A day like many others. A mix of progress, regression and everyday plodding. But, a day on which I demonstrated unusual poise in recovering from the previous night's setbacks.
Overall productivity was modest. But I did avoid the impulse to react with defeatism or unsustainable rigour.
Achieving healthy sleep patterns remains something of a Grail quest. But it's now easier to believe that it could eventually become a mundane process of ticking-off practical tasks.
.Review
Sleep patterns improving, but still far from controlled.
The previous evening's collapse in morale prevented a good bedtime and excessively early waking caused me to struggle for an extra sleep cycle in the morning.
I managed to get that extra cycle in, but lay dozing for far too long before it. The net result was another day which didn't get going until well after lunchtime.
I'm caught between seemingly unreconcilable objectives on sleep.
On the one hand, continued failure is causing me to lean towards a 'brute force' solution, i.e. get up with the alarm for 5-7 consecutive days, regardless of preceding bedtime — in the hope of embedding a wake-up pattern which exerts 'force majeur' over each subsequent bedtime.
On the other hand, I recognise the desparation that's driving me in this direction — and I'm determined to moderate such mood swings, rather than vainly attempt to eliminate them.
That said, I've tried being easy on my morning self for most of the last fortnight and it simply hasn't worked. So, at this point, the 'moderate' approach may be to give the alternative strategy a go — while taking care to balance the morning 'alarm shock' with a gentle but calculating approach to cajoling the chimp to sleep on previous evenings.
That probably means adjusting the routine to end interactive or stimulating activity quite early in the evening early — and introducing a fairly lengthy and well-planned sequence of mundane wind-down activities thereafter, e.g.
- Review the working day
- Paper list of tonight's wind-down ''sequence'' — no PC/web
- Short exercise
- Flat clean-/tidy-up
- Bath
- Bed
Reviewing that list reminds me that I need to find time for reading. But there's a difficult balance to be drawn — given that reading can be both stimulating and relaxing, and given the absence of any simple means to separate the two.
One idea that springs to mind, is the notion of switching the order of current 'maintenance' and 'relax' sessions — so that boring and mundane maintenance activities become part of the wind-down routine. And reading provides a transition away from leisure activities that provide too much stimuluous.
Another consideration is shifting my cycle ride into the evening, since that's almost unavoidable on teaching days. Given that I'm not going to be getting up early enough to ride before teaching — at least not before early rising becomes an unforced habit.
The 'mark 3' routine, towards the bottom of this page, represents a first draft attempt at accommodating these ideas in next week's schedule.
Review
Good points
- Slept reasonably well
- Got a reasonable amount of Spanish work done
- Resisted the temptation to manically catch-up
- Managed to prepare, and reserve time, for relaxation
- Ticked-off maintenance tasks in a measured way
- Moderate preparation for sustaining Spanish next week
Must do better:
- Could have got going more quickly
- Could have prepared and implemented wind-down better
- Only rode my bike a few hundred yards
Routine Checklist
Legend
- Ticks — right activity on time
- Crosses — not done to schedule
- Hyphens — not applicable to currrent routine configuration
| Task | M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0730 — Get going | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
| 0845 — Session 1 | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| 1015 — Break | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| 1030 — Session 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| 1200 — Dinner | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| 1245 — Session 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| 1415 — Break | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| 1430 — Session 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| 1600 — Transition | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| 1630 - Session 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| 1800 — Tea | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| 1830 — Maintenance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| 2000 — Relax | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| 2230 — Review, uwind | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | |
| 2330 — Bed | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
Learning Tasks Checklist
| Task | M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading comprehension | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Read aloud | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| Just read | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
| Word & phrase exercises | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Sentence exercises | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Socratic dialogue | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| A song | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
| Aural comprehension | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Verb exercises | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| Pronoun exercises | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| Preposition exercises | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| Conjunctions | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
| Eng.→Spa. translation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Spa.→Eng. translation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Physical exercise | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | |
| Subbed video | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
| Non-subbed video | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
| Research lang. acquisition | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | List 'issues' | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | Prepare materials | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
| Review this checklist | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Routine Mark 3 — Teaching Days
Legend
- Ticks — right activity on time
- Crosses — not done to schedule
- Hyphens — not applicable to currrent routine configuration
| Task | M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0730 — Get going | |||||||
| 0845 — Session 1 | |||||||
| 1015 — Break | |||||||
| 1030 — Session 2 | |||||||
| 1200 — Dinner | |||||||
| 1245 — Session 3 | |||||||
| 1415 — Break | |||||||
| 1430 — Session 4 | |||||||
| 1600 — Transition | |||||||
| 1630 - Riding | |||||||
| 1800 — Tea | |||||||
| 1830 — Maintenance | |||||||
| 1930 — Active leisure | |||||||
| 2130 — Reading | |||||||
| 2200 — Review | |||||||
| 2230 — Wind-down |