National Blog Posting Month – December 2012 – Work
Prompt – How do you celebrate your accomplishments?
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Celebrating accomplishments is a challenge. Perhaps it’s the constant, nagging suspicion that what I’ve done isn’t really all that good. That I’ve really done nothing more than fool the masses. Maybe it’s because, given that I’m a scientist, that every completed task is little more than a gateway to the next thing. I mean, finishing something really means that I’ve just suddenly got a whole bunch more work to do! It never ends!
At best, I celebrate accomplishing something by going home and chilling. I’ll drink an adult beverage and *gasp* watch a movie. Or better yet, I’ll go to bed after having shut off all the alarms for the following morning, thereby giving myself permission to sleep a little later.
Yeah, it’s possible I’m doing this wrong. Maybe that’s why I always feel a little stressed out. There’s always something that needs to be done. I can always come up with something I ought to be doing. So accomplishing something just means that now I have time to do the other things that I’ve been putting off. Maybe I ought to give myself a break.
Well, today marks the last day of 2012. Maybe next year I’ll go ahead and give myself that break. I deserve it, right. Perhaps I should sit down and list the things that I accomplished this year. I’ll bet it’s a long list. I wrote a book. Oh heck! I wrote two books! Went to the Arctic. Got in shape. Started learning swordsmanship. Managed to collect a bit of a following on my blog here (hi everyone!). Ooh! And two papers published (-ish)! That’s an improvement over zero papers from last year!
Yeah, I’m getting somewhere. I deserve a vacation. I think I’ll do that. Heh. Well, eventually anyway!
For 12-31-12
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist 
I thought I was the only one whose work is never done. I do electronics and software development and it never ends. A carpenter or a stonemason can step back at the end of a job and appreciate what they’ve accomplished, but software always needs more work: bugs fixed, features added, or (gah) documentation written.
It doesn’t help that I do the same things as a hobby. I really do need to get a life. I did take up shooting last year though. It’s nice to be able to focus on a physical skill and a completely different set of mental processes.
You said you got into shape this year. Can you share what you did? I need to make some serious improvements or else my doctor is going to give me “that look” again. I’m just about to go look at exercise bikes and elliptical machines because she says I really need cardio work.
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Hi Dave,
Yeah, this year I feel like I’ve gotten into better shape than I was in 20 years ago. It started with a lot of sitting on an exercise bike in front of the TV (we have a recumbent stationary bike), but then extended into workout videos from Beachbody which were 30-50 minute work outs 3 days a week. I did some bad things when I started, including drinking beer and having dinner while I was exercising, which one can do on a recumbent bike.
These days I do strength training at least three days a week, and cardio 2-3 days a week, still mostly from videos. I did resume running this year, after a 10-year hiatus, but also have an elliptical at home.
The hardest part is making exercise habitual. You may have heard that it takes 2 weeks to break a habit. It’s actually much harder to start a habit. You need to consistently do something for at least five weeks. I think that’s where I had my success this year. I forced myself to workout most days at around 2 or 3 pm (thankfully my schedule allows this), when my brain kinda shuts down anyway and I can’t get anything work-related done. I did that all summer, and now I get antsy if it’s mid-afternoon and I haven’t exercised yet.
Strangely, the mental motivation to get fit came from writing. You might have already read this blog post, but if not, here it is: http://paleopix.com/blog/2012/11/14/how-writing-made-me-get-in-shape/
I guess what’s important is not to try to change everything all at once, because then you just get frustrated and fall back into old habits. I didn’t suddenly start exercising every day. But once three days a week seemed pretty easy, I’d either lengthen each workout or add one. Then all of a sudden… And I feel great!
~Penny
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Thanks Penny. I just yesterday ordered a recumbent exercise bike so all I need now is the will to use it. I joined a gym last summer and (usually) go twice a week, which has helped chase away the aches and pains in my back and joints. But it’s only a first step. The doctor says cardio 5 times a week or else.
I think your story sounds fascinating. That’s neat how writing spurred your interest in swordplay. When I write the engineer in me has a hard time writing about technology that doesn’t exist because I feel it has to be right, even though it’s entirely made up. (Faster-than-light travel, for example. I cringe every time somebody says “warp drive.”) Being a scientist, I could see you striving for accuracy too.
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