Surely there must be one good thing that I can write about at the end of my day....well here’s my effort at it.
Gym and me – we have a love-hate relationship. It has always been on for a year and then off for another, more like out of sight out of mind. If you get me to the gym, I will sweat it out like crazy. But getting me to the gym is the toughest part. I say the toughest part because I am one of those few people who have the luxury of working from home and fortunately or unfortunately my fantastic subsidised-fee gym is located in the office building. The one hour drive to the office is not something that I enjoy.
Anyway back to my story. DH and I have been having really healthy meals these days – lots of green (mind you not heavily cooked like the Indian dishes), a bit of meat and soup. Even DH is surprised at the way I gobble up all the vegetables in my plate. Why did this happen? I love everything Korean and Koreans eat a lot of greens, get the drift?
OK – so that’s a tick mark on food and the next tick has to come on exercise part (because Koreans are lean too). Now this is where I have to take a reality check. A hypothyroid apple shaped person like me will put on weight, no matter what, even if I just breathe. But the least I can do is try. So well I will try.
This morning I woke up at 5:30, quickly put on my gym gear (a torn t-shirt and track bottoms – who really looks at you at 6:30 in the morning!!!) and headed to the office. Do you know just how calm and serene it is to drive at that time of the day – a clear road ahead and listening to your favourite songs? Not to mention – you get your favourite parking spot and can actually take eon ages at getting your car bang equidistant from the two white lines. I am OCD that way too. (How do you use the word equidistant – is it equidistant to, equidistant from or is that equidistant between?)
As I walked into the gym it all came back to me...just how much I missed the place, how I was one of those 1500 odd employee who actually worked out every day of the week and had complete attendance, even the gym instructor knew me by name. Well, those were the good old days.
With DH’s words ringing in my ears – start slowly, don’t try to do too much in a day - I sat on the exercise bike. All I wanted to do was just work up a glow, forget a sweat. With the timer on 30mins I started the slow ride. You see, the office gym has blaring music and then it gets too difficult to listen to one’s own MP3 player (no, I don’t have an ipod, don’t intend to, ever. I am one of those anti-Mac people). So at some point you stop looking intensely at the readings on the machines and gaze at your image in the mirror and then on the television playing aimlessly. Because there is nothing else to do, your mind wanders, then asks questions, gives answers, talks to you, coaxes you and tells you to hang on in there. Exercise is all about mind over matter – just how many times you can repeat the same act in 30 mins without boring yourself. All of a sudden I had an aim – to reach that 30th minute no matter what and to reach that 30th minute drenched in sweat. And so it went.
Not only did I complete 30 mins on the exercise bike, I also spent a good 15 mins with weights and when I walked into the office at 9:00 after a hot shower, I was on top of the world. It didn't matter how the rest of the day went...just for one moment I believed I could achieve anything....
Showing posts with label getting organized. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getting organized. Show all posts
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Trivia
I am trying to get myself organized, but hell 24 hours is just not enough for me. With 8 hrs of sleep, 2 hrs of commuting and 8 hrs of work, I really don’t know how to squeeze into the remaining 6 hrs studies, exercise and cooking.
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Review of August Goals and New One for Sept
Apart from being a sounding board for my thoughts this blog is also a place where I measure how far I have gone with my monthly goals. You can find the August goals here.
Exercise: The initial goal of going to the gym 5 days a week was way too unrealistic; I realise that now. So the idea this month is to just try and make it to the gym at least 15 days. Hopefully this is more accomplish-able. Also I need to remind myself that badminton too can be considered as exercise since we play for a good three hours every week.
Finance: Did not save anything much in August. And I can pinpoint it to the excessive shopping that we both did. Normally I'd wait for the sale season to do my shopping, but this month I guess I got too tempted. September should see us just spend on just food and necessities.
Cooking: In August we spent more money eating out than on buying grocery - this just stresses me up so much. I mean I am a good cook and can practically cook something from whatever we have available at home. So I have no excuse to why we ate out more; it was just me being lazy. I don't want to say that in September we won't eat out at all. But I would like to limit this to just the weekends.
Studies: A total wash-out. Did not even touch my books. In September the course starts in full swing and I was hoping to finish a few lessons during summer. This month the goal is to finish 8 lessons - 2 from each module.
Work: My new assignment was supposed to start in the second week of August. But due to all the hand-over I started my new job only from 1st September and I can already feel a change - I am more switched on and enthusiastic. So yeah, this should be a good month. I got my job title yesterday. I am the new Marketing and Demand Planning Manager of the Department. It beats me how I can move from being an Assistant Account Mgr to a Mktg & DP Mgr, but I am not going to question it and just take it as it comes. So far it has been good and I intend to keep it this way.
I am determined to stick to my goals and report a success by the first week of October.
Exercise: The initial goal of going to the gym 5 days a week was way too unrealistic; I realise that now. So the idea this month is to just try and make it to the gym at least 15 days. Hopefully this is more accomplish-able. Also I need to remind myself that badminton too can be considered as exercise since we play for a good three hours every week.
Finance: Did not save anything much in August. And I can pinpoint it to the excessive shopping that we both did. Normally I'd wait for the sale season to do my shopping, but this month I guess I got too tempted. September should see us just spend on just food and necessities.
Cooking: In August we spent more money eating out than on buying grocery - this just stresses me up so much. I mean I am a good cook and can practically cook something from whatever we have available at home. So I have no excuse to why we ate out more; it was just me being lazy. I don't want to say that in September we won't eat out at all. But I would like to limit this to just the weekends.
Studies: A total wash-out. Did not even touch my books. In September the course starts in full swing and I was hoping to finish a few lessons during summer. This month the goal is to finish 8 lessons - 2 from each module.
Work: My new assignment was supposed to start in the second week of August. But due to all the hand-over I started my new job only from 1st September and I can already feel a change - I am more switched on and enthusiastic. So yeah, this should be a good month. I got my job title yesterday. I am the new Marketing and Demand Planning Manager of the Department. It beats me how I can move from being an Assistant Account Mgr to a Mktg & DP Mgr, but I am not going to question it and just take it as it comes. So far it has been good and I intend to keep it this way.
I am determined to stick to my goals and report a success by the first week of October.
Monday, 4 August 2008
Goals for August
When I was younger, the days were full of fun and went really slow. Now that I am older, the days are contemplative and go flying really fast. Can’t believe that it’s August already and 2008 is going really fast. It was New Year just the other day.
I am on a week’s vacation, am taking a few days off before I start my new assignment next week. Right now I am restless, my mind and body are restless. It is like finding oneself at the fag end of a time that one can possibly change oneself and if one does not take this opportunity right now, then it’s lost for eternity and one will remain the same old disorganised one.
And because I always try to think positive and do the right thing, it gets so difficult for me to address my negative emotions and thoughts. I hate to think that I can do wrong, behave incorrect or anything of that manner. I believe that by thinking of negative outcomes, in some ways you are telling the universe that you are ready to accept it. So I always brush up the bad with good thoughts. Let only good things happen to everyone everywhere.
On that note, I would like to set some goals for August and review it by the beginning of September.
Exercises: I believe I am quite OK with it, I might not necessarily be going to the gym regularly, but I am exercising every other day. But DH thinks that it is best that we go to the gym thrice during the week days too. Right now, we try and make it on the weekends and just once during the week days. DH’s point being that we are spending $108 a month on gym membership and it is high time that we took advantage of it. So this month, we both are planning to make it to the gym five days a week.
Finance: The credit crunch is in full swing and we have started to feel the pinch. We usually charge all our expenses on the credit card and our monthly expense has never been more than £800. For the month of July, however, we got a bill for £1,700. Of course some of it is from the expenses incurred due to mom and dad staying with us for a month. I have yet to work out, what our normal expenses were from that amount, but I am sure that our energy and gas charges have gone up. Saving is getting to be hard, especially because I want to set aside some money for my MBA modules for next year.
I am not really sure how we are going to squeeze out more from what we are earning right now, but DH says that we can try our hand at selling some of our good old stuff on e-bay. We have been talking about this forever and never got around to doing anything. This month, I guess, during my week off I am going to try and learn as much as possible on listing something there.
Cooking: This is the part where both being fit and finance plays a big role. We like to cook things from scratch and we usually manage to do it. But some times I run short of time and when this happens, I end up preparing some pre-cooked meals. Though I say this, I have done it just once - yesterday. Cooking from scratch takes time and buying pre-cooked meals takes money. So what’s the compromise that I am looking for? Well, I guess I can achieve some sort of balance by limiting pre-cooked meals to just once a week. Trouble is in finding the time to do my cooking, which now I have decided that on weekends I would cook for the whole week. And during this vacation week, I will cook in bulk as much as possible and freeze the dishes.
Studies: This to me is foremost on my list of priorities and I always manage to push it to the back. Because it does not involve both DH and me, I believe that it’s OK for me to give it less importance. But its not OK, I feel so spineless for letting my dreams go down the drains so slowly. Alright, a stop to negativity. The goal is to complete 5 units a month. That will give me enough time left to do two revisions before I sit for my exams in May 2009.
Work: I start my new assignment next week and I am so looking forward to it. Last Friday I realised that I need to distance myself from colleagues in my department who send off negative vibes. Not sure if they know it themselves, but then it is their problem and they need to sort it out. My problem is that I cannot get along with their attitude that says they know best in everything. Being away from them, I can do my work in peace. The new motto for work is: Mind my own business, be friendly to a reasonable extend, no sharing of personal news and be good at what I have to do.
PS: At work, I have also decided to be better myself at dressing up (this is for another post).
I am on a week’s vacation, am taking a few days off before I start my new assignment next week. Right now I am restless, my mind and body are restless. It is like finding oneself at the fag end of a time that one can possibly change oneself and if one does not take this opportunity right now, then it’s lost for eternity and one will remain the same old disorganised one.
And because I always try to think positive and do the right thing, it gets so difficult for me to address my negative emotions and thoughts. I hate to think that I can do wrong, behave incorrect or anything of that manner. I believe that by thinking of negative outcomes, in some ways you are telling the universe that you are ready to accept it. So I always brush up the bad with good thoughts. Let only good things happen to everyone everywhere.
On that note, I would like to set some goals for August and review it by the beginning of September.
Exercises: I believe I am quite OK with it, I might not necessarily be going to the gym regularly, but I am exercising every other day. But DH thinks that it is best that we go to the gym thrice during the week days too. Right now, we try and make it on the weekends and just once during the week days. DH’s point being that we are spending $108 a month on gym membership and it is high time that we took advantage of it. So this month, we both are planning to make it to the gym five days a week.
Finance: The credit crunch is in full swing and we have started to feel the pinch. We usually charge all our expenses on the credit card and our monthly expense has never been more than £800. For the month of July, however, we got a bill for £1,700. Of course some of it is from the expenses incurred due to mom and dad staying with us for a month. I have yet to work out, what our normal expenses were from that amount, but I am sure that our energy and gas charges have gone up. Saving is getting to be hard, especially because I want to set aside some money for my MBA modules for next year.
I am not really sure how we are going to squeeze out more from what we are earning right now, but DH says that we can try our hand at selling some of our good old stuff on e-bay. We have been talking about this forever and never got around to doing anything. This month, I guess, during my week off I am going to try and learn as much as possible on listing something there.
Cooking: This is the part where both being fit and finance plays a big role. We like to cook things from scratch and we usually manage to do it. But some times I run short of time and when this happens, I end up preparing some pre-cooked meals. Though I say this, I have done it just once - yesterday. Cooking from scratch takes time and buying pre-cooked meals takes money. So what’s the compromise that I am looking for? Well, I guess I can achieve some sort of balance by limiting pre-cooked meals to just once a week. Trouble is in finding the time to do my cooking, which now I have decided that on weekends I would cook for the whole week. And during this vacation week, I will cook in bulk as much as possible and freeze the dishes.
Studies: This to me is foremost on my list of priorities and I always manage to push it to the back. Because it does not involve both DH and me, I believe that it’s OK for me to give it less importance. But its not OK, I feel so spineless for letting my dreams go down the drains so slowly. Alright, a stop to negativity. The goal is to complete 5 units a month. That will give me enough time left to do two revisions before I sit for my exams in May 2009.
Work: I start my new assignment next week and I am so looking forward to it. Last Friday I realised that I need to distance myself from colleagues in my department who send off negative vibes. Not sure if they know it themselves, but then it is their problem and they need to sort it out. My problem is that I cannot get along with their attitude that says they know best in everything. Being away from them, I can do my work in peace. The new motto for work is: Mind my own business, be friendly to a reasonable extend, no sharing of personal news and be good at what I have to do.
PS: At work, I have also decided to be better myself at dressing up (this is for another post).
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Small Changes
On a daily basis, I make an exhaustive list of all the things that I want to complete that day. When the list consists of a lot of things, chances are that I will not see through it all. Usually I manage to finish a maximum of one or two items and over a period of time I have come to realise that I will never come to accomplish all that I want to do for the day. Cannot say that this is demotivating as I already know the outcome, but it is a negative vibe that I am sending to myself – a vibe that tells me that I do not know how to plan my day, a vibe that tells me that I cannot finish all the things that I intend to, a vibe that tells me that I am not pushing myself enough to complete all the work for the day.
It has therefore become very important for me to change the way I plan my day. These days I still make the list; it still consists of all the things that I want to do. The only difference is that I no longer feel the need to push myself. I target two or three important things from it and once finished I keep the rest for the next day. The list has now taken a different set of importance. I don’t have to remember all the things I have to do. Once written down it helps me to keep my mind free and relaxed.
Today, I finished quite a lot of work this way. And I am quite satisfied with what I have accomplished!!
It has therefore become very important for me to change the way I plan my day. These days I still make the list; it still consists of all the things that I want to do. The only difference is that I no longer feel the need to push myself. I target two or three important things from it and once finished I keep the rest for the next day. The list has now taken a different set of importance. I don’t have to remember all the things I have to do. Once written down it helps me to keep my mind free and relaxed.
Today, I finished quite a lot of work this way. And I am quite satisfied with what I have accomplished!!
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