Doing Something About it – Day 2
Today was a good day.
I got several important things figured out at work so I can continue the process of cleaning up some stuff to make it run more efficiently. I wrote some maintenance reports to help figure out when things are out of whack, and the nice thing is that they will help me, but they will also help some other folx at work, so bonus 
On the Doing Something About It front (DSAI) - I accomplished a few regular tasks, but didn't get a chance to study. Had a job break, and some other things come up so I just didn't have the time to study today. Also, since the office closed at 3, I got to kick off early, so Fae and I took Gillian to see Breaking Dawn part 1. It was in a dinner theatre, but considering the prices, I'm glad Gillian couldn't eat any of it The good part about it is that I kept it in my head and will try to crank some of the tasks off tomorrow before we go to dinner with my inlaws.
Today was a bad day.
My arm hurts. A lot. I've been taking tylenol to hold off the pain, but it comes in waves, and about 2 hours ago it was a tsunami, so I took some painkillers. Problem is, now I can't study. Trust me, I tried. After reading the same sentence 10 times, I gave up.
Process broke for some unknown reason and I still haven't been able to tie it down. Running the process manually until I can figure out what the hell is wrong with it. Really knocked off my development today, but I did manage to tie up several important loose ends when I needed a break and didn't want to pull out any more hair.
The main reason for these posts and the concentrated focus on getting things done is from a serious concern I have for myself. I'm REALLY good at starting things, but sucky at finishing them. Someone mentioned it again the other day and it really upset me because I know for a fact I'm still doing it. Here's the rub tho...
What do I do to break that habit without trying to start up 10 things, which will overwhelm me and make me fail again. I want to write. I want to learn how to make mobile applications. I want to study more about tea ceremonies and historic Japan. I want to get certified. I want to be the Uber SQL dude, but where do I start?
I'm going to lie down and watch some violent martial arts movies because the pudding that is my brain right now can only handle so much.
Any suggestions would be great. Nice thing is, I did promise myself I'd post every day, and here I am. That's one thing at least.
November 24th, 2011 - 06:33
Start small.
You are training yourself to change your habits, to follow through and complete things. It’s a difficult thing.
But if you start with something small, with something you CAN finish, that you CAN follow through with, that starts to build up successes.
So for instance, blog posting every day. I do this too… that I must have a post every day, and in almost 2 years of blogging have succeeded in doing so. One trick is that I don’t write every day: some days I plan ahead and schedule things to be posted at a later day to accomodate things like knowing I’ll be out of town or some such thing. But it still forces you into ensuring “every day” there’s something, even if it’s nothing more than posting “got nothing”
So if you’ve got your list of things you want to do, pick one thing or maybe two depending upon their individual logistics. Then, take those broader things and break them down into smaller chunks, and perhaps break those chunks even smaller… make things managable with larger goals and smaller milestones along the way. Give yourself managable portions so you can ensure success. Like for instance, with the SQL, is there perhaps a book out there that could help you achieve that? If so, buy the book, then dedicate yourself to doing one chapter every 2 days (e.g. 1 day read, 1 day doing the exercises). And if there are 10 chapters, that 20 days from now you’ll be done with the book — mark it on the calendar, and celebrate your success when you get there.
Little steps add up.