Weekly Summary # 39

It was a salvaged week, I'll say at the least. Things for the most part didn't go the way I'd liked, and my performance was overall subpar and lacking due to those sleep issues I mentioned, but still I managed to pull myself together enough to bring things to a satisfying enough conclusion. Those sleep issues must have a nutritional cause, as I went to bed on time and utilized my orange safety glasses, and still I suffered poor quality sleep despite adequate hours. Perhaps I ought to buy some nuts to satisfy my mineral requirements.

Anyhow, while I did attack my other goals regularly, I'm still very disappointed with the effort I put forth in my reading. I read but one section I had already started in The Chocolate Tree, and unfortunately I had to return The Science of Chocolate and Crash Proof before I got to them. For everything else, the list:

1.) Read The Science of Chocolate, The Chocolate Tree, Crash Proof, and spring issue of The Objective Standard: I got through a section of The Chocolate Tree, but failed to touch TOS and had to return Crash Proof and The Science of Chocolate. I'm partially satisfied, but more effort is needed. I've submitted a request for SOC again, but I think I'll let CP go for now since I don't have any money to do anything with right now. I'll worry more about economic protection once I actually have wealth to protect.

2.) Practice tossing pizza with clothes at home for three half-hour sessions: Only got in one session, but still had remarkable progress on my technique. My boss actually allowed me to take a wash cloth home from work -- the workplace ones being ideal for this type of practice -- and have gotten quite good at tossing and catching properly, but need to practice more on passing from hand to hand. Eventually I'd like to reach the point that I can spin the wash cloth on my hand. One of my coworkers does that everyday.

3.) Experiment with "scribble book" while reading: Yes, concurrently with the reading of The Chocolate Tree. Once again, this "scribble book" I speak of is just a notebook for me to write rough notes in, for which I have no intention of referencing: The intellectual assistance is in the writing itself. I need to work on my skill of what to write and how to write it, but I found it did help greatly in nurturing an engrossing concentration. I'll aim to utilize this technique every time I do reading for intellectual benefit. For books I mean; if I did it for everything I read online, my time would surely be swallowed up.

4.) Optimize computer: My layman familiarity with computer technology has prevented me from establishing concrete goals in this realm, but I got some considerable things done which have satisfied me. Mainly I want to make my computer faster, but I did other things too. For example, I installed Granola, stopped some startup programs to enhance booting, switched to a barebones graphic interface on my OS, created more ActiveWords, went on a massive uninstalling spree, and more. I'm pleased with myself for having gotten this much accomplished. However, there's some other things I can think to do, so I want to keep this up as a general, at-will project for the following week to see if even more improvements can be made.

5.) Research ways to play DVDs on computer: This glitching of my system still irritates me. For some odd reason my computer views DVDs files in its components, not as an integrated whole, so I can't play them. Thanks to this, a craving to watch my favorite movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has gone unsatisfied. I pretty much just ran out of time for this.

6.) Brainstorm traits of ideal self: Forgot.

7.) Tell three people at work a good thing about my day each shift: I talked about this mid-week resolution earlier. It went stupendously well. While it may have been awkward to initiate such confrontations, it felt good to start my working shifts on such a good note, and to my surprise it did help greatly in making me feel more comfortable in sharing other aspects about myself, such as my chocolate connoisseurship, chocolate reviews, and Paleo diet. I intend to keep this as a regular practice. I failed to complete this goal by forgetting to tell a single person, but that's alright.

* * * * *

The best thing about this week is that, like last week, it has served well to demonstrate what a positive change I've made in my thinking habits. My anxiety and whatnot weren't as intense this week -- they're probably still present due to that sleep + nutrition issue -- but I did have some particularly bad moments. During those moments I never lost sight of my rational conclusions, kept recognizing that only my evaluation of the facts has changed, keep pushing forth with my responsibilities, and so on. In other words, unlike in the past, these negative emotions didn't get the better me, and my automatic response was keep an objective view on matters. I'm proud of the progress.

For this week I'd like to take another shot at putting more emphasis on my neglected reading, and to put more effort into improving my skills for work:

1.) Read The Chocolate Tree and The Objective Standard: I aim to read as much of the former book as possible and to finish my spring issue of the latter, utilizing the "scribble" book throughout.

2.) Practice tossing pizza with wash cloth, for three half-hour sessions

3.) Brainstorm list of traits for ideal self: I think concretizing my ideal traits would help in formulating specific goals to achieving them.

4.) Research ways to play DVDs on computer

5.) Optimize computer and browser: I'm writing this out as a general goal since there's multiple directions I could take, but I do at least have the specific goals of enhancing my boot-up time and making Firefox go faster. Maybe there will be others. We'll see.

This is it for now. Outside of my goals I've got to do some thinking about my career and pursue some solutions to my financial problems. I'll definitely be working on those sleep issues too, and hopefully will finally put myself in a state of mind to seize matters, but whatever happens: I'll push through.