now the second Pilot Design clock that I've featured. I'm becoming obsessed!

Sunday Sayings

2010-02-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday, I post a new saying that helps to inspire me to create new habits, finish my projects, and reach my goals.

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. ~ Henry Ford

While I have been generally displeased with my lack of progress this month, the ultimate goal of this project is to stop the constant feelings of guilt. In the spirit of the day, I'm going to love myself and instead of focusing on my failures, I am looking forward to recommitting to my habits this week. I have reflected on the past few weeks and I realize that maintaining my gold star list and setting aside blogging time is what differentiates my successful weeks from my disappointed weeks. I'm trying to begin again more intelligently.

I finally posted Sunday Sayings for the past two weeks: 02/07/2010 & 01/31/2010.

Check out my first giveaway ever!!

Feelgood List Giveaway

2010-02-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I wrote about my difficulties in measuring and tracking my habits. In my post, I included a picture of a beautiful goal list from the Etsy shop Up Up Creative. Many people commented on Julie's gorgeous lists (called Feelgood Lists!) and I couldn't stop thinking about Julie's personal story.

Deep in the throes of postpartum depression, when it felt like I would never get better ever again, I made myself a list. The therapy was okay; my journal helped; my husband was great. But I needed to go at that thing with every possible weapon in the feel-good arsenal.

I read all the literature on depression; I researched neurochemistry as best I could. And then I sat down and listed every single thing I could think of that might help me feel better. Things my doctors had told me; things I knew about myself. I wrote them all down.

And then I started checking them off.

I never once got the whole thing checked off in a week, but working at it and seeing how much effort I was putting into my recovery made it start to feel like, well, recovery.

Now that I’m better I see that it’s not really a recovery list so much as a life list. It’s like my own best advice to myself. My own little reminder to be kind to myself, to make myself a priority, and to take time to stay healthy so that I don’t slide back down the dreaded, dreaded hill.

Six months later I still use my list. I hope that six months from now, you will still use yours.

I found Julie's story to be very inspiring. Tracking my goals and putting little checkmarks on my chart has brought me incredible happiness, but lately I've been having difficulty maintaining my goal tracking. I contacted Julie because I thought her creative and beautiful lists would help motivate me to keep measuring my progress towards my goals.

I also thought the JOW (Just One Week) readers would love her Feelgood lists and so I asked Julie if she'd like to be a part of the first JOW giveaway ever!! Julie has been so kind and offered to give one reader a custom Feelgood List! If you win, Julie will email you a form to fill out and send back to her, she will make your list, and you will get the final pdf file to print as many times as you’d like. Forever.

Other Details:

prints two to a page on 8.5 by 11 paper

only the list items are customizable (the rest comes as is)

list items are completely customizable – you’ll have the option to use some or all of Julie's and to add your own.

maximum of 28 list items

There are two different ways for you to enter:

1. One entry when you comment below and tell us one goal that you would have on your customizable list if you win.

2. One entry when you tweet about this giveaway. Please include a link to this post in your tweet and leave a comment below with a direct link to your tweet so I know to give you another entry. (I hear the cute little twitter bird isn't working for several people - I'm sorry! As I try to fix it, the fastest way to tweet about the giveaway is by retweeting one of my several tweets on the post).

Contest closes at 11:59pm (PST) on Monday, February 22nd 2010 and the winner will be selected at random. Good luck!

***Closed to new entries***

Sick Day

2010-02-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

The artist Magen apparently did a portrait of me with short hair!

I haven't felt like myself in over a week. I've noticed that when I feel crappy, I don't want to stick to my habits. Habits that have stayed: clean house, empty sink, morning skin routine. Habits that have disappeared: going to bootcamp, flossing, washing my face at night, daily blogging, and going to bed at 10pm (being sick has kept me up past 1am for the past several nights). I continue to go in for at least half-days at work, but what I'd really like to do is lay on the sofa and throw myself a pity party. I'd invite my DVR-ed episodes of The Real World (yes, I still watch that show), the March issue of Real Simple, and several pots of tea. It would be a wild party!

I almost didn't post today and I feel better now that I'm writing. It's amazing how once the chain is broken (on habits, tracking, AND posting) how tempting it is to just walk away. I imagine that is how yo-yo dieters feel. The excitement of losing the first 10 pounds (or writing for 40+ days straight) is instantly erased as soon as a new pound is gained (or a blog post is skipped). The first time I skipped posting on the blog was full of guilt and anxiety. It was a lot easier the second time I skipped posting. I need to focus on the 78 days that I have posted instead of the 5 that I haven't, and get back on the blogging train (ditto for my habits and tracking my habits). I am not back at Day Zero - I'm still at Day 79 - and I'm going to keep chuggin' along.