Friday, May 21, 2010
As posted on my Facebook Wall this morning:
“It’s unbelievable how energetic you feel when you a. go to bed on time, b. get up on time and c. have a normal breakfast. Truly, I went to bed at 10, got up at 5.15, had three wife-made sandwiches (I love you, honey!), an espresso macchiato (one of those cold coffee-like drinks) and some water. Now it’s not even 7 am yet, and I feel I want to go DO stuff. Huzzah!!”
Yep, it sure does feel good to feel energetic in the morning. Lately I’ve somehow made it a habit to use my alarm clock’s snooze function for about 1,5 hours (the alarm going off every 10 minutes) before I finally decided to get up… And then I’d feel sleepy all the way to work (which, by the way, is a two and a half hour trip, door to door).
On the other hand, there’s that annoying feeling I’m starting to have. Yes, I feel energetic, and yes, I want to go do stuff. And today I’m going to as well - I have a lot of work waiting for me today, and I have to be done by 4pm, because of internal movement starting at that time, so I won’t be able to use my computer after 4. Not that I mind, of course. It’s Friday, and working hours are quite flexible, so I can skip a few hours here and there if I want to (as long as I make up for them on other days of course). So yeah, I don’t mind going home at 4 and celebrate the fact that my weekend has started. But that was not my point… My point was: although I now feel I’m in a do-stuff kind of mood, I know by the time I get home that feeling will be all gone. Somehow as soon as I reach home I just want to sit on my butt in front of the TV or Xbox and have that be the rest of my evening. Why is that?? All day I’m like: “When I get home, I’ll do this, and that, and such, and…”. And then I get home and all those ideas go… Well, into non-being, it seems. I’ve always thought myself as an evening person, but coming to think of it, perhaps I’m really the contrary. Hmm, I’ll have to think about that. Because if that’s true, I need to think of a way to plan my days so that I can do some stuff in the morning.
Anyway, it might be a good idea to post a list of stuff I need to do here, starting with my school stuff. I’m currently in a bachelor program called “Bedrijfskundige Informatica”, which is an IT education, but has more to do with business than with actual IT. To be more clearly: I don’t learn stuff like programming and working with computers and stuff, but I learn about business process management, project management, e-business, that kind of stuff. This educations takes three years (a year less than the regular, full-time education, but as this is taught to people who already work full-time, the amount of experience coming from that is supposed to make up for that, so we need less explanation, which means the education can take less time). We get our classes in so called “modules”. Most of these modules get graded my 12 to 14 page long assignments we have to make and turn in, rather than exams (we do get some exams, but so far I’ve had only one out of the six modules I’ve had so far).
Okay, so, when a module’s classes are over, we usually get three weeks to finish that module’s assignment, then we have to turn them in (which somes down to uploading them on the schools’s website so it can be sent to an appropriate teacher). As this education is meant for grown-ups who work full-time, the school recognizes the fact that we have working and social lives, and so gives us the opportunity to delay these assignments. These delays can be arranged by nothing more than logging in on the website, select the appropriate module, press a “Delay” button, and boom, due date is pushed back twelve weeks. We can do this twice without penalty. The third time… I’m not sure about that. Perhaps we have to start paying or something. Hm, I should look into that.
Anyway, this Delay option has turned out to be my nemesis. No, rather, my lack of discipline is. What’s “achterstand” in English? (Reminder to self: look up “achterstand” at work before posting this). Anyway, I want to explain there are a lot of assignments I should have already done by now which I haven’t done yet (thus the term “achterstand”, which means that in English). So, time to get off my butt, stop being a lazy bum, be honest and make a list of everything I have to do. Here goes:
- Systeemontwikkeling (System Development): finish assignment (due last December, then due last March, now due at start of June)
- Beheer en Exploitatie (hard to find proper English translations for it, but it comes cown to Management and Exploitation (of IT)): start (and finish) assignment (due last December, then due last March, now due at start of June)
- E-Business: start and finish assignment (due last February, now due… I don’t even know when. Perhaps I should have already finished it)
- Project Management: start and finish assignment (same as E-Business)
- Internship assignment (our full-time job is considered a kind of internship as well, even though it's a regular, full-paid job), which is only a few pages. Nothing special really. (Due: last October. Now: Haven’t got a clue)
- First year’s assignment: This is an assignment that should cover that which we have learned in the first year. Three of the first year module subjects should be covered in the assignment. The assignment itself should be about three times the size of a normal module assignment. (Due: May, but of course I’m NOT going to make that, because there’s so much else I haven’t even done yet. Hello Delay-button! Here we go again…)
- (Second year module) Organisatie en Verandering (Change Management): had 3 out of 8 classes so far. Assignment due: three weeks after last class.
Should I get off my butt and maybe try and do something about this insane list of stuff to do? Yeah, that was my guess as well. So, my big thing for this weekend (apart from some stuff to be done in and around the house): look up exact due dates for each assignment, start planning and start the assignments. I want to be done with everything by the end of the summer, before new classes start. So yes, there’s a lot I have to do. But good news: as said: I want to do stuff now. No more sitting around! *slaps self for being an idiot* Again: Huzzah!!
Long post. Time to stop. Train will pull into Rotterdam station in 15 minutes. At work: look up “achterstand”, add to blog post, post on blog, then start work.
HUZZAH!
PS. Anyone of you readers (not that I have any at the moment, and if I appear to have some anyway: leave a comment every one in a while - I like that) know Anthony Robbins, the American lifestyle guru/coach/trainer/whatnot? Check him out. He gives energy as well! :)
PPS. "Achterstand" translates to "arrears" (or "lag"). Never heard of that word before. Go figure :)
“It’s unbelievable how energetic you feel when you a. go to bed on time, b. get up on time and c. have a normal breakfast. Truly, I went to bed at 10, got up at 5.15, had three wife-made sandwiches (I love you, honey!), an espresso macchiato (one of those cold coffee-like drinks) and some water. Now it’s not even 7 am yet, and I feel I want to go DO stuff. Huzzah!!”
Yep, it sure does feel good to feel energetic in the morning. Lately I’ve somehow made it a habit to use my alarm clock’s snooze function for about 1,5 hours (the alarm going off every 10 minutes) before I finally decided to get up… And then I’d feel sleepy all the way to work (which, by the way, is a two and a half hour trip, door to door).
On the other hand, there’s that annoying feeling I’m starting to have. Yes, I feel energetic, and yes, I want to go do stuff. And today I’m going to as well - I have a lot of work waiting for me today, and I have to be done by 4pm, because of internal movement starting at that time, so I won’t be able to use my computer after 4. Not that I mind, of course. It’s Friday, and working hours are quite flexible, so I can skip a few hours here and there if I want to (as long as I make up for them on other days of course). So yeah, I don’t mind going home at 4 and celebrate the fact that my weekend has started. But that was not my point… My point was: although I now feel I’m in a do-stuff kind of mood, I know by the time I get home that feeling will be all gone. Somehow as soon as I reach home I just want to sit on my butt in front of the TV or Xbox and have that be the rest of my evening. Why is that?? All day I’m like: “When I get home, I’ll do this, and that, and such, and…”. And then I get home and all those ideas go… Well, into non-being, it seems. I’ve always thought myself as an evening person, but coming to think of it, perhaps I’m really the contrary. Hmm, I’ll have to think about that. Because if that’s true, I need to think of a way to plan my days so that I can do some stuff in the morning.
Anyway, it might be a good idea to post a list of stuff I need to do here, starting with my school stuff. I’m currently in a bachelor program called “Bedrijfskundige Informatica”, which is an IT education, but has more to do with business than with actual IT. To be more clearly: I don’t learn stuff like programming and working with computers and stuff, but I learn about business process management, project management, e-business, that kind of stuff. This educations takes three years (a year less than the regular, full-time education, but as this is taught to people who already work full-time, the amount of experience coming from that is supposed to make up for that, so we need less explanation, which means the education can take less time). We get our classes in so called “modules”. Most of these modules get graded my 12 to 14 page long assignments we have to make and turn in, rather than exams (we do get some exams, but so far I’ve had only one out of the six modules I’ve had so far).
Okay, so, when a module’s classes are over, we usually get three weeks to finish that module’s assignment, then we have to turn them in (which somes down to uploading them on the schools’s website so it can be sent to an appropriate teacher). As this education is meant for grown-ups who work full-time, the school recognizes the fact that we have working and social lives, and so gives us the opportunity to delay these assignments. These delays can be arranged by nothing more than logging in on the website, select the appropriate module, press a “Delay” button, and boom, due date is pushed back twelve weeks. We can do this twice without penalty. The third time… I’m not sure about that. Perhaps we have to start paying or something. Hm, I should look into that.
Anyway, this Delay option has turned out to be my nemesis. No, rather, my lack of discipline is. What’s “achterstand” in English? (Reminder to self: look up “achterstand” at work before posting this). Anyway, I want to explain there are a lot of assignments I should have already done by now which I haven’t done yet (thus the term “achterstand”, which means that in English). So, time to get off my butt, stop being a lazy bum, be honest and make a list of everything I have to do. Here goes:
- Systeemontwikkeling (System Development): finish assignment (due last December, then due last March, now due at start of June)
- Beheer en Exploitatie (hard to find proper English translations for it, but it comes cown to Management and Exploitation (of IT)): start (and finish) assignment (due last December, then due last March, now due at start of June)
- E-Business: start and finish assignment (due last February, now due… I don’t even know when. Perhaps I should have already finished it)
- Project Management: start and finish assignment (same as E-Business)
- Internship assignment (our full-time job is considered a kind of internship as well, even though it's a regular, full-paid job), which is only a few pages. Nothing special really. (Due: last October. Now: Haven’t got a clue)
- First year’s assignment: This is an assignment that should cover that which we have learned in the first year. Three of the first year module subjects should be covered in the assignment. The assignment itself should be about three times the size of a normal module assignment. (Due: May, but of course I’m NOT going to make that, because there’s so much else I haven’t even done yet. Hello Delay-button! Here we go again…)
- (Second year module) Organisatie en Verandering (Change Management): had 3 out of 8 classes so far. Assignment due: three weeks after last class.
Should I get off my butt and maybe try and do something about this insane list of stuff to do? Yeah, that was my guess as well. So, my big thing for this weekend (apart from some stuff to be done in and around the house): look up exact due dates for each assignment, start planning and start the assignments. I want to be done with everything by the end of the summer, before new classes start. So yes, there’s a lot I have to do. But good news: as said: I want to do stuff now. No more sitting around! *slaps self for being an idiot* Again: Huzzah!!
Long post. Time to stop. Train will pull into Rotterdam station in 15 minutes. At work: look up “achterstand”, add to blog post, post on blog, then start work.
HUZZAH!
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