8th April, Mon Going to make a quick list for today: Goal T. (4-5 hours) Listen to 2 modules at least of uni course. (3 hours) Bullet journal and write down the plan of action for next 2-3 months. It's in my head, just need to get it on paper. (30 min) Go out to buy wrapping paper. (20-30 min) Write notes for gifts. Wrap up gifts. Please. Lol. (Ummm idk. I am not the best at wrapping lol) Course T homework. (20-30 min) Course H homework. (20-30 min) Please find a to-do list notebook. (10 min) Mark all deadlines in paper calendar. (Not sure about this one yet) Lots to do inshallah. I know I overestimate the time at times so hopefully I will get done sooner inshallah.
Been on a roll since I woke up and I clearly tend to overestimate the time I have and underestimate the time needed to complete tasks lol Ya Allah khayr
So far, I have only worked on goal T (still not done with it), and I went out to buy some stuff The rest of the day has revolved around house chores and nieces Right now, I decided to take a break from something else and continue working on goal T… I can feel myself getting sick which is probably due to v limited sleep and overexerting myself? And germs, lol. Compared to how things were going in the last 2 weeks, the last 2-3 days have been a complete shift. Anyway, coffee is ready. Let’s do this
Goal T is not complete. I have 4 hours. That's sufficient time inshallah. I also have a cold that's making me feel like just laying down. But I also have a goal that won't allow me to rest. So, let's do this. Bismillah!!!
The weather is really nice I managed to wrap up the gifts literally in the morning, a few hours before I was supposed to give them. We need to have a serious conversation about this. I am soo soo soooo sleepy. The kids woke me up at 4:30 AM. I haven’t slept since except a ten min nap.
Feeling like I need accountability My only major mission this month is to follow my plan. To do what I have planned on doing and not procrastinate because that’s what always gets me in trouble I have been re-thinking the purpose of this thread. It’s a place to track non-negotiables. At times, I have used it as a to-do list and at times, as a rambling space. Although, ideally, I should have a more disciplined approach to it and stick to posting once/day. But honestly, it’s so so hard for me to not procrastinate at times and this thread helps with that. Posting here gives a sense of accountability which pushes me to get going. For example, right now, I am going through a slump and cant get myself started. I am delaying studying and keep telling myself: Okay, we will start in a while… it’s been an hour already. Part of the reason is that I didn’t make my to-do list and wasn’t sure what I should be doing right now so maybe, it demotivated me. But anyways. I honestly do not understand how feel this way and how to tackle it. Trying to look closely at it, this tendency to procrastinate, trying to figure out what to do about it. Oh my goodness, I feel so meh. I think I just need a nap.
Sleep was the problem. I needed a nap. See, this is the thing. It's so hard at times to figure out what exactly is wrong or what is it that your body needs atm. I slept 1.5 hours. Did some stuff. Now, I have time and yes, I feel like procrastinating but I won't. I am getting started on studying. My goal for today was to cover 3 modules and so far, I have only done 1.
Second lesson done. Feels good alhamdulillah to get back to studying after over a month! Brain's happy getting its dose. One more module and then I will meet my target for the day.
Met my target. 3 modules done. Alhamdulillah Here's the thing though. I need to speed up and level up. I met my targets but I kept today easy. Well, I didn't intend to. I just hadn't fully planned my day (didn't make a to-do list) so only had a vague idea of what was to be done. It's decided. I will be using this thread as much as it helps me. The primary mission is to beat procrastination and meet my targets. The whole having-a-disciplined-approach-to-this-thread-and-not-log-in-a-gazillion-times-a-day is a secondary problem. One that I do not need to worry about right now. I need to complete making my timetable/monthly schedule so it gives me a good idea of my to-do list. Also, I don't think I have mentioned this anywhere before but I had been using a paper to-do list in the last few months. I would write all tasks on it before sleeping so that way, I had a clear idea next morning of what I am supposed to be doing. It really helped me so going to get back to that tonight inshallah.
Another important task done i.e. reading. Started a new book and plan to finish it in two weeks. I almost procrastinated it too and put it on tomorrow but nope. Not doing that. I had guests come over unexpectedly today and that took up one hour. See, this is exactly why it is important to get things done earlier and on time because there’s no telling what the next moment might bring. So glad I was done with my studying before all of that. I only have 2 hours now. Hardly 2 hours actually. I had thought I would organise my room (again) but don’t see it happening as I would really like to journal as well… hmm.
I will just do a quick brain dump. Trying to figure out my list of non-negotiables Quran Tilawah: It’s definitely a non-negotiable but dont think I will put it here since I have another thread for it atm. Course/Mission/Goal H: Another non-negotiable BUT I have someone helping me with it now so I can’t exactly skip it. Which means I dont think I need the accountability for it on this thread. 5 days/week Reading: Definitely tracking it here. This time, it wont be about reading for x minutes. It will be more about reading a certain number of pages/chapters. I want to focus on meeting milestones/targets. A daily thing. Course A: Yes. Set target to cover x topics and a final deadline. Not daily though. Uni Study: Yes. Set daily target to cover x topics and a final deadline. Course T: Have to do daily homework. Actually 6 days/week Physical Activity: Walk? But yes, another non-negotiable. Course C: Short mission. Few selected days. Project Work: If any, don't delay it.
Added one more thing to the list and that's it. That seems like a lot. I am not going to put in the physical activity thing. Yes it's important, but if I skip it or am not a 100% consistent in it, it won't land me in trouble. It goes in the habit department and I am not tracking many habits here. These are important too but right now, non-negotiables are more about super urgent deadline based task that cause stress if not done timely. These are the main things I have going on in life right now and I cannot mess this up. Now... I am reading this book that has 39 chapters. I did 3 yesterday. I have 14 days. That makes it 2.57 chapters per day. Let's round that up to 3 chapters/day. Deadline is 24th April. Course A: Deadline is 25th April. It's a deadline I gave myself. I have 20 lessons to go. Each 13-22 min long. That's almost 2 lessons/day. Uni Study: Highest priority. Deadline is 2nd May. Need to cover 4 modules/day. That's a lot. Once I think of this, everything else seems like too much. Course T: I have a test coming up this Saturday so deadline is 19th April. Plan to catch up with previous work today. I am dedicating today to this course only. Other than that, the daily homework is not so much. Nor is it difficult. Course C: 8 lessons left. Deadline given by institute is mid May but I have exams in that week so I need to finish this in April. So, 30th April. Each 2 hr long. Unsure of my approach to this. This and course C both need to be finished in this month. I normally don't do well with a daily long term approach. I feel like I do well in short bursts? Not talking about Pomodoro technique. More like, binge study 2-3 days and finish the thing. Both C and A are so close to being finished so I might use the short burst approach to these. If I just look at the courses, and estimate the time taken to do them daily then... it adds up to Uni: 4-5 hrs T: 20-30 min A: 30 min C: 2.5 hours Total: 8.5 hours. Now THAT seems impossible. I hope I am overestimating the time required. I have left some margin... And if I look at it, it's mainly course C that's quite time consuming. So I can either do that using the short burst approach or just listen to half a lesson. Uni is priority though. Alhamdulillah, we are clear about the non-negotiables now. As for today: I have family commitments. So, focusing on getting Course T done. If I can squeeze in one module of uni, that would be great. That's the target for the next few hours inshallah. Plus, have some project work to do but that can be done in the later part of the day.
Experiencing a slump. I simply need a short nap. Remembering now that this slump always happens on days when I wake up super early, which I have been for the last few days alhamdulillah But it’s too late for a nap. At the same time, I cant seem to focus on anything
I slept 45-55 minutes Not bad at all! But then, stuffed myself with food and ice cream and now I am in no mood to work/study But I do have a lot of free time and really should not waste it Sigh
13/4, Sat 1- Did I meet my studying target? Uni Study: No targets for today. I was supposed to cover up course T work. Course T: Only did half of it. Course A/C: I listened to half a lesson because I was so so distracted. 2- Did I meet my reading target? Read 3 chapters: 6/39 Alhamdulillah quite literally forced myself to do it and feel relieved now 3- Project Task Only had one urgent task.
Last night, I was late to sleep. 40 min past my decided bedtime. Plus kinda couldn’t fall asleep early Woke up 2 hrs late as a result i.e. 6:30 am Have done 3/4 modules of uni. Was trying so hard to focus during the last one (even though I did it after taking a lunch break etc.). It just feels like I reach my capacity after 3 modules but I can’t afford to do that much only Completed 2/2 project tasks. Avoiding taking a nap so I can fall asleep quickly tonight. Feeling sleepy though but it’s too late for a nap. Still need to do… 4th module 2 lessons of course A Tilawah Course T Reading Goal H Honestly, it’s not much. Can be done if I work non-stop but not sure how much my brain can bear atm
