20 for 2020: week 42

Week of 12 October 2020

My 20 for 2020 list.

What did I want to do better this week?

I wanted to get my uni assignment finished and submitted. Nothing else really mattered this week. I was hoping to start tweaking my planning so I could get things done.

So, how did that go then?

It went okay. The idea of identifying “big rocks” each week and turning them into “most important tasks” each day appeals to me but I haven’t quite found a way to incorporate doing this into my days. It’s a work in progress.

Isn’t everything?

On to 20 for 2020

This was d-week for my uni course (thing 8).  (Is d-week at thing? It is now.)

The final assignment was due at midnight on Sunday, the culmination of the past (just over) 12 months of study. I found it increasingly hard to stop myself saying, “this time next week . . .” And “this time in four days . . . “ because, while all of that was true, I still had to do the work. It wasn’t just a matter of waiting for a week or a few days and it would all be over. I actually had to make this happen. I mean, it’s true, the course would be over whether I did the work or not,  but it wasn’t going to mean much if I didn’t hand the assignment in (and pass). I’d just have an incomplete course on my resume rather than another qualification, which would have made the rest of the previous 12 months a bit of a waste of time.

I had to do the work but I had no idea how I was going to do it. I was still pulling material together and I knew that in less than a week, I would submit a completed essay to the uni. It was the bit in the middle that I was struggling with.

I felt like this . . .

South Park: Gnomes (Season 2, Episode 17)

Still, I couldn’t help thinking of all the things I had said I was going to do once I’d finished. And it wasn’t just things I’d have time to do, but things I’d have space in my head for once the thought of the course was out of the way. I wondered if I would be committed enough to pursue those things without the deadlines and formal consequences for not doing them that a uni course has. But that’s a problem for next week.

By Saturday morning, I’d done most of the easy work (ha) and needed to do the analysis and recommendations so that I’d have a report that I hoped would include everything that was expected. I was hoping to have a fairly complete (most probably way too long) report by the end of the day that I could then spend Sunday editing and reducing the number of words in.

It didn’t go to plan and I was still making changes on Sunday afternoon at the same time as I was frantically cutting out words. It was the most difficult period of writing I’d had the entire course and I could feel myself getting more and more anxious as the hours ticked away.

At 11.50, I knew I had to call it done. I was running out of time and there was no time to make any meaningful changes. I submitted it without proof reading it just to get it in. I was out of time. But I was surprised to see on the submission receipt that my submission time was 10.54 and I remembered that the uni is in Queensland and they don’t have daylight savings there. I still had an hour to work on it and resubmit, even though for me it would technically be Monday morning.

To be continued . . .

What did I achieve this week?

My regular check in: I stayed up to date with my weekly photojournal and my street corners project. I’m grateful to have been able to make the space to keep doing these things and I think I’ve got into a bit of a routine for these that lets me get them done during times when I’m not totally at the top of my game but am still alert enough to do some good work.

What didn’t go so well?

I think I had a pretty good week considering what I had on. The whole weekly review thing and identifying my “big rocks” for the upcoming week  is still difficult for me but there have been some changes at work that should mean I don’t have to do as much reactive work and (in theory) will have more time to concentrate on my projects. We’ll see.

What do I want to do better next week?

Keep tweaking the system.

Summary for the week

• Things completed this week: 0
• Things completed to date: 12 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20)
• Things I progressed: 1 (8)
• Things in progress I didn’t progress: 5 (7, 11, 13, 17, 22)
• Things not started: 4 (9, 12, 19, 21)
• Days I worked on my art (Goal = 2): 3
• Days I read a book (Goal = 7): 6
• Days I did yoga stretches (Goal = 7): 0
• Days I shut my computer down before 10.15 (Goal = 7): 4
• Days I went for a walk in the afternoon (Goal = 5): 5
• Days I had a lunch break away from my desk (Goal = 5): 7