Planning goals

So I stopped using my hPDA. I've gone back to using google calendar and docs which means less paper generated that has no where to go. I'll always carry a notepad around for ideas though :)

The work planner is going well, but I need to makes some changes for it to really work for me. I find that the hourly scale doesn't work well because when I can't fill in a half hour I feel a lot of guilt and anxeity :P I'll be focusing on how to improve it this week.

So, moving forward. Alex and I are going to take a weekend next month to plan the rest of the year. We'll be removing ourselves from the world (no phones or interwebs) and focusing on ourselves. I'm very excited about it :D


Jane

Map please!

I love maps. I have a strange compulsion to memorize maps of places I'll be going. When we were in Disney Land we never needed to haul out the guidebook because I always knew where we were. Although sometimes, we took it out anyways because Alex didn't believe me :P

So, anyways, if some omniscient being would like to provide me with a rough map and/or hour by hour schedule of the rest of my life I would gladly memorize and follow it to the letter.

Because life scares me sometimes what with all the gaping possibilities and complete lack of directions.


Thx,
Jane

My hPDA

Alright, here's my hPDA v1.00 with some v1.01 sheets hanging out next to it. Also pictured is my wallet (for cards), BB Pearl, lip balm, lip gloss, and purse. Components of my PDA: plastic covers cut from a binder, scrapbook paper, index cards, glue, two staples, and a book ring.



It all fits nicely in my clutch (nice and cosy). I forgot my pen in the first picture, it's a Pilot V-5 and writes really smooth, it's been a favorite for a while. The hPDA features a pocket in the back for receipts and loose notes, section dividers to make important areas easy to spot (weekly planning, lists, used cards, and unused cards), slightly reformatted cards so the headings don't get hole punched, and a place marker for my current weekly sheet and To do list. I'm really liking the flexibility and convenience of this format. Of course, I've only used it for a day.



Printing and assembly went pretty well. Cutting the plastic was a pain, I must of gone over each cut a million times with the exacto knife. As for printing, I only made one flub, printing my contact info on the pretty side of the cover instead of the blank side. I kept it and printed again on the correct side. It's not too noticeable :)

I've been working on my larger, classic size planner for work. It's looking pretty snazzy, I'll post pictures Monday after one day of use.


Jane

Peak Oil

Peak oil, the idea that we're using more than we're producing. Makes sense to me. There seems to be a lot of debate over when it will happen (or whether it already has happened) and how much it will affect culture and society. There's people who speculate it will be the end of modern society as we know it and others who believe it'll just push us into the green revolution. It's hard to predict the future, considering there's so many variables (like billions of people) in that equation.

I'm going to remain optimistic, mostly because I've learned that there's no point going around with a doom and gloom attitude (one of the many lessons from going through adolescence :P). I will however be looking casually into survivalism (perhaps encourage my mother to expand her greenhouse :D).


Jane

But I don't want a 40 hour work week . . .

I'm sure there's a reason why this is the case but I could speculate forever on the why. Why I have a high level of family values, amount of pride in my home, and desire to relax for hours at a time while my brain returns to equillibrium. I just do (there's probably not much I can do to change it at this point :P). However, the result is that now I'm in the workforce 40+ hours a week for the rest of my life seems a little daunting.

There enlies the problem. I'm an engineer and engineers work long weeks. It's not the only profession either in Canada the work week increased from 44.6 to 46.3 hours in the period of 1998 - 2005 [1]. What's the deal guys? Is it the high cost of living? The competition for jobs? What makes us willing to work this long?

Is it really necessary? Consider the price. We have less leisure time, less time with our families, less time building our relationships (other than the ones at work).

So, I'm creating a goal for myself. In the next 5 - 10 years I want to get into a job that is 35 - 37 hours a week. Definitely necessary before I have children, I mean I want them to know who their mommy is instead of seeing her in the two hours between when she gets home and they go to bed (and to not know her as the highly stressed psycho lady :P).

[1] http://www.irpp.org/newsroom/archive/2007/020107e.pdf