So those of you that kindly read my previous blog post will know that I have challenged myself with my first #RandomTask of the year...
#1 Post and/or delete all of the small blog posts that I have been creating over the past 5 months on here to de-clutter the mind and help start 2014 anew
Well after sifting through lots of semi-started posts, notes on my phone and meaningless scribbles and with time ticking down to my self set time limit, I came up with a solution to this task (seeing as time is ticking on to my 6pm Sunday 12th January deadline that I set myself) that will limit the nonsense that you have to read through and most importantly complete my aim of decluttering my head of all things 2013...after all that is sooooo last year! (Sorry, even I'm uncomfortable writing that last part and reading it back, so I can only imagine how it comes across to you...however, it was a gag just waiting to be snapped up and my OCD couldn't let it get away with it!)
My solution is to provide you with the topics intended for blog posts encompassed within a small (the intentions are there but no doubt this will turn in to another essay) yet perfectly formed narrative of what happened in my life from August to December 2013...an area I eluded to in my first blog of 2014 but otherwise known on this blog as "The Lost Months"!
So for those of you still with me, grab yourself those final leftover Christmas snacks and settle in for the ups and downs, thrills and spills, twists and turns...I've gone too far now haven't I?...anyway, here it is...
As I eluded to in my first blog post of this year, since August I joined a local gym. Attended at least twice a week for the first 6 weeks and then Riga changed everything...but the least said about that the better...but luckily I was (somewhat) back to normal in time to help set up and then see 2 of my closest friends tie the knot!
And once all of the partying and hangovers were over and the gym membership was rescinded, the attention turned to moving in with my girlfriend in to our lovely brand new barn conversion!
But the excitement and events didn't stop there...
For from the 1st of December I would begin my new role at work as Digital Marketing Executive...
However, the 2 weeks prior to that saw my week days broken up by the need to travel across borders and sea, still all in the name of work.
Now for those of you reading this, sick of being stuck in one office, workplace or surrounding week in, week out, that have had that sudden thought of "why are you complaining, you get to lead the glamorous life of travelling"?! I assure you, travelling with work can be both a gift and a curse.
Yes I was able to fly to Frankfurt for a 2 day conference in Kaiserslautern and then return home for a few days before heading north to Glasgow for the day and back down to Liverpool that same night for a meeting with a design agency the next day but all this equals is long days and no set working hours!
And I guess my latter journey, which began at 4:50am on the Tuesday as my alarm went off to allow me to catch the 5:44 train to Crewe to connect to Glasgow and arrive there at 10:50, can only be summed up in one word...
...Long!
And with all this excitement it was suddenly that time of year again. You know, the one that swings in and overtakes everything and everyone in it's path as though it never left...
Christmas!
Whether the first sitings are in late September, mid October or early November, no amount of saying "It's too early" or "I can't believe (insert your own shop name here) have got their Christmas stuff out already", can deny that there is no escaping it once it takes hold.
It's safe to say that over the past 10 years, our society has accepted that Christmas would soon be upon us as soon as the Coca Cola "Holidays are coming" adverts are seen on TV...well combine that with the power and spectacle of a brand new John Lewis advert with an equally heart warming accompanying soundtrack that will be in our conscious over the festive period right up until Santa drops down the chimney and it appears that Christmas can now "officially" start to be mentioned above muttered breathe once the most expensive ads on TV are first aired...which can usually be defined as the "8pm Saturday night X Factor Ad Break" time.
Now this is by no means a "bah humbug" rant about Christmas. On the contrary, I am well and truly sucked in by the "magic of Christmas" once the nights draw in and the Christmas jingles can be heard wherever you go.
Instead this is merely me trying to rationalise out loud the world we now live in and say "it's not fair" that losing naivety the older you get is a part of life.
Realising that our parents and those that cared for us when we were younger, are simply human too and went through all the same things that we are is never more clearer than when you find yourself uttering phrases that you passed off as rubbish years ago.
Phrases such as "the older you get, the quicker the years fly by" or "I can't believe it's (insert your own month here) already" were just annoying words in years gone by but seem to resonate with me the older I get.
Anyway, enough of my whining, back to the missing time frame...
As always Christmas arrived and went...lots of food was consumed and presents exchanged and then the new year arrives with all of the new ethos of motivation that any new year can bring! Oh and somewhere within that was also a case of mild concussion brought on by banging my head at work but I'm hoping I've left that kind of bad luck in 2013...something you'll soon see within my blog posts!
And that brings us bang up to date!
So, I hope you enjoyed that little tale I like to call my life...but 2014 is already off to a great start...mainly because by writing and posting this I have already completed the first of my #RandomTasks.
The second of my #RandomTasks is well underway but I will keep you posted with that another time!
So for now, thanks as always for reading...keep checking back...I seem to be on a roll!
Andy
P.S. I've decided to keep a tally at the bottom of each #RandomTask blog post, just so I can keep track as well as to hopefully motivate me...
#RandomTasks Set = 2 Completed = 1 Pending = 1
Sunday, 12 January 2014
Sunday, 5 January 2014
Random Task #1
Hello again,
Bet you didn't expect to see me again so soon?!
Maybe it's the new year excitement or the dizzy heights of a 2 day week at work but I told you I would be back very soon with my first Random Task of this year and alas...here I am!
And here it is...Random Task numero uno...
#1 Post and/or delete all of the small blog posts that I have been creating over the past 5 months on here to de-clutter the mind and help start 2014 anew...
Sounds simple...but I am challenging myself to do this by 6pm Sunday 12th January... that's right, 1 week to unscramble and make sense of all my little notes and pictures (that's right, this year I may even PhotoBlog...it's not cheating...honestly!) and get them up here for your perusal.
Sounds simple...but seeing as I failed to blog for 5 months...well, lets just see what happens!
Oh and why not throw a second Random Task in whilst I'm at it to really focus the mind...
#2 Finally finish reading one of the books I started last year...by the end of January.
Again, simple, yet something that seemed to escape me so easily in 2013!
I know what you're thinking as well, "these aren't exactly mammoth tasks"...and you'd be right...for then this approach I'm going for would be called #MammothTasks but as it's called #RandomTasks I figured it could be anything... From the smallest thing that I keep putting off to larger (closer to mammoth) tasks that require focus and determination.
As I've said previously, keeping any form of long term resolution doesn't seem to work for me so I'm hoping this new regular goal setting will help me achieve more throughout the year! I have no idea whether this will work for me either but that's all part of the fun!
Keep checking back for updates on here to see how I'm getting on or follow me on Twitter (@JustDrewOnIt).
Until next time...wish me luck!
Bet you didn't expect to see me again so soon?!
Maybe it's the new year excitement or the dizzy heights of a 2 day week at work but I told you I would be back very soon with my first Random Task of this year and alas...here I am!
And here it is...Random Task numero uno...
#1 Post and/or delete all of the small blog posts that I have been creating over the past 5 months on here to de-clutter the mind and help start 2014 anew...
Sounds simple...but I am challenging myself to do this by 6pm Sunday 12th January... that's right, 1 week to unscramble and make sense of all my little notes and pictures (that's right, this year I may even PhotoBlog...it's not cheating...honestly!) and get them up here for your perusal.
Sounds simple...but seeing as I failed to blog for 5 months...well, lets just see what happens!
Oh and why not throw a second Random Task in whilst I'm at it to really focus the mind...
#2 Finally finish reading one of the books I started last year...by the end of January.
Again, simple, yet something that seemed to escape me so easily in 2013!
I know what you're thinking as well, "these aren't exactly mammoth tasks"...and you'd be right...for then this approach I'm going for would be called #MammothTasks but as it's called #RandomTasks I figured it could be anything... From the smallest thing that I keep putting off to larger (closer to mammoth) tasks that require focus and determination.
As I've said previously, keeping any form of long term resolution doesn't seem to work for me so I'm hoping this new regular goal setting will help me achieve more throughout the year! I have no idea whether this will work for me either but that's all part of the fun!
Keep checking back for updates on here to see how I'm getting on or follow me on Twitter (@JustDrewOnIt).
Until next time...wish me luck!
Thursday, 2 January 2014
New Year, Same Old Me!
Hello...is anybody there?
If you're reading this then firstly... Happy New Year!
Secondly, thank you for stopping by when there has been nothing new to read on here for the past 5 months!
On New Years Day 2013 I composed a fresh new blog post for you all, detailing my aims for the new year ahead and revealing why I am so terrible at keeping any New Years Resolutions in previous years.
One month later and then again 3 months after that I provided you with an update on my progress...if you can call it that!
As it is now a brand new year and I haven't blogged since August 2013 let alone given you any update, I figured I owed it to you loyal readers to at least let you know whether I succeeded or failed miserably (you can make your own easy prediction already without the help of an online betting company giving you odds to encourage you...it's that obvious!) with my 5 goals for 2013:
If you're reading this then firstly... Happy New Year!
Secondly, thank you for stopping by when there has been nothing new to read on here for the past 5 months!
On New Years Day 2013 I composed a fresh new blog post for you all, detailing my aims for the new year ahead and revealing why I am so terrible at keeping any New Years Resolutions in previous years.
One month later and then again 3 months after that I provided you with an update on my progress...if you can call it that!
As it is now a brand new year and I haven't blogged since August 2013 let alone given you any update, I figured I owed it to you loyal readers to at least let you know whether I succeeded or failed miserably (you can make your own easy prediction already without the help of an online betting company giving you odds to encourage you...it's that obvious!) with my 5 goals for 2013:
1) "Learn one new healthy recipe per month"...
Well since my home made burgers in January this has (pardon the pun) really taken a back burner. It's hard to say that I have learnt anything new let alone healthy...however since my girlfriend and I moved in together our weekly shopping basket is certainly looking a lot healthier, fresher and pre-planned!
I was also bought a couple of cookbooks for Christmas so you never know (we do really) I might find inspiration for new meals in one of those!...chalk that down to new year wishful thinking!
Well since my home made burgers in January this has (pardon the pun) really taken a back burner. It's hard to say that I have learnt anything new let alone healthy...however since my girlfriend and I moved in together our weekly shopping basket is certainly looking a lot healthier, fresher and pre-planned!
I was also bought a couple of cookbooks for Christmas so you never know (we do really) I might find inspiration for new meals in one of those!...chalk that down to new year wishful thinking!
2) "Increase my cardio/fitness"...
This goal is being spectacularly failed on many levels.
In my last update back in April I told you how I had failed at keeping up with a jump rope challenge and brought myself a road bike but failed dramatically by injuring myself during the buying process!
This goal is being spectacularly failed on many levels.
In my last update back in April I told you how I had failed at keeping up with a jump rope challenge and brought myself a road bike but failed dramatically by injuring myself during the buying process!
Well I didn't sign up for any more challenges specifically...I did however join a gym local to my work in August. And for 6 weeks the regime of going to the gym twice a week was working well and was a definite improvement on the level of exercise I had been doing previously, which equated to the grand total of...zero! But as you've probably guessed long ago, something got in the way!
That something was Riga!
It was a Stag Do. It was an Eastern European City. I consumed more alcohol in the first 12 hours of being there than I had in the past 12 months! And on top of that it involved a lot of walking. So I got dehydrated, the shakes and sweats and returned home with the feeling of vertigo for at least the next month! So needless to say my gym membership went unused and thus has since been cancelled and with it my goal of increased fitness.
Oh and that Road Bike I'd purchased with great enthusiasm...has been used twice! And since I have now moved to a more rural location, it isn't the most ideal item that I own but we will see if the long term picture looks brighter for this purchase!
That something was Riga!
It was a Stag Do. It was an Eastern European City. I consumed more alcohol in the first 12 hours of being there than I had in the past 12 months! And on top of that it involved a lot of walking. So I got dehydrated, the shakes and sweats and returned home with the feeling of vertigo for at least the next month! So needless to say my gym membership went unused and thus has since been cancelled and with it my goal of increased fitness.
Oh and that Road Bike I'd purchased with great enthusiasm...has been used twice! And since I have now moved to a more rural location, it isn't the most ideal item that I own but we will see if the long term picture looks brighter for this purchase!
3) "Read more!"...
Well the fact I was reading 3 or 4 books at the time of my last update does not a successful outcome make! For I am still part reading these books depending on my mood and have actually failed to read these more often than I have actually got round to reading any of them.
I managed to read one book fully this year, Dan Brown's latest novel, Inferno. As usual a tension building thriller that was both enjoyable and will no doubt keep Tom Hanks in work at some point in the next few years!
And as if to mock my feeble attempt to read more, a friend of mine actually achieved his goal of reading a new book each month throughout 2013 and posted pics of each book on Instagram...it's like my goals were reaching out to laugh at me from all angles!
Well the fact I was reading 3 or 4 books at the time of my last update does not a successful outcome make! For I am still part reading these books depending on my mood and have actually failed to read these more often than I have actually got round to reading any of them.
I managed to read one book fully this year, Dan Brown's latest novel, Inferno. As usual a tension building thriller that was both enjoyable and will no doubt keep Tom Hanks in work at some point in the next few years!
And as if to mock my feeble attempt to read more, a friend of mine actually achieved his goal of reading a new book each month throughout 2013 and posted pics of each book on Instagram...it's like my goals were reaching out to laugh at me from all angles!
4) "Blog more!"...
This is something I seem to have managed to get worse at as the year went on...but there is a plan to rectify this...keep reading and all will be revealed...
This is something I seem to have managed to get worse at as the year went on...but there is a plan to rectify this...keep reading and all will be revealed...
5) "Show my girlfriend how much I love her!"...
Well this is probably the most positive one to finish on as 2013 saw my girlfriend and I move in together, renting ourselves a lovely little barn since November and after spending a lovely Christmas and New Year there we are looking forward to a great 2014 ahead there. So I hope she knows how I feel about her but I think I'll carry this one on for this year too...would be rude not to I guess!
It is definitely that time of year when every one decides "New Year, New Me" and "This year will be my year" and as you've seen I have been guilty of that myself but no matter what tactics I have used previously I can never seem to keep them.
So for 2014 I figured why make goals I'm not going to keep. If public shaming doesn't help me achieve them then what will?!
Well I think I might have a solution...
Random Tasks! (And no I don't mean the oddjob parody character from Austin Powers)
I clearly don't work well to challenges set that have a long time limit and anything pre-ordained or prescribed to me to do seems to fail as well...so why not be more spontaneous?!
Every so often (you won't pin me down to time frames...clearly I can't be trusted to stick to them!) I will post a weekly or monthly task that I am hoping to achieve and detail my progress regularly throughout that period on here for your amusement no doubt!
This will either help me achieve a few more personal goals or fail once again and you'll have just as few items to read on here as you did last year!
But if all goes well then it should help achieve my goal of blogging more at the very least!
And not forgetting that Road Bike, Jump Rope and Pogo Stick that are collecting dust...well they may make an appearance too!
So keep your eyes peeled to this blog over the next 48 hours for the first of my Random Tasks of 2014.
For now though... I would like to wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year to you all!
Whatever your goals may be for the year ahead, best of luck, I have every faith you will achieve them and at the very least find inspiration in my blog that there is always someone out there worse at keeping them than you are!
p.s. If you don't hear hear from me on here in the next 48 hours then feel free to find me on Twitter (@justdrewonit)
Well this is probably the most positive one to finish on as 2013 saw my girlfriend and I move in together, renting ourselves a lovely little barn since November and after spending a lovely Christmas and New Year there we are looking forward to a great 2014 ahead there. So I hope she knows how I feel about her but I think I'll carry this one on for this year too...would be rude not to I guess!
It is definitely that time of year when every one decides "New Year, New Me" and "This year will be my year" and as you've seen I have been guilty of that myself but no matter what tactics I have used previously I can never seem to keep them.
So for 2014 I figured why make goals I'm not going to keep. If public shaming doesn't help me achieve them then what will?!
Well I think I might have a solution...
Random Tasks! (And no I don't mean the oddjob parody character from Austin Powers)
I clearly don't work well to challenges set that have a long time limit and anything pre-ordained or prescribed to me to do seems to fail as well...so why not be more spontaneous?!
Every so often (you won't pin me down to time frames...clearly I can't be trusted to stick to them!) I will post a weekly or monthly task that I am hoping to achieve and detail my progress regularly throughout that period on here for your amusement no doubt!
This will either help me achieve a few more personal goals or fail once again and you'll have just as few items to read on here as you did last year!
But if all goes well then it should help achieve my goal of blogging more at the very least!
And not forgetting that Road Bike, Jump Rope and Pogo Stick that are collecting dust...well they may make an appearance too!
So keep your eyes peeled to this blog over the next 48 hours for the first of my Random Tasks of 2014.
For now though... I would like to wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year to you all!
Whatever your goals may be for the year ahead, best of luck, I have every faith you will achieve them and at the very least find inspiration in my blog that there is always someone out there worse at keeping them than you are!
p.s. If you don't hear hear from me on here in the next 48 hours then feel free to find me on Twitter (@justdrewonit)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)