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Multitasking Challenge Week 1 Summary

15 Sep

Monday Sept.12

Day 1 of my multi tasking challenge and it did not go so well. At ALL! For one, I had to play music all day, I cannot sit in silence so that right there kind of undid the challenge. But I kept catching myself all day jumping from one taks to another to another. It didn’t help that when my boss cam in around 2:30, he talked my ear off so I couldn’t work for pretty much the rest of the day. I am giving myself a little slack though because I am currently in the process of privately buying a car and attempting to sell my own. That makes for a lot on my to-do list.

Tuesday Sept. 13

After a morning of dealing with car stuff (insurance, registration, more online postings) I realized that I have done everything I can and have to stop stressing and go with the flow. But as for this day being a uni-tasking day, that was shot to hell. I kept telling myself “Focus! only one thing at a time.” But it just didn’t work.

Wednesday Sept. 14

Wednsday was a good day. Besides multitaskign in the morning when I like to sip coffee and read a dozen blogs at once, i stayed focused and on task. I finished a report that isn`t due for a week and read halfway through a super boring report that I have been putting off for some time. I feel good when I leave work, less like a zombie and more like myself, happy with a productive day.

Thursday Sept. 15

Half day at work today. I was terrible! So they came out with a Heartland game on Facebook and as I am obsessed with Heartland I spent most of my morning playing. Oops… maybe next week will be better. I left at noon to drive 8 hours to Idaho Falls. I find long road trips so relaxing, you just listen to music and drive. Nothing calms the mind better. The wedding I`m on my way to may be a bit hectic though. So we`ll see how I do with this challenge.

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Blog Challenge- Stop Multitasking!

12 Sep

As I was reading through the many, many articles online I found a great one on Real Simple about how multitasking is rewiring our brains and making us less happy. I read this as I read five other websites because I don’t like to wait the five seconds for the next page to load. I am a TERRIBLE multitasker. I physically cannot do one thing at a time (especially at work). I feel like I have to be working on several things at once to be productive and to get stuff done but in the long wrong I wind up feeling like a spaced out zombie.

How I Stopped the Multitasking Madness is a short essay giving snippets of A.J. Jacobs’ experience of focusing on one task at a time for 30 days.

I decided to give myself a multitasking challenge and I challenge anyone who reads this to do the same starting today.

Go 14 days without multitasking.

Focus on one task at a time and spend at least 15 minutes a day in meditation.

I am modifying it for myself a bit- I will walk for 15 minutes a day with no music in place of meditation.

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Finding Contentment and Being Happy with Your Life

10 Sep

I have to put up a heavy post because lately I have been stressed to the max over things that need to be done right away and things that are so far off that I shouldn’t even spend any time thinking about them but I do.

I have always been an achiever. Throughout life I have made goals for myself, achieved them, made more goals, achieved those, etc. I have always gone in that big circle. If I don’t have anything to do I feel lost. If I spend an evening on the couch watching TV I feel guilty that I wasted time I could have been cleaning, reading, or doing something. This vicious achiever in me has made it impossible for me to enjoy the present- I am ALWAYS looking at the future. While a little thought for the future is a good thing, focusing soley on it is ridiculous. My life is a constant cycle of worry, to the point that I am beginning to wonder if I need an anti-anxiety medication.

Nothing helps me forget my troubles like hiking in the mounatins

I am determined to get out of this rut I am in and enjoy the now. I have already accepted that I will never be financially secure. There will always be unexpected expenses, retirement will always seem daunting and I will always have some sort of debt in my life (student loan, car loan, mortgage). Accepting that I will always have a little financial stress has made it easier on me to accept things as they come up. And I am taking steps to easing that stress as much as possible. I am paying off debts and once those are done I will start a savings account and an RRSP and slowly sock away money. I have accepted I will never be rich, but I don’t need money to be happy I just need to have a grip on my finances.

There are several articles and websites dedicating to helping you find happiness and contentment with life. Because I am such an over organized person, I prefer checklists. So here is a checklistof just a few things to help you find happiness and contentment.

  • Accept who you are
  • Appreciate your life
  • Do things you really like often
  • Accept that your paycheck is enough
  • Turn off the technology (a hard one for those of who work at a computer)
  • Every morning, think of one thing you are looking forward to in the day
  • Do something nice for someone else
  • Walk or Meditate for 15 minutes every day
  • Realize that material possessions do not make us happy
  • Don’t become, just be

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Review: New West Theatre’s Twist & Shout

30 Jun

I was really excited when the recruiting company I got my current position through had an event around the opening night of the New West Theatre‘s summer production Twist & Shout. I absolutely LOVE musicals and live theatre so I drug my semi-reluctant boyfriend with me and went to the Yates Theatre.

I was disappointed after the first two numbers when I realized that this wasn’t a musical with a plot, etc., it was a musical performance. But that disappointment quickly went away as I enjoyed not only a series of excellent music numbers that made me want to throw on a poodle skirt and start twisting, but there were a series of comedic skits in between numbers which had me laughing aloud several times. I snort when I laugh, and there were two other snorters in the audience so you can imagine what it sounded like.

This is NOT the cast of Twist & Shout. Unfortunately they did not have any photos on their website or facebook page.

I did not grab a program which is a shame because there were a couple particular standouts. The little blonde with the big voice, the energetic and hilarious hostess whose faces reminded me of Lucille Ball and whose impersonation of Elvis had me shrieking with laughter. They had my reserved boyfriend laughing aloud too which is not an easy feat.

This was an excellent, excellent show and one I would consider seeing again.

New West Theatre is also putting on a second show later this summer called Born to Rock and Ryan and I both agreed we will be there.

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My Bruised Hamstring

10 Jun

I left my camera at home today so no summer picture which is a bummer because I had a couple of cute ones to choose from. I did take a picture of the bruising on my hamstring, it’s not nearly as bad as when i tore it in high school, but still enough to make me uncomfortable. I am keeping it wrapped and heating it like crazy so hopefully it will start to heal up quick.

 

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Summer Frogs

9 Jun

So I decided to shoot video rather than a photo because the song of the frogs and the bird chirp is so beautiful and so summer that I couldn’t resist. :)

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A Picture A Day: Savouring the Summer

8 Jun

I am feeling blue. It feels like summer is never going to come and will never experience it being locked away in my basement office daily. I have decided to stop being such a whiner and do something to help me live in the now and enjoy my summer. So, starting today I am going to take a picture a day and post it on this blog. Hopefully this will force me to focus on the small beautiful things around me and to take a breath and appreciate life.  Watch for a picture a day starting tomorrow.

Becoming An Organized, Proactive Person

2 May

I am hopelessly flawed. My car is always a mess, I never floss, I don’t have a savings or retirement account, my clothes are never hung up right away and spend days on the floor and I rarely make my bed. These are all small things that when they add up lead to chaos and stress in my life. Yesterday I was extremely sick and spent my entire day on the couch doing absolutely nothing and I hated every minute of it (except for cuddling with boyfriend). As I lay there I thought maybe I wouldn’t have gotten sick if I had been better about taking my daily multivitamin (which I always forget), so I vowed I was going to be better about doing all the things I should to be a happy, healthy and productive girl. Here are some of my goals:

Career

  • Stop wasting so much time online reading blogs/articles (I read about 25 on a daily basis) Save those for breaks or toward the end of the day when my brain is dyeing anyway
  • Exceed goals/projects my supervisor sets for me. Don’t do just the bare minimum
  • Speak up!! I was raised Mormon which means old men were always right and deep down I still have that deference. I need to stop and speak u[p and argue when I think they are wrong
  • Find a mentor. A strong, connected woman in the community who can answer questions and help me achieve my career goals
  • Start networking!!!!!! I am so bad at this because I think professional networking is so fake, but it works! So I have got to get on it
  • Get my marketing firm up and running once and for all. I have my website almost finished all I need are the proper licenses. So I need to get on it

Money

  • Start a damn savings account!
  • Get an RRSP going
  • Stop blowing so much money eating out. Buy groceries and plan my meals

Car

  • Take way better care of it. Don’t leave garbage, wash/vacuum it regularly
  • Do all the engine stuff on time

Body

  • Get back to 140 where you belong!
  • Diet/exercise
  • Take a daily multivitamin
  • Floss every day!
  • Register for a race to motivate myself
  • Begin doing 3 distance runs per week in the morning before the work day starts

Other

  • Get schedule organized with ipad or get a smartphone and put entire schedule on that.
  • Find a non-profit to volunteer your skills to
What have I missed dear blog readers???

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My Summer Adventure List

11 Apr

I am getting beyond excited for summer and so put up a list of things I have to do this summer on my cork board at work. Here is what I plan to do.

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Trying to Make a Windowless Office Livable: Fish!

22 Mar

My office is in the basement meaning no windows! Coming from my office in Waterton, where one wall was all glass looking onto Bears Hump, this has been a MAJOR readjustment and it’s not an easy one. I find that I have a lot less energy,  a harder time focusing and I leave work feeling tired and crabby. I am trying to change that and I figured the best way to do so was water. I have always had a major connection to water, there are three rivers in downtown Fort mcMurray I used to swim in, Seattle is on SO much water and then Waterton was right on the lake. Moving to Lethbridge, I have noticed a yearning for water so I made up my mind to get a little desktop water fountain. While looking at them, I had a great idea, a fish! Now, I am a fire sign so I went with a red beta fish and a deep red background beta tank. I was going to name him Al, short for Alpha Beta Gamma, but I thought Al was too short so instead he is named Allegro.

My fishy right next to computer

A zen beta tank

My fiery fishy, Allegro

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