March

In March, I changed my Focus and Project goals from what I had originally planned in January. I had planned to focus on my sabbath observance, and my project was to schedule appointments I had been putting off, such as my oil change and dental exam. The appointments took care of themselves and, since I had begun working on sabbath observance in February, I decided to add a new focus and project: prayer and housekeeping, respectively.

A week from the end of the month, my grade came to 43%. I was failing in my time management despite having worked productively and conscientiously all month. So what had I done with my time? Well, I had been focusing on keeping the sabbath holy, and during my project time I had been learning to sew. So what did I do? I changed my goals retroactively. Kevin calls it cheating. I say I was merely reverting to my original January plan. At any rate, my grade jumped from a 43% to a 63%.

I was so motivated by my instant success that I went through my spread sheet and randomly changed numbers to see what of all I could do in the next week would raise my grade the most. I focused my time accordingly. For the first time in too long I completed my visiting teaching in entirety. I was looking at a good solid 79%, and I was pleased. Then, by some crazy twist of fate, I spent seven and a half hours writing, six of which came in one day. Those hours and other last minute meeting of goals brought me up five percentage points to a nice solid B.

One thing I learned was that Housekeeping is too vague of a goal for a project. I put my photos in an album in January. February and April, I scheduled for canning food storage. These are measurable, completable goals from which I could step back and say, I finished. I need to remember to be thus specific with future goals.