- So in the spirit of honestly chronicling my journey, I have to say that this past week has been fairly unsuccessful. - Due to significant stresses in my life a lot of my routines have fallen apart. - This week I am going to do an analysis of what I have been able to keep up with and what has dropped off. - It outlines what activities I am still using discipline and willpower to do (which are more susceptible to breakdowns when stressed) and what seems to have held together (habit). -
-- Starting with the things that have held together. - I am still exercising regularly. - It feels odd not to go to the gym. - Even though some days I have cut down on the intensity and amount of the exercise it is still there. - On certain days I cut back on the weight I was lifting and on others I did fewer and/or less effective exercises. - Swapping out an exercise for a slightly less effective one may seem completely counter productive, but I have found that when I am not feeling it, the novelty of something different helps raise my interest. - It is better to do something sub optimal then nothing at all. -
-- I have still been reading a fair bit. - I was reading The Gulag Archipelago which is a book about life in Stalinist Russia. - Needless to say it is dark, so for this week I put it down in favor of easier reading. - I continue to read one of Seneca’s letters each day and am in the process of reading Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. - It is about what causes sudden drastic changes in systems when one would expect more gradual ones. - It touches on epidemics of various sorts, fashion, crime, adoption of technology etc. - I am also reading more fiction for pure enjoyment. - A short story collection by my favourite author Greg Egan is also for fun. - It is called Artifacts and I strongly suggest his work if you like very hard science fiction. -
-- School is the area where I have just kept up. - Normally I try to work ahead and try to do two weeks of reading for each week that passes. - That way when it is time to work on a project or study for a test I have the time to focus solely on that without falling behind. - This week was just a week’s worth of reading and I called it at that. - Some of the time I would normally spend working on school I spent listening to podcasts on whatever topic I was interested in that day. - The learning this week may have been less focussed than usual, and for less total time but it was still there. -
-- So learning, and exercise seem to have held together alright. - This makes sense, I have had these practices for a long time. - While they have all been ratcheted down in intensity they have continued. - This is the advantage of habits, it truly feels odd when I don’t do them for a day. -
-- Now for the areas that have not held up so well under stress. - I have not been consistent with my sleep schedule. - I have been staying up later and sleeping in more in the morning. - Not by a small amount either. - 2-4 hours later both in bed and waking time is significant. - I have been loath to cut my sleep short, I know how important having enough sleep is especially when your body is under stress. - I am not sleeping much more, just not at the times that I prefer. - -
-- I have been spending more time on my phone, watching youtube videos mostly. - I think the common trend with my behavioural changes this week is that I am leaning towards immediate enjoyment and a little bit of escapism as opposed to longer term thinking. - It also makes sense, my brain is trying to make me feel better using the things that reward me quickly. - My phone use is not as high as it was the first week. - I tracked it and it has been going up since last week. - I am also spending more time playing video games. - Normally I try to keep them within my off time at the end of the day, but it has creeped out into the rest of my day. - -
-- Writing my 10 ideas for the day has been problematic. - I normally do it later in my routine so I can use whatever problems I have encountered throughout the day to generate ideas. - While under stress I am very mentally drained at the end of the day and it feels insurmountably difficult to come up with ideas when my mind is so occupied. - I could try and do it earlier in the day when I am feeling fresher. - Something to look into for the next week. -
-- I am doing my best to keep meditating. - This is the exact time that it is most needed, but clearly it has not been instilled as a habit yet. - Iit has been a lot of work to get myself to sit so this practice has been spotty. -
-- Obviously as this is getting posted a day late this blog falls into that category. - I had it written by the end of the day on friday but did not have it edited and posted until saturday. -
-- It is only when under pressure that I can really see how well my routine holds up. - A lot of my habits around getting things done have held up reasonably, while self care has fallen apart. - That makes sense to me. - I have only implemented a lot of the self care and quality of life actions in the last 6-months to a year while the learning and exercising has been an integral part of my life for over a decade. -
-- I still have plenty of time, even though it often does not feel that way, and these things can be fixed. - I do tend to focus on giving myself a hard time when I don’t perform up to my standards but I am trying to extract some good from it in the form of a lesson instead. - We often learn some of our most valuable lessons from difficult times if we remember to look. - The current goal for me is to keep doing whatever I can while I take care of myself. - That way I can get through this particular rough patch in life without trying to go so hard that I make it worse and it becomes more than I can handle. -
-- Thanks for reading. -
-- Phone time: 16h 9m -
diff --git a/links.txt b/links.txt index 8957694..7a99b6b 100644 --- a/links.txt +++ b/links.txt @@ -2,26 +2,68 @@ url: https://www.henrikkarlsson.xyz title: Escaping Flatland author: Henrik Karlsson type: blog -date_added: 2024-08-08 +date_added: 2024-08-09 description: Extremely deep and thought provoking writing. On thinking, life, learning and many things. --- url: https://ploum.net title: Ploum author: Lionel Dricot type: blog -date_added: 2024-08-08 +date_added: 2024-08-09 description: Mostly French, originally found through his article on the forever computer. Computing, culture, and writing. --- url: https://sive.rs title: Derek Sivers author: Derek Sivers type: blog -date_added: 2024-08-08 +date_added: 2024-08-09 description: One of my favourite authors, thinkers, and one of the original inspirations for my self hosted journey. --- url: https://herman.bearblog.dev title: Herman author: Herman Martinus type: blog -date_added: 2024-08-08 -description: Developper of a wonderful minimalist blogging platform based in South Africa. +date_added: 2024-08-09 +description: Developer of a wonderful minimalist blogging platform based in South Africa. +--- +url: https://ludic.mataroa.blog +title: Ludicity +author: Nikhil Suresh +type: blog +date_added: 2024-08-10 +description: Software developer and rager against the stupidities of working in the industry. As a software engineer myself I can relate. +--- +url: https://www.baldurbjarnason.com +title: Baldur Bjarnason's Notes on the Web +author: Baldur Bjarnason +type: blog +date_added: 2024-08-10 +description: Web developer from Iceland. Great thoughts on development and the web, and sharer of many interesting links. +--- +url: https://gregegan.net +title: Greg Egan +author: Greg Egan +type: blog +date_added: 2024-08-10 +description: My favourite author. He writes the hardest science fiction that I have ever found and his blog helps explain the concepts to help with understanding his books. +--- +url: https://www.themarginalian.org +title: The Marginalian +author: Maria Popova +type: blog +date_added: 2024-08-10 +description: One of the first blogs that I followed. Philosophy, history, art. A celebration of the beauty of humanity. +--- +url: https://www.themarginalian.org +title: The Marginalian +author: Maria Popova +type: blog +date_added: 2024-08-10 +description: One of the first blogs that I followed. Philosophy, history, art. A celebration of the beauty of humanity. +--- +url: https://manuelmoreale.com +title: Manuel Moreale +author: Manual Moreale +type: blog +date_added: 2024-08-10 +description: Developer who writes about anything but. I like the breadth of his interests and he has pointed me to many other wonderful personal websites as well. diff --git a/pages/blogroll.html b/pages/blogroll.html index 7b435d6..4704be1 100644 --- a/pages/blogroll.html +++ b/pages/blogroll.html @@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ description: A list of blogs that I follow Following links through these is how I spend most of my time online these days.- Here they are in no particular order. + Links may not be in the same order on each page load. + The list gets randomly shuffled each time to expose new links at the top to visitors. + Just an idea that I had, please contact me if it causes anyone issues.
Slash pages that I have implemented so far. Have a few more in mind that will be coming soon. - Interests, colophon, links, blogroll, and AI I think. + Interests, colophon, and links I think.