Weekly Update

So far this week, I have done:

1 - Write story cube story 5 (bonus: try and write the one I missed too)
2 - Write types of numbers post
3 - Find more ideas for future types of numbers posts
4 - Go to work experience on Monday with enthusiasm
5 - Come out of work experience on Monday feeling like I have achieved something
6 - Go for a run - hopefully without too much knee pain
7 - Go on an adventure to find an archery store
8 - Read a chapter of a book - any book, I don't read enough
9 - Go through tax returns with the boyfriend's mum
10 - Do my archery exercises everyday

Well, the story cube is just a draft, but I've written it a lot earlier than I usually do, which is a big improvement on my failure to do it last week. I managed to read a chapter of my Bedside Algebra book and we found the archery store that had been recommended to us. Mum bought me an arm guard and a finger tab as the birthday present she owed me. We didn't get any more than that because the man in the store happens to be coming to the club that we shoot at, so he said he would be able to help me out more after he has seen me shoot. Who knows, maybe this time in a couple of weeks I will have my own bow! I'm not going to lie, that would be awesome.

I have done my archery exercises every day so far, except today, but that's because I did actual archery so I think I can forgive myself for that one. I could definitely tell that the exercises I have been doing are making a difference to my strength. I even almost have a muscle on my right arm!

Tomorrow I start my work experience. I'm quite nervous about it because my brain likes to go into overdrive and over think everything. If I don't know exactly what is supposed to happen, I start to panic. I don't know if I am driving, or if I can get a lift (which I would prefer - one less thing for me to worry about doing). I don't know where to park if I am driving. I asked, but I'm not sure I know which car park they meant. I don't know what it is going to be like working there. I think it is going to be interesting, but until I've actually done it, I am in try-not-to-panic mode. I'm going to write a post about it once I've done a week or so of work, so hopefully then I'll be able to say there was really nothing to panic about!

Weekly Targets 6th August - 12th August

After the horror of realising that Sharknado 2 was airing the same time as in America, not when I thought it was, and watching the Shining instead, I accidentally forgot to set myself targets last week. I did however start a new thing with Liberty. She sent me a link to a post in relation to helping my time slippage, which was about this schedule that the person who wrote it sticks to to stay productive. We thought we would try it out.

I let Liberty fill it in today... Basically it is just a laminated schedule that I can write on each day with whiteboard pens. It is quite hard to stick to it exactly at the moment because each day I'm doing something different, but I think it will be really useful when I go back to Uni.

Anyway, this week I managed to go driving a couple of times (scary, I know!) even once on my own today (even more scary!!). I had an awesome time shooting balloon dogs at archery, with the instructors saying that I had advanced technique and joking that I could be the next Danielle Brown. I went to Ford Hall Farm and have sorted out getting some work experience there starting next Monday. I finished the second chapter of the accountancy book. Now onto this week:

1 - Write story cube story 5 (bonus: try and write the one I missed too)
2 - Write types of numbers post
3 - Find more ideas for future types of numbers posts
4 - Go to work experience on Monday with enthusiasm
5 - Come out of work experience on Monday feeling like I have achieved something
6 - Go for a run - hopefully without too much knee pain
7 - Go on an adventure to find an archery store
8 - Read a chapter of a book - any book, I don't read enough
9 - Go through tax returns with the boyfriend's mum
10 - Do my archery exercises everyday

Can you tell I'm getting slightly obsessed with archery?

Midweek Update

Here is what I've done so far this week:

1 - Write story cube story
2 - Write types of numbers post
3 - Write a post about work experience at nursery
4 - Paint the fence
5 - Work out how to use linkedin and start finding people to contact
6 - Work my way through at least the next chapter of the accountancy book
7 - Go to Festival Drayton and try to arrange some work experience
8 - Perform at open mic night at the Beer Festival
9 - Read at least one chapter of the Bedside Book of Algebra
10 - Go for a bike ride

I have painted the shed, which is a start on the fence (not sure whether the whole fence will get done this week or not, we are rather busy!) I have also started looking at chapter two of the accountancy book. I now know what double-entry bookkeeping means, and have started looking at how to record transactions. It sounds really boring, but I'm actually quite enjoying it. I know what I'm doing for my types of numbers post, and I have a slight idea for my story cube, but I haven't even thought about my work experience post. I realise that I should have done it earlier on in the week, but time just goes by so quickly. I haven't even had time to read! I have no idea when this bike ride will happen either... Maybe tomorrow afternoon, if I have time between shopping with Liberty and catching up on blog posts.

I did manage to go and talk to somebody at Festival Drayton though. I find it really hard to just go and talk to people, especially if I don't really know what I want to ask. But I went. Although they couldn't really help me with work experience particularly, I have said that they can call me if they desperately need someone to wash dishes or to usher for movies, which will throw me in with a load of new people and hopefully build my confidence a bit.

I also performed at the open mic night at the Beer Festival in a local pub that Ivy works at. Liberty and I decided to sing some duets together for some fun this summer, and we love to perform, so the open mic was a good opportunity to get back into singing a little bit. It was ridiculously hot, very crowded and the sound setup wasn't very good, but I had fun just singing with my sisters again (I did a song with Ivy too). Hopefully we will get more opportunities in the future.

Weekly Targets 23rd July - 29th July

So after the bad start this week, I managed to complete most of my targets. The only ones I missed were finishing the analysis notes, finishing the targets from last week that I didn't manage and the one about linkedin. I have actually joined, but I can't work out how to use it. Now that my stepdad is back from Brighton, I am going to ask him to have a look at it with me, so hopefully I will have more luck with that soon. I did go through some more of my notes, but it has been so warm that I've been finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than trying not to melt and just enjoying the sun. My chalkboards are nearly finished, they just need a couple more coats of paint I think. I would have trimmed the hedge at some point had my stepdad not beaten me to it...

Here are my targets for this week:

1 - Write story cube story
2 - Write types of numbers post
3 - Write a post about work experience at nursery
4 - Paint the fence
5 - Work out how to use linkedin and start finding people to contact
6 - Work my way through at least the next chapter of the accountancy book
7 - Go to Festival Drayton and try to arrange some work experience
8 - Perform at open mic night at the Beer Festival
9 - Read at least one chapter of the Bedside Book of Algebra
10 - Go for a bike ride

As I'm not really sure about how well I've managed time slippage, I am going to set that as my bonus target for the week.

Midweek Update

Here is what I've done so far:

1 - Write story cube story (this is a weekly thing, not the same story or cubes!)
2 - Write types of numbers post (also a weekly thing)
3 - Do my leg stretches every day
4 - Go bowling with the boyfriend
5 - Finish the targets I didn't manage last week
6 - Join linkedin and look for Warwick maths graduates to contact and get information from
7 - Finish the first week of analysis notes and start the second week
8 - Read the first chapter of the accountancy book I got from the Library
9 - Read a chapter of the Bedside Book of Algebra
10 - Try and manage my time slippage

That really doesn't look like much does it... I don't think I've been doing very well with my time slippage. I get distracted easily with everything else going on in my life: grandparents visiting, running, various other things. I did work a couple of days at the boyfriend's mother's nursery (more about that in a later blog post) so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

I have started a few things. I have nearly finished the first chapter of the accountancy book (kind of enjoying it so far), I have started writing the types of numbers post and I have been doing my leg stretches every day. Well, I might have missed one day, I can't remember if I did them in the morning or not, but Liberty and I have a new exercise regime which includes yoga and calf stretching, so I think I made up for the potential missed day.

The boyfriend and I had a really nice day when we went bowling. I absolutely suck at bowling, but we had fun and then had a game of pool (which I won!) and played in the arcade for a bit. The shooting game was ace, although it kind of made my arms ache after a while. My original plan was to make a picnic and go sit in Telford Town Park, but it was pouring with rain, so instead we went to Frankie and Benny's. The food was really good, and it was nice to do something a little bit different than we usually do.

Tomorrow I hope to get a few more things done from my list, hopefully getting back on track.

Weekly Targets 16th July - 22nd July

Of the ten targets I set myself last week, I completed six, I started two, one was changed, then changed back, and sort of done, and only one didn't get started because we didn't find a good moment for it. So I think that was pretty good.

In case you are wondering, I didn't trim the hedge, and the one that got changed was to send out the cover letter to at least 2 local companies. This got changed around because I was meant to be going to Portugal, so there wasn't any point in doing it, but now Portugal isn't happening, so it is relevant again. I went to the Job Centre today, and the lady there gave me some suggestions of who would possibly give me work experience, so I have emailed those (which is why the target was sort of completed).

The two I started were to go through my notes and to finish my chalkboards, which I can hopefully do this week. So my new targets are:

1 - Write story cube story (this is a weekly thing, not the same story or cubes!)
2 - Write types of numbers post (also a weekly thing)
3 - Do my leg stretches every day
4 - Go bowling with the boyfriend
5 - Finish the targets I didn't manage last week
6 - Join linkedin and look for Warwick maths graduates to contact and get information from
7 - Finish the first week of analysis notes and start the second week
8 - Read the first chapter of the accountancy book I got from the Library
9 - Read a chapter of the Bedside Book of Algebra
10 - Try and manage my time slippage

Weekly Targets 10th July - 15th July

I am going to try an experiment. I really need to stay motivated this summer to be productive and make the most of the time I have over the holidays. The first thing I'm going to try is to publish a weekly list of targets every Wednesday on my blog, and to give a midweek update on my progress at the weekend. There will be different types of targets, designed to help me achieve the different challenges I want to face. Hopefully breaking it down like this, and having it out there on the internet will make me feel more accountable and more likely to stay motivated and productive. Also, it could help me when I go back to Uni to work the best that I can and get a good grade in my final year!

So, here are my targets for this week:

1 - Write story cube story (for Writer's club)
2 - Write up 25 things I like about me post
3 - Write types of numbers post
4 - Read as much of the accountancy book as I can (especially chapter 6)
5 - Finish writing the generic cover letter
6 - Send out the cover letter to at least 2 local companies
7 - Go through the first week of Analysis notes
8 - Run the Dearnford relays
9 - Finish making my chalkboards
10 - Trim the hedge

I know I've already done one of those things, but I'm a little bit late publishing the list! Will update at the weekend :)

Astrid Task and the Summer Blog Challenge

This summer is my last summer before I head off to study maths at University. I really want to make the most of it before I have to leave everything I'm comfortable with and head into the big wide world. To help me make the most of things, I use to-do lists. It is very satisfying to each day cross off all of the things that I wanted to achieve. To make the to-do lists, I downloaded an app.

I recently got a new phone for my birthday. I've never had a smart phone before, so I'm still getting used to it. My favourite thing about smart phones is that there is an app for almost anything you can imagine, including to-do lists. The one I downloaded is called Astrid Task. I'm not going to lie, I only picked it because it was free, it was at the top of the page, and it had a red octopus thing as its logo. However, I'm glad I did, and here's why.

1. This little dude is so cute. He pops up with little motivational messages such as "I like it when you are productive!" when you tick off tasks. He sends you reminders when you have a time set on a task, and sends one at 6pm (although you can choose the time) for each task without a due time that hasn't yet been completed. For me, having a cute mascot just makes it that bit more fun, so it is less of a chore.

2. You can access the app on Android, iPhone or online (astrid.com). I have an Android phone, my sister has an iPhone, and my mum has a brick phone that isn't a smart phone, so we can all get to the app one way or other. My sister actually downloaded the app after I showed it to her. She wanted the motivational octopus too! My mum was a bit upset that her phone can't download apps because she wants it too, so I imagine she'll be very happy when she finds out you can get it online too!

3. You can share tasks with other people. I admit I haven't yet tried this, I'm still playing round with the app to find out what it can do, but I imagine it will come in handy when organising events, such as the writing club I've recently joined with my sisters. We will be able to make sure we all know when it is on and what we need to have done before we go to the next meeting.

 

4. The layout is simple. I like things that aren't overly complicated. A clear layout is important for ease of use. Astrid task has a clear layout, with tasks set out in a list, different colours for different levels of priority of tasks, a check box to tick off tasks that you have completed, and different styles of check boxes depending on the type of task (e.g. a recurring task). The recurring task feature is useful for something you want to do every day, or every other day for example, because you don't have to set up the task every single time, it is done automatically.

5. There is a widget available that you can put on your phone homepage. It allows easy access to the tasks you have set up for the day as well as allowing you to create new tasks quickly.

There is a lot more to this app. For example you can organise tasks into lists, add notes or comments onto tasks, sync lists to Astrid.com, Google Tasks or Producteev, and not to mention the added features when you buy the premium version of the app. Like I said before, I'm still exploring the app, but I am very much liking what I've found so far. Who wouldn't want a motivational red octopus to congratulate them on completing things really?

Part of my to-do list for the writing club is to complete a summer blog challenge. I want to write (at least) one blog post a week. I can tick that off for this week now.