My Team has achieved what has, in the past seven months, been an elusive goal. Our Quality scores are at 71% for the month, with a record-breaking 82% performance just from last week. Phenomenal.
Tonight, I will report this to our regional team and for sure we’ll be asked what did we do differently to make this happen?
What did we do?
We just stuck to our guns. We kept working on it and working on it and working on it. We celebrated each little win and learned from every opportunity. We took stock of our capabilities, understood our challenges and worked together to make the strong stronger, and the rest even better.
Two weeks have passed since I resolved to create new habits. I wish I had better news, but I have to be honest. I have more Xs than checks on my trackers.
So I haven’t been getting enough sleep. But that brings me back to the question of how much sleep is enough sleep? I know, I set a goal of 7 hours because I’ve read more than once that it’s the optimum number of hours of sleep an adult needs daily. But I’ve not been much successful. I have done it a few times, but mostly, 6 hours seems to be the longest on a workday. Most of the time, I automatically wake up after just four hours of sleep. Seriously, I’ve stopped setting an alarm because I wake up without one anyway. And it sucks because then I try hard to sleep again which only happens after about two hours when it’s time to actually get up and get ready for work.
This intense summer heat also isn’t helping. Funny thing is, when the husband and I try to sleep in the same bed, sometimes we end up chatting each other up! Haha.
But there’s progress, and I’ll take that any day.
Progress NOT Perfection
What I’ve noticed is that when it comes to Habit 1 – Work/Life balance, it helps to have someone pressure me to go home at the appointed time. My friend and colleague lives nearby and hitches a ride with me. If she leaves before I do, chances are I wouldn’t make goal. It also helps to take my lunches along with others. So I’ve taken breaks, but still mostly at my desk. I’ve also loved coming home early. It gives me and the hubby a bit more time to talk. I’ve also been able to help a bit more with some chores, just a bit. Hope to do more.
So I’ll keep at it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. How are you coming along with your own projects?
Relevant to my post about success and daily habits, I have resolved to build or strengthen these three (3) areas:
Work-Life Balance – Spend only 9.5 hours at most in the office
This means going in and out of the office on time
Maximise productivity within the official working hours
Honestly, I over stay at work because I like working when everyone else has left. My mind is more focused and creative juices flow. I suppose I can also do that by coming in earlier for my shift, reverse the hours, if you will. I haven’t really tried that.
Another reason for staying too long is that I tend to lose steam towards the end of my shift. I literally drowse and fall asleep without even trying. Sometimes, I struggle to keep awake even while speaking with someone. And it doesn’t matter how much sleep I get the previous night. The doctor I consulted awhile back mentioned that the sleep apnea is probably keeping me tired even while sleeping, translating to not having enough rest. A sleep study would really help me, but I figured I’d try to lose some weight before I go back for medical help (for both the sleeping problem, and the PCOS). So that’s why I’m also going to work on the second habit..
Sleep 7 hours daily
Promotes general well-being
Should give me energy to power through 8 hours of work without drowsing in the middle of the day.
Habits 1 and 2 complement each other. If I am to get 7 hours of sleep daily, and still have a life, I have to stick to a 9.5-hour work-day. Otherwise, all I would do at home is sleep – no chores, no hobbies, no writing. NOTHING. So those are the two that I have already started tracking with my small Kislap. Incidentally, around this time last year, I also tried to sleep better but failed. Here’s how last year’s tracker looked like – Mostly X’s:
Let’s push harder this time around.
Budget and use CASH
Revisit current budget categories
Utilize jar or envelope system for variable expenses
It is really sad that I wasn’t able to sustain the good habits I worked on for so long. Seems that manually tracking expenses is way better for me than the excel sheet on my phone or referring to my credit card bill to examine where everything went at the end of the month. But there is always hope.
Are you working on building any habits? How are you doing it? Do you have tips for sleeping better? Any tips to help me become successful in these three areas?
We recently changed our Cable TV subscription from having over 100 channels thru the old-school Platinum pack with the Discovery and lifestyle channels to the cheaper Dual Def 549 package. As a result, we now have the Simply Money channel where the show ‘Til Debt Do Us Part airs. A few years back, that show inspired me to build better spending and saving habits. Coupled with other concepts I’ve learned here and there, I managed to cut back on consumer credit card debt and felt so happy about it.
Unfortunately, I’ve not always maintained those good habits. Now, my credit card use is getting a little bit out of hand.
After our wedding, my husband and I agreed on a budget and we’ve pretty much stuck to it. We prioritised paying off debt, but by this time, we should already be building our emergency fund back up. Sad to say, we aren’t. We are thru paying off one loan, and will soon finish payment on another. Instead of getting rid of all but one credit card, we still have three. The third one was supposed to be the only remaining card and would be used for auto payments on bills, for gas and groceries too. It is the card we always pay off in full monthly. So far, we’ve managed to do that. But in order to keep cash flowing, I’ve made the mistake of swiping the plastic to pay for meals in restaurants, and also for other purchases. In order for my plan to work, we should stick to cash on all other expenses.
So anyway, tuning into Simply Money even for just a few days has helped knocked some sense back into my thick skull.
But no sound advise will ever be enough. John Maxwell has it when he said in his book Make Today Count that –
John Maxwell IMG source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/459226493231678766/
Our habits do define us. And I’ve got some pretty bad habits, and so does the husband.
We will not get our finances in order without making real changes to our daily habits. Same goes about losing weight. It is not going to happen without us changing the way we spend our days. We have taken a bold step – we have been on a calorie-controlled meal plan in the past month and I lost a little over 5 pounds already. But because we’re using a meal delivery service, we’re getting tired of the food. So we have to learn to make it on our own. This week is the start of trying portion control by ourselves on our home cooked meals. Wish us luck.
I examined how I spend my days and realise that spending over 12 hours at work was not going to help me achieve my life goals. Besides, my team’s success doesn’t rely on how long I stay in the office. I need at least 7 hours of sleep, at least that’s what Arianna Huffington says. I already know that no matter how much sleep I get, I still fall asleep at work or on the wheel. There’s a whole different health issue there and I’m going to need a sleep study, but before then I’m willing to give it another shot. I’ll start trying to sleep better. But if I were to sleep that much without changing anything else on my schedule, I wouldn’t be spending any quality time with the husband daily, and there’d be no more time for reading or crochet. I like watching TV, and going on the computer at home, how am I going to squeeze in those activities and add exercise too?
I’ve got to make changes on my daily schedule, and build new habits. Ready or not, here I come.
We’re only on the third month of the year and already I’ve got 4 completed crochet projects under my belt. Wowza! Watch me go!
I made two baby blankets. A blue, green, and gray chevron made with Dapper Dreamer Stardust. It was the first time I used that yarn and I loved how soft it was. I can imagine how it will keep Baby Ricky cool and comfy in our tropical weather. My second blanket is the one pictured above – pink, purple, and white for Baby Bianca. I made it using Ganstilyo Guru Milk Cotton Medium, another first time for me. This yarn was chunkier but I can imagine how soft it would feel around the baby.
It surprised me how quickly I finished those blankets. Both are gifts and I’m just happy I finished the first one before the baby came out, and the second one within two weeks of starting it. I’d have finished sooner if I didn’t run out of yarn. More expert crocheters would probably finish the project in three or four days, but compared to my first three afghan projects, two weeks is super record time for me. I can foresee a few more baby blankets in the making this year.
While waiting on my yarn restock I started a slouchy beanie as requested by my husband. It was the first time that he had asked me to make anything for him so I quickly went to it.
It’s custom sized for him, but I followed this tutorial from YouTube. I love how there are so many free patterns and even video tutorials available online! Here’s a photo of the husband proudly wearing my creation:
Today I also finished my very first scarf! I started working on it while at a Management kick-off about three weeks ago to keep myself from nodding off while listening to presentations. I made good progress but frogged it a day later because it just didn’t feel right. I adapted this pattern but made my own additions, including the arch and picot edging which I had just learned to do for this project. This will be a gift for the boss’ wife. I hope she likes it.
I love this hobby! Off to get started on my next project 🙂
