My calendar

[vaneramos]

By request

Comments

[shawnsyms.livejournal.com]

You stay up later than me!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm really a night owl. If left to natural inclination, I would readily stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning or later, and sleep poorly. Most of my adult life I averaged 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. Establishing regular sleep habits seems to be a key to good mental health, but this has taken me forever. Over the past two years since I started taking mirtazapine, I've gradually begun to sleep better. Then in July I started using the clock radio to wake myself up at 7:30, no matter when I go to bed, and I'm amazed at how much this has regulated my sleeping habits and improved my mood. I doubt that I've ever felt as well as I do now. It will be interesting to see how this works through October and November, which is usually my worst time for seasonal affective disorder. I seem to do well with about seven-and-a-half hours.

[shawnsyms.livejournal.com]

I spent so many years of being awake all night that afterward, I got into the habit of going to bed earlier rather than later. These days, I get up at 6:20 because it allows me enough time to have some oatmeal (the consumption of which takes way longer than I had expected!) and then walk to work. But as a result, if I stay up too late, I suffer fatigue the next day.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

If I find a part-time job this fall, I will most likely have to get up earlier, too. Writing morning pages is the one thing I most rely on to keep me sane and grounded. Besides, I cannot get moving quickly, and need a minimum of two hours before I'm ready to interact with people in a structured way. For now, the earliest I have to be anywhere is 11:30 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Going to the gym earlier is okay, because my body wakes up faster than my head, and working out usually invigorates.

[missprune.livejournal.com]

That is so pretty! It will save so much time and energy not having to figure out what to do at any particular time. I need one like this.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I drew it up using a table in WordPerfect. It's helping so far. I don't want to treat it too rigidly; that's not the point. But it will help me keep focused.

[aboutlooking.livejournal.com]

thanks for posting this

its inspirational

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for asking. Be well, my friend.

[lilactime.livejournal.com]

Wow! That looks complicated! No wonder you need a schedule!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

One question I have: "Am I trying to do too much?" For instance, I don't know whether I really have time for visual art (drawing). Habitually I waste far more time than I spend doing the things I really want, so if I don't get organized and give it a shot, I'll never know. It's just a framework, and I'm trying not to be legalistic about it, but this morning I had incredible tension in my shoulders from trying to keep up with the schedule. It's supposed to be motivational, not anxiety-inducing. Hopefully I'll find that groove.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

P.S. Many of the necessities in my routine are regular and consistent, like morning pages, going to the gym, writing on LJ, working on the novel and reading before bed. The purpose of the schedule is to remind me of the optimum times in the day for doing those, and planning how to fit the other things I would like to do in the spaces between.

Also, I really don't like routine, so I need to vary some activities from day to day.

[e-musings.livejournal.com]

I like the visual approach to your schedule making. Mine usually (if I go there) is in the form of a list.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I sometimes make lists, too, but I tend to become unfocused once I've completed one. This is really just a list of things I want to work on in a given day, and then it gets repeated. Dividing it into blocks of different colours also helps me see where my priorities lie.

I'm worried that the yellow "Job hunt" boxes are too small and few, but since I'm anxious about them already, I'm starting small.

Playtime?

[scottybear.livejournal.com]

I love that you have playtime booked into your schedule. *grins* It is something that we in this day and age have forgotten how to do... *HUGS*

Need a play-mate? ;-)

Re: Playtime?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, once I've had time to get my place presentable (it is really a shambles at the moment), I'll be more comfortable having friends over (besides Danny). Maybe later next week.

I'm susceptible to spending hours downloading porn or playing computer games. Some people might regard these as addiction, but I don't think that's a useful point of view; I do it because I'm bored, or avoiding doing something else. By giving recreation a designated space I can look forward too, I hope play time won't absorb all my evenings like an amoeba. Besides, reading is an important and enjoyable activity I tend to neglect (and it helps me relax for sleep, while porn tends to wind me up), so by planning to shut down the computer at 9:30, I hope to make room for a book at bedtime.

[writer00.livejournal.com]

At first, I thought it was amazing that you had "read/write LJ" booked out. And then I looked at how often I have been updating. Organization is good. Chaos is bad! I need to learn from this.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I can easily spend an entire evening reading my friends pages. It isn't practical for me to do this on a regular basis, so I have to start restricting it to an hour. I've allowed some flex time in my schedule in case I feel like reading more.

I believe chaos can be fertile. Creativity and spirituality are the ways in which we derive order and meaning. But too much order is just as useless as no order. My personal life tends too far toward the chaotic, so I'm attempting to establish a better balance. I don't intend to follow this rigidly, but as a kind of map, the way I need a roadmap to explore the countryside, but half the fun is veering from the main road.

[writer00.livejournal.com]

My personal life tends too far toward the chaotic, so I'm attempting to establish a better balance.

That's where I am right now.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Well I can certainly relate to that. Try not to berate yourself too severely. My motto is, "Everything in moderation." Chaos included. Then it's not so much a drive to "Stop being this way," rather a nudge toward balance.

I don't really know anything, but I hope this works. ;-)

[writer00.livejournal.com]

It is very common sense. I tend to think this way instinctively, but life in actual practice is often a different matter. I do have a tendency to be overly self-critical, but I have found that all this does is keep me mired in the past, instead of accepting my mistakes, vowing not to repeat them, and doing things differently. But I continue to strive.

[zombietruckstop.livejournal.com]

Pencil me in to that dark purple area around 9:30 pm!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Honey, that's just for my solitary work days. When you're with me, you can have as many hours as you want.

[moonkop.livejournal.com]

I like the way you set up this schedule.... I feel that I am lacking something like that in my daily routine..... I HAVE NO ROUTINE AT ALL...... Hmmmm its food for thought since there are days where I work toooo long at one thing and not long enough at another... as for my morning pages they went by the wayside a year ago which is a shame also. oh well Thanks for sharing your days with us.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I've had very little routine as well. It doesn't come easily to me. I've been experimenting with elements of this for several years, figuring out what works for me and what doesn't. With this schedule I'm attempting to put everything I've learned together.