7Wannabe5 Journal Take 2

[1taskaday]

I love this tracking system.It will be so interesting to learn even more about yourself,the most interesting to me personally is always about energy levels.What are the activities that drain me and what are the ones that enrich my life.

I suppose it should all be obvious to us But I always love things that are measured and emphatically proved.

I always feel way better from having exercised outside but alas I have failed badly this winter due to the incessant rain.

I also know that when I work too many days consecutively I feel unbalanced and cranky.

Very interesting work.

[7Wannabe5]

@1taskaDay: Thanks. We'll see how it goes. I was thinking today that in order to make it a more valid experiment I should attempt some activities that I have written off too easily, even though other people seem to enjoy them. I have given religion, marriage, spectating at sporting/gaming/motor events and mall shopping enough time/energy to know that they don't work as well for me as others, but I probably haven't really given playing video games, drinking alcoholic beverages, civil war re-enactment/renaissance fairs, playing a musical instrument or participating in a competitive sport enough of a try to write them off as happiness improving.

[jacob]

How many hours/week do you spend on tracking and calculating stats?

[7Wannabe5]

@jacob: About 15 minutes/day to update the first sheet which is in a sort of color-coded getting-things-done next-thing-to-do format with a time spent column for each goal-task and the second sheet which is a daily log where I enter my subjective happiness rating for each day and jot some relevant notes. Updating the third sheet which calculates the totals, averages and correlations for the month took me a couple hours this month, but I am still playing around with it. Tracking every minute of the day would be way more onerous than tracking my financial spending, but this method doesn't seem too burdensome.

The last time I was in relationship therapy, I was given the assignment of keeping a daily gratitude journal, and then I was chastened for including a column where I rated each day on a numerical scale. I understand why some people would think this was wrong-minded, but ...I guess I am of the eccentric variety that finds spreadsheets more comforting than folktales, lullabies, rousing oratory, firm directive leadership and/or a bowl of rice pudding about 50% of the time.

[peerifloori]

I also find spreadsheets very comforting. I am fascinated by your metrics and that you have time to measure/track so many goals. Yowza!

[7Wannabe5]

@peeriflora: Most days, I am only doing work on maybe 5 or 6 goals. My ideal Renaissance life-style is like a big circus tent, and each of my complex goals is like a flexible ridge-pole that I am threading through the tent canvas. I am free to pursue whichever goal fits my druthers/motivational energy in the moment, or perceived need to create more balance in the structure on any given day, and I am also free to add more goals to the list as they occur/appeal to me, as long as they meet the standard of being reasonably complex (designed to forward at least three of my categories.) So, tracking or recollecting-to-the-best-of-my-ability how I spent my time each day is easier than it might seem because for most of my goals on any given day, I am just noting that I did nothing. My theory is that even though it kind of seems like I am functioning like a manic juggler, there will come a day when the entire structure will "magically" pop-up, and this will be measurable as a fairly consistent, higher level of happiness/personal fulfillment.

[peerifloori]

What a great metaphor. I really enjoy reading your journal. Happy tent-building!

[7Wannabe5]

JANUARY REPORT

SPENDING

Entertainment/Social:$18.66
Personal Transportation:$60.89
Food and Household:$210.50
Girl Stuff:$17.95
Skillz/Gear:$21.22
Health:$0
Kids:$50
Shelter/Utilities:$300

TOTAL: $679.20

My health insurance premium has reduced to $0 this year due to my negligible income, and I didn't even have any need to buy some aspirin this month, so that was my biggest area of savings. As soon as I cut the umbilical cord of cell phone plan still connecting me to my adult children, and bring an end to my slacker "foodie" vacation from frugality in the realm of Food and Household, I should be getting very close to my goal of less than $500/month in spending.

Happiness and Goals Tracking

My average happiness level for January was 3.24 with a SD of .22, so down a bit from December, but still in the B+ range.

My Renaissance Lifestyle Categories are:

Category #1-Erudition
Category #2-Skill Attainment/Improvement
Category #3-Social Practice
Category #4- Health and Fitness
Category #5-Beauty, Style and Charm
Category #6-Habitat/Permaculture (Home, Hearth, Garden)
Category #7-Travel and Novel Experience
Category #8-Financial Practice

I am now tracking a total of 48 goals, having added 2 this month. The directed goals on which I spent the most time were:

Goal 17:I will maintain my work of substitute teaching in my community at the level of approximately 80 days/year.(Relevant categories: 2,3,9) I spent a total of 67 hours on this goal in January. There was a negative happiness correlation once again associated with doing it too many days in a row. I think this negative correlation is less due to the activity itself than the time structure it imposes. Some of my happiest days were the ones that were continuously busy, but then I need the next day to crash, or I burn out.

Goal 40: I will attempt to achieve and maintain sexual health and fulfillment through the practice of ethical polyamory (Relevant categories: 3,4,5,7,11) I spent 25.5 hours on this goal in January. The daily happiness correlation of .37 was just slightly higher than in December. I think this was due to the fact that I spent less time responding to any new dating site inquiries which is sort of a neutral-to-boring activity for me. I really enjoy the company of both of my partners, one of whom I've been seeing fairly regularly for about 6 months now, and the other whom I've also been seeing fairly regularly for about 3 months. As with any relationship, I sometimes get grouchy about this or that, but the fact that I am perfectly free to do as I please really seems to moderate that for me. Anyways, I'm still curious about where this practice might take me.

Goal 5:I will maintain practice of one hour of walking/dancing/biking or swimming 6 days/week.(3,4,5.) Only spent 15.5 hours on this practice this month. Correlation was almost identical to last month at . 22. January in Michigan is my primary excuse. I really need to strive to go some place sunnier until the middle of February next year. I really want to start going to water aerobics again, but I am still too chicken to walk back after dark, so I will likely wait until Spring Forward.

Goal 47: I will attempt minor version of Taleb plan towards erudition. 15 hours a week webbed reading of great works in alignment with my interest in the moment. (1,2,5,7) I didn't create this new goal until the last week of the month, so I only spent 11.5 hours on it. The correlation with my happiness level was even higher than for sex or travel at .47. Chekhov, Moliere, Spender, Vasari and Cather are all spun onto my web already.

Goal 44: I will better create a home for myself by integrating one chapter or element from "Home Comforts" or "Pattern for Living" or similar source each month and maintaining my current practices. (2,3,6) I spent 10 hours towards this goal/practice this month. Mostly devoted this time to re-organization of kitchen. I have really been slouching back towards messy-teenage-girl level of functioning in this realm since I moved in with my sister. Therefore, I experienced a slightly positive correlation even on the days I performed my tidying projects. Putting more time towards this goal will definitely make it almost auto-pilot for me to reduce my spending on food and household items, since IME frugality and good housekeeping are practically synonymous.

I spent at least some time on more of my assorted goals this month, but my total leisure/unaccounted time was higher than in December and more negatively correlated with my happiness. So, my conclusion is that I prefer to have free time, but I am more frequently happy when I actively direct my use of it.

[1taskaday]

I think I would do better on your goal 5(excercise and fitness) also if I wintered in a sunnier climate.
But I have yet to test this theory out...as I see people out walking/jogging all around me in all types of weather this winter.

I failed miserably this winter with my outside excercise.I started indoor yoagalates so just stopped going outside everyday.
This is where I think the rot sets in and one becomes soft and lazy about cold and rain.If I had kept it up everyday like last winter I would have no problem.

To me avoiding the cold and dark misery of Winter (if you can) is a no brainer But I stand to be corrected and will try it out to see...

Interesting conclusion about free time and happiness...this is where I will probably find my greatest challenge when retired as I plan to have very little commitments...hence my DH's worries about me turning into a bag lady look alike...

How to achieve the delicate balance of enough free time versus productive/directed time...I have no clue as of yet...maybe it just evolves naturally over time if one is willing to have patience as opposed to forcing/directing it.

I will read and learn..

[7Wannabe5]

@1taskaday- It's actually a very mild winter here this year. Part of my problem is that I was spoiled by walking proximity to nature trails almost every other place I've lived for the last 30 years, and I can't just walk miles in any direction from where I am now with safety. My retired ex and I were camping down south this time last year, so I had plenty of great trails to explore. It's almost like I just forgot my plan to escape this year. I am getting excited about starting all my seedlings for my huge project this spring, but I still might run down to a book sale in Georgia in early March.

The "bag lady" fear is real -lol. I find that costuming becomes a very important motivational tool when you have to structure your own time. A day that I worked out for an hour was also a day that I overcame a bit of inertia at noon and changed from my robe into my workout costume, so that the likelihood I might actually start exercising at 3 pm would increase. Anyways, I would note that one of the likely reasons why I feel happier when I successfully direct my activities is that I am perfectly capable of just wandering around in a vague fog most of the day, so my self-esteem is lifted when I actually accomplish something. A retired person who had a more intense, focused personality type might be happier veering towards more relaxation in retirement.

When it comes to what your husband thinks of your plans, or lack of any, it has been my experience that not wanting to do the same things is not nearly as much of a problem as one person wishing to be retired or self-directed-self-employed and the other person still wanting to be nominally employed in the role of "boss." One benefit of polyamory that I didn't expect is that it's actually easier to ignore more than one man due to white noise effect.