20 CommentsRamblings, , , ,

When I’m busy, I get more things done.

Wait — let me explain. When I have all the time in the world, I find that I’m pretty lazy, and that I spend a lot of my time sitting on the couch, knitting or doing handwork. When I’m busy, that is, when I have a lot of things that I must get done, even though I really want to just sit on my couch, I don’t. I do the dishes more often, clean the cat box more often, cook more, etc. A body at rest tends to stay at rest, while once I’m in motion, I tend not to take breaks. This is both a good and a bad thing.

At the start of the year I set up a reward system for myself. I made a calendar and I give myself a gold star (literally — I have very pretty gold star stickers) when I do three things that day: walk for 20 minutes, eat veggies with one meal, and write for 30 minutes. The system has been very successful so far. Do I have a gold star every day? No, and that isn’t the point. The point is coming up with a system which enables me to do as much as I can. I’ll never have 30 days of gold stars. But that I can have gold stars 4-5 days a week is *awesome* I think. Plus, I draw myself little blue stars when I get two of the three things. Which means I actually have stars almost every day this year.

One of the things that occurred to me yesterday is that by setting these goals for myself every day, I feel as though I’m busy. Not in an overwhelming way, just busy enough to find that I’m getting more things done on a regular basis. This is an unexpected and really good side effect.

In other news, I’ve decided that I’m not cutting my hair for at least a year. I’ve had short hair for 20 years. (I had hair I could sit on until I was 28 — then I cut it really short — as short as I generally wear it.) Right now my hair is at that messy stage where it drives me crazy and I think about shaving it off all the time. I don’t know what it’ll look like, what I’ll look like with long hair again after all this time. I suspect I won’t keep it. But I’m curious what it’ll be like to have long hair again. The main reason I’m doing this, though, is because even after all this time, in at least three-quarters of my dreams, I still have long hair. It isn’t always a “plot point”, it isn’t important that I have long hair, but it’s such a part of my dream landscape it makes me wonder.

Oh, and the writing part of my life? Going pretty good. I’ve gotten through two of the five really huge rewrite chapters (they’re just broken) and am about halfway through the third. It makes me happy that even though it’s hard to do these rewrites, I’m able to do them and my brain keeps coming up with appropriate solutions.

Comments (20)

  1. coruca

    Nice reward system and far better for you than, say, a chocolate treat. I find if I keep track of what I am doing, I do more of what I should, too.

    • leah

      I have a few goals this year, and a few rewards already worked out. Most of them are cheap and fun — like once I finish my gold stars, I get to go out and buy stickers.

  2. moon_happy

    Friends of mine grew their hair for about a year to donate to wig makers for kids with cancer. I mention this because they got a great deal of encouragement to continue despite many odd “bad hair days.” (You know, you’re just not experienced with dealing with some new length every month!) I thought you might want to consider doing it. Besides, it’s surely a gold star every month and five stars on cutting day!

    • leah

      One of my nieces does this every couple of years. She grows her hair to a decent length, and then cuts it for Locks of Love. She’s done it for several years now. I’m not sure anyone is going to want hair that’s as gray as mine, but I have thought about it. Thanks for the suggestion.

  3. davidlevine

    with long hair? ::blinks:: I think of you as a short-haired person.

    But I love long hair.

    I’m sure it will be fabulous.

  4. incandragon

    “When you need something done, ask a busy person.” Truth there … busy people are the ones who get stuff done, aren’t they? I like your system. I need more gold stars in my life.

    A hair stylist once told me that people should get their hair styled for growing out. At the very least, he said, they should get it periodically shaped for the shape they want it to be *when it was finished* growing out. Even though it was not the length for that shape. If they couldn’t stand the thought of going through different styles on the way there, that would make the growing out take longer.

    Not, ahem, that I ever took that advice. 😉

    • leah

      I’ve thought about getting it “shaped” so it wasn’t so crazy right now. But I don’t think it looks too bad — it just drive me crazy sometimes. Besides, what I really want is for it all to be one length, and for that I really don’t want any kind of shaping, not until the bangs and feathery bits grow out. A lot.

      As for busy — jeez. It surprises me how much I actually can do without getting burned out. It’s the being on the look out for the burn out, and *not* getting burned out, that’s always the trick for me.

      The gold stars have been truly working for me. Though a part of me wants to buy other types of stickers, there are some very pretty sparkly stars at Michael’s that I’m considering as well. . .

  5. coruca

    Nice reward system and far better for you than, say, a chocolate treat. I find if I keep track of what I am doing, I do more of what I should, too.

    • JeremyT

      I have a few goals this year, and a few rewards already worked out. Most of them are cheap and fun — like once I finish my gold stars, I get to go out and buy stickers.

  6. moon_happy

    Friends of mine grew their hair for about a year to donate to wig makers for kids with cancer. I mention this because they got a great deal of encouragement to continue despite many odd “bad hair days.” (You know, you’re just not experienced with dealing with some new length every month!) I thought you might want to consider doing it. Besides, it’s surely a gold star every month and five stars on cutting day!

    • JeremyT

      One of my nieces does this every couple of years. She grows her hair to a decent length, and then cuts it for Locks of Love. She’s done it for several years now. I’m not sure anyone is going to want hair that’s as gray as mine, but I have thought about it. Thanks for the suggestion.

  7. davidlevine

    with long hair? ::blinks:: I think of you as a short-haired person.

    But I love long hair.

    I’m sure it will be fabulous.

  8. incandragon

    “When you need something done, ask a busy person.” Truth there … busy people are the ones who get stuff done, aren’t they? I like your system. I need more gold stars in my life.

    A hair stylist once told me that people should get their hair styled for growing out. At the very least, he said, they should get it periodically shaped for the shape they want it to be *when it was finished* growing out. Even though it was not the length for that shape. If they couldn’t stand the thought of going through different styles on the way there, that would make the growing out take longer.

    Not, ahem, that I ever took that advice. 😉

    • JeremyT

      I’ve thought about getting it “shaped” so it wasn’t so crazy right now. But I don’t think it looks too bad — it just drive me crazy sometimes. Besides, what I really want is for it all to be one length, and for that I really don’t want any kind of shaping, not until the bangs and feathery bits grow out. A lot.

      As for busy — jeez. It surprises me how much I actually can do without getting burned out. It’s the being on the look out for the burn out, and *not* getting burned out, that’s always the trick for me.

      The gold stars have been truly working for me. Though a part of me wants to buy other types of stickers, there are some very pretty sparkly stars at Michael’s that I’m considering as well. . .

  9. davidlevine

    I used to wear my hair short on the sides with a ponytail in back. But I got tired of the sides getting all foofy and I decided to grow them out so I could catch them back in the ponytail holder. It took FOREVER and the sides were even foofier during that time. I hated it, but I persevered. There’s still some foofiness on the sides (new hairs that aren’t yet long enough to catch back) but it’s better than before… I think.

  10. davidlevine

    I used to wear my hair short on the sides with a ponytail in back. But I got tired of the sides getting all foofy and I decided to grow them out so I could catch them back in the ponytail holder. It took FOREVER and the sides were even foofier during that time. I hated it, but I persevered. There’s still some foofiness on the sides (new hairs that aren’t yet long enough to catch back) but it’s better than before… I think.

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