Deliverable

Inconsistent sleep patterns. It’s something I’ve tried to address, but thus far it continues to vex me.

In the spirit of starting again and with the knowledge that with persistence and thought I will solve this problem I’m proposing some “Sleep Rules”.

Sleep Rules
On “school nights” (Sunday thru Thursday)…

• I’ll turn the computer (and the t.v.) off by 10 pm.
• I’ll be in bed by 11 pm.
• On nights where I have to be out past 11 pm, I’ll go to bed no later than an hour after I get home.
• Once in bed, I’ll read till I feel sleepy. I won’t get out of bed if I feel anxious.
• I’ll get up 7-8 hours after I go to bed.
• When I get up, I’ll immediately drink a glass of water, then take a shower.
• After the shower, I’ll get dressed, eat breakfast then make my bed..
• If it’s an exercise day, I’ll exercise then do the water/shower/get dressed/breakfast/bed thing.
• I won’t turn the computer on until after I do my (exercise)/water/shower/get dressed/breakfast/bed.

On the weekends (Friday & Saturday)…

• If I’m with M., I’ll stay up as late as I’d like. I’ll get up 7 hours after I go to bed.
• If I’m not with M., but at home… I’ll go to bed no later than 2 am.
• If I’m not with M., and get home after 2 am, I’ll go to bed immediately after getting home.

I had success with a schedule similar to this a couple of weeks ago. Ultimately the “voices in my head” coupled with anxiety about going to bed at a consistent time derailed me. I want to give it another shot in the hope that through repetition I can break my bad habits and replace them with better healthier habits.

I enjoy reading. I know that as a creative person it’s important to nourish yourself with a diverse diet of words and imagery, but it seems that sometimes daily life can get in the way. I’d like to change that.

Here’s the goal:

Read a minimum of one novel a month. Read a minimum of 3 plays a month.

There are no restrictions on genre. I’ll keep track of things on my reading page.

Simple, and hopefully S.M.A.R.T.

Ze Frank just released his final show:

Click To Play

What an amazing year it’s been. Thanks for all of the positive energy, Ze!

Sure it might suck. Do it anyway. Which will suck more… doing it, or being poor? — me

I’m looking back at a post that I made on January 1st, 2006. It’s a list of things that I said that I wanted to complete by the years end. I suppose you could call it my “Bigger Picture” goals of 2006. As I type this it appears likely that I will not accomplish all of these things. As I read down the list I realize that I made progress in some areas, but not in others. It’s no surprise that I was most successful with the goals that were the most clearly outlined. I was not successful with the goals that lacked clarity and planning.

Having said that, I come to the list of “Things I (said I would) complete before years end, 2006.”

• Publish the book with a “real” publisher and get paid for it. I will more clearly define what I mean by “the book” and “real publisher” as the year goes along. Stay tuned. (incomplete) – I did not publish the book with a real publisher. I got a lot done on the book over the summer.
• Be in a play (complete) – I did one play this past year, and auditioned for several others. I was called back for some of these but ultimately did not get the part(s).
• Get paid to act… either in a film or tv or a play. (incomplete) – I wasn’t paid to act this past year.
• Take a real vacation. I’ll more clearly define “real vacation” as the year goes along. (complete) – I took a weekend off with M.
• Create a nurturing home environment… one that provides a safe haven from the chaos that is New York City. (mostly complete) – This was the goal that I was most successful with. My living space is a hell of alot better now than it was 12 months ago. The amount of clutter than I’ve removed is breathtaking. I’ve moved beyond that, and living that way is no longer palatable to me. I have a couple of projects planned for the beginning of 2007 that should put the finishing touches on my space.
• Accumulate one month of living expenses in savings (incomplete) I made some progress in this area, and I do have a better handle on my income/vs/expenses than I have had in the past, but I have not accumulated one month of living expenses in savings.

Habits

• Cook for nutritious meals for myself consistently. (”Consistently” to be more clearly defined as I go.) (incomplete) – I never had a plan for achieving this. I never clearly defined “consistently”.
• Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. (”Consistent sleep schedule” to be more clearly defined as I go.) (incomplete – See “Cooking Nutritious Meals” above.

I’m not writing this post to beat up on myself. I simply want to be honest about what I have and have not achieved this past year in these areas. I feel as though I’ve grown a great deal in the past 12 months. I know why I did not meet these goals in 2006, and feel like I am better equipped to set clearer goals for 2007 that I will successfully achieve.

Ok, I know that it’s way the hell over 90 Days. I acknowledge the fact that I’ve put off coming to terms with this project for a good while now. In a lot of ways, coming to grips with this project means coming to grips with all that I’ve learned over this past year, which is probably why I’ve been putting it off.

For my own benefit, let’s refresh our memory as to what the heck this whole challenge was about.

It started way back in June of this year with a 30 Day Challenge. The way I stated it back then was:

For the next 30 days I’ll spend a minimum of 50 uninterupted minutes a day either working on one of my projects, or engaged in active “Me Time”.

I was trying to use the “30 Day Challenge” tool to make myself spend more time getting things done on things that mattered to me (essentially “The Book”). I was successful in that first 30 Day Challenge. I extended it another 30 days and also hit that mark. Now that I look back at my project tracking for that time, I’m remembering that yes, I actually did technically complete the 90 days of working on my project(s) successfully. In one sense I suppose I won one battle and lost another in that I didn’t meet the timeline that I’d set for myself for completing the book. (The engagement is ongoing in the larger war though… I WILL finish this damn book!)

It’s good that I keep this blog. It’s so easy to forget things that may seem terribly vital in their time. As I look back on how far I’ve come with “The BooK”, I realize that missing those last 2 release dates in August and not having a bound copy for all of my students when I came back to teach was ok. It didn’t make sense to continue to spend money on the symbolic gesture of binding a copy every 9 days. It wouldn’t have made sense to spend alot of money binding (incomplete) copies to give to every one of my students for the first week of lessons. Ultimately I gave my students the content that I had in folders (my first year students received loose leaf notebooks of the material.) This wasn’t an ideal solution, but at least I had something to give them. I’ve spent a hell of a lot less time copying this fall than I have in the past.

So, what have I learned from all of this and what the benefits been? For one thing, I have a hell of alot more done on the book than I did back in June. Having the material that I did to start the year has helped alot, especially with my new students. I feel like I’ve finally been able to get them started in a way that feels consistent and honestly their playing is reflecting the more organized approach I’ve brought to the table. I wouldn’t have had that had I not worked on the book all summer. Also, my way of thinking about projects has deepened and matured over the past months since “failing” to release a v.1 of the book. I’m glad that I went through the process of tracking my work for that 90 days. Ultimately I think it’s the shifts in perception that have come in the last 3 months (of frankly avoiding working on the book on a daily basis) that will serve me better over the long term. I have a greater clarity now about how to use the tools of GTD (especially next actions) that I think will serve me well over the coming year. I’ve also discovered more about my habits and tendencies and hopefully am learning to hack my brain in such a way that I am more focused and more able to do the things that need to be done to move my life forward in a positive way.

It’s taken almost three months to get this “90 Day Challenges” post complete, but hopefully it was worth it! : )

I just finished installing (finally) the other closet door in my living room. I’m not going to lie to you… It was a real pain in the ass. (Only took about an hour and a half-ish, but it was difficult to get it to hang correctly…)

Not sure why I’ve let this project languish for so long, but I’m glad it’s done. I still have to paint it, but I figure I’ll do all of my painting in one shot to avoid having to do all the set up and cleaning up of the paint several times.

In the spirit of the post from last year that got 2006 off to such a good start, I give you “Things I’ll complete before 12/31/06″.

By 12/31/06 I will complete the following:

Personal

• Complete & UPS 10 copies of the “G” CD to K. (completed 11/21/06)
• Set up M’s gallery (completed 12/30/06)

School

• Set up AS org bio page (completed 12/8/06)
• Set up “Recommended Listening” section on AS site (completed 12/10/06)
• Set up online store (shirts) (completed 12/10/06)
• Set up online store (supplies) (completed 12/10/06)
• Set up email list of AS parents (completed 12/10/06) – Though I didn’t actually set up an email list online, I entered all of the parents addresses & email info into address book, and discovered that the new mail client with Tiger integrates alot more neatly with Address book than past versions. My goal in setting up a mailing list online was to manage this contact information better. I think having it all in Address book then using Apple’s Mail will accomplish this.
• Email parents of students with “holiday gift suggestions” (completed 12/10/06)

Household

• Clear table in front L.R. (completed 11/19/06)
• Purchase new sofa (completed 11/24/06)
• Redo hanging folder area in studio (completed 11/24/06)
• Install closet door in front L.R. (completed 12/5/06)
• Clear space beneath table in front L.R. (completed 12/5/06)
• Craigslist the 4-track (completed 12/13/06)
• Organize & redo cabinet space next to sink (completed) – I’m going to call this one done good enough for now. I plan to redo the kitchen in ’07, so I’ll probably toss some more stuff then.
• Finish burgundy wall (completed 12/31/06
• Paint back LR closet doors (completed 12/31/06
• Install pulls on closet doors (completed 12/31/06)
• Touch up front LR spot by radiator (completed 12/31/06
• AC gone from Kitchen (completed 12/31/06)

Collect / Process / Review / Organize / Do

It seems like ages since I’ve posted here. Things got busy, and to be honest I’ve just been putting it off. So, without further delay…

Check-Ins

90 Day Check-In: Sleeping in My Bed
Day 90 came and went back on September 6th and I’m happy to report that this habit seems to have successfully taken root. I associate alot of pain with sleeping on the couch now, and can’t imagine myself doing it anymore.

90 Day Check-In: No Television
Day 90 of this challenge came and went back on September 13th. I successfully avoided the idiot box for those 90 days, and though I’ve watched TV from time to time since then I don’t watch it nearly as much. This challenge really made me aware how much of a negative influence television can have on your brain. It’s such a passive activity, and so much of what’s out there is absolute rubbish. Not to mention the amount of time it sucks out of your life. I do know that I must be vigilant and not let it creep back in to my life. There is just too much else to be doing. I can’t spare the time.

90 Day Check-In: No Sugary Snacks
Kicking the sugary snack habit has been great. Again, Day 90 of this challenge came and went successfully. Saying “No” to sugary snacks for those 90 days has helped alot with saying no in the days since. I haven’t been as extreme with it in the days since, but I’ve noticed that I’m much more conscious of the sugar that I put in my body. My brain just kinda says “you don’t need that stuff anymore… It’s not good for you…”. I seem to have successfully knocked out my soda habit as well. (Knock on wood and all of that…).

30 Day Check-In: Questions
This is one of those challenges that didn’t go so well. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I didn’t keep it up for the full 30 days. It’s been a while since I started this one, but I seem to remember that about half way through the 30 days I had a bit of a breakthrough. It had to deal with wealth, and how you define it. It came after reading Paul Graham’s essay How to Make Wealth. The thing that I took from it is that essentially wealth is not money. The pertinent passage is here:

Wealth is the fundamental thing. Wealth is stuff we want: food, clothes, houses, cars, gadgets, travel to interesting places, and so on. You can have wealth without having money. If you had a magic machine that could on command make you a car or cook you dinner or do your laundry, or do anything else you wanted, you wouldn’t need money. Whereas if you were in the middle of Antarctica, where there is nothing to buy, it wouldn’t matter how much money you had.

Wealth is what you want, not money. But if wealth is the important thing, why does everyone talk about making money? It is a kind of shorthand: money is a way of moving wealth, and in practice they are usually interchangeable. But they are not the same thing, and unless you plan to get rich by counterfeiting, talking about making money can make it harder to understand how to make money. [...] People think that what a business does is make money. But money is just the intermediate stage– just a shorthand– for whatever people want. What most businesses really do is make wealth. They do something people want.

What I took from this was the answer to my question: “How did I create a million dollars doing the thing that I loved to do? I made things that people wanted and they gave me little pieces of paper with pictures of dead presidents.”

Asking the question definitely got my brain moving and working but it didn’t lead to the place that I’d hoped and ultimately created more questions, which I suppose isn’t such a bad thing after all.

30 Day Challenge: Open Loops
This one was a bit of a wash-out. I was never clear enough as to what constituted an “open loop”, so ultimately this fell by the wayside. My guess is that the list of open loops wasn’t broken down into enough discrete next actions.

30 Day Challenge: Morning Pages
I remember that I started this challenge at a time when I was feeling unfocused and thought that having a goal of 30 days of morning pages would be a good thing. I didn’t complete 30 days straight, but I have been using them more regularly in the days since to clear my head. This is a tool that I believe in and that I’ll regularly revisit.

Project Challenge
I’ll cover this in a later post.

So there you have it. It feels good to put this stuff to bed.