mistressofmuses | Habit Tracking: Week 35 ( August 28

A fancy red, black, and blue snake. No reason, it's just cute.

How the fuck is it September?

This was a mediocre week. It wasn't really *bad*, so much as just... unsatisfying. The weekend was okay, but didn't really get to do much, the workweek was okay but not great. Mostly, I hate feeling this creatively dead. I tried outlining a couple different projects, but nothing was exciting or really grabbed my interest. :/ I want to feel enthusiastic and motivated, but I just... don't. (And while I've gotten pretty decent at pushing myself through uninspired parts of works-in-progress, I can't make myself get *started* on something without at least *wanting* to write it.)

Goals for the week:
- I did post chapter 5 of All Strange Wonders
- We dealt with our nothing of an apartment "inspection", which for me included cleaning the floor and my bedside table
- I called the dentist and made an appointment for the weird feeling spot
- I talked to the apartment office about the questions they had
- On Monday we drove up to pick up something Alex had ordered
- I did read more of Seasonal Fears
- Alex did laundry while I was at work
- I did my GYWO check-in: 28674 words for August, which puts me at 166107 for the year.

Tracked habits:
- Work - 5/7
- Household Maintenance - 4/7
- Physical Activity - 2ish/7
- Wrote 500/1000+ Words - 1/7, which was over 1000 words, plus one day of less than 500
- Wrote on 2nd+ Draft - 0/7
- Meta Work - 5/7
- Personal Writing - 7/7
- Other Creative Things - 0/7
- Reading - 6/7, some fic, some Seasonal Fears
- Attention to Media - 7/7 - Sunday, watched Heathers, a classic, and Bullied and Blue, which were both kind of serious dramas that Alex picked that were... not my thing. Monday, finished The Sandman and loved it! Tuesday, can't remember. Wednesday, watched an episode of Reservation Dogs. Thursday, watched an episode of American Horror Stories, and Monsters, which we'd seen before but was decent, and half-watched 2067, a sci-fic movie which probably deserved more attention than I gave it. Friday, watched an episode of Alone, and several episodes of the Netflix documentary series Web of Make Believe which was pretty interesting.
- Video Games - 0/7
- Social Interaction - 7/7

Total words written: 1692 on outlining things

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I really like the color scheme (and the snake, even if I'm not that fond of snakes in general); I can't tell why, it's just...pleasing? Relaxing? Something about the shades of blue and red, I guess.

Yeah, September somehow happened without my realizing it. ^^;; Pretty soon it will be December again before I know it.

I feel you on the creative block. Definitely easier to keep going when you're in the middle of something; at least you have some progress to fall back on. Starting fresh without any enthusiasm feels like too much effort.

The Sandman! I only saw the bonus episode -- it had two of my favorite issues in it, Dream of a Thousand Cats and Calliope -- and now I know I ought to watch the rest. (Except maybe the one set in a diner, which was difficult to read as a comic and somewhat easier to listen to in the audiobook, but might be too much as a TV episode.)

Thank you! I do like snakes quite a bit, but this one does have a nice color scheme. They're quite vibrant colors, but they are nice together.

I have no idea how it's September! That seems ridiculous! The year is rapidly coming to a close...

Yeah, I can often push through at least some creative block when I've got something I'm working on, even if I complain and drag my feet about it, haha. But starting something? I need some oomph and enthusiasm to get me going!

The whole series was really good! The diner is episode 5, which I actually quite liked... it was a very good adaptation of the story, but it's definitely intense. I didn't find it *hard* to watch exactly, but... yeah, intense. If you do watch it, watch 6 right after - it's much lighter.
The bonus episode was great! I loved Dream of a Thousand Cats!

Your chart is so beautiful!

Completely relate to the inability to get started doing something creative... in my case, even knowing how good it will be for my mental health. I don't know whether it's better to push through and do it anyway, or let yourself off the hook for a bit and try to refill that cup--your Attention to Media might be helping with that!

I am impressed by your tracking so many habits--when did you start doing that?

Thank you!

It's so frustrating when you can't make yourself *go* on a creative project. I know it'd be better in general if I could, but it's hard to really launch into something without some excitement behind it. I think I AM moving in the right direction, and watching and reading things is definitely part of that. But while I haven't found a project that's grabbed hold of me, I have more creative energy in general.

And thanks! I tried habit tracking several years ago, but it never stuck for longer than a few weeks at a time. My first successful attempt was last year, where I managed to keep it going for the whole year. This is year number two! Last year I tracked 10 things, and this year I expanded it to 12. Mainly I wanted a way to see how I was spending my time, and then expanded the list of habits to include ways I *wished* I was spending my time.

Yay, I'm glad you have more creative energy anyway. It's probably just a matter of time before a particular project grabs you.

I'm so impressed that you've continued for so long! I have a pretty simple system of sitting down going through my goals for the week, and occasionally adding new habits I want to start, but I might want to try something more structured someday.

Me too! I think that something will come along and feel appealing soon. I'm looking forward to that happening, and I think maybe a break is a helpful thing in this case... as long as I don't let it stretch on too long.

Part of the habit tracking thing was born as an attempt at managing some ADHD symptoms. Having the goals listed keeps them from falling "out of sight, out of mind", and the structure of it is motivating and enjoyable for me. (It also keeps me a bit more mindful about where my time goes, so I don't get to the end of the day/week/month and feel like I have no idea what I did.)

That makes so much sense--if you have a list that you look at often enough, you won't forget, and then charting them as beautifully as you do must help with realizing what you've accomplished. I'm pretty good about keeping to my to-do lists, but I have them on Evernote and just erase what I've finished, so maybe I need something that will let me know I actually did accomplish things. Although I love the look of the list just getting smaller and smaller, too :)

It *is* very satisfying to see a list grow smaller, though I like being able to check or cross things off, so I can see how long the list was to start with!

A sense of accomplishment is an important achievement in itself! And a list with things checked off can be a great image of that... I might try hand-writing one on a day when I have a lot to do and feel confident I have a good chance at making progress on everything.

That is an important part - I have to make sure the lists feel achievable. If I have too much stuff that I can't get done on a list, that's the opposite of motivating.
Though I do find crossing things off very satisfying... and I'm guilty of sometimes doing a thing that wasn't on the list, so then I add it to the list just so I can cross it off, haha.

That makes sense! Sometimes you end up accomplishing things that you hadn't planned--good to keep a record of that, too!

Habit Tracking: Week 35 ( August 28 - September 03)

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