These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:
⛸️I’m feeling more comfortable skating backwards. I still do it slowly, and I started doing some backwards C-pushes on the circle: it’s very hard for me to do them with my left leg, tho! I have only one more ice skating lesson this season, but I’ll continue to go on the public skating sessions until they are available.
🩺I finally got an appointment with a Hematologist to discuss my chronic anemia. Since oral supplements aren’t doing much to raise my Ferritin levels, I will do an iron infusion next week. I used to have to do these infusions every 2 or 3 years back in Brazil, so I finally got a prescription to do them here in Canada. I hope this will help with my energy levels and overall mood. I’ve been feeling very tired lately.
👟I enrolled for my first running event of the year. I want to do 10K this year! During the winter I do some treadmill running at the gym, but I find it super boring. Temperatures are getting positive now so I will start running outside again! (and get to that 10K!).
📅Time Blocking (alongside GTD) continues to be my compass at work. Without it, I will get overwhelmed and lose focus. I've had some days when my attention was all scattered (usually on a Monday morning) and by noon I realized I haven’t planned my time blocks. I’m still using Cal Newport’s time block planner; I really like the spiral bound format.
🧩I spent a lot of my free time doing puzzles this week. Got the Dragon one almost done!
These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:
⛸️I’ve made progress! I can do forward crossovers now! One side is better than the other, but I overcame my fear of crossing my feet over! I will say that figure skates feel much better. I can find my balance on them.
🍅I’ve been reading some articles about distraction and ADHD, and one thing that comes up quite frequently is the Pomodoro Technique. I’ve known it for years, and I’ve used it whenever I needed focus. It was extremely useful back in the day when I was writing my master’s dissertation. I couldn’t have finished writing that dissertation without it. Nowadays I’m trying to use it at work as well and I find that the Clock app in Windows works pretty well.
☃️We finally got some snow this week!
💤It’s a long weekend and I’m taking time to rest a lot. I’ve been reading but also, I am doing more meditation sessions. I started reading this book Practical Meditation: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide by Giovanni Dienstmann to get back to the basics. I’ve been feeling more introspective these days and I am missing more quiet moments.
These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:
⛸️ I tried figure skates for the first time, and I prefer them. I can keep a slightly more upright posture and that feels way better for my low back. I also feel more stable and less afraid of falling backwards every time I try to do something new. The first couple of times with figure skates I feel because I tripped on the toe picks, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.
♟️Last week I finished a romance book by my favorite author: “Check & Mate” by Ali Hazelwood. I just want to learn how to play chess now! I've been doing the beginner lessons on lichess.org and I bought a course at Udemy to dive deeper. I still don't know exactly how I am going to fit another hobby in my life. I'll take it slowly.
📚 I've been reading a book for my Book Club but I was not too thrilled about it (“Master of Djinn”). I'm 90% done. I got into a small book slump the past two weeks, I did not want to read a second book alongside this one. I can't wait to finish it and move on.
🎭 I've been reading about ADHD and had a conversation with my therapist about it. I never went after a diagnosis, but every time I read about it I feel like I have ADHD tendencies. Not everything that I read applies to me, but some things do. And that has led me to rethink the way I organize myself and how to make my life easier, specially at work. Things like the Pomodoro technique and Time Blocking really works for me. Also having lists that are more interesting to look at. I've been getting on and off with Microsoft To Do and I'm now realizing it would be a good fit for me. More on that later.
📺 I enjoyed a documentary on Curiosity Stream about Knights (medieval knights, armour, swords, bows).
⛸️I got a bit frustrated with ice skating this weekend. I’ve been thinking about trying a pair of figure skates. Mine are the recreational ones (K2 Alexis Ice Boa), with lots of padding and smart lacing system. I got around 3 years ago because my first pair was hurting my feet A LOT! I was talking to some ladies in my class with figure skates, and they said they are way more stable (hence, easier for beginners). So, I’ll try that out! I’m curious to know the difference, since I’ve been having lots of difficulty balancing on my skates to be able to do more advance stuff like cross overs and backwards skating.
🔀 The 2-weekly-reviews routine has been working fine. I block my calendar on Friday’s afternoons to dedicate to the work review, and then do my personal review on the weekend.
🎭 I tried doing my personal weekly review on Saturday and it worked much better than on Sundays. I’ve already updated my calendar reminder as a recurring event for Saturdays from now on.
✒️ Journaling is going great with Standard Notes. I didn’t skip a day so far this year. It’s super easy to open it and start writing, any time of the day. I’ve been using it as my dumping ground while I’m at work as well.
🧘♀️ Yoga in the morning is being consistent. In the past I used to do headstands (Sirsasana) at the end of my yoga sessions. I want to start doing it again. It’s a challenging pose, and now I feel my core and upper body is sufficiently strong to do it.
These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:
⛸️Ice Skating lessons started again this weekend. I liked the new instructor who gave a variety of fundamental exercises to build balance. She explains things in a clear way and gives lots of encouragement. I skated backwards with more confidence than I’ve ever had before.
🧘♀️Almost halfway through the 30 Day Yoga Journey with Yoga with Adrienne. I’ve been doing it every morning.
✅I’ve been testing out MS To Do for my projects list and next actions. After my GTD year-end review in December, I feel like I want to simplify my system and use less apps. At work I will have to migrate to Microsoft apps anyway. I’ve always liked MS To Do aesthetics, it’s simple and elegant.
🔀Another realization: I like to have separate lists for work and personal stuff. So I have 2 weekly reviews now: one at work on Friday afternoon and my personal review at home on Sunday morning. I’m feeling less stressed over the weekends, and they feel like mini-vacations now!
🌳We had 30cm of snow this weekend and the trails were gorgeous. It started to look more like winter again. I love going for a walk after a snowstorm. There were people walking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing. Perfect conditions for those wintery activities!
These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:
⛸️Getting back to ice skating after the holiday break: I went to the rink yesterday and after half an hour skating I was already feeling exhausted, so I took it slow. My balance feels a little bit better, I tried some wobbly forward crossovers going counter-clockwise. I still can't even start a clockwise crossover, it's like my brain doesn't understand the movement.
❄️ After a green Christmas, we finally got some snow this weekend! It's been a warm winter and it seems the Rideau Canal skateway won't open this year because it's not cold enough to form the required 30cm ice thickness.
🧘♀️I'm doing the 30 Day Yoga Journey with Yoga with Adrienne. Every year she releases this challenge in January and I've been doing it for a couple of years now. I love it! It has become my start of the year tradition.
📖I've been thinking about my readers goals for 2024, and I will write a post about it soon. The trend will continue to be more fun and lighthearted books.
✒️I've decided to stick with Standard Notes for my private journaling this year. Last year I went between back and forth Standard Notes and the Journey app. The Journey app has been going through various updates, and they will insert A.I. as one of the features. They say it's safe and encrypted, but I don't feel comfortable with it. I've been enjoying the new Super Editor in Standard Notes.
These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:
⛸️ Ice Skating lessons are over for this year, but I enrolled for the next sessions in January. For now, I'll keep on hitting the drop-in public skating sessions on Sundays in our neighbourhood ice rink.
💪 I didn't go to the gym too much in the past 2 weeks. Both me and my partner caught a cold, and we didn't want to spread whatever it was. And also, we weren't feeling our best anyway. But we've been feeling well for the past few days.
🏝️ I took 3 days off work last week to recharge. I basically spent the days reading, playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey and just relaxing at home. It was great! I still have some vacation days that I will use between Christmas and the New Year. I will be away from work from Dec 20th until Jan 1st. Yay!
📖 I finished reading this urban fantasy book for my Book Club this week (“White Trash Warlock” by David R. Slayton). It was a light read, but I wasn't too invested in it. I picked up the second book of the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi now.
🎉 We went to our work Holiday Party this Saturday. It was the first time in months that I stayed up late (went to bed at around 1am) and I felt like a zombie the next day. Not to mention the “introvert hangover” I usually get after big social events: extreme exhaustion. I just needed some quiet time to recover. I still managed to complete the minimum house chores (like cooking my meals for the week, doing laundry and groceries shopping) but I basically took naps the whole day. I tried to read, but I would easily fall asleep. I had fun at the party, but it always comes with the downside of needing a full day to unwind from an intense socializing experience.
🌲 We went hiking on Saturday morning in a pleasant cloudy -4C day. Then the weather warmed up (reaching the high 6C), and we ended up getting rain over the Sunday. I've never seen rain in December like this!
These are some of the things that happened in my life lately:
⛸️ I’m making slow but steady progress in my ice skating skills. I’ve been practising forward crossovers going counterclockwise. I can’t do it going clockwise yet: doing anything where I support all my weight on my right leg is super hard! I got a pair of knee pads to use while I’m skating, and they are great! I fell yesterday on an exercise to practice how to use outside edges, and I didn’t feel a thing. I should have gotten them earlier, I feel a little bit more confident and less afraid of falling now.
💪 I changed my gym exercises a little bit to focus more on leg strength. And that’s been helping me with ice skating. Although ice skating is a lot about balance, having legs and glutes strength helps a lot to maintain balance and to be able to push myself. I’ve been focusing on squats, one leg deadlifts, lunges and curtsy squats.
🎮 It’s been a while since I played any video games. It’s something I’ve been planning on getting into again. So I finally started a game of one of my favourite series: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. It’s great because I can play with a female character! I don’t remember having that option in any of the previous games of the series.
📖 I finished reading Fourth Wing by #1Rebecca Yarros and I really enjoyed it. Then I started reading A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout, the second book of the Blood and Ash series. I found out that these books are being listed as “Romantasy” aka “Romantic Fantasy” genre. I’m into that vibe right now.
📅 I had another very busy week at work, in which we were closing a very big job. I can say that Time Blocking was an excellent way to manage my stress and organize myself through chaos. Also, keeping up with my morning and shutdown routines was crucial for me to survive the past two weeks. I’m looking forward to getting a couple of days off this week.
🌲 Temperatures are dropping around here, keeping in the low single digits (in Celsius). Most all the leaves have fallen, and I went out for a couple of lovely hikes.
⛸️ I've made some progress in ice skating: I did my first forward crossovers while practising in a circle! I can only do it going counterclockwise, and it's awkward and wobbly, but it's progress!
📖 I finished reading this romance fantasy book that had some plot twists that got me by surprise. I was expecting a typical “enemies to lovers” romance trope plot, but it actually had some surprising elements I was not expecting. And even the ending was not what I usually see in these books, it's a complicated relationship, and it got me curious to read the second book in the series. The first book is “From Blood and Ash” by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
🥳 I discovered that Nirvana now accepts all types of emojis. I can put emojis on the project titles, next actions and labels. Some months ago, only the black and white Unicode Symbols would show properly, and I used some for my contexts list. But now emojis are working!
😃 My neighbourhood community started building our outdoor ice rink. It's not ready yet, but I'm looking forward to going skating there when it's ready.
🤧 I didn’t write last week because I caught a minor cold, it wasn’t bad, but I was feeling under the weather and just rested.
📺 I finished watching “Good Omens” Season 2. I enjoyed the ride, but the ending was a little bit disappointing. It’s kinda of a cliffhanger? Maybe the show could have ended before the last episode, because it seemed to me they could wrap up the whole Gabriel plot and call it a day, instead of adding Aziraphale’s decision to change his current situation.
🚗 The car winter tires are installed, let it snow, I’m ready! ❄️
⛸️ I’m making slow progress on my ice skating skills. I’ve been practising one-foot glides, and changing from one foot to the other. It’s way harder to glide on my right foot than on my left, which seems counterintuitive to me. I can’t do a crossover yet, but I’m working on it. Small steps.
📖 I’m indulging myself in this Fantasy romance novel called “From Blood and Ash” by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The plot is somewhat predictable, but I’m enjoying following the story through only one point of view. I just can’t put it down!
📆It’s been one month since I started using Cal Newport’s second edition Time Block Planner. It’s been great! I used it every day at work and I feel like it has greatly improved my work routines. I’m consistently doing the shutdown routine, and I’m loving my weekend now!
💉I got my Flu shot and the new COVID-19 vaccine. The only side effect was a sore arm.
Winter hiking scenery