studious-punk

[studious-punk]

NYR Update - March Retrospective

March was a bit of a roller coaster, goals-wise.

It started off really well, I had a project to complete. But once it was finished, I got kind of stuck on what to do next. I had a couple of options, one of which was easy, and one that was quite a bit harder and more complicated, but also more important. I spent about a week after I finished the project at the beginning of the month not doing much of anything at all. Some of those days were recovery from the project, but most of them were just me avoiding the next thing. It seems I still struggle to move on to the next project once I finish the one I’m working on. Once I’m started on something, I can work on it pretty consistently at a good pace, but once it’s nearly done I start to struggle, and once it’s fully finished I have a lot of trouble moving on to the next one. I don’t really know how to combat that, but maybe as I do more projects closer together (The last one took me over a year, I think), I’ll start to build up some habits, tricks, or discipline to help me out. I did finally manage to start working on the big complicated project, but it’s been really slow moving, because I don’t really know what I’m doing, and feel like I need to be hand-held through it, but there really isn’t much anyone around me can help with, so I’ve been floundering through it very slowly. I hope to be finished with it by the end of this week, or early next week. After it’s done, I can move on to projects that, while still long, are much more straightforward and will be easier to complete.

My nutrition goals have been stagnating as well. I’m still consistently eating enough food in a day, but I’m not adding new foods into my diet. I hope to do that more in April. I haven’t been exercising hardly at all. It’s a rare day that I even do stretches. This is not good, and my body is really feeling not moving enough.

My fiber arts goals have been going alright. I pretty much dropped all of my knitting projects around the middle of the month to join a sweater KAL, and cast on a sweater that’s in my queue to be completed this year. I also started an impulse project of 2-at-a-time ankle socks, and I am currently almost done with the heel flaps. Still a long way to go on the sweater, but the KAL goes until mid-May, so I think I can still finish it by then. I’m about 1/3-1/2 done with the body, and then I have to split for sleeves. I did manage to spin up 3 of my advent minis from last Christmas, and am now half way done with the minis! So 12 more 1oz minis, and one 4oz braid left to spin! I did misbehave a little bit this month, though, and bought a bunch of yarn. One skein was for  the impulse socks, but I bought 4 25g balls of alpaca fluff for a Christmas present for my mom, and 2 other skeins just because they were on sale. And then I got gifted one more! That’s a total of 8 skeins of yarn just this month, which hurts a little because before all this I’d only bought 1 skein this year. My current used:bought ratio is 8:9 for yarn, and 16:9 overall. My goal is to maintain a ratio of 1:1, using as many or more skeins than I buy. My stash is not large, thankfully, but it does not need to grow.

[studious-punk]

NYR Update - February Retrospective

Overall, I think February went pretty well! There were some ups and downs, some goals dropped or changed to be more manageable, but such is the course of these things.

Main Goal: spend more time working This is my biggest, most ambitious goal. I’m trying to work up to doing more work, and the first step to that is to try to do at least a little work (almost) every day. Over the whole month, I did work (not counting errands or chores) 18 days. Which is more days than January (14), but not quite the 20+ I was aiming for. I did manage to get through the last few chapters of the lecture series I was working through, and that felt really good. Even though I had a couple of weeks where I worked only 4 days instead of 5, there were other things going on those weeks, so I was still doing stuff. And since the reason for this goal is to just spend less time doing Nothing, not working enough days because other things were going on is just fine.  I think I’m going to move on to step 2, which is to start timing myself and find out exactly how much time I spend on work each day. I’ll probably gather data for at least 2 weeks, and then from there I can set goals to increase the amount of time I spend working to my goal time of 5 hours/day.

Lifestyle Goals: 1. Eat Better  This has stagnated. I’m pretty consistently eating lunch and mostly remembering to eat snacks whenever I get hungry. I am not even trying to find new foods to incorporate into my diet. I think it might be a good idea to set aside some time on a day (maybe even once a week?) to look into recipes and even some introspection - what is keeping me from trying new foods? 2. Exercise Previously, this was “Walk 2x a Week,” but I wasn’t keeping up with this at all. Adding more work time to my life meant I had less time to get outside, and I couldn’t figure out how to work walking into my schedule while I was still trying to increase my productivity. So I have changed this goal to just trying to do some stretches/small exercises once a day. This has been kind of hit-and-miss. Adding something new to my routine will take a while to set in, and I am still very often forgetting to do these stretches/exercises. But I am going to keep up this goal going into March and see if I can improve. Maybe as it gets warmer I’ll try again to get outside more.

Leisure Goals: 1. Keep Ravelry Up To Date This has actually been going pretty well! I have the last day of the month bookmarked to tie up all the loose ends and make sure all of the information for everything is current, and to update anything that isn’t. But I’ve been really good about keeping up with uploading pictures as I take them. Previously I was having trouble because Ravelry didn’t want to cooperate with uploading images directly from my phone, and plugging my phone into my computer just jumbled up all the pictures in my computer’s file browser. It’s not a fantastic solution because it means uploading then downloading then uploading again, but I’ve been putting all of the pictures I want to use into a folder in OneDrive, and then accessing those copies from my computer, and uploading to Ravelry from there. 2. Don’t buy more yarn/fiber than you’ve used This is really rather easy, since it takes money to buy things and I don’t have any money right now. But in February I bought Zero Things, and have a total (for the year so far) of 12 Things Used. 3. Play Video Games at least Once A Week I have been playing Stardew Valley more days than not, and it’s been really nice. Another one of my friends recently bought the game too, so we’ve been playing together often. I do want to start playing other games as well, I’ve got a few that I’ve started and then stopped playing and need to pick back up. Like Hollow Knight! I’ve really enjoyed playing that game, and really should play it more. I also just started playing Curse of the Necrodancer, and it’s amazing! I also learned that my keyboard isn’t consistent enough with inputs (or I just need to recalibrate) and I need to find a different keyboard to use. I’m going to try to set a program on my gamepad with the inputs for that game and see if that makes a difference.

Going Forwards:

I’m going to start timing myself while I work, so I can figure out how far away I am from my overall goal of 5hrs/day.

Make a day to research recipes and try to figure out what’s holding me back from trying new foods.

Try to get stretching/exercises up to doing them every day consistently. Maybe try to go outside if it’s nice out.

Play a larger variety of video games, not just Stardew Valley.

[studious-punk]

NYR Update - February 3

It’s been a month already! I have made good progress on some of my goals, while others have been left in the dust.

My main goal for this year (at the moment, anyway) is to work more. in 2020, I was working 0-2 hours a week, which meant I wasn’t getting anything done at all. This year, my goal is to work 5 hours a day 5+ days a week. Now, I can’t just jump right into doing that, I would definitely fail. So, I’ve broken it down into steps. Step 1 is “consistently work 5+ days a week.”  I’m not quite there yet, but I know that it is something achievable, and I can see success on the horizon. In January, I went from working 2 days a week to working 4, which feels amazing. I’m hoping in February to be up to 5 days a week, and if I can keep that up all through March, I’ll move on to Step 2.

Lifestyle Goals: 1. Eat Better - this means more nutritious meals, and not ignoring hunger. This is going okay. I’ve been getting a lot better at eating lunch and snacks when I’m hungry, but I haven’t been trying to add new meals into my diet at all.

2. Walk 2x a week I have 2 days each week marked in my calendar to go on a walk, but so far I haven’t been keeping up with it at all. Some of that is because It’s been really rainy all month, but I also haven’t been making the time to go out. I might put this one on hold for a little bit, until I can figure out better how to work in extra activities with my increased work schedule.

Leisure Goals: 1. Keep Ravelry up to date This has been going pretty well, actually. I have been remembering to take pictures of things, and usually upload them to ravelry within a day or two of taking them. It’s a little hard, because uploading images from my phone doesn’t always work, and then I’ve just wasted time with nothing gained. on the 1st of February I compared the photos in my phone’s gallery to my Stash and Project pages in Ravelry, and added any that were missing. I also made sure I hadn’t forgotten to photograph any new yarn or projects.

2. Don’t buy more yarn than you’ve used This one is around so I don’t spend a bunch of money I don’t have on yarn. Basically it means that I can’t buy yarn unless I’ve completely used up other yarn I already own first. This is also going well. I did buy one skein at the beginning of January, but I also started a scrap project that’s done a good job of eating all my little tiny bits that have been laying around for who knows how long.

3. Play video games at least once a week This was a pretty easy goal I set myself to help me get back into playing video games, which are always the fist thing that get dropped off my priorities list when I’m busy. I also often forget about them, and will spend hours watching TV and knitting instead. I have been keeping up with this one, and even greatly surpassing it some weeks.

[studious-punk]

New Year’s Resolutions

This year, I’m going to do my best to improve my life, and actually hold myself accountable for my actions so I can actually do better.

My main goal for the year is to get more work done. My end goal is to work for 5 hours a day, for 5+ days a week. That’s a pretty big jump from working 0-2 hours a week, so I’ve set a few step goals to help me reach my goal without burning out or giving up. Step 1: work for as long as I can every day. Keep track of days I work in my Bullet Journal, and take intentional days off if I’ve been doing well that week. (for example, one week I either did Work or ran Errands every day of the week, so I gave myself Sunday to relax and only do fun things) Step 2: Once I have been able to consistently work 5 or more days a week, I will start timing my work sessions, and try to slowly make them longer and longer each week. If I notice I’m starting to burn out by the end of a week, I’ll either stay at that time for longer, or reduce it a little until I feel like I can increase it again. I haven’t thought this step through very much yet, but I will flesh it out more once I get to this point.

To help improve my physical health, I want to walk 2x a week, and start incorporating stretching/yoga into my daily morning routine. I also want to improve my diet, which means finding more nutritious foods, and to eat less boxed pasta dinners. It also means eating more consistently. I mostly struggle with lunch/snacks, anything between breakfast and dinner. I want to eat lunch every day, and remember that it’s okay to eat snacks in between meals.

Finally, hobbies! I want to play video games more often. I’ve got a pretty decent library of games, and I hardly ever play any of them. So I want to play at least 1 video game a week. I also want to give fair time to my fiber arts, so I made a list of 9 projects I want to make this year. I also want to lessen the amount of yarn and fiber in my stash (and also spend less money on yarn), so I’ve set a goal to have a net gain of  ≤0 skeins of yarn/fiber.

I’ve been using an app called Habitica to help me achieve these goals, and so far it’s been going really well.

[studious-punk]

27 August 2019

Slowly getting back into the swing of things. I quit my job, so now I have time to actually work on stuff. Today’s to-do: finish first draft of graphic design portfolio. Once it’s finished, I can start applying for better jobs, and focus more on things I actually care about, like 3D modeling for video games.

[studious-punk]

18 June 2019

Finally back to doing some work. I’ve been struggling to adjust to a summer schedule where I have to set (and follow!) all the rules. This week is the start of hopefully getting my act together and getting stuff done. My random work schedule makes it impossible to have a set constant schedule, so I’m trying my best to just work around that.

Doing more blender tutorials today! Hope to get a whole chapter done today, and another one tomorrow. I also applied for a job yesterday! I hope I hear back from them soon, but you never know with these things :/

[studious-punk]

30 May 2019

A lot has been going on since my last post. Most importantly, I graduated college! Six years and a major change has gotten me a bachelor of science in game design!

My goal is to spend the summer honing my skills as a 3D artist and building a portfolio. I hope to start applying for jobs in August, but the sooner the better, I think. I got set back a couple weeks due to a mystery wrist injury. I’m going to see a doctor about it to make sure it’s not carpal tunnel, but until then progress is slow as I can only work at my computer for short periods before my wrist starts to hurt.

[studious-punk]

27 March 2019

I recently got a lap stand to put on my desk because staring down at my laptop constantly was absolutely ruining my neck and back. I spend too much time in front of a computer to not have a setup that allows for good posture.

Today I’m doing graphic design homework, I have to create 4 text panels all related to one noun (I chose fire). I’m sketching out my fonts right now, and then I have to scan them and vectorize them in illustrator. I love watching cartoons when I’m drawing or animating, it helps keep me motivated and focused on my art.

[studious-punk]

watching spiderverse makes me never wanna see another live action movie ever again like. why did we ever start making comic books into live action movies?? make it animated to explore the art form instead of trying to make it hyper realistic you fucking cowards

[studious-punk]

14 February 2019

Doing homework in the library again! I really like this wall. Tall desks, natural lighting, the ability to glare at all of the geese with no repercussions.

I’m working on vectorizing a really low-ppi image and it’s so slow but it’s gotta be done by tomorrow. I’m about half done, and I can finish it today if I really hunker down and just work. I’m also messing around with a game called Evolution for another assignment. I can just let it run in the background and just check how the creature is doing every now and then, so that’s nice.

[studious-punk]

06 February 2019

My all-new “laptops are bad for your back” solution. Mouse and keypad on a lap desk, laptop up high so I’m not looking down on the screen. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.

[studious-punk]

04 February 2019

Working my way through a section of an online blender class I started last week, and finally getting some mileage on the keypad I got for Christmas! It’s always hard to start using a new keypad, cause programming the keys always feels a little daunting. But I’ve been having fun with it.

[studious-punk]

A few days late, but I’m ready for February!

I always find monthly spreads fun to draw, even if mine are pretty plain. I also added a new collection page: music I need to listen to! People keep recommending me things, and I can never remember any of them when I want something new to listen to. So this way I can better keep track of recommendations, and whether or not I actually liked the music.

[studious-punk]

31 January 2019

Doing some work in Illustrator on campus today. I have to outline the art from a page of an old document for a client as part of an ongoing project in one of my game classes. It’s tedious but it’s fun, and actually pretty easy once you get the hang of the program!

[studious-punk]

Doing homework in the library today! Had to get here early (8:30) to take some pictures in the lab before classes started, and I have a meeting here at 5:30 for a project so might as well just hang out and get some work done instead of driving home and then driving back later 😃

I found out that the library recently put in some tall tables by the back windows, so I can actually do work here without having to be hunched over my computer. It’s nice. They’re even tall enough I can stand and work!

[studious-punk]

20 January 2019

Spent my morning/afternoon reading my anthropology book, with a break in the middle to go shopping with a friend for yarn.

Now on to my art homework: concept sketches for our first assignment. I blocked out six spaces that are 1/5 the size of the final poster, so now on to trying to think of ideas of what to actually put on them.

[studious-punk]

Day two of the new semester, and I already have homework!

Reading (and taking notes on) the first two chapters of this book for my anthropology class. (featuring the awesome candle one of my friends gave me for Christmas)