Project Excitement

I'm getting really excited for Project Excitement! I can't put it into place quite yet, because before that happens I need to be able to reliably wake up on time. But I think it's a great idea, and I'm getting excited for it all the same.

Problems with waking up on time come from:

• being too comfortable to get out of bed
• being too warm to get out of bed
• being too tired to get up
• knowing that I don't "have" to be anywhere until later

I'm not quite sure how to fix that yet... I'm working on it. I have tried before the getting out of bed to shut off the alarm method, and that did work for awhile, but then I would start getting back in bed after I had shut off my alarm. So then it didn't work anymore.

But anyway, the goals of Project Excitement are as follows:

1. Make me more excited about my life
2. Make me happier
3. Make me less stressed out

The way that it does this is that I will more efficiently manage my time. For schoolwork, I plan to set aside time each day for both long-term projects and short-term projects. That way, I won't be as stressed out by the important long-term things. Then, I will also set aside time each day for annoying errand-like things/money budgeting, networking/career, reading geothermal literature, and of course FUN!

My computer is in the shop (again), but since I don't have any pressing work to get done, I find that I actually don't mind. I realized that I spend too much time online. It's not even that I waste time online, it's that I have like 6 emails that I check like every 5 minutes. So if I reduce the number of times I check my emails, etc, then I'll have more time for fun things. Like playing the viola. And reading books for fun. And watching movies/tv shows.

It's still in the works, but this is what my ideal day would look like (based on my class schedule for this semester).

Every Day's Morning
Wake up 6 am
Eat breakfast and read a book for fun
Gym 6:15 am - 7:45 am
Shower/get ready
Check emails until 8:40 am
Leave for class/the office

I would plan to stay in the office/class until 4 every day (4:30 on Tuesdays). So then I should have 5 work hours on Monday, 3.5 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, 5 on Thursday, and 4 on Friday. I would use this time first to work on stressful long-term things (get them done first) and then work on short-term things. Also, to do annoying errand/like things for maybe half an hour.

Then 4:14 (4:45) I'd start dinner, and read for fun.
After dinner, practice viola for 1.5 hours. (probably ending 7:15 ish).
Then go and do some more work for a few hours (9:15)
Snack/read for fun
Then read geothermal literature for an hour (10:30)
Then network/career for an hour. (11:30)

So right now, I don't really know how much time I should allow each day for the errand-like things, the networking/careering, and the reading geothermal literature. I guess that's something I'll figure out as I go.

But also, I don't want to over-schedule myself (because that also leads to stress). There should be some leeway for changing things around and hanging out, etc.