Happy Monday! It’s been a pretty good week, I’m happy to report. I think I’m getting better at wearing many hats without being so stressed-out about balancing work and life. By coincidence, I also seem to be amassing quite a collection of hats (see picture) which I switch out depending on my mood.

Without any more dilly-dallying, let’s get into the breakdown of last week!

1. Week Assessment Grade: A

Looking at my #accountability and #work_doing logs from the [Virtual Coworking Chatroom][discord], and there were several significant accomplishments:

• [ASSESS] reviewed dev progress, realigned efforts
• [CLOSED] finished drafts for marketing
• [CLOSED] paid printer, 6-mo dentist
• [CLOSED] week-long livestream experiment
• [CLOSED] perfect pork loin recipe
• [CLOSED] health care, global entry interview schedule
• [CLOSED] internet upgrade
• [DOING ] basement cleanup underway
• [START ] two body/health group challenges

This was actually a TREMENDOUSLY PRODUCTIVE week because I closed a lot of lingering projects. I’m bumping my letter grade to A because the work was good and things got handled. I think my two-slot approach is really working. Combined with my increasing trust in my brain to do things it already knows how to do and de-emotionalizing my responses to chores, I might be convering on new process nirvana!

So now let’s look at what specifically got done.

2. Review of Goal Activity and Achievements

My two slots for November were the two primary work tasks of Javascript and Stationery business.

WORK SLOT 1: JAVASCRIPT WORK

The main development achievements were starting to insert a REACT framework into our module system, which meant reorganizing a bunch of files. I was stuck on how to enable the BOOTSTRAP CSS framework into the webpack build, but I wasted time trusting Google results for “webpack 4 bootstrap 4”; this returned a plugin that ended up being a waste of time.

TAKEAWAYS

• Don’t trust Google to deliver useful how-to advice, because it’s unable to really find the well-written and insightful materials. It’s probably better to just read the docs and source code.

• ANYTIME there is a plugin ecosystem supplying critical infrastructure for a technical system, don’t trust that any farther than you can throw it.

Thanks to Eric Blanchette for helping me debug my use of Webpack while I was livestreaming on Thursday!

WORK SLOT 2: STATIONERY and BLOG WORK

The major accomplishment was finalizing marketing copy so I can stick it on my Amazon pages for the Emergent Task Planner. I have the beginnings of a more focused branding statement too that I can use to not only position my work, but also broadcast my philosophy of doing. It’s been 12+ years in the making, and it’s exciting to finally see it start to come together.

AUX SLOT: PERSONAL MATTERS AND MAINTENANCE

My two major “work slots” taken care of, I had plenty of time to work on other concerns. The highlight achievements are:

• perfecting my pork loin roast recipe (very easy, maximum tenderness from an oven-based approach)
• improving my livestreaming setup and internet speed
• improving the layout of my living room and bedroom areas
• continuing to perfect my daily balance between work and productivity
• creating a nail drying station out of some fans and a box
• Bought boots that I like…two pair!

This week also saw the shutdown of the WildStar servers, which is a game I spent a lot of time in. I’m tempted to put a retrospective of it into this report, but I think it deserves its own post (let me add that to my list). Here’s a screenshot of the “END OF DAYS” memorial party at Wigwali Village.

I also made a nail polish dryer out of some USB powered 120mm fans and a box. I’d seen something like this at a nail salon I’d visited, and wanted something I could use at home when I’m prettying-up my hands.

There are several solutions available on Amazon, but most of them are these awful battery-powered things, or are designed for UV-curing, or are over US$100 and take up a lot of space.

3. Choose New Targets

For my two main work slots, I have the following:

• Javascript: Electron Packaging using Apple Developer Credentials for a stand-alone deployment
• Javascript: React and Unisys system port to new base framework.
• Stationery Business: Update ETP listings
• Stationery Business: Check-in with Brenda

For my auxiliary slot, I’m working on some health goals with two groups of friends. This spreadsheet shows all the initiatives:

Basically, I’m doing three things:

• Doing daily fasting use a minimum 16/8 ratio of fasting to eating. Essentially I eat in a window from 4PM to MIDNIGHT, but eating after 8PM is probably a bad idea so I might be doing 20/4 instead.
• Doing the Tim Ferriss version of slow carb. My specific “bachelor chow” formula is chicken, broccoli, and black beans w/ salt pork. I need to watch the quantity of what I’m eating this time around. Generally it’s been effective but I’m stalled out because I’ve been less-than-strict.
• Doing planks and stretches with my sister’s simple exercise group. The stretches are from a Japanese book called Even Stiff People Can Do the Splits, which is just ridiculous enough for me to want to try it.
• A stretch goal will be doing cardio, but I’m not going to push it too hard because other personal issues are preventing me from feeling comfortable at the gym.

Concrete Milestone Check

Doing my gut check:

• Javascript work is humming along. I have three specific completion events listed that I can verify through my development partners.
• For the stationery business, seeing the updated ETP listing is the completion event. Scheduling a meeting with Brenda would fulfill the obligation.
• As for the body-related stuff, my tracking spreadsheet should show how successful I was.

Goal Conclusion

Overall it’s been a good week! AGAIN I am surprised at how little I remember, so these weekly reviews are valuable. When it comes time to review the entire month for December Groundhog Day Resolution Monthly Review, it’ll be faster.

This review took about an hour to power through, so my efficiency is improving as well! Woohoo!