Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Some Resolutions: February Update

  1. I have, indeed, eaten something green every day.  Some days have been better than others - yesterday, for example, I just had some cucumber sticks at the pub - but I wouldn't have had those without the challenge!
  2. I have read two books that fit the Read Harder challenge - The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (a book about books), and The Obelisk Gate (a fantasy novel).  So I'm on track!  I'm currently reading a book that makes me FURIOUS (Give Us the Ballot) and sadly does not fall under one of the categories, so the next couple of books I read will hopefully fit so that I can stay on pace.
  3. Cut down on screen time. This has gone terribly, frankly.  In January, I tried Moment, but at that time, my phone didn't tell me how much time I've spent on each app, so Moment, the one app that is supposed to help, didn't work.  Apple's suggestion for getting the battery usage data to work was to reset your phone entirely which seemed... extreme.  On the other hand, I needed to do something and not make excuses.  So...

    I reset my phone.  Ulp.  I'm going to restore it at some point, because I need my photos, but I reset it to monitor my phone usage.  The phone usage figures may be warped, however: I did not re-download any of the three games that I previously spent a lot of time playing. I have already noticed that I reach for the phone whenever a lull occurs, and I don't quite know what to do when I realize that I cannot play a game on it.  What has happened is that I am genuinely using my phone less, although I've probably upped using some other apps because I have that ingrained habit of reaching for my phone.  

    What does that mean for me?  I think I'll keep monitoring my usage for the next couple of weeks to get a good sense of what I'm using, when, and why.  Then I'm going to restore my phone, but remove those games so that I do not play them.
  4. Walking!
    1. I have been, more or less, doing 10,000 steps a day.  My January average was just under 10,000 - 9.500.  I think this may change, however, because almost everyone at work now has a Fitbit, and we're doing weekly challenges.  Our competitive natures seem to be kicking in... I have deliberately chosen a route home that allowed me to get in that extra walking time...
    2. I have not been setting my phone to do the walk every hour, so I'm adding this for February!
  5. It's a little hard to use my planner, but I have been better about it.  It's quite difficult because I don't like the weekly bit - it doesn't give you days of the week, just things to plan / focus on.  I suppose that I need to start adding what days of the week I should do the tasks, but it's not great.  That's the one thing I'd change about the planner.  If you're reading, Panda, that's what I'd do...