I'm really bad at getting things done, aren't I? The Check in

Ok, it’s weekly check in time.

Things I accomplished last week, based on the goals I set:

• Website updates for Juniors in Tech (added a page that talks about Patreon and other ways people can support)
• Schedule more Juniors in Tech Q&As (got one coming up that I think will be helpful to Juniors in Tech subscribers who are thinking about attending a bootcamp)
• Find a coworking space (found one that has 24/7 access, and is also a wellness center/spa)

Things I didn’t end up getting done that I said I would do:

• 20 patrons/sponsors on Patreon (currently at 13 - last week it was 14)
• Schedule social media posts for Juniors in Tech
• Significant progress on my first Interaction Design Foundation course (Become a UX Designer from Scratch)
• Finish the Machine Learning Crash Course
• 1 new blog post for Juniors in Tech (about what ”junior” means and whether or not it’s a bad word)
• Start the redesign process for Revolnote.
• Find a Crossfit box, or otherwise keep up with my workout schedule - didn’t work out at all :(
• Do at least 1 fun thing so that I’m not just stuck inside working all the time - I was totally just stuck inside working all the time.

So as you can see, I didn’t get nearly as much done as I would have liked. What I did do was spend a lot of time procrastinating, or otherwise being anxious about all the things I wanted to get done. I also, as usual, spent a lot of time doing regular newsletter stuff.

So my goal for this week is to do what I said I would do last week, but didn’t. Something that has helped in the past is putting everything into my calendar. From my morning workouts, to leisure activities, and of course side project work. For example, tomorrow at 7am I’m doing my HIIT workout at an outdoor exercise park. Then at 10 I’m going to a cafe to prepare this week’s newsletter for an hour and a half. At 11:30, I’m doing the UX course, and then at 1:30pm I’ll do work stuff.

I’ve only done this type of scheduling once or twice, but it really helps. Otherwise, I will spend an hour figuring out which cafe I’m working from, and another hour figuring out if I should work on a blog post, a Machine Learning course, or social media marketing. It’s just easier to not think about what to do because it’s already been planned out. I even have fun stuff planned and scheduled.

Last night, I scheduled everything I was going to do today, and everything I’ll do for the rest of the week, including this morning’s run during Medellin’s Sunday Cyclovia, writing this blog post, errands, etc. So far it’s working out fine, and I might even accomplish everything I needed to do today.

The only thing from the above list that I won’t focus too much on is increasing the # of Patreon pledges. Of course, I still want more pledges (especially company sponsorships). But that can wait.

Hopefully I’ll be more organized and productive this week.