Category Archives: Productivity

Day 4: Slogging Much?

I had finished yesterday evening with a significant amount of good production for my jobs, then exercised. All was going well. All ended basically well last night. I didn’t consider things to be ‘wired’ while at the same time, I have been making progress.

Then this morning happened. I completely forgot about this 98 day initiative until a couple hours ago (I’m writing it as of about 5:15 PM) and am wondering where my brain is? So, this morning has been marked by doing really good things (exercised on the front end of the day rather than the back end) and I had to do my laundry. Typical things. Necessary things. Not as much work oriented things. When I am doing work and have to stop to look for computer files that may be helpful, I start to feel like I am wasting my time.

So while I was getting good things done early on, I felt as though things weren’t going as fast as they could or should.

I am settling back into the notion of having websites for each aspect of every part of spending that neds to be done for income and related purposes. Seems to work well on paper. We’ll see how it goes ‘after taxes’.

I am going to treat these websites seriously and with the full intent and purpose of pushing them as far as they can go.

Let’s see what happens!

-Papa Bear

Day 3 OF 98: Making Progress

So, yesterday ended up not being as bad as it felt starting out. The redeeming factor was that I set a time to exercise (9:00 PM) and did so.

I have an entire exercise / workout regimen that I have created, and although I haven’t followed it as diligently as possible, it allows for being able to come back and make things up. The flexibility in my mind is important to not being completely discouraged when I miss a workout or don’t do as much as I had planned for whatever reason.

In considering yesterda’s challenges, I have responded to them on the blog, so you can go there for the update to the things I have considered.

Today, I am orientating myself more toward saying no to things and yes to others, where all of the no’s are toward not helpful things and all of the yes’s are toward helpful things.

I’ll see how it goes and maybe get into each one more as time permits.

-Papa Bear
“God is in control, and He is good.”

Day 2 of 98: The Stark Reality of Life

So, the best laid intentions… Yesterday, at the beginning of the day, it was filled with hope. Today started off much more slowly. This, I believe, is why I don’t hit my marks. I aim high and get crushed when the slightest thing falls off the map and other things follow to the point of having to not only adjust and deal with the things that have fallen off, but also my thinking and attitude about how and why things fell off.

What I am trying to do differently is realize at least that things aren’t always going to go according to plans. Of the things previously mentioned that I am attaining to, I have Bible reading and prayer as number 3. Today, it has been number 1, but in moving forward into the rest of my day, the other items have been displaced from the times I would usually have them within… taking a shower ‘after’ exercising as an example. Today, I took a shower and haven’t exercised. So, my exercise time is displaced until later today.

Another- I have a lot of work to do that is production oriented (requiring equal input of time to output), inclusive of regular work, completing my taxes, and moving any type of anything forward concerning the ‘side projects’ of which my hope is that one of those will at some point produce a measure of income to go toward my bottom line. I am bumping those things to the ‘next’ category and hope to catch the exercising later in the day. I havent even finished the ‘healthy’ breakfast I aspired to (haven’t gotten there yet) and the things I have eaten fit within the profile but are not happening at a concentrated time.

So, what is happening is understandable. For the day, it isn’y unrecoverable (yet). But, it is definitely having an effect.

The deliverance I seek would allow me to push through, despite these things I have set as the ‘order’ of the day, and must see perseverance to accomplish these things as the end goal. Persevere if the key.

The type of deliverance I need to have is one from the tyranny of the ‘urgent’ as well as the 1:1 ratio of time toward output of value. I don’t know how to get there yet and must keep moving forward, regardless of if I do or I don’t. That is the big picture desire. I believe some people must have done this before, but I haven’t yet.

I will try to make a summary of the day closer to the end of the day to delineate the things that have gone well or not. My hope is that I can get things more on track and have an overall more successful day. I don’t see that anything is stopping me. I do think the stress of not achieving everything I believe I need to will at some point be debilitating. So, I believe I have no other option than to persevere… which is what I am going to do, God willing, today.

How I feel about my life slows me down at times and I can feel discouraged. I start to feel down when I am not able to be as successful, and it weighs me down. At other times, it seems I feel better than what is warranted. I need to keep an even ‘keel’ so as not to be too extreme and be still able to accomplish what needs to happen.

My prayer is that God is Glorified in my life (I know He will be regardless) AND that I would be blessed as a result. Much of the challenge I have in this season of my life is that of sowing and reaping… cause and effect. Another part is focus.

Let’s see how it goes for the day…

First thing, I see that my work environment has a few areas of clutter. I will organize those. I will then launch into the finalization of the project from yesterday that was loacking and then proceed.

  • Another aspect is this- I have created ‘systems’ that seem plausible enough so that they will work. Some of them have worked to a point, but in the final analysis I grow discontent with them, disillusioned with the process, and leave them behind. Not replacing them with something better, but not finishing the one I have made to the point of completed evidence. It ends up in a trash heap. Why do I do this? (2023.03.29 – Update – I have realized about myself is that I am always tweaking- trying to make things better. If I believe I have a perfected system, it is usually wrong or I am off upon later reviewing it. So, my perseverance in this matter is assisted by saying its ok to change the system.. only keep on going with it).
  • So, I get to a point where it is difficult to proceed. I am either staurated with the extent and breadth of the details needed or I am bored. I find that it is helpful to break things up with exercise / taking a walk. That being said, I understand that the work ethic is to complete the task and to work hard and diligently with my hand in order to accomplish it. So, that is what I am aiming for. The work that I do is at times extremely complex and tedious… very detail oriented. How to deal with these factors of I suppose it is motivation in order to stay as productive as possible over time without losing necessary concentration is the key. (2023.03.29 – Update – seems that leaving it and coming back to it a little later is helpful)
  • Guarding against the shiny object as well as multi-tasking – remember when multi-tasking used to be a good thing? Not any more. But, getting focus back again is difficult. Telling myself , “No.” is the matter, it seems. (2023.03.29 – Update. Thinking about this line of self-control more… telling oneself no to bad and yes to good is I think the bottom line basis for self control… other than being able to recognize what one needs to be self-controlled about. So this morning, I am starting off the day with a few things that I am telling myself ‘no’ to and ‘yes’ to,

-Papa Bear
“God is in control, and He is good.”