Week 26/2022: I’m reviewing the situation

Week of 27 June 2022

I’m reviewing the situation

When I made my 22 for 2022 list, I grouped the 22 things under the three areas where I wanted to make progress in the first three months of 2022:

• supporting my body and mind
• engaging in meaningful work
• exploring

Half way though the year, I’ve completed six of the 22 things, all but one of which was under the “meaningful work” category.

• 8 – Complete my TAFE course
• 10 – Read Deep Work and make a summary of key takeaways and action
• 11 – Review the Priority Samurai course material and identify actions
• 13 – Sort out my Todoist
• 18 – Complete the Content Writing course

The other thing I’ve done was to complete the Cosmic Calibration course (thing 22), which was about the INTP personality type.

I’m still working on the Mindspot course (thing 1), my personal “instruction manual” (thing 12) and reading the 20 (or 26) books from the Dymocks 2022 Reading Challenge (thing 21).

That means I have nine things either done or in progress and 13 things I haven’t started.

The undone 13 things and my new priorities

I still want to do 12 of them, though there are a couple I want to redefine. The other one, managing a small project (thing 9), relies on work. I don’t think the time is right for it at the moment, so that’s not one I’ll be able to do in the next six months.

When I started my list in January, I was only thinking three months ahead, and my idea was to review everything at the end of each month. I didn’t exactly do that.

The TAFE course (thing 8) took up more time than I had envisaged. You don’t just magically get an extra ten hours a week to do a study program. Something has to give way for it. And there’s a major ongoing family issue that is also taking a lot of my time and mental energy. Knowing both of those things, I probably knew my original plan was unrealistic, but that didn’t stop me making it. Surprise surprise! I didn’t do what I’d hoped to do in the first three months of the year, and it’s now the start of July and I still haven’t done it all.

Now that the TAFE course is finished, I’ve spent some time thinking about what’s really important for me to do next and I refined my original three areas into three main projects I want to spend the next three months focusing on. So many threes!

The first one relates to the original area of supporting mind and body, but I’ve made this more specific about getting treatment and a program to sort out my neck and shoulder issues and to get serious about fixing this. I still want to be fully active and walking every day when I’m 80, and the longer I leave this, the less likely it is to happen. I don’t think it’s ever going come right unless I address the underlying causes of my pain, which is going to take time to resolve.

I’m exploring a couple of different treatment options at the moment so I don’t know what this will look like yet but I’m sure it will mean devoting some time every day to exercise or exercises or putting new habits into place. This can’t be negotiable. I have to do it. This means getting a strength program (thing 7) has to wait until I’m physically capable of doing it. So that’s off the list for this year. I guess “fix my back, neck and shoulder” could replace thing 7 but this is a long-term project rather than a “thing”.

The second project I want to spend at least three months on is working on material related to my INTP personality type, which is a follow up to the Cosmic Calibration course (thing 22). It includes material from other courses I have either started or purchased and not yet started. This will all feed into my personal “instruction manual” (thing 12). Doing the Strengthsfinder assessment (thing 14) and finishing the Mindspot work (thing 1) also slot in here. Again, it’s a longer-term project, not a thing I can easily tick off.

Finally, I want to get more serious about my writing. I’ve purchased three courses that I haven’t worked through (things 17, 19 and 20) and they have time limits on them. None of them are anything like the commitment I needed for the TAFE course so if I can redirect my ten study hours a week to them I should be able to get through them fairly quickly. One at a time, of course. After I’ve finished them, I want to spend some time working through the exercises from the Life Writing course handbook that I did last year.

That leaves me with seven things I haven’t started but I still want to do, that don’t fit within those three areas. I’m going to park them for now while I work through my three priorities. I still have home, work and family responsibilities to manage too, so I don’t want to take on too much.

And on top of this, I’m compelled to do occasional photo exploration walks because, well, I just have to do it and I haven’t done it for ages and I miss it.

22 for 2022 mid-year review

Things I’ve completed in the fist six months of 2022 (6/22)

• 8 – Complete my TAFE course
• 10 – Read Deep Work
• 11 – Review the Priority Samurai course
• 13 – Sort out my Todoist
• 18 – Complete the Content Writing course
• 22 – Complete the Cosmic Calibration program

Things I’m still working on and/or want to work on in the next three months (6/22)

• 1 – Complete the Mindspot program (feeds into 12)
• 14 – Get a Strengthsfinder assessment (feeds into 12)
• 17 – Do the Writing Bootcamp
• 19 – Complete the Profile Writing course
• 20 – Complete the Romance Writing course
• 21 – Complete the Dymocks Reading Challenge

Things I’m reshaping (1/22)

• 12 – My personal instruction manual (previously “Deep Work” handbook). This is an ongoing project rather than a “thing” I can tick off the list.

Things I’m parking but if I get a spare afternoon, I might find myself inspired to do (7/22)

• 2 – See a nutritionist
• 3 – Learn more about food waste and try to reduce this (I really need to get onto this one)
• 4 – Talk to my GP about a non-urgent health concern
• 5 – Restart my kombucha brewing
• 6 – Set up my veggie bed
• 15 – Set up an information management and tracking system at work
• 16 – Complete the 30-day voice course

Things I’m probably not going to do in 2022 (2/22)

• 7 – Strength training (I need to fix my shoulder first)
• 9 – Manage a small project at work

So that’s it. Now it’s time to get on with it. I was feeling a little flat last week but having done this review of everything has made things seem a little less overwhelming and more focused.

Having these three priorities is supposed to mean that if I find myself with a spare hour or afternoon (that’s a joke, by the way), my first instinct should be to do an activity related to one of those things rather than gravitating towards my phone. And if not one of them, then something off the “parked” list. Let’s see how that goes . . .

22 for 2022 summary

• Things completed to date: 6 (8, 10, 11, 13, 18, 22)
• Things completed this week: 0
• Things I worked on this week: 1: (21)
• Things in progress: 3 (1, 12, 21)
• Things not started: 4 (14, 17, 19, 20)
• Things that are parked until the end of September: 7 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16)
• Things I’m not going to do: 2 (7, 9)

What do I want to do next week?

Operation Fix My Back, Neck and Shoulder is starting next week and I’m having my first appointment with a professional I hope can help me.

For Project INTP, I’m going to review the first two weeks of Personality Hacker’s introductory INTP program of and do the exercises. I’m also going to review the INTP productivity course material on morning rituals and start to rebuild my own ritual of keeping away from my devices in the morning, walking, meditating and breathing.

And that’s enough for one week! I have family appointments and a “winter wellness” workshop to attend with Lil Sis over the weekend, as well as an ongoing video project. I think I have plenty enough to do.

Weekly summary

What was the best thing about this week?

I usually only make it into town once a week at most at the moment, and I always seem to have a pile of library books to pick up or return, and several items to pick up from various stores. Carrying heavy loads on my back isn’t possible with my shoulder in its current state so I joined the old lady shopping trolley club.

This is brilliant! It has stair climbing wheels, and you can take the bag off and use it as an actual trolley, for, you know, all those things you need a trolley to cart around.

What I’m reading this week

• Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey
• Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain

Habit tracker

• Days I went for a walk in the morning (Goal = 7): 4
• No phone at breakfast (Goal = 6): 6
• Days I did my morning planning routine at work (Goal = 4): 4
• Days I did controlled breathing (Goal = 7): 7
• No phone at lunch time (Goal = 7): 7
• Days I did my post-work pack up routine (Goal = 4): 3
• Finish work by 5.30 (Goal = 4): 4
• Days I worked on my art (Goal = 2): 1
• Days I read a book (Goal = 7): 7
• Days I went for a walk or did other physical activity in the afternoon (Goal = 5): 6
• Days I shut my computer down before 9.30 (Goal = 6): 6
• Weekly review at work: Yes
• Weekly review at home: Yes (mostly)