(last edited on January 9, 2021 at 10:07 pm)
Goodness, it is already Groundhog Day Resolutions Review Day, October 10th! That’s 10/10. There’s just two more review days, on 11/11 and 12/12, before we close out the year and figure out whether all this Groundhog mojo will have been worth it.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Groundhog Day Resolutions Concept, it goes something like this: forget January 1st (you’re hung over anyway) and set your resolutions on February 2nd. Then follow through and check every month and a day until December 12. You can read about the original ideas in the original post and various followups (there is an index of posts at the bottom of this article).
1. Make Money from Writing and Making Stuff
| mo | action | status |
|---|---|---|
| May | Put the HUB statement on my current website, on a design services page, on Monday, May 14 | WHIFFED |
| Jun | Put the HUB statement on the website. June 20th is the day to allocate time toward | WHIFFED |
| Jul | Redesign Large Photo Header on Website, Transition to EE | HALF DONE |
| Aug | One New Statement on the Website that Clarifies My Design Work | HALF DONE |
I haven’t made any progress with regards to any of the marketing work that I should be doing. Partly this is because I’m booked out to November 2008 with projects. I also appear to have picked up another long-term client that is, in many ways, an ideal combination of challenge, global scope, and personality.
So now, I’m less worried about marketing and more concerned about getting my website switched over the Expression Engine. There is a LOT that I’d like to write about that falls outside what I usually write about here.
My greatest challenge is still time management and, I am belatedly realizing, learning how to focus.
2. Build a Sustainable Social Network
| mo | action | status |
|---|---|---|
| May | Create a “Potential Co-Schemer List” of people I have never talked to. Talk to one person on that list on Wednesday, May 16 | WHIFFED |
| Aug | Start a bunch of New Working and Personal Relationships. See What Happens. | ONGOING |
| Sep | More of the same | ONGOING |
Last month, I became aware that I’d stabilized some social structures. This month, I’m really starting to feel that it’s starting to fall into place. Maybe the most important realization of all was discovering that I actually have a best friend to hang out with again, and I hadn’t even really noticed. There is a tremendous sense of comfort that arises from that.
At the same time, I’m feeling a wee bit overextended. I am continuing to have problems managing contacts and relationships because of the number of things that are going on. Again, I’m back to managing and prioritizing my time and energy.
3. Sell a Product This Year
| mo | action | status |
|---|---|---|
| May | Select and package the Emergent Task Planner for a printer on Saturday, May 12 | DONE |
| Jun | Create some original content, like a booklet or number of thoughts, and sticking it up on Lulu.com or Blurb. June 27th is the allocated date. | WHIFFED |
| Jun | Get the ETP Printed, Dang It! June 13 is the day around which I will plan something | WHIFFED |
| Jul | Figure out how to create some kind of pre-ordering system, and it’s time to formally think about customer service. July 12. | DONE |
| Jul | Repurpose old content for possible printing | TESTED |
| Aug | Print Pads! Ship Them! | PRINTED, NOT SHIPPED |
| Sep | Shrinkwrap, Confirm, Ship! | ALMOST THERE |
I thought we’d have shipped the Emergent Task Planner Pads by now, but we had to take them back to be shrinkwrapped; this makes shipping them much easier, and it’s a better value to the customer too.
I did register my LLC, which is The David Seah Group. Scares the bejesus out of me. I have to get all that infrastructure into place now.
For Next Month
- The biggest goal on my mind is shipping those ETP pads. It’s taking a long time, and it’s really all my fault. I have to write up the pack-in sheet that explains how to use the pads, and then we should be ready to ship.
- The mix of project-related and social networking activities I’m doing is pretty new, and learning how to balance that with getting things done is taking some time. The general issue is that I have not been mindful of how I am spending my time, whimsically doing whatever seems to be worth doing from moment to moment. I have not been focused at all.
- bonus goal: I’m starting month 4 of going to the gym practically every day, though my morning routine has been disrupted somewhat and I haven’t been going quite as regularly as I would like. I’m still amazed at how much cheaper going to the gym is than going to Starbucks is.
- new goal: I actually took my suit to the tailor to have it adjusted to fit better. In January 2008 I’m hoping to be a little more outwardly put together, since I will be in better physical condition and can wear nicer clothes that fit.
So that’s it for this month. I feel like the process is losing steam, but overall I can say that at least there IS progress being made.
PAST POSTS ON GROUNDHOG DAY RESOLUTIONS AND REVIEW
10 Comments
A little progress is better than none! Although I can relate with the feeling of losing steam. I still have to write up my own review as well, and then you’ll see what I mean. :-)
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Corrie and Dave,
If I ever get my post up… I’ll have you both beat for “crap getting in the way of any progress”.
For me GHD is all about maintaining focus. Even when I’m not making progress, I like that the next impending GHDRRD is at the back of my mind making me pay attention to the fact I’m not making progress. Without that, I’d almost certainly let the tasks that I’m not getting anywhere with fall out of sight and out of mind…
It’s working great for me! :-)
Geez, Dave. For the rest of us mortals, what you’ve accomplished in 10 months might do us for a year or two :-)
David,
I hope you don’t mind but I have totally thieved your groundhog day resolutions. I modified them a hair for my own use and am applying them towards my own goals (gym stuff). I do my best to always give you credit and a link when I mention them on my blog.
It is my first post here, but I am reading your blog for a long time now and I really like it.
It inspired me a lot and motivated myself… As a foreigner living in China it is much harder… ;-)
Corrie: I wonder if our expectations for productivity are set waaaay too high? I feel like I slack too much, but maybe this is acceptable.
y0mbo: Ok, you win :-)
Gaz: That’s an interesting point, and it made me realize that I probably don’t really have a good notion of what “maintaining focus” really is. I could go through the gestures of being focused (scrunching up my face in concentration), but I’m not drawing upon a core process.
Britt: Heh, thanks. It certainly doesn’t feel like it…I’ve spent a lot of time vegging out and not doing anything particularly productive, and I’ve been sloppy about things. It’s stuff that people usually aren’t aware of, as they only see finished products and written words. I just should follow my own advice and just measure myself by what I’ve done, and not by what I think I should have done.
Mike: That’s awesome!!! Looking forward to seeing what you’ve done with it!
Robert: Thanks! I checked out your blog…fascinating! The expatriate experience is one that I always enjoy reading about.
David,
You can find the post that is most relevant here:
http://anvilorhammer.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/what-have-i-gotten-myself-into/
The paragraph that references you is:
So here is how I’m going to do this, procedure-wise. First, I am using kind of an odd schdule, stolen from David Seah. Each month runs from the day where the day and the month are the same (1/1, 2/2, 3/3…12/12). that last half of the twelfth month is used for relaxing, celebrating and preparing.
David,
I’ve just come across your GHD idea and I really like it. Too bad I found it just after 10/10 but I’m looking forward to 11/11!
As ever a novel way of looking at things – thanks
Andrew
wow dave, you totally whip my sorry butt. i’m interested in how you sort out and find focus with all the stuff (you, me, EVERYBODY) has going on. i have startitis on lots of projects and hope to buckle down and get doing. (not my favorite part)
mazel tov for registering the llc. it is scary as all but it’s a huge step! go you!! :)