Anyhoo:
-Packing! I'm moving out of my apartment by February 1st. I just did a mini-load in my mom's Prius, and am now taking my dad's station-wagon style car back. What I'm really excited about is, once it's all back at home, I will finally have basically all my stuff (except for a bunch of books back at my Aunt's in Iowa) in one place and can do a much more thorough Konmari method cleansing. Which is a lot like a colon cleanse, but for your living quarters, and much less damaging. (Colonics are apparently really bad for you. Reference: Adam Ruins Everything:
(skip to around two minutes in to get to the part specifically about colon cleanses))
-Writing! I'm writing papers and finishing projects as quickly as I can (which is somewhat limited by my desire to do a good job, but the further along it gets time-wise, the more I just want to be done with it. So far, two down, and... probably around six to go. But I'm averaging around one per day and a half, so it shouldn't take too long once I can sit down and write them. Though there is a tug-of-war between finishing my projects and moving out.
Which brings me to:
Time-managing! This is germane to many things: one, in my online character values class, we're currently focusing on time-management, so I'm thinking about it and practicing it from that. Two, I'm reviewing my own methods of time management and reflecting on what has been working, what has not, and how to re-structure things so it will work better for me and get used more. Three, I'm reviewing lots and lots of good information on time management and productivity. For example:
Parkinsons Law. This is a fabulous little rule that says, 'The time it takes to complete a task will expand to fill the time you allow for it.'
Now, there are limits to this, but in general, when we really have to, we get a LOT more done when we simply have to do it by x time, which is coming up really soon. That looming deadline focuses one wonderfully, (where's that other quote? Ah, here: "when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully") And so it pays to, as much as you can, set tight limits on how long you can take to complete tasks. My personal favorite way of doing this is to make it into a game. I set the time limit as a challenge to myself. If I don't make it, it's ok, I'm not going to stress out about it, but my friendly self-competition can help keep me from wasting time on perfectionism and pointless sidetracking, enforcing the 80-20 rule (another of the ideas I keep running into) which basically reminds us that most of the results of what we do depends on just a small portion of all the things we do, and it would behoove us to focus as much as we can on that 20% of what we do that's responsible for 80% of the results, and ignore as much as possible the 80% of our efforts that lead to only 20% of the results.
Obviously there are situations where this doesn't work; use your common sense, take only as directed, consult your physician if swelling or redness occurs.
Much of this stuff I get from a guy who does a really good job aggregating and summarizing this info, Brian Johnson. I'm not getting any kind of kickback from mentioning him here, but if you're interested in this stuff, there is lots and lots more of it at his website. I myself have a subscription because I found it so useful, though there is plenty of free stuff there to look at. Website link here.
OK, that was pretty efficient time-wise. Hah! I guess I just used Parkinson's law?
Take care, dear friends and family ^_^
-IO
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