Snowflake Challenge #4

[komadori]

Challenge #4
In your own space, create some goals. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I wanted to do this yesterday, but I'm trying to be flexible and kind to myself. That ties into my goals, too. I've heard it helps to be as specific as possible when it comes to setting and accomplishing goals, but I might need some help with fine-tuning them. If you have any advice, please let me know.

• Figure out a work/life balance that works for me.
  I think this one will be difficult for me because I live by a lot of shoulds--even things I do solely for fun can become shoulds and cause guilt if I don't do them. During the semester, I have a hard time switching between work and play and feel guilty about doing fun things. Now that I don't even leave my house for classes, the lines have blurred even more. I am a grad student in literature, and what I do for fun is basically the same as what I do for school--reading and writing. I'm still trying to figure out whether I even want to pursue academia after all, but I don't want it to be my whole life.
  
• Make time for writing more fics and original work.
  Once upon a time, I used to be a creative writer, but that has fallen by the wayside. I want to write more though. I miss the freedom of creative writing as opposed to the confines of academic writing. I don't have an exact goal in mind or know whether I should try to write daily or not, but I think I should check out the writing communities on DW for encouragement.
  
• Write treats for exchanges.
  I don't know about signing up for exchanges (I just deleted my sign-up for Chocolate Box before the deadline) because I worry about having to default. I know it's fine to default before the deadline, but my mind still interprets it as a failure. If I treat, I have less pressure and more flexibility. I'm not sure how many treats/exchanges I should aim for, though. Looking through requests can be overwhelming in itself.
  
• Visit DW and post at least once a week.
  It doesn't have to be anything long or even an entry. I just want to be more engaged with DW rather than ignoring it for half a year.
  
• Learn guitar.
  This is a new one, and I'm not at all sure how it will go. I may take lessons online if everything works out. I want to learn an instrument and have a hobby that doesn't involve reading or writing, dammit.
  
Meditate or figure out some other way to make myself relax and quiet my brain.

• Keep in touch with people.

There's a million things I want to do, but that's enough for now. Does anyone know how to make a bulleted list on DW? I tried to make one with asterisks, but it didn't work right.

ETA: I think I got the bulleted list to work using HTML. :D Let me know if it looks weird or anything.

Comments

[naye]

These all sound like great goals - it's so good to know what works and doesn't work for you creatively, so kudos for choosing to do treats rather than signing up. Those kind of things really help, I find. And good luck with that work/life balance, especially in These Times.

The bullet points look great!

[komadori]

Thanks! I'm still trying to figure out what works for me, but I think I'm taking steps in the right direction.

[sjh2009]

Th se are some really good goals. I can't see why the lines are blurred, achieving a wok life balance has hard as the best of time but when you're learning from home and doing similar things it must be hard. Are you able to muse a different room for 'work' and 'home' to set a definite line between the two? I know that's one if the suggestions I have heard mentioned, and tomhabe a routine so that between, say 9:00am and 4:00pm you do work and outside that you work on your own creations.

Posting is another think I want to do, I tend to be really active during Snowflake and then almost hibernate for the rest of the year, lol.

Learning guitar sounds like a good activity, hopefully it's something that will be fun and help you relax too.

Good luck this year with your goals, thank you for sharing them.

[komadori]

Unfortunately, I can't work in another room right now, but maybe when the weather is good I can work outside sometimes? I'm definitely trying to work on sticking to a routine.

Haha, I totally understand what you mean about going into hibernation for the rest of the year!

[novembermond]

that's a great list!
I think I should also make it a goal to visit dw on a schedule. I tend to neglect it but whn I'm on it's so nice.

[komadori]

Thanks! Yeah, sometimes I neglect DW for months, and I feel so out of the loop when I return.