After a few days battling a lack of motivation, I'm back on my game today. I had a goal of working on the laundry and went above and beyond in many other things. I did work on the laundry, but I don't think I'm going to be able to complete my goal for the week of being caught up, having fallen behind on the low motivation days. I'm just glad to have pulled myself out of that part of the cycle already, though. Usually, it lasts much longer. Perhaps, this journal is helping.
I wanted to share a technique I discovered yesterday and put into play today. It's called the Pomodoro Technique. It's a time management system where you work on your projects throughout the day in 25 minute increments with 3-5 minute breaks in between (after four complete Pomodoroes you take a longer break.) The Pomodoro Technique is so named for the tomato shaped timer the technique's originator used while developing it during college. I didn't follow the regime all day, but I did set the timer for a few different tasks I was doing and I found it useful and motivating. I actually exercised, in earnest, for the first time all year. I'd like to keep up with that, especially in light of the recent study finding that being sedentary is a higher death risk than being obese. Yeah. Need to MOVE a lot more. It'll be easier once Spring hits, but the method I used today should get me through until then. It's fun and fun is always motivating.
I did something else for the first time in a long time, today, and that is knit. Once upon a time I taught myself to knit. I enjoyed it, for the most part, but something about it just put me on edge. Instead of relaxing, I found it be stressful. I was more tense when I was knitting than when I wasn't knitting and I got easily frustrated with it. It took me two years to finish a scarf. I did a few other projects, all small ones, but eventually I just left it behind for a yarn craft that does actually relax me: crochet. I love to crochet. I crochet a bit... odd (I'm a thrower and not a picker and usually those are knit terms but that is how I crochet.) I am good at crochet. I enjoy it. I find it relaxing. Crocheting is to me everything knitting is to a lot of people. For me, though, it was always completely the opposite. So, today my dear spouse sends me a link on Facebook about a technique called arm knitting. I'd heard of it before but knitting, so I'd never tried it. With a little digging (a tiny bit) I found a video on arm crocheting. It was achieved exactly as I'd imagined it would be. I gave it shot. It's not hard but there are two factors that made it an absolute no go, at least not at his time. First of all, it hurt. It's winter and my skin is a little dry so passing yarn back and forth over my hand was far less than pleasant. Secondly, it was hideous. The finished stitches looked just awful no matter how much yarn I held together. I could see this technique working with some incredibly think homespun, but only as one strand (maybe two.) Worked with smaller strands held together it was just too loose and disheveled looking for my tastes. You might have better luck, but I just didn't care for it.
As I sat with the yarn all unwound wishing I had a way to make a quick blankie for my poor long suffering spouse, I remembered that I had a set of 22mm knitting needles. After only an initial failed attempt, I was able to easily teach myself the process again. I had decided if it was still stressful I wasn't going to do it, but as I got going I found that being such an avid crocheter for so long had actually honed my knitting skills as well, even though I wasn't knitting. I found I understood the stitches and the movements of the needles better. I made some mistakes, but working with such large needles is very forgiving and the spousey face won't care as long as it's a blankie.
Today was a good day. I'm glad to be back amongst the land of the truly living again. It's hard when I just can't seem to get myself going, day after day. Here's hoping this motivated period lasts a good long while.
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