Keeping Pace

The last week and this coming week have been quite a contrast from previous months. Work has been boring like I could never imagine. With the long weekends of the holiday season over, I'm still trying to adapt to the full, busy work weeks.

Last week I also began a tight, scheduled nightly routine that kept me busy with writing (fiction mostly), studying (learning new technologies for work), and exercising (at the Community Center). Last week was a pretty poor example of how to adhere to a schedule, which isn't helped by other things coming up that interrupt me. This week I'm going to stick to plans a little better, so tomorrow will be a long day: work all day until five or 5:30, then a visit with Colleen for a bit, then home to do some much-needed creative writing... and when that's over, I have just enough time left to brush my teeth and go to bed for Tuesday. Rinse and repeat four days a week.

When I already work full time and drive for two hours a day, why do I fill up my remaining three or so hours of freedom with such a busy schedule? I definitely like time to myself, and I would love to come home every night and spend those three hours gaming. However, I find that so limiting quite often. When I'm busy from morning until bedtime, I feel far more accomplished and useful. Although last week was a bit choppy with regards to sticking to my schedule, I did get a lot done: Wrote better than half of a short story, learned two new HTML/CSS graphics techniques, and learned about some features of my home router that will prove very useful in troubleshooting my internet connection in the future. Nothing groundbreaking, I know, but these scheduled study, writing, and exercise times are meant to be stepping stone for incremental improvement for me, which is more than I could ever say about the five years of constant cramming material at BGSU. Going at my own pace, on my own time, is much better for me overall.

Now I just need to make sure I stick with it. Unfortunately work might interfere some days (even leaving a half-hour late puts me pretty far behind for the night), and my girlfriend doesn't seem real up on the idea of me taking so much time to myself. But these are minor hurdles that I can overcome... the time I'm putting in to these three things definitely feels worthwhile thus far.

Now for sleep. B3 out.