The Epic Fail that is March

Yeah so epic fail this month. I had such high hopes too. I guess I just have to turn around and make the most of April when it gets here. There is no way I will let April be an epic failure too. It is my birthday month after all. So at least the 22nd will be a good day. I have this thing about letting my birthday be horrible. It just can't happen.

Last year I had senior project presentations all day on my birthday so I delegated party planning and let one of my best friends plan it for me. We partied the night before, sang happy birthday around midnight, and everyone partied while I went to sleep. Presentations were a success and we partied again that weekend after they were over.

No where near the epic production that is JAbram Week, but still, a success. Maybe I'll have a birthday party in DC with all my friends even though I don't technically live there anymore. Something good has to happen. I refuse to let April be an epic failure too. I'll post some of my goals for the month later this week. For now, I'm going to make sure the rest of March is somewhat of a success. Or at least try anyways...

Projects

In the last Focus On: post we dumped our minds and came up with a massive list of stuff. This time, we'll focus on what to do with all of that stuff. This is where the Calendar and To-Do list will eventually come in. But for now we'll just focus on the massive list. First, we get to organize the list. You can rewrite each of these on separate pieces of paper. You can put stickers next to list items, star them or highlight them as we go along. Do whatever works for you.

There are two ways to look at organizing the list.

One way is to think about what you want out of life, your mantra, manifesto or end of life goals and narrow down your focus so that everything you do reflects the type of person you want to be. The other way is to think about everything you do on a daily basis and then work up the chain once you have those under control.

Since you're reading this blog, chances are you're like me and prefer to start with what you want the big picture to look like.

In either case, you'll want to go down your list and put your items into groups. Since most of the things on my list were bothering me because of my thinking that I want my life to look a certain way, my groups are based on things that appear to be a part of some large goal or project. They are areas of my life that I want to change. Here are some examples from my list.

1. Many things on my list focused on things I wanted to get, organize, or get rid of. When I looked at it again I realized that it was all about creating a spacious, organized, inviting place to live and work. So I labeled it "Home". This category has everything that deals with tangible items that I want to do something about, apartment search ideas, chore lists, etc.
   
2. Another category was "Things I Want to Learn". This turned into "Education/Career".
   
3. Other categories were lists of things I want to change about myself. "Personal".
   
4. Some things didn't seem to go with anything so they stayed by themselves

If you notice, some of these are evident in my "10 Things" list from earlier this year. This is how I decide what my goals and projects will be. Categorizing your list should help you see the types of overall goals and projects that you want to work on. Many times the things on our minds are bothering us simply because we didn't take the time to think them through and do something about them. Don't think too much about the categories if you get stuck. They'll become clearer as you work through the list and add more to it each day.

Using the categories on your list you should be able to clarify a few of your projects. Some of mine are

1. Create a clean, organized, open area to live in.
2. Learn Spanish, French, and Japanese
3. Be more organized, productive, and accountable
4. Get in shape

You'll notice that I used the word projects instead of goals. Mostly that's because I haven't yet defined a way to know when I'm done. In my world, projects can go on forever, but goals have to be measurable. I can keep "Improving my cooking skills" but once I "Learn 5 new recipes" I have to move on to something else. In the next post we'll focus on setting new and better goals, but for now we'll just pay attention to the projects you have. This will help us to get started, organized and be productive as quickly as possible.

The most effective way to make progress on your projects is to pick one or two to focus on at a time. I suggest picking the one that needs to be done first or the one that bothers you the most. That way you'll be able to appreciate how the system works and how much progress you're making. For me, I need to make money, so I'll be focusing on my job search. For the rest of your projects, remember, we want to write everything down. You may want to keep a notebook page, or an entire notebook devoted to your future projects. I have a whole notebook filled with things I'll do when I have free time, get bored, finish one of my other projects. For example, I want to learn several foreign languages, build a glass top table over a fish tank (i like pet fish!), and learn to cook a 5 course meal, but now isn't the time. I'll keep the ideas in my notebook until I can use them.

My Current Projects List

1. Blog
2. Career
3. Church
4. Home
5. Money
   
6. Personal

Next time I'll let you know some of the goals I've come up with for each of my project categories.

If you can't quite understand the whole process of getting from a random list to a projects list, I recommend that you read Getting Things Done by David Allen. That's where the whole process is taken from. He explains more in depth how to work from concepts down to tasks, and from tasks up to concepts when planning out your life.

Family Funeral

Wow. I am sooooo behind. I was away this weekend so I guess what I originally wanted to spend this weekend on kinda flew into Monday and Tuesday. Anywho... I'm back. Today is catch-up day. And there should be at least two more posts between today and tomorrow so I can catch up by Friday. And when I get through all this learning about project planning, hopefully it'll never take me a whole week to get back on track after a weekend away.

SO, here's the weekend update, before we get to another weekend...


This weekend was pretty cool for me. I got to see a part of my family that I haven't seen since I was about 2. About a week ago, my mom's dad's sister's husband died. I say it like that because it's sooo much easier to understand when you spell it all out.

Since I hadn't been in a while, I went with my mom and her sister to the funeral in South Carolina. Wadmalaws Island, South Carolina. I don't think many people have ever heard of it. It's right outside of Charleston. And apparently about half the people there are related to me in some way. There's even a road named after the family. Although that's a pretty basic thing in most places. a lot of roads are named after the people who lived there when they were built.


I thought that was kind of weird at first but then I thought about it. My grandpop's family had 10 brothers and sisters. I think 2 died, and the rest had at least 5 kids each. And then almost all of their kids had at least a kid or two. So yeah, there are a lot of us. It's a running joke in the family that you have to ask people who their parents are when you date because there are so many last names.

They like to tell the story of two cousins who had gone on one date with each other and then were at church when they asked everybody in the family to stand. They were both on opposite sides of the church and both stood. I'd hate to have that happen, but I can see how it could. I saw sooo many people at the funeral that I had never seen before. And that was mainly the family of one of my grandfather's sisters. There are still some parts of the family that I've never seen. Hopefully we'll get to have a family reunion soon and I can meet some more people. the ones I met this time were really cool.

We drove down on Friday so we could take our time and enjoy the trip. On the way we stopped at South Of The Border.


It's a rest stop just below the border from NC and SC where they used to stop every time they went down south. Apparently this used to be a big thing. Not so much anymore. I thought it was really cool, but stuff isn't open as long as it used to be. I guess people don't really road trip like that anymore. I could see it being open 24 hours a day if people drove like they used to. I took pictures of all the South of the Border Pedros and got a bumper sticker and some post cards for my collection. With the exception of the fact that we were going because of a funeral, the weekend was pretty nice.

I think I'm going to have to post more about my family from time to time. There will definitely be another post if we have a family reunion. And one when I make the red rice that cousin Rose taught me how to make. And when I see my cousins who live in Philadelphia, that I didn't meet until we were in South Carolina. Go Figure.

Getting Started

If you're anything like me, you always have some kind of project that you're working on. Some kind of great idea floating around in your head. Some kind of super awesome, imagination using, adrenaline pumping, brain flowing idea. And you have no idea where to start. Big ideas never seem to work out exactly the way you want them to. You get lost in a mountain of notes on post-its, calendars get squished and overloaded, and your to-do list grows to a mile long. This month is the end of all of that. I'm going to lay out the basics of why and how we so epically fail, and show you where to look for help and answers.

To get started, I suggest doing what many productivity people call a "mind dump". All you need is a cool looking notebook and a pen or pencil that works. If you have trouble finding either of those or you manage to find 50 or so pens that look exactly the same, don't worry about it. I've been there. Boy have I been there.

The main point of the mind dump is to dump your mind. Write down any and every thing that you can think of. Ballet practice is next tuesday. The football game is saturday at noon. Buy new shoes. I need more applesauce. Whatever you think of. Don't censor yourself or leave anything out. Nothing is unimportant. And don't try to orgainze the list. You'll just get distracted. We'll worry about that later. This may take some time, so don't be afraid if you have to sit there for a few minutes, or hours. If you have other things that you need to do, it's alright to get up and do them, but take your list with you. And write down anything you think of while you're doing what needs to be done. While it's ideal to take a weekend or at least a few hours to do this, life goes on and sometimes you can't. Just keep plugging away and soon you won't be able to think of much more that's on your mind or has been bothering you.

Since we're starting with a clean slate, I think now would be a god time to clear your desk and calendar of those annoying post-it notes. They're great reminders. I use them all the time. But they were not meant to be used by themselves. And they are not helpful if you have 20 of them around your computer screen, 30 on the wall calendar, 6 in a notebook, 3 behind the couch, etc. Take all of these and all other random scraps of paper with notes on them and write them at the bottom of your mind dump list.

Now a lot of people suggest also clearing your calendar and email, but that doesn't really work for most people. After all, most of us still have things that we will have to do and places to be while we're getting organized. And emails come in every two seconds at the peak of the day. I find it works best to just keep these two systems as they are and then tweak them as you go along. This way you'll learn how to keep your calendar organized and your inbox at zero without setting aside an entire week to hit delete over and over again.

Now that your mind is clear it should be much easier to tackle the planning and execution of your major project. This calmness will only be there if you have a clear mind. So take your mind dump list with you and be sure to write things down as soon as you think about them. Duplicates are going to happen at first, but you'll realize that the more you write things down, the less you have to remember. And that frees your mind to think about other, more creative and useful, things.

In the next post we'll tackle the to-do list. Until then, dump all that clutter from your mind, clear all your thoughts, and enjoy your post-it and scrap-paper-free life.

Focus On: Project Organization

This month, I will be focusing on a major project. My Career. While most of the details will be about my job search, the majority of the posts this month will offer tips to help you start, organize, track and finish any major project.

Here's a preview of what I will be writing about:
How To Start - Setting Goals and Establishing Habits
Taming Your Monster of a Calendar
To-Do Lists
Folders, Files, and Notebooks
How, When and Why to Track Your Progress

Throughout the month I will also be writing about books and products that have helped me to redesign my career and organize my projects and my life. Hopefully this month of focus will help you to figure out what you want to do with your precious moments and how you want to affect the world around you. Or at least help to get all the small stuff cleared up so you can think about it.

New Series - Focus On:

Welcome to Focus On: the latest idea to cross my mind. As I've been planning out my year, I've noticed that all of my ideas seem to focus on what I consider to be the basics of building a balanced life. These are the parts of life that every person on the planet worries about, or almost everyone anyway. While it may seem that some of these issues have nothing to do with one another, they are essentially all interconnected.

Over the next few months, I will be taking the time to define these life categories. I will also be examining ways to stay sane while trying to focus on all of the basics while still dealing with the everyday world. The first series entry for each month will introduce the month's topic of focus and open up what I hope will be an enlightening discussion for all involved.

Through this series I hope you will find ways to bring your life into balance, free your mind to think clearer, and open your heart to new ways to love yourself and the world around you.

March 2010 Goals

After seeing the progress that I made with my goals last month, I decided to do this again. Documenting the progress that I make here holds me accountable for my actions. Even if the only person reading has already heard about my plans, or happens to be me.

This month, my focus happens to be on my career, or lack of one. So most of my goals will focus on that. Although, I have included some random goals like last month as well as some of my year long goals.

Career Goals

- Sort through all old papers and files
- Organize paper filing system
- Organize computer filing system

• Keep - File
  
• Trash - Trash and Recycle
  

- Organize school notes

• Keep - organize related subjects, minimize notebooks needed
• Trash - Donate to students still at Howard if in good shape
• Create a Book List - read syllabus for each class to match each notebook with a reading list and get rid of large unneeded books
  

- Read and Review Career books, websites and articles for blog
- Send emails to people I would like to work for or with in DC and virtually
- Review my GTD system
- Send resume to family and friends

Health Goals
- Run/Walk for 20 mins every day (not sundays)
- Set and accomplish 4 Nike+ Goals

• Run 20 Times
• Burn 1000 Calories
• Run 25 Miles
• Run 1 mile in 16 minutes 5 Times

Church Goals
- Create IYPU contacts database
- Plan IYPU dollar-a-day finance sheets

Personal Goals
- Get Rid of 31 Things
- Complete Stuff Inventory
- Update packing and travel list

New Habits
- Weekly Blogging on Monday and Friday
- Setting and Accomplishing 1 Productive Goal Every Day

Good Karma - Part III

So I finally found out exactly which Carolyn was my gift swap buddy!!! Super Awesome!!! In case you weren't paying attention, here's what she sent me. I absolutely loved it. And I've found a new blogger buddy. She's just starting out like me. I read her blog Sweet Caroline completely (awesome name by the way - couldn't get the song out of my head). It's amazing how much you can learn about someone from reading their thoughts over a few months. She is a fan of one of my favorite bloggers Kimberly Wilson and has participated in an ornament swap organized by my giftee Micaela. What a small blogosphere this is...

I'm continuously amazed at how my blogger friend circle is growing so rapidly. It's great getting to meet new friends who love candles, tea, bubble baths, and stuff like I do. Hopefully I've made a new friend who is special enough to get added to my newly formed Christmas Card List this year.

DC Week and a Weekend Funeral

I got back from my week in DC late Friday night. I had a blast seeing my friends and hanging out. It was nice to have some time to relax and sit and talk and think. I miss being able to talk to my friends like that. It's not the same when you're hours away.

Saturday morning was the funeral for one of my best friend's dad. He died last weekend. It was so unexpected. Yeah he had a few health problems in the past few years, but so do most adults. I honestly can't think of real grown up who hasn't had some sort of health issue. Anyways, they've lived across the street for as long as I can remember, so when I saw her car I just thought that she had come home for the weekend. Then a neighbor left a message with the news. The funeral was really nice. He had been one of the most well known firefighters at the local firehouse, so all the firefighters from his station were there. There were even some from the other local fire companies too. It was kind of amazing to see just how many people can be affected by the loss of one person.

Later that day I went to a youth service at another church. It was their Youth Explosion weekend and the national youth president from our church came to speak.

Sunday was sunday school, and two services at my church. Apparently I'm going to be a sunday school teacher. Not like the adult teachers though. I get to teach the little kids. Which means I get to sing and dance and play games and color. Coloring is definitely my favorite part.

It's been a long week and a long weekend. But it's all over now. I apologize for not having posted anything last week. As you can imagine, there was a lot going on. But now I'm back. Time to refocus and catch up to March. I do want to think about my goals and projects before April gets here.

Snow Again?

It snowed again! Yay! For real this time though. I'm excited. I don't have to did myself out. I wasn't stuck in the house with my parents for a week straight with no escape. It was actually fun.

I spent a decent part of the weekend designing two new post series for the blog. The first "Focus On:" will premier next Monday along with my Weekend Update. The second new series "Setting Goals: A Week In Review" will debut next Friday. If I like the way they turn out each of these will become a recurring post series on the blog. Yay for new things! (Insert Happy Dance Here)

This week I will be in DC focusing on a few career and school things. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to check in every day, but I promise the posts will go up by Friday and I won't leave you wondering if I'm dead for a whole week. Plus, I never go anywhere without my phone and Twitter is quickly becoming one of my best friends. If you're in the DC area and want to meet up or have suggestions of ways to spend my inevitable free time send me a message through email, facebook, twitter, or in the comments.