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Goals
So, month one of having switched to quarterly goals, and it feels like it's going fairly well so far, and that I've got a reasonable chance of meeting all of them, albeit having made some small adjustments as I go. Part of me is thinking that that means I should step them up next quarter, but I think that having a reasonably achievable set of goals makes it easier to focus, and having too much will just lead to cognitive overload and getting less done rather than more. Comments on progress so far are behind the cut.
Maintenance
Review spending against budget each month: done for October
Quarterly spending in dicretionary categories below £X: not on track
Run at least 195 km each quarter: On track
Do at least one session (at least 20 min) of core strengthening exercise each week: If I count two sessions of 10 minutes each as a success (which I think is a reasonable thing to do) then on track
Keep up my duolingo streak: on track
Additional goals
Private goal: on track
Private goal: on track
Quit Facebook: on track - I logged in once, briefly, to look up a specific thing, but haven't experience more than a fleeting tempted to return more substantively
Quit Twitter: On track; at the start of the month I was still checking it every few days, but having only logged in once in about the last three weeks, and have now downloaded all my data and deleted the account.
Make a plan for St John's singers for the next year, and prepare adequately for all sessions this quarter: On track; I've made a plan for the rest of this quarter, and prepared for this Sunday's. I'm at home next week, so should be able to prep for the rest of the quarter's rehearsals. I've got some thoughts and the beginnings of a plan for next year, and just need to talk to our new organist and other interested people to firm it up.
Thronescamp scripts: Not on track, but I intend this to be my main non-work focus over the next couple of weeks
Engage an architect to start planning rebuild of extension: On track, we have a shortlist, and a meeting with one of them next Thursday.
Practice intervals, sight-singing and picking out non-tune lines from choral music on at least 65 days (i.e. 5 days/week): Basically on track. I've changed the goalposts to a more general "music practice", as the things I listed were there because they're practice I can do in Huddersfield without a real piano or particular things I'm supposed to be learning, and that's been the stumbling block to earlier music practice goals. But doing other stuff like piano practice or learning rep definitely counts towards the ur-goal of "get better at music". I'm still slightly playing catch-up from having started about a week into the month, but I'm managing nearly every day, so ought to be ahead of schedule fairly soon.
More detail on spending
I was about 10% over the amount I'd need to average each month in order to meet my quarterly target. I think a lot of the problem was that I made a budget which was a moderate amount under the target, but didn't have any slack in it, so when a category went over budget, I just shrugged because I knew that I had some slack, and failed to keep track of how much. This month my budget is exactly the amount that will bring me back on track, but has a specific line item for slack, so if another item looks like it's going over I can shift money around, and maintain awareness of how much I've got left; we'll see if that works any better.
So, month one of having switched to quarterly goals, and it feels like it's going fairly well so far, and that I've got a reasonable chance of meeting all of them, albeit having made some small adjustments as I go. Part of me is thinking that that means I should step them up next quarter, but I think that having a reasonably achievable set of goals makes it easier to focus, and having too much will just lead to cognitive overload and getting less done rather than more. Comments on progress so far are behind the cut.
Maintenance
Review spending against budget each month: done for October
Quarterly spending in dicretionary categories below £X: not on track
Run at least 195 km each quarter: On track
Do at least one session (at least 20 min) of core strengthening exercise each week: If I count two sessions of 10 minutes each as a success (which I think is a reasonable thing to do) then on track
Keep up my duolingo streak: on track
Additional goals
Private goal: on track
Private goal: on track
Quit Facebook: on track - I logged in once, briefly, to look up a specific thing, but haven't experience more than a fleeting tempted to return more substantively
Quit Twitter: On track; at the start of the month I was still checking it every few days, but having only logged in once in about the last three weeks, and have now downloaded all my data and deleted the account.
Make a plan for St John's singers for the next year, and prepare adequately for all sessions this quarter: On track; I've made a plan for the rest of this quarter, and prepared for this Sunday's. I'm at home next week, so should be able to prep for the rest of the quarter's rehearsals. I've got some thoughts and the beginnings of a plan for next year, and just need to talk to our new organist and other interested people to firm it up.
Thronescamp scripts: Not on track, but I intend this to be my main non-work focus over the next couple of weeks
Engage an architect to start planning rebuild of extension: On track, we have a shortlist, and a meeting with one of them next Thursday.
Practice intervals, sight-singing and picking out non-tune lines from choral music on at least 65 days (i.e. 5 days/week): Basically on track. I've changed the goalposts to a more general "music practice", as the things I listed were there because they're practice I can do in Huddersfield without a real piano or particular things I'm supposed to be learning, and that's been the stumbling block to earlier music practice goals. But doing other stuff like piano practice or learning rep definitely counts towards the ur-goal of "get better at music". I'm still slightly playing catch-up from having started about a week into the month, but I'm managing nearly every day, so ought to be ahead of schedule fairly soon.
More detail on spending
I was about 10% over the amount I'd need to average each month in order to meet my quarterly target. I think a lot of the problem was that I made a budget which was a moderate amount under the target, but didn't have any slack in it, so when a category went over budget, I just shrugged because I knew that I had some slack, and failed to keep track of how much. This month my budget is exactly the amount that will bring me back on track, but has a specific line item for slack, so if another item looks like it's going over I can shift money around, and maintain awareness of how much I've got left; we'll see if that works any better.
