Tag: Blog

July 2017 Sleep Check-In

Hello again, folks!

Having rested up from my vacation, it’s time to do my sleep check-in for the month of July.   During my last check-in, I set the goal of hitting my sleep target at least 10 times in the month.

Let’s see how I did:

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11/31 

July proved to be a good month for sleep!  I hit my target 11 times out of 31 days, or 35%.  This is the best I have achieved since I started tracking my sleep at the start of the year.

Having said that, I do want to provide some context that will dampen the accomplishment a bit.  The blocks of sleep at the start and end of the month (6-days) were during vacation periods – the start of the month was the Canada Day long weekend, and the block of time at the end were when I took 2-weeks off from my jobs and went to the cottage with my fiancee.  Because she took time off, we both were able to sleep in and get lots of rest.

This means that had I not had that time off from work, I would likely have only hit my target around 5-6 times, which goes against my stated aim last month of hitting my sleep goals by being more mindful and intentional with my bedtimes.

So, while I can celebrate this month of more concentrated rest, I have to keep in mind that my habits themselves have not changed around sleep.

Therefore, I will keep my target going, and I will aim to hit my goal another 10-times in August.  This will be a better measure of whether I can keep the trend going strong.

Stay Awesome,

Ryan

Big Picture on “Productivity”

I was reading Mark Manson’s latest post last week and I connected with a simple truism that I often lose sight of.  While I wouldn’t say that “hacking” productivity is the main thing I’m concerned with, if you were to poll close friends of mine, they’d probably label me as that kind of person.

You can read the full post here, but I’ve bolded the important part here:

There is no such thing as an optimum life. Sure, there are some habits and actions that are healthier than others. But the 80/20 here is pretty simple: just don’t fuck up the big stuff.

My fiancee and I had an argument recently.  We were arguing over whether we should consolidate our cellphone plans under one carrier and share any of the benefits it may afford.  Of course, the argument itself was a little stupid because what we were arguing over was slightly deeper issue around my desire to be in control.  I may be laissez faire in many things, but my fiancee is often finding me stubbornly pig-headed in a few key areas that relate to finances and things I consider wasteful (overpaying for cell services I don’t actually need, using the AC all the time, leaving lights on, etc.).

Most instances of control around finances for me stems from wanting to set up systems that take care of the critical items – loan repayments, paying off other debts, savings, etc.  I want to set up systems so that when they are up and running, I want to ignore them and focus on other things.  I don’t want to go back in and have to constantly tweak the system to make up for bad habits and behaviours on my part.

Yet, sometimes my focus on the system can lead me to concern myself with the stupid nitty-gritty details.  In this, I can focus too much on the little things and end up having stupid arguments about how I don’t want to switch a cell carrier because my system already works for me.

 

It’s important to remember to get the big things right and not sweat the small stuff.  Rather than thinking I can set up an independent system (a relatively little thing) it’s more important for me to focus on the big things like having open conversations with my partner as we plan our future together, rather than taking pride in being unreachable by phone outside of major cities.

Stay Awesome,

Ryan

Shopping My Way To The Gym

Back in January, I bought a new pair of running shoes for the gym.  I had owned my old ones for a *long* time – I remember using those shoes more than a decade ago when I was exercising before my trip to Kenya.  Those shoes were… well beyond worn.

I elected to get some Converse shoes as I hear that they are good for things like deadlifts, where you want solid contact with the ground (some of the pros deadlift barefoot).  Since I like deadlifts, I thought I’d listen to people who seem to know what they are doing, and so I bought new shoes.  I remember the feeling I had when I exited the store.  I immediately wanted to hit the gym and try them out.  There is something about new clothes that gives you a bit of a motivational kick.

Fast-forward to the present, I’ve been struggling a bit with maintaining a consistent schedule with going to the gym.  Last week, I was checking out some blog posts from a fitness YouTuber that I’ve recently started following – Jon Call, aka Jujimufu.  Seriously, the guy is freaking inspiring to me; I love his attitude and personality on camera.  I’m not ashamed to admit I also may have a bit of a man-crush on him.

View this post on Instagram

I'M HOLDING A LOG! IT MAKES ME HAPPY! 😃

A post shared by Jon Call (@jujimufu) on

In his blog archive, he talks about strategies for killing training boredom:

Try training in new outfits.  When you feel like a bad ass because you think you look cool, you perform better.  Owning the idea that you look great motivates you.  Beef up your training wardrobe and suddenly you’ll want to train sometimes exclusively as an excuse to wear cool training outfits.  Cool outfits kill training boredom.

Jujimufu zubaz tricking pants, tricking pants, zubaz pants

 

Crimson Zubaz pants + wrist bands + face paint = Just another Jujimufu outfit.

I remembered back to when I bought the shoes, and how jazzed I felt to hit the gym, so I took this advice and hit up a local sporting goods store.  To aid with my training, I bought three Under Armour tee-shirts, a pair of shorts, and some wrist-bands for wiping brow sweat.  I like the design of UA shirts, and I find their fabric blend helps keep me cool in the gym.

With my new shirt in hand, I drove straight from the store to the gym to try it out.  As expected, I felt really good wearing the shirt and I had a good workout.

While I can’t use this strategy all the time to find motivation, I’ll have to keep it in mind that shaking up the wardrobe could be just the trick I need in the future.

For more suggestions on how to kill training boredom, I suggest reading the full article or searching out Jujimufu online.

Stay Awesome,

Ryan

June 2017 Sleep Check-in

At the close of my May sleep check-in, I indicated that if I didn’t improve my sleeping habits over June, (that is, to be more mindful of the process), that I would set targets in July.  Let’s see how I fared.

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7/30 

 

On the surface, I would say that I’ve done better during June than I did in May.  In May I only hit 4 nights of 7+ hours of sleep, and in June I hit my target 7 times.  Superficially, I have succeeded.

However, I don’t consider this a success as I’m clearly not mindful of my habits.  You can see this manifested in where I’m most commonly hitting my targets: Sundays.  Four out of the seven instances where I slept 7 or more hours were on Sundays where I was allowed to sleep in, and I didn’t work at the bar the night before (where I would normally be awake until 3am or later).  This is not the result of me being busy most of the week, but instead the result of me not being mindful of my night-time routines and not getting into bed until 11pm.

And so, as promised, in July I’m setting a target.  I will be aiming for 10-nights of getting 7+ hours of sleep.  It’s a little ambitious as I typically don’t do better than 7 nights per month, but I think it is a manageable target.

Let’s see how I do.

Stay Awesome,

Ryan

What I’ve Been Reading (as of June 19th)

Drawing inspiration from Marginal REVOLUTION, a blog co-maintained by economist and author Tyler Cowan, I think I’ll insert an occasional update of the books I’m reading.  While Cowan and Alex Tabarrok update the site several times each day, and you’ll see these lists from them at least once a week, I do not have plans to update with any regular frequency.  However, I’ve been reading books at a decent pace, and I have enough books on the go that I can make a short list here from time to time.

For all the books I read last year, see My 2016 Reading List.  You can also follow my reading on my instagram account, where I post the covers of books as I finish them.

Here are five books I’m currently reading:

Reading the Humanities: How I Lost My Modernity by John Greenwood

This book was authored by one of my former professors from way back in first year of undergrad.  I still owe him two papers from the class I took with him – it’s the only class I failed at university (surprise, surprise).  I found myself in the university book shop on a recent visit to campus and decided to pick this up and check it out.  It’s exactly what you would want and expect from a professor who teaches literature and meditates on various topics relevant to life.  It reminds me a lot of what you see from The School of Life.

 

Mort by Terry Pratchett

I’ve been taking in the world of Terry Pratchett by audiobooks as of late.  It helps me pass the time on the commute to work, and I enjoy fictional books delivered by audiobook, as listening to the story is easier to absorb than nonfiction.  The titular character Mort is alright enough, but I’m really in this story for Death.  Everything about the character Death is awesome to me, especially his dry humour and the metaphysics that goes into explaining a character who reaps souls.

 

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

This book pops up in a lot of self-improvement and self-reflection blogs and books, so I think it was inevitable that I would read it eventually.  This is doubly so because she name-drops Aristotle on the cover (virtue ethics for the win!).  I actually stole this copy from my fiancee’s mother, so I should finish it and put it back on the bookshelf before anyone notices.  Amusing sidenote – I stole this book from her a couple months before Christmas, then my fiancee received a copy from her mother as a Christmas gift.  Really, I should just read the one we have a home…

 

 The Road to Character by David Brooks

Another book related to my future mother-in-law.  This was actually a book I had mentioned to my fiancee that I was interested in checking out and was planning on swiping from her mother (I really seem to have a problem with theft and books, specifically the books owned by my future mother-in-law…).  Well, my fiancee told her mom  that I was interested in the book, so I received it as a gift for last Christmas.  Funny how things work themselves out.

 

 

Rome’s Last Citizen by Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni

I believe I saw this book recommended by Ryan Holiday on one of his monthly reading lists.  Last year, I was on a big stoicism kick, so the life of one of Rome’s most famous stoic practitioners appealed to me.  I am finding the read a little slow as there is a lot of extra history that is included to give context to the events of Cato’s life, but I’m still finding the book interesting and insightful.

 

Feel free to comment below with books that you are reading that I should check out.  I’d love to hear about them and grow my reading list.

Stay Awesome,

Ryan

Hurray for Benefits

Confession time – last week, I visited the optometrist for the first time in 10-years.  I know this because the glasses I’m wearing (as of writing) I got in 2007 before I went to Kenya, and I haven’t updated them since.

I was very lucky to be  covered under my parent’s benefits plans for so long while I was still in school, but once I moved away, it was inconvenient to schedule medical appointments on the few weekends I took the bus back home.  This is a  terrible excuse, and I don’t pretend that I’m the victim of circumstance.  The truth is I got lazy when I should have taken ownership of my health.  My undergraduate tuition included partial health and dental benefits, so other than deductibles, there was no reason for me to let it slip for so long.

And it proved to be quite the stint.  After my doctor retired from regular GP practice, I’ve been without a family doctor for 5 or so years, I hadn’t seen the dentist in a decade, and as mentioned at the outset, my eyes hadn’t been checked in as long.  In principle, I believe in preventative maintenance, but  the barriers of cost and navigating the system on my own were enough for me to choose to avoid confronting it head-on.

I only started going to the dentist regularly almost 2-years ago now because I thought I had a cavity.  I was in emergency maintenance mode, where I only tended to medical problems and illness as they arose (through long waits in emerge or walk-in clinics).

I am very fortunate to have good benefits through my work.  I may grumble when I see the aggregate amount of money that I pay on my side of the coin, but when I am able to get reimbursed on most of the costs for semi-annual visits to the dentist, and my recent eye exam and new pair of glasses I’m glad I pay into the system.

I know that I’m in the minority here – most people do not have this kind of access to preventative health support, let alone the high costs associated with health care not covered by our provincial health plan.  It’s something that I’m very grateful for, and I should keep this in mind in my entitled moments.

Now… if only I could keep up with preventative maintenance and go to the gym more regularly…

 

Stay Awesome,

Ryan

Compare You With You

Here’s an interesting quote I stumbled across:

“Artists frequently hide the steps that lead to their masterpieces. They want their work and their career to be shrouded in the mystery that it all came out at once. It’s called hiding the brushstrokes, and those who do it are doing a disservice to people who admire their work and seek to emulate them. If you don’t get to see the notes, the rewrites, and the steps, it’s easy to look at a finished product and be under the illusion that it just came pouring out of someone’s head like that. People who are young, or still struggling, can get easily discouraged, because they can’t do it like they thought it was done. An artwork is a finished product, and it should be, but I always swore to myself that I would not hide my brushstrokes.“

~Matthew Weiner (Creator of Mad Men)

Sometimes, we forget that when we see someone execute skill with percision and grace, we are not seeing the countless hours of practice and error that went into that moment.  There is an interesting question raised in the West Wing about pharmaceuticals:

How much does the first pill cost?
$1 million.
How much does the second pill cost?
$0.50.

The first pill is the culmination of time, dollars and research to create.  But once it’s created, the set-up cost is done.  You can reliably reproduce the product at only the cost of material.  Skills work the same way.  You go to school, you pay for an education, you put in time to gain experience, you practice endlessly, all for that one moment when you swiftly carry out what has been drilled into your head.

Therefore, there is a flaw in comparing your skill with those of an expert.  You should stick to comparing apples to apples.  Not apples to apple crisp.

 

Stay Awesome,

 

Ryan

April Sleep Check-in

Adding to my January, February, and March check-in’s, here is my sleep progress for April:

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7/30

No progress to speak of, as I kept pace with 7 nights of sleep for the month.  I’m starting to notice a few trends, having the month laid out for me in full.  For instance, I see that my most common day to hit my sleep target is Sunday.  While it’s not reflected here whether that means I’m going to bed at a reasonable hour (my gut tells me this is probably not the case), or if I’m sleeping in, it’s something worth reflecting on.

Over the next week, I’ll review my sleep progress for the first quarter of 2017 and see what the stats say, and what I can learn from my experiment so far.

 

Stay Awesome,

 

Ryan

March Sleep Check-in

I decided to hold off on posting the March sleep check-in in favour of discussing the job related stuff while it was fresh and ongoing.  However, now that the bulk of that is out of the way, I can return to updating my progress on getting more sleep.

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6/31 days, or 19.3%.

As you can see from my daily tracking, basically no change over February.  I did get one less night of sleep over 7-hours last month, but overall I stayed consistent with the previous month in the number of nights with over 7-hours in a month.  Obviously February and March don’t have the same number of days per month, but I’m treating this as a rough estimate.  Ideally, I would have liked to have seen an improvement, so it’s something to keep in mind for the rest of April.

Hope you had a great Easter weekend!  Talk to you next week.

 

Stay Awesome,

 

Ryan