Don't Worry, Be Happy

Last weekend was what I would call a "light" Reboot Weekend. While I definitely unplugged for a while, I still had a certain bit of routine to keep up with, and I ended up not quite as refreshed as I had hoped. Point in case: I will be needing another full, honest Reboot sometime soon... because holy hell, do I ever have a busy September coming up.

I did not come away completely empty handed last weekend, though. I have been making tweaks in my daily and weekly routines to focus on my overall happiness. While I am by no means miserable right now, I have a pretty stale routine that is serviceable at best. With a few tweaks I think I will be on a track to keep improving myself throughout the remainder of the year, and improving myself is the best way for me to feel happy.

A lot of those tweaks to my daily routine are based on past successes and things from this list: 6 Things I Do to Be Consistently Happy by Joel Gascoigne of Buffer. A quick overview of his list and how each one integrates with my routines:

Wake Up Early
Easily the most fundamental change for me. Four years ago a 2:30am or 5:00am wake-up call was normal for me. Now I cringe at the thought of 6:30am. Beginning today I am doing a daily (yes, weekends too) 6:00am wake-up routine. My most-productive hours are right after waking up, so I hope to use this time to work on personal projects. I will lose roughly an hour from my nights because of this change, but I will make occasional exceptions for going out to stay sane with my social life.

Exercise Daily

I have been working on this pretty well over the summer, but I have not been consistent on a daily basis. Last week I began a daily half-hour walking / jogging routine near the end of my day to help me wind down. This goes hand-in-hand with the next point, because...

Habit of Disengagement

... I disconnect when I exercise. Once I leave my apartment to exercise around 8:30 or 9:00pm, my computers are off for the night, my phone is turned off to charge, and my various gadgets are put away for the next day. I spend the rest of my night free of distractions. Ideally this will help me clear my mind, reflect on the day, dissect what I have or have not accomplished, and prepare for the next day. I am already beginning to love this hour and a half of peace.

Regularly Help Others

This one is new to me in a way. I do not generally volunteer in the traditional sense, but I have always had a deep instinctual desire to be a mentor. This generally comes about as a support technician: I try to help people understand modern technology whenever possible. There are plenty of other things that I would like to try, although I have not narrowed my list down quiet yet.

Learn New Skills

This is easily my most-practiced habit. I love learning new things. New skills, new technology, new life hacks. I spend at least a third of my free time studying code, iterating on old projects (how many times has BrandonBruno.com changed in the last three years?), and looking for The Next Big Thing. I feel extremely accomplished when I learn a new skill that is implementable in my personal or professional lives. I plan to keep learning until the day I die.

"Win" Multiple Ways Everyday

The idea here is to have alternate ways to be happy throughout the day. If I invest my entire day into a project or task and it goes south, I end up feeling defeated, lazy, and uninspired. By setting multiple small goals per day, I can focus on another one to accomplish as a form of bounce back. Example: Is a web project not going so well? Go for a run instead and get my daily exercise in early. Use the free time at the end of my day to study the problem and refocus for the following day.

B3 out.

This Reboot Brought To You By...

I will be offline for a couple days to enjoy a busy schedule, wonderful weather, a little writing, and plenty of time to myself for a Reboot Weekend.

See everyone Monday. B3 out.

Fall 2012: ... Than Can Ever Be Done

Typically I look forward to the fall festival season, doing something every weekend through mid-October's Apple Butter Festival. I was expecting a quiet, subdued fall season this year since I have hit a pretty good balance between work, projects, and free time.

Nope. This is going to be my busiest fall season yet. Here you go:

August 17 - 19: Reboot Weekend

I'm kicking my fall season off with a Reboot Weekend. Rather than wait until I need it, I am taking one to relax, exercise, and focus myself before I dive into my insane upcoming September.

August 31 - September 6: Fulton County Fair

One of my favorite fairs - the Fulton County Fair - rounds out my August and conveniently runs through most of my vacation (see below). I hope to make a couple trips out to the fair, especially to enjoy a huge diversity of food. And donuts. Oh good god, the donuts.

September 1 - September 9: Vacation

I have not had a full, proper, week-long vacation from work in over two years. In my time at CRI, I was able to take one week off before I moved on from Findlay. At Computol I have not felt the need to take a full vacation in a year and a half. In the first week of September, however, I will take my first real vacation and I will have plenty to keep me busy.

September 1: Final Ride for Summer of Biking 2012

Given how warm our entire year has been thus far, it seems possible that we will have great biking weather through all of fall. While I will certainly do the occasional ride from time to time, I plan to end my core biking routine at the end of August, with my final "farewell" ride taking place Saturday, September 1st. It will be bittersweet.

September 2: Fuel

One of my favorite bands from the early 2000s was the alternative hard rock band Fuel. Although not a prominent force in music today, they still play solid songs, and they will be playing a free acoustic show at the Hollywood Casino. Great band, close to home, for free, at the start of my vacation? Yes, please.

September 3 - 5: Kalahari Resort

Thanks to a deal from the good folks at CodeMash, I was able to score a cheap room at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio, and will be spending my time there with a mix of friends and family. At a minimum this will be a nice reminder that CodeMash 2013 is already in the pipeline.

September 7 - 9: Black Swamp Arts Festival

Kicking off festival season is the classic romp through Bowling Green: the Black Swamp Arts Festival. This will be near the end of my vacation, so I am intending to consolidate my time at the festival into just one day. Hopefully I do not go too overboard with Qdoba, kettle popcorn, and overpriced art.

September 14: Zoo Brew

This now-favorite fall event may tinge with semi-painful memories, but I am still looking forward to sampling dozens of micro-brews, delicious snacks, and hopefully some solid music this year. A Friday evening at the Toledo Zoo is unlike any other Friday of the year.

September 15: Ann Arbor Give Camp / Jim Gaffigan / Rock the Docks

If all goes according to plan, I hope for this Saturday to be insane. I want to attend some of the Ann Arbor Give Camp, a volunteer-driven event where developers donate their time to work on technology projects for non-profit organizations. Ideally this will begin at 7:00am for me (in addition to an early-morning drive to Ann Arbor), so I can leave early and be home in time for a couple of possible events: Jim Gaffigan at BGSU or Rock the Docks in downtown Perrysburg. Either one will do.

September 22: Roche de Boeuf Festival

I have done a great job of wearing this festival out in the last five years, so I am most likely going to skim it this year. My favorite takeaway from this festival: fresh roasted almonds and Koral hamburgs.

October 4: My Birthday

Nothing more needs said. I will be turning 28. Oh shit.

October 12: The Clarks

A new (old) band that I recently discovered via Spotify, The Clarks, will be playing a show in Akron, Ohio this Friday evening. Thanks to a couple friends that live just north of Akron, travel and overnight accommodations should be pretty easy.

October 14: Apple Butter Festival

The final festival of the fall season for me. I biked to last year's festival and hope to repeat that awesome experience again. Even if I end up driving in, I love losing myself in the history, art, and food of the area's largest festival.

October 19 - 21: Southwest Ohio Give Camp

Depending on how well Ann Arbor Give Camp goes, I may round out my busy fall by driving down to West Chester, Ohio to participate in a full weekend of Give Camp. This will be a great event to assert myself as a professional web developer and hopefully spread my name a little bit.

So anyway, yeah, this fall is a little busy.

B3 out.

Wood County Fair: I've Been Here Before

This year's Wood County Fair is coming to a close, and while it was business as usual at the most predictable fair in Ohio, I can honestly say that I enjoyed myself this year. I visited the fair three days, saw everything I wanted to see, and ate a variety of delicious foods without overdoing it.

In high school and college, the fair was a sign of the times, a traditional kickoff to the cooler months of fall and a reminder that I would soon be seeing my friends more often. In 2012 the fair is a reminder that tradition is not always a bad thing. While I may have complained about the fair's stale growth over the last couple of years, this year I learned to appreciate the dust, dirt, and grease for what it has become for me: a simple getaway that lets me bask in memories of my wonderful past.

Shifting gears, I am looking forward to a moderately busy August (lots of exercise and programming to be done). I plan to wrap up my Summer of Biking by the end of the month with hiking taking its place for the fall and winter months. I have a Reboot Weekend scheduled for the third weekend. I will be launching a new web application at the end of the month. All in all, August looks great.

B3 out.