It’s happening again
The plan has fallen. Abandon all ye hope… okay maybe it hasn’t completely crumbled however I did lose a ton of progress on my daily habits. It’s not what you think though! I had gotten sick with COVID-19 in the middle of February. During that time I was frustrated and wanted to be more proactive.
With that want… I found myself dropping what habits I had been doing. It was a shame but if a plan can fall under when there’s a life event you can’t prevent then it’s not a solid plan just a temporary one. I won’t let that stop me from trying something new!
Along came a book
As a fan of binging YouTube when I don’t want to have a single active thought I had found an incredible channel of a guy who talked about his creative process. I personally have a nasty habit of not finishing projects and being frustrated when I can close it out.
He went over the struggles of going from no skill to developing that skill over a long period of time. He pointed out that he had read Atomic Habits and learned a lot about how we can create better habits with doing very little. I can’t seem to locate the video so here’s another great video by the same guy: https://youtu.be/mVRdGuMrw-0?si=IMdfgttPHdg2iujB (He covers other books that are great. I read Essentialism by Greg McKeown awhile back)
It had been many months since I had watched it but I found myself thinking about that guy. I wanted to create art. I wanted to write. I wanted to design and explore art. I wasn’t letting myself finish even if something is bad. Thus we reevaluated. Thus we continue to seek growth.
Reviewing the plan
When I started this process I had the following ideas in mind:
- Draw Everyday. Because it will help you grow at art.
- Do D&D. Because growing your imagination keeps you sane.
- Learn Blender. Because I want to make 3D art.
- Read more. Because I need to let my brain grow.
- Learn Work Technology. Because it lets me do more.
- Play board games. Because it helps me make time for others.
- Do yoga. Because it helps me listen to my body.
- Learn and make art. Because you’ve always wanted to.
- Get off the PC more often. Because you love those around you more.
- Improve at something each day. Because it helps you feel alive.
What I found was that putting many tasks in one day everyday isn’t compatible with my ADHD. That even though it felt great to check a box when something was completed what didn’t feel great was the dread of the backlog. Having to make up tasks if life happened (as it did) was so anxiety inducing I found myself avoiding the checklist at the end of the day if I knew I missed something.
It’s the new plan, better than the old plan
After reading a couple of pages of Atomic Habits by James Clear I attempted the method of being intentional with your tasks. Anytime you want to start a habit you want to know what you plan to do and when you plan to do it. Additionally, the author says you need to state where that action is going to take place. I found this odd at first and almost dismissed it but then it clicked. Imagining the process while planning for it can help solidify your brain into being intentional with your plans.
This blog post brought to you by the statement Wednesdays at 6:30 AM EST I am going to sit at my desk and write for 30 minutes.
The author also goes into how we should make these habits smaller 2-3 minute tasks that evolve into habits. There are items that I have on my list that start a task but don’t have more than 5 minutes to dedicate to it.
I will be taking a small break from drawing art in favor of learning other technologies such as Blender a 3d modeling software. I believe this still keeps me creative while not feeling pressured to do the same thing everyday.
We got a whiteboard and hung it up where we see it first thing when we emerge from our rooms. I’m glad to have another way to track the tasks I want to do while also telling my partners that I am busy during the decided times.
So we have gone from many tasks in a small amount of time to building habits over time. Being intentional with your time and your mind. The book covers more habit building skills but I will be implementing them slow and steady. I want to see if I can stop measure progress and just going with the flow. And with that I finally bring you the exciting portion of the blog…
Projects Updates!
My second brain
I’ve begun the process of creating a better way of organizing my thoughts. I had recently read How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens and although the book wasn’t as good I was hoping the concept of using notes as a 2nd brain to organize helped a lot. I’m using Obsidian notes and it’s great application for staying focused and formatting easily so you can stick with note taking first and foremost rather than having to mess around with settings and formatting. (Sorry OneNote I’m leaving you for a better app system). The coolest thing about Obsidian is that you can tag your text with hashtags and it’ll create a graph which maps connections. This has already helped so much with writing. Speaking of…
I might be writing a book
I won’t talk about it much here but I have always wanted to write a book. Unfortunately in my youth I was dissuaded from becoming an author by a writer who I had looked up to so very much at the time. I internalized that feeling and let it control me for far too long. I’ve been fighting my issue with never finishing projects. So I’m going to be writing a book. Will it be completed? Will it be good? Will you read it? Gosh I hope the answer to those questions was a good one. I won’t be waiting around to find out. Got typing to do!
That wolf can run Doom???
As part of trying to find other tasks that I’ve picked up and decided “No I’m not worthy enough to do this” I’m breaking into making Doom maps. I had been inspired by going through the web and finding people who I had followed on social media (RIP good Twitter, RIP Cohost) and a few of them list the Doom maps they’ve created. I think that would be a neat addition to the site and even if no one downloads and plays my levels I know I’m still going to be proud of myself.
This was the 2nd map I had attempted to make and I still love the concept so I will be revisiting it
Quick gif of the first map finished below! I did it in 24 hours. Now I’m doing more!
Site Updates on the Horizon
- I plan on getting my art together and posting it up on a new section.
- Need to get RSS feed up for the site so that people can subscribe if they want to
- Need to figure out a good format for Webrings so that I can include other friends’ websites
- Overall visual overhaul of the site is needed. I found out I can’t stand WordPress despite having to use it for years at another job
- Maybe adding a music section if I can be brave enough to try doing that
Thank you for reading. I’m hoping as I form these habits that I will write more often. Reading was a daily I felt did not need to be there as I had created that habit long ago. Here’s looking at you writing habit. Let’s create.