Experiment #3: 750 Words (Days 17-23)

Although I still need to work on updating this blog more frequently, I have made a lot of progress with my current experiment. As a reminder, I have been using the site 750 words as an online journal since the beginning of December. I'm not quite prepared to break down all of the pros and cons of the site, though I am in the process of writing my evaluation for the month. I can say that the journaling process has offered a few important insights.

I began using 750 words in the midst of a long unemployment--without benefits, for the record--and I started working midway through the month, about two weeks after I began keeping my journal. I think that I have spent more time writing about work than about any other topic. The writing process itself has allowed me to vent and to deal with the fallout of unemployment without burdening anyone else. In addition, the statistics page has provided me with some valuable insights. Though it is still a bit flawed, I have gained additional information about my emotional states, preferences, preoccupations, and writing style. In fact, I was able to decide on my next experiment as a result of writing in this journal. Even though I originally had other ideas, I kept coming back to one particular experiment, so I decided to run with it. Free-writing has also given me the opportunity to deal with personal concerns as they arise. In a few short weeks, I have already realized my dissatisfaction with my work life, and the need to move forward with career plans. In all likelihood, it would have taken me a lot longer to reach this point if I had not had an outlet for all of my self-doubt and questioning.

According to my daily statistics pages, I have gotten considerably more negative as the month wore on, and as my work situation changed. I'm really looking forward to taking a deeper look at my results for the entire month. I anticipate some surprises.

Experiment #3: 750 Words (Days 6-16)

Yeesh. It's hard to believe that I haven't updated this blog in ten days. So much for good intentions. No, not really. I'm lying. Actually, it's a pretty easy thing to believe, given my previous track record. Despite my lack of updates here, I have been doing a lot more writing, thanks to 750 words. I have missed four days since I began, two of which were the result of my treating any hour past midnight as part of the previous day. Hey, it doesn't count unless I go to sleep, alright! That means that sometimes, my day ends at 4:30 AM, and the next day begins at 2 PM. See, it would be easy to pass this off as another excuse, but in truth, it's another statistic to consider. What does this one tell me? Well, for starters, I probably need to work on a more consistent schedule. My current work situation makes this difficult, even on the best days, but hey...I'm working now...so there is that. Then, there were the two days that I spent curled up in a ball, under a pile of blankets, nursing some kind of mini-flu. In fact, I avoided pretty much everything that didn't look like a bed, those days. I didn't really want to deal with being sick or, you know, alive. I certainly didn't want to write about it.

That's the point. The statistics available through 750 words serve as both blessings and curses. They make opportunities for awareness about bad habits, self-editing, and negativity as well as all of the fluffy-kitten moments that life has to offer. There is something you should know about me--especially because it will likely come into play during next month's experiment. I HATE complaining. In the context of this experiment on journaling, I feel a certain twinge every time I have the urge to vent. I tend to resist the urge, and instead of relying on emotion, I gravitate toward analysis, or I avoid complaining altogether. In fact, I had to force myself to write the first paragraph of this post.

The truth is that it doesn't really matter what I write in my personal journal, as long as I manage to hit my word count each day. I could type "exquisite corpses," copy the works of Edgar Allan Poe, or write the great American novel...or I could write about the minutia of everyday life, and I would still manage to expose myself in doing so. Sometimes, I stumble on great ideas, and sometimes, I get stuck on small annoyances. Whether the words end up on the screen or in my head, the act of writing forces me to pay more attention. ...and with no one to impress, seduce, or convince but myself, paying more attention can be difficult.

Getting past the discomfort of heightened awareness is the key to progress. Journaling provides a way to express grand ideas and recount important memories, of course, but it also serves as a receptacle for the word-vomit that invades everyday conversation. The whining, the complaints, the irrational fears, the egoism, the finger-pointing, and all of the other self-indulgent crap has a place to go: on the page. When I stop censoring myself there, I have the opportunity to use those things to aid personal growth instead of avoiding it.

Obviously, my stats for the last ten days have been more negative, but I am interested to see how things play out, by the end of the month. So far, my overall mindset reads as "Introvert/Negative/Certain/Feeling." See below for the pretty version:

Statistics: Day 16

...and compare those to Day 1

Experiment #3: 750 Words (Days 3-5)

Well, I am nearly a week into my experiment with using 750 words, and I have finally hit the "uncomfortable stage." You see, one of the benefits of stream-of-consciousness journaling is that it is meant to be unfiltered. You can whine. You can curse. You can say all of those nasty things about yourself and about others that you'd never bother to say in public, because then, it becomes both risky and burdensome. On one hand, getting this garbage out onto paper--or in this case, on the internet--gets it out of your system, and onto a place that is both impartial and DOESN'T CARE. It won't chastise you for your foolishness, but it won't play to your ego and try to flatter you into feeling better, either. For me, what I'm left with is a certain sense of discomfort with myself.

It is around this time that I start editing my writing, if only in bits and pieces. I become more critical of the words that I choose, trying to make myself sound more intelligent for the benefit of an audience that doesn't exist. I pick apart sentence structure and punctuation. I start questioning the banality of the topics I choose to explore. Ha. I imagine that poets and writers do this kind of self-aggrandizement and subsequent self-deprecation all of the time. I wonder if this is why I never finished writing enough songs to constitute an album, or why I have had difficulty finishing any of my prior blog experiments. ...and then I laugh at my own romanticizing of this very common result of any awareness practice.

Eventually, with enough hard work and persistence, I would like to believe that we can take these moments of apparent weakness for what they really are. ...part of the creative process itself, perhaps? This is why exercise programs fail, why people never fulfill lofty creative goals, and why the pursuit of happiness can easily turn into settling for mediocre satisfaction with life. There is nothing inherently wrong in being happy right where you are, doing exactly what you are doing. There is probably something wrong if you wish you could do great things, and are too afraid to risk being uncomfortable, from time to time.

For what it's worth, there are links to the statistics for my last three entries at the end of this post. I have definitely gotten more negative, since Day 1. I started tracking metadata, which is not available on my share pages, but a few interesting things have already popped up. My happiness seems to be directly related to the amount and quality of sleep I had the night before each post. It is too early to make any conclusions about the optimal amount of sleep, for me, but I hope to gain further insight by the end of the month.

Cheers!

750 words: Day 3
750 words: Day 4
750 words: Day 5

Experiment #3: 750 Words (Day 2)

This morning, after some much-needed coffee, I hopped online and visited 750 words for my second day of writing. Now, I know that this is supposed to be a stream-of-consciousness style of journaling, and my entry today certainly followed that path. I started writing about my morning, and quickly took a deep dive into a tangent on wordplay and language. I really enjoyed the process, and I found myself asking a lot of questions that I usually ignore, in daily routine. That's the point. Each journal page ends with the following: "750 words -- Private, unfiltered, spontaneous, daily."

The stats are still my favorite sections, so I spent a bit of time exploring them today. What I found was a veritable treasure trove of numbers, all done up in party dresses (graphs of all kinds and colors). For example, I was talking to my boyfriend, Michael, while I was typing, and I could see how my writing slowed down when I started to pay attention to him, and how long it took me to get back up to my usual writing speed. Some of the statistics won't be as useful or as interesting until I have been able to collect them over time, but so far, I write about twice as fast as the rest of the participants, and I use far fewer "ah's" and "um's" than the majority of them. Here, take a look! Here are my stats for the last two days. Go ahead, be their prom dates.

Day 1; Friday, December 02, 2011
Day 2; Saturday, December 03, 2011

Oooooh, pretty.

Here's the thing, though: this isn't quite enough to satisfy my curiosity, so I decided to run this experiment using a second journal as well, for comparison. The faux journal of Edgar Allan Poe, under the pseudonym of Annabel Lee. The timing doesn't matter as much; I'm only curious to see how his personality developed over the course of his writing career. The timing doesn't really matter, as long as I add each poem, story, or article in the order in which they were originally penned. After all, it would be pretty pointless to compare his mindset with that of the general population in 2011...but it might be fun to check it out anyway, after I have a fair amount of his works entered into the journal. I assure you, it's legal, as all of his works published before 1923 are considered public domain, and are easily found through legal avenues on the internet.

The only downside is that I am meticulously adding each of his works, line for line, and no one will ever be able to read them. As of now, 750 words allows you to share your statistics with others, but not your actual entries. I understand that this is a way to encourage unfiltered writing, and to allay common fears about online security; I just wish that I had the option to share everything. Oh, also, once the clock ticks down and rolls over to the next day, you no longer have the opportunity to edit the previous day's entry. This is another way to keep people honest/unfiltered, but if I miss something while working on Poe's entries, it could potentially skew his results. Over time, though, these errors would become less important, and an overall picture of his character would probably remain the same.

The Poe project will be MUCH longer, but I'm willing to do the work for the sake of curiosity alone. For now, enjoy the stats from his first two poems, and feel free to email me at poe.poster@gmail.com if you'd like updates on his progress beyond the end of December.

Experiment #3: 750 Words (Day 1)

As usual, I have been thinking a lot lately, about what it means to "get things done." This kind of thinking tends to lead me to list-making, excitement over the possibilities available to me, and indecision. After a few conversations with friends, I have been able to draw the following conclusions:

1) The number one cause of failure to "get things done" is not doing them.
2) Most people who fail to get things done fail because they confuse thoughts and emotions.
3) When people confuse thoughts and emotions, or when they get too mired down in either one, a substantial amount of time and energy is spent on not doing the things that they set out to do in the first place.
4) Time is a problem. Some of us work better with deadlines; others are crippled by them.
5) None of these things are really problems; they just require a bit of retraining.

Now, of course I am oversimplifying things, but there is a point to all of this. Time is flexible, based on our perception. When we enjoy doing something, it feels like a never-ending, magical time filled with unicorns and rainbows and free candy. When we don't enjoy something, it feels like ten years spent in a prison camp, and we look back on magical times as temporary but lovely flashes in the pan. I'm not even referring to a battle between Exotic Travel Adventure and Garbage Picking; we feel these exaggerated opposites in a mundane fight like Watching A Movie vs. Doing the Dishes, too. [By the way, it also holds true that we will work ourselves to death and call it "fun" in the name of some preconceived notion of success.] In other words, we are often profoundly stupid in our pursuit of happiness.

I'm not really sure what the cure is, but I do know that setting the bar a bit higher for one's own frustration tolerance and honest introspection must have something to do with it. Know thyself...blah blah blah. In the spirit of self-awareness, I signed up for 750 words, a journaling site with a twist. The site design is clean and simple. Sign up and sign in via Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo!, or OpenID, and you'll see your journal page for the day, as well as a monthly archive. Days on which you fulfill the 750-word quota are marked as completed. Drop-down menus reveal a number of interesting options, my favorite of which is "Stats." Click on it, and you will see a mind-boggling analysis of your writing: a graph of words per minute, ratings--my first entry was PG-13, emotional content, mindset, time orientation, primary sense explored, frequently used words, etc. You have options to share--or not--these stats in part or whole. OH HELLS YES...I just found out that I can track metadata, too. I'll have to use this to add in sleep hours and quality, and compare it to mood. The possibilities are endless.

Basically, this is stream-of-conscious journaling for nerds, and how. I'll be checking in daily with tips, tricks, ideas, and occasional stats. If you're interested in getting in on this experiment, head over to 750 words and start writing!

FlyLady: The Cult of Clean

Yesterday, I added a post about a negative experience that I had with a FlyLady acolyte *ahem* moderator, and it got me thinking...as do most things. On a whim, I Google-searched "Is FlyLady a cult?" The results were both amusing and disturbing.

FlyLady uses a very particular brand of slang, full of acronyms for ideas taken from the FlyLady system. See the list below for examples:

• SHE = Sidetracked Home Executive
  
• CHAOS = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome
  
• FLYing = Finally Loving Yourself

In addition, participants are referred to as "FlyBabies," hence, the Beginner's Baby Steps that serve as the introduction to the system. The VERY few male participants are known as "FlyGuys." Husbands and children are reduced to DH = Dear Husband, DD = Dear Daughter, and DS = Dear Son. Negative commentary or self-deprecation is known as "stinkin' thinkin'." A success story, a new scrubber, or anything else that has a positive note is often called a "God-breeze." Emotional outbursts induced by the numerous testimonials often come with the attached line: "crying purple puddles." By themselves, these things are just--annoying, IMHO--soundbites meant to create a sense of community and to simplify parts of the system, making them more marketable. I won't even go too far into the 1950's hausfrau/Stepford Wives feeling that seems to be pervasive on FlyLady; after all, the word "lady" is right there in the title. Cleaning is for ladies. Right.
The number of people/acolytes/FlyTrolls who used these terms to argue the value of the system when it came under criticism on blogs, YahooAnswers!, etc. was...well..a little terrifying. In fact, there were so many comments and complaints about the YahooAnswers! question--which was obviously meant as tongue-in-cheek satire--that it was eventually pulled from Yahoo! for being "offensive." This thread--on FlyLady's BlogTalk forum--was posted after the question was pulled. The responses on the forum are all from FlyBabies. There is much laughter, some irony, and then it all devolves into a discussion about penguins.

Again, by themselves, these things mean very little regarding an assessment of FlyLady, as a system. But, let's be serious, folks.... These people are up in arms over HOUSEKEEPING. They are riled up enough to get a question pulled from YahooAnswers! and create a forum topic that kept going for over three weeks. Any sane person would have written off the criticism and moved on without a second thought. More red flags, for me.

So, it comes down to this: the resources on the FlyLady site are free, and now, so am I. I unsubscribed from the mailing list without blinking, this afternoon. No more marketing ploys eating up space in my inbox, no more whiny "testimonials" about how much better life is thanks to FlyLady, no more awful music assaulting my ears via radio and video podcasts, and no more second-guessing about why I never wanted to complete many of the Beginner's Baby Steps in the first place. If I want scheduling help, I'll go directly to the dashboard at FlyLady.net and ignore the rest.

I'll be happy to clean, but I won't convert.

FlyLady (The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY)

The Good

FlyLady has a multitude of tools from which you can pick and choose, all of which are easily accessed from the home site. It would appear that the FlyLady team has made much-needed improvements to the site, recently. It is more attractive and user-friendly than it ever has been, and I may even be more inclined to visit more frequently, as a result.

Personally, I find the Sneak Peek for the Week useful. It provides a break-down of cleaning tasks for the week. Each week focuses on a specific area/zone of the home, which allows for regular rotation of tasks. If you complete these tasks each day, the focus area does become noticeably cleaner, by week’s end. You can access the Sneak Peek by clicking on the “Today” tab on the home page. Doing so will take you to a daily “Launch Pad,” which includes everything from detailed cleaning lists to “Pamper Missions.” The Launch Pad is probably the best thing that has happened to FlyLady since I first looked at the system YEARS ago.

If you aren’t keen on checking the FlyLady site on a daily or weekly basis, there is the added feature of a mailing list. Subscribing to the list will provide you with daily email reminders, testimonials, etc. Other features are also available through the website, such as audio and video podcasts, a forum (requires registration via BlogTalk radio), and a chatroom.

The Bad

Be prepared for a high volume of emails if you choose to sign up for daily reminders. You will receive everything from cleaning tasks to testimonials. These get old quickly, and it becomes more difficult to weed out the useful information from all of the extras. “God-breeze,” “crying purple puddles,” “fur babies,” and other phrases do more harm than good for me, when it comes right down to getting things DONE. Overcoming procrastination and learning to organize time and cleaning does not have to be like feeding an emotional dumpster, and I don't need or want a pat on the back every time that I cross something off of my "to do" list. If motivational speeches aren’t your thing either, you may also want to avoid the radio and video podcasts. That said, I’m sure that these features provide the necessary push and motivation for lots of users. They probably aren’t all that bad; they just don’t do anything for me.

Worse still are the near-constant product testimonials, touting the effectiveness of water bottles, dusters, rags, calendars, and anything else that FlyLady would like you to buy from the online store. I’m all for this entrepreneurial spirit; she should be able to make a bit of money off of her hard work. I should also be able to opt out of hearing about how wonderful her products are, if I choose to ignore the marketing. This isn’t really possible, via the email list. You have a choice of all or nothing, via email. Thankfully, if you don't mind adding filters to your Gmail account or deleting things on a regular basis, it is relatively easy to pick and choose the communications that work for you.

FInally, this site is VERY female-centric. I just checked out the forums, and found the following: searching members by gender yields exactly 11 people who identified as “male,” and SIXTY FIVE PAGES of people who identified as “female.” This is not necessarily a bad thing, in and of itself. Supportive communities of women who find themselves with similar goals can be very positive. ...which brings me to the UGLY side of FlyLady.

The UGLY

Since I just recently moved in with my boyfriend, and I have no children, I was interested to see how people incorporated their husbands and children into the FlyLady system. That’s when I made the mistake of trying out the chatroom for the first time. I read the rules, signed in, introduced myself, and then asked how people encouraged men to participate in the FlyLady system, at home. I even began by telling the mods that if my question fell under the “controversial” heading in the rules, that they should tell me so I didn’t “rock the boat.” I was met with a variety of responses…some supportive of my curiosity, and one in particular…well, not so much. A few people offered genuine personal insights, which I really appreciated. One recommended the book “The Surrendered Wife.” Even though it doesn’t really fit my relationship, I said that I would probably give it a read, anyway. I disagreed with a lot of the comments, like "men and women are just wired differently," (i.e. this is why men don't use/need/search for cleaning tips), but I expected some of that, because it accurately represents the experiences and opinions of those people within the FlyLady system.

Everything was fine until one of the moderators--username ‘jag’--started repeatedly reminding me that this was a “working chatroom,” and that I should email Marla (the FlyLady proper) if I wanted insights…and that if I did email her and got a response, “She would say, ‘Lead by example.’” I started to get the impression that I wasn’t welcome…at all. So I asked the moderator (jag) directly, and she sent me a private message that read something to the effect of, “I guess that I don’t understand your question.” I repeated it, and received some incredibly ugly responses, wrapped up in the guise of being pleasant. First, jag said, “It sounds like you are writing a paper.” Awesome, thanks for the suspicion, that’s exactly the kind of support I needed. Or, how about these gems: “FlyLady is for YOU” (which avoids my question altogether), or “it sounds like you are talking about ‘larger societal issues'” (more suspicion). After a few of these ill-advised moments in moderation, I got tired of the passive aggression and said, “Look, I don’t like playing games. I just want a clear-cut answer. Is my question appropriate for this chatroom or not.” I was met, finally, with the following responses: “I’m not playing games…you telling me ‘look’ is disrespectful,” --I apologized for being curt--and finally, “as long as you are asking for yourself, ask away.” Great, more suspicion. Thanks.

I wasn’t planning on putting all of this in my blog or in a email to the FlyLady herself, but now…that’s a different story. I doubt I’ll be back to the chatroom again, until the negative and decidedly metallic taste of this most recent encounter has been washed clean, and I am half-tempted to unsubscribe from the email list as well. (On a slightly nerdier note, I find myself longing for the days when I dealt with mods who knew how to do their jobs and did them well, without personal opinions getting in the way of doing the job.) I'll happily jump on board as a "Fly Baby" and make use of the system (for now), but I think I would do well to start looking very carefully at other options, as well.

It's All Been Done Before

After a long hiatus and a good deal of personal reflection, I think that I am finally ready to move forward again. Life and change seems to progress either at a crawl or at faster-than-light speeds. Everything suggests that I just need to keep moving along. Besides, living with someone who obsessively documents everything in video and pictures stirs in me the need to do some documentation of my own. For better or worse, here I am again!

I have been working on a particular "experiment" already, so I may as well continue through the end of the month, and then cue up a new project for the month of December. Consider the rest of this post as an introduction, then.

What is FlyLady?

FlyLady is a website dedicated to de-cluttering and other household cleaning duties. Given that my living situation changed with my employment status, so have my cleaning and organizational needs. [Thankfully, I couldn't have asked for a better result of being laid off. This is a good place to be.] FlyLady tries to take the guesswork out of housework, by providing the tasks and tools for you, right down to weekly and daily schedules.

I've been doing the Beginner's Baby Steps for my new-ish apartment, and I will be posting about them through the end of the month.

My next post provides an overview of FlyLady (The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY). It serves as both introduction and cautionary tale, after my most recent foray into the system.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 11: ....)

I apologize for the lack of a real post, this morning. My school just eliminated my position yesterday, so I need a day or so to come to terms with everything. Now that there will be no general music classes for the middle school and no choir program, I have to figure out what to do next.

Hopefully, I'll be back to my regularly scheduled posts tomorrow. The routine will probably do me some good.

Thanks for your understanding.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 10: Dishes)

There is nothing I loathe more than doing the dishes by hand. It was always my designated chore when I was a kid. At best, I can slap on a pair of headphones and dance while I scrub. (I like to listen to old-school industrial, dubstep, and silly alt-hip-hop. Music is just about the only thing that keeps me motivated.) At worst, well...it can be a scary, angry affair. With every scrub, I think about how much time I am wasting, when there is a dishwasher sitting right next to me. My roommate refuses to fix it, and doesn't actually know if it's even broken. She gets paranoid about hearing a dripping sound in the basement, but will neither replace the machine or have anyone come to service it. It is a glorified drying rack. Now, I know that I am a horrible person--bah--but I admit to sneaking an automated load of dishes from time to time, when I know that she will be gone long enough. ...and you know what? It is liberating, every time.

There are times, though, when I simply have to bite the bullet and do the dirty work--and fit in as many awful idioms as possible. It's nice to have an empty sink, and it makes sense to me to wash dishes immediately after their use. Sometimes, though, this isn't possible, and batching can help to solve the problem.

Tips and Tricks

1. Rinse your dishes off as soon as you are done with them. It helps to loosen food particles and saves time on scrubbing, later.
   
2. Soak dishes when necessary. I find that soaking them while I am at work allows me to wash them quickly, when I get home. You can also soak them overnight, but I would recommend reserving some time in the morning to wash any overnight dishes, if possible.
   
3. Be sure that your sponges, brushes, detergent, etc. are up to the task. Don't try to wash dishes with a sponge that is crumbling in your hands. Stock up on supplies ahead of time, on grocery day.
   
4. If you are going to batch cook, don't drive yourself crazy by attempting to batch clean at the same time. Wash the dishes that you can wash, while you are waiting for your food to cook, and only if you have no other cooking-related tasks to complete (i.e. chopping vegetables, prepping other dishes, etc.) Anything else can wait until the next day, when you don't have to cook dinner. If you are batch-cooking on a weekend, and you have no problems filling an entire Sunday with cooking and cleaning (a.k.a. having no life), then have at it. Do both in one day and save yourself the trouble, later in the week.
   
5. Plan to do dishes every couple of days, to avoid both burnout and overflow. If you have a large family that requires more frequent dish-washing habits, delegate! Share this chore so that each family member has to wash the dishes on a given day/s.
   
6. If you have the resources, get a washing machine. It saves on water, energy, time, and aggravation.
   

My Rules My roommate is not particularly keen on communal living. We eat basically the same foods, but she isn't interested in sharing. In two years, I think that we have eaten the same dinner five times or less. Shared chores are also mythical, around here, so it can be frustrating, feeling like I am cleaning for two in common areas...i.e., I pay rent to be the maid. It is far too easy to rebel against these feelings, but this rebellion can be both beneficial and detrimental. Regardless of our mutually exclusive habits, things need to get done, and we need to do them.

1. I will only do my own dishes. This can be difficult to track, but I'm not steadfast with this rule. I refuse to count forks, but I also won't waste my time on someone else's dishes, unless they are willing to share labor on a regular basis.
   
2. I don't expect anyone else to do my dishes, either.
   
3. Given the increase in cooking, I probably need to schedule a batch of dishes every other day, or so. In the future, I can probably space this out to every three days without any trouble.
   
4. There will be dancing, and I will not apologize for it.
   
5. When I move, I will have a place with a dishwasher, if it kills me.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 9: General House Cleaning)

The Dirty Truth

Neither I nor my roommate are neat freaks, and we both seem to keep ourselves so busy that we use our busy-ness as an excuse not to clean on a regular basis. She has a giant stack of mail, I have a giant stack of dishes. We have no agreed-upon schedule for shared chores, so they get done "whenever" or not at all. There are times when I feel like a glorified maid and others when I just stop caring altogether. Our living conditions speak of laziness and selfish tendencies on both sides, but more importantly, they speak of inefficient methods and time management.

I am genuinely hoping that batching my housework will allow me to set a better example without sacrificing my sanity or overall quality of life. Each day this week, I will be focusing on a different cleaning task, and how to use batching to address it. Today, the focus is on general house cleaning.

Tools and Resources

There are a number of different websites dedicated to the topic of clutter, cleaning, and organization. Here are a few to get you started:

1. FlyLady.com offers a wide variety of tips, tricks, reminders, and products to tackle housework. They have a section entitled Beginner BabySteps to help the longtime "messy"/novice clean-freak develop new, positive cleaning habits. You can also sign up for a list serve that offers daily reminders and inspirational stories. IMHO, I find the list serve cloying and disruptive. Don't bother signing up unless you really need to be sweet-talked into cleaning, or you need nagging reminders to get yourself to work. I would offer a similar review of their podcast and tendency to advertise their own cleaning products. The most--and perhaps only--useful thing here is that regular cleaning tasks are already predetermined and batched for your convenience, and rotate on a regular schedule. Head straight for the Weekly Sneak Peek, do the work, and watch your house clean itself, but feel free to ignore the rest of the site. The results won't be immediately noticeable, but as long as you do the work, your house will get cleaner.
   
   
2. Unclutterer.com has an extensive archive of posts on dealing with clutter, and emphasizes minimalist living over "stuff." (Many thanks to Elizabeth for the site recommendation!) I like the fact that I can search by topic and find exactly what I needed to read.
   
   
3. LifeHack occasionally publishes posts relating to boosting productivity through decluttering.

My Plan
I'm going to choose one or two days a week to complete all of the cleaning tasks from FlyLady's "Weekly Sneak Peak" as a single batch. Given that the site only publishes each list on Monday, I'll probably schedule this cleaning day later in the week so I can plan in advance.

I'm going to use my other days for more frequent cleaning jobs, such as dishes, laundry, etc. I'll post about these regular tasks in future posts.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 8: Blogging)

As I mentioned in my Week One Update, I found myself scrambling to blog on a few mornings when I hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. In addition, I truly want to avoid dividing my loyalties by losing focus or allowing myself to rush through posts. How can I reconcile my need for regular blogging and regular sleep? Blog in batches!

Step 1: Brainstorming

The easiest thing to batch is ideas. I started by setting up a draft post in which I created an ongoing list of experiment ideas, and another in which I listed post topics by day. If I ever forget what I want to write, or if I am struggling with making a decision, it is easy to refer back to my lists for reminders.

Step 2: Information Gathering

Reserve some time each week to do online or other research for upcoming blog posts. Copy-Paste any relevant links to resources in the aforementioned draft post, for easy access, later. You can do the same thing with any images, videos, or sound files you plan to embed in your posts. (This is the one thing I struggle to do, as I am concerned with finding both free and legal pics to add to my posts. It can be tiring and time-consuming to do so. I think that I will be more likely to include more media snippets if I get used to batching research and posting, though.)

Step 3: Write in Batches

Now that you have freed up some extra minutes with previous batching tasks, you should have more time to dedicate to focused writing. I genuinely enjoy writing first thing in the morning, while I sip my coffee and nibble on breakfast. Still, it can be hard to wake up early each morning, and you may not be able to blog on a daily basis if you are traveling. It could be easier to pre-write for an extended period of time, when it is available to you. Sunday afternoons are nice and lazy for me, so I'm starting to batch my blog posts, today.

Step 4: Schedule Your Posts

At this point, most blogging platforms allow you to store your posts and schedule them to appear at regular intervals in the future. Then, you can spend your mornings engaged in other things: promoting your blog, free-writing, creativity exercises, physical exercises, job-hunting, research, homework...your choices are nearly limitless.

Estimated time saved:

I honestly don't expect to save any time by batching blog posts, but I do expect to avoid a few other potential negatives: lack of focus, lateness to work, missed posts, etc.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Week One Update)

So, how did it go? Did I accomplish everything I set out to do? Were there any unexpected consequences or benefits? Read on!

First of all, Happy Mothers Day! I don't know how all of you mothers do it. I can't imagine having to clean, cook, and organize schedules for an entire family. Congratulations on all of your hard-earned love!

I'm not going to lie; this week was pretty fantastic. I ate well, I handled work email like a champ, and had plenty of time to socialize and relax. Despite the fact that our musical run was last weekend, I had a performance yesterday, and we have our first choir concerts next week, things are surprisingly calm.

The biggest time and effort saver was planning and cooking my meals in advance. No more being "too busy" or "forgetting" to eat. I was never "too tired" to cook dinner. At this point, I'm not counting calories, but I did plan healthy and satisfying meals. I was rarely hungry, and as a result, I was less likely to snack. Unfortunately, all of that cooking has increased the need to do large batches of dishes, and to deal with trash and recycling in a completely different way. I have some ideas about how to deal with the kitchen, but I'll save those for another blog post.

In the end, I decided not to sign up for Direct Debit for my student loan accounts. It turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, at the moment. I would have to snail mail my request and seek approval, and if I ever wanted to discontinue the service, I would have to snail mail another request and wait for 10 business days. Honestly, it takes two minutes for me to pay my bill online, and I'm willing to spend those two minutes to set up on-time payments when I deal with the mail on Mondays.

It took all of two days before I found myself with large swaths of free time...and I had no idea what to do with it! I spent two whole evenings playing the new Mortal Kombat for Xbox 360. I was out all day on Saturday for a school celebration, grocery shopping, and then a friend's birthday party. It was lovely, weather and all. I didn't miss out on anything: TV, friends, video games, good music, good food. Everything should be this enjoyable.

Okay, that's a bit of a lie. As a caution to anyone who is thinking about trying this challenge, the up-front costs can be a little daunting. I spent an insane amount of money on my first grocery trip: around $183. I lost a lot of sleep over the first few nights, as I tried to batch-plan, shop, and cook. I think I may have gotten only about 4 hours of sleep a night, for the first three days. I was also late for work by a few minutes on two occasions, because I was trying to continue blogging on so little sleep. This stage was short-lived though. The benefits presented themselves within only a few short days.

Next up: Day 8 (Blogging!)

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 7: Staying Social)

I am notoriously terrible at keeping in touch with friends and family on a regular basis, and I have gotten less and less social, the longer I have been in the teaching profession. I have recognized a few factors that contribute to this bad habit:

• Burnout: I spend so much time talking/singing during the day, that when I get home, I find that I crave quiet time to myself. Having so much face-time during the week often leaves little room for self-reflection and silence, which I find not only lovely but necessary. It helps me to avoid sacrificing my whole self for the sake of my career. I love my job, but I'm not one of those people who exists solely to work. Life is far more interesting than that.
  
  
• Vocal rest: As a singer, I am very conscious of the effects that teaching has on vocal health...which is to say that it can be murderous. I am less likely to engage in lengthy phone conversations if I think that vocal rest is a greater priority.
  
  
• Decreased tolerance for wasted words: As much as I love my friends and family, I have less and less patience for chatter that pretends to be conversation. People spend an awful amount of time complaining and feeling sorry for themselves, or conversely, bragging. Insecurity is at the root of all of it. Most of my middle school students seem more well-adjusted and generally happy than the adults in my life. We all need to vent, on occasion. I just have more difficulty with people who never seem to get past the same complaints, or never take action to improve their outlook on life.

The Upside

Distancing myself from complainers has made me far less likely to complain, myself. I can't remember the last time that I was bored or genuinely unhappy, and I don't feel the need to compete for the trophy for "worst day/week". In addition, I waste much less time. I'm happy to be an attentive listener when someone really needs it, but I fail to see how listening to repeated complaints helps anyone. It starts to enable misery-making instead of encouraging empowerment. I'm more likely to spend my time with people who are making the most of life: eating good food, dancing up a storm, going on mini-adventures, enjoying the weather--even when it is raining; and being critical, creative, brilliant thinkers. I'm no longer drawn to pity, but rather, to celebration.

The Downside

People start to get insecure when you haven't contacted them, in a while. They let their thoughts run rampant, and they tend to include sentiments like "You don't care about me anymore; you only care about yourself," and "You're too busy to socialize." Leaving too much time between personal emails/phone calls can frustrate and sadden others, and they may be less likely to socialize with you in the future, if they think that you won't return the favor. As a result, your social circle starts to shrink, and then it is far too easy to get wrapped up in your own personal drama. In other words, you start to prove them right. You start to miss out on opportunities to make real, lasting connections with the people that you value most. Empathy for others starts to feel forced. Some days, I feel like all my compassion is spent in the classroom. It is exhausting, but it is no excuse to avoid caring for the needs of friends and family.

The Cure

Batch it!

Make a list of people that you haven't contacted in a while, and then eliminate those people who make you feel miserable every time you do. It might sound harsh, but there are "friends" that only seem to want your company when they need a wailing wall. If you feel that those friendships are still worth salvaging, take a moment to communicate your concerns. Try setting up a raucous/undeniably fun social outing, with one rule: "No complaining; we're here to have fun/adventure/new experiences." If you still feel like you are being used and abused on a regular basis, run...fast...and don't look back. Family is different, IMHO. With family, we take the good with the bad. Stay in touch, share your concerns, and stay honest and open. Still, don't allow your family members to use you either. Sometimes, a well-timed card in the mail, a five-minute phone call, or a two-line email is enough to tell them that you're thinking of them. It doesn't have to monopolize your entire day.

Once you have your list, pick one or two days each week to get in touch with each person, on a rotating basis. There are certain people that you may want to call every time (Mom, best friends, etc.) and others that you can contact less frequently. If you think that it will take more time than you have available, set a (silent) timer, or lead off with something like, "I have to make another call/eat dinner/run errands/etc." in a little bit, but I wanted to check in and see how you are doing." Sometimes, you can't avoid small-talk, but setting a limit on it will help you to avoid killing your day and your mood. If you know that your conversation will take longer, be sure that you have enough time to dedicate to that person without distractions, or consider sending an email instead. For those people who are casual acquaintances or new friends, Facebook or quick text messages usually do the trick.

Focus less on constant contact, and more on actually spending time with people in the real world, when you can. Most of the working world already batches social outings and events; they are called "happy hour" and "weekends." In all seriousness though, be sure to take time to socialize and rejuvenate, even though free days can feel like perfect opportunities to do more work. If you're looking for things to do, Meetup.com offers listings for group outings in your area, by interest. Seriously, in Baltimore, there is a group dedicated solely to eating at different sushi restaurants each week. Think about organizing or attending a Tweetup. Check your local city paper for events. Sign up for a weekly class that is NOT work-related. Plan to go with or without friends, and then start coercing them into joining you for everything from dinner to trapeze training.

...and on that note, I have to run! Today, I'll be singing at a school function/spring festival, and then I'm going out dancing for a friend's birthday party tonight. ADVENTURE!

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 6: At-Home Entertainment)

Batching at-home entertainment

Like most other people, I often want a decent chunk of time to relax after a long day at work. I want it to be free of work distractions, the same way that I want work to be free of social and personal distractions. Truly though, distractions are necessary, because they give our brains a momentary chance to switch gears and rest, if only for a few minutes. Right...a few minutes. My recent efforts at batching have already resulted in a few extra hours of free time, to do with as I pleased. I went overboard and spent the last two nights playing the new Mortal Kombat instead of pacing myself. My best advice for batching at-home entertainment is to avoid bingeing on it when you don't know what else to do with your time. Planning ahead will help.

How to avoid media bingeing

It doesn't matter if it is a video game, a favorite television show, or a habit of following every link that someone posts on your Facebook feed; it's easy to binge. Far too easy. So, we can manage this tendency by adhering to a few small guidelines:

1. Plan ahead: Don't try to cram all of your entertainment interests into one afternoon/evening. It will leave you tired and make you feel guilty for neglecting other duties--even if you didn't neglect anything at all. Instead, consider choosing ONE thing each day: an episode or two of your favorite TV show on one night, video games the next, a regular movie night, extra time spent on the internet, etc. You will still get your entertainment fix, without allowing it to control all of your free time.
   
   
2. Set a timer: If you are spending your time on or near a computer, try using one of the many free, online timers available to you. I like E.gg Timer for its simplicity. If you would rather use something more customizable, try Online Stopwatch. Here, you have options for both a stopwatch and a countdown timer, as well as chess timers, egg times, etc. The "Custom" version--you can find the link at the bottom of the front page--even allows you to change the alarm sound. Most 3rd gen. video game consoles also include a family timer which can stop play after a set period of time. Be careful, though. It's far too easy to reset or disable the timer for "just a few more minutes" or "just until I reach the next save point." Of course, you can always use your cellphone's alarm, an digital timer, or your alarm clock, in a pinch. (Just don't forget to reset your alarm clock before you go to bed!)
   
   
3. Change your outlook and go on a media diet: This tip may be the most difficult to accept, but it is worth a try, for everyone. Eliminate the hours spent on media that you don't care about, as well as media that adds more stress than it does entertainment value. Don't buy more games or start watching more Netflix episodes/television shows than you have time to enjoy, right now. Pick a small handful of things that appeal to you, and then accept that your time is too valuable to spend it obsessing over the things that you miss.
   
   
4. Next, automate the things that you can. Set a DVR to record your favorite television shows, and watch them when it is convenient for you, for example.
   
   
5. Finally, find other ways to spend the time that you suddenly have available to you. Take up swing dancing. Learn to play a new instrument and take lessons. Finish that home improvement project that you have been promising to complete for the last two years. Start meditating/exercising/reading/sleeping regularly. Check Meetup.com for events and people that might appeal to your sense of adventure. Volunteer. Above all, do good things!

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 5: Social Media)

Batching!

For now, this task is cake. I only regularly use Facebook to post content, so I can just batch-check my notifications and new posts. In general, I post first thing in the morning, without much regard to checking every new status update, link, or picture in my feed. At night, I have more time, so I generally do a second status update, but only if there is something I have to say or share. Then, I check everyone else's interesting posts for the day, and skim/skip the rest. Most importantly, I set a time limit. On weekday mornings, I'm really not willing to spend more than 5-10 minutes playing around on Facebook, and at night, no more than 30 minutes. (The 30 minute time limit assumes that I find an interesting link worth following.)

I also use Twitter, but I have fallen out of the habit of updating it, regularly. I think that I just have to decide what to do with that space, and then I will probably use it more frequently.

I also turned off the notification sounds for both Facebook and Twitter on my phone. It prevents me from obsessively checking social media sites during the day, instead of checking them at set times. It definitely helps to cut down on distractions, and I am actually more likely to post comments, @replies, and re-tweets when I can focus on doing so.

The Downside of Batching & Automation

Quite honestly, I loathe automated responses on Twitter, but I truly despise having to read the same update twice on both Facebook and Twitter. In my opinion, these two tools function in too similar fashion to email bots. There is a reason that Spam folders exist, but sometimes, I think it's a shame that we don't have anything functional for social media other than the ubiquitous "Block this person/app" button. Because Twitter integrates Facebook and can batch updates to post to both your Twitter feed and your Facebook wall, I find myself getting sick of my friends. It's a waste of time and necessary white space when I have to read the same things over and over again. Thankfully, Facebook has finally gotten wise, and allows most tweets to be buried in the feed, though you can choose to expand them. I almost never do.

I can see greater value in batching and automating social media updates for those people who must focus on marketing/advertising and customer service, but I much prefer a more human touch. For now, I am happy to avoid social media automation and instead, stick with batch-checking instead.

Estimated time saved

I don't anticipate saving much time, since I'm just lumping all of my random check-times into larger chunks of focused batch-checking. I do think that it will save time at work and at home, because I will be able to focus more clearly on other tasks rather than running to my phone every time I hear it DING! Also, I think that I will be more likely to keep in touch with people when I actually give myself time to respond, rather than trying to remember everything that I have checked throughout the day.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 4: Bills)

Given that I am a renter, I have relatively few bills to pay each month. The major utilities are in my roommate's name, because she is the homeowner. Still, having fewer bills can also mean that they are easier to ignore. By batching my finances, I can avoid missing important deadlines, and also keep my bank ledgers up to date.

Batch!

I am starting to batch financial tasks on the same day that I open mail: Monday evenings. This enables me to pay bills or schedule payments as soon as those bills arrive, rather than losing them in the paper shuffle. The bills go straight into my Unpaid Bills folder in my portable file box, as I am dealing with the rest of the mail. Then, I just have to carry the box upstairs to my computer and pay any bills that are due before the next finance check. After I finish paying the bills, I can update my bank ledgers. I use both an Android app (Loot) and a Mac program to import and manage financial information from my bank, but I have to confess that I have been extremely lax about using either one on a regular basis. Batching these tasks should keep me on top of things, from here on out. I'm considering Mint, because I have heard so many good things about it, and I need to start adding financial information from my retirement and TSA accounts. I have to get a new phone to replace my clunker, first. (Tmo G1, whose WiFi just kicked. I'm holding out for a month or two, to see which HTC goodies drop.)

Automate!

Most of my bill payments are already automated (car and renter's insurance, regular car payments, Netflix, Rhapsody, etc.). Perhaps it is an old hang-up from my post-collegiate, nine-month period of somewhat impoverished living, but I still haven't automated everything else. I can't automate my rent--I put my check on the refrigerator--but batching will take care of that. Even though I always have the funds, automating credit card payments makes me nervous, because I worry about missing deadlines when they decide to change the payment due date on a whim. For now, I'm going to batch this payment, too. The one thing that I could definitely still stand to automate is my monthly student loan payment. It is always due on the same date each month, and always for the same amount, so it's a no-brainer. It will take me all of two minutes to set this up.

Estimated time and money saved

Honestly, I don't anticipate saving any time, with this one. If anything, I'll be spending MORE time on keeping my finances up to date. I will, however, likely save money by being more aware of my budget and avoiding late fees on bill payments. I could save anywhere between $0-$200 each month through regular budgeting, alone.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 3: Other Mail)

Thankfully, the amount of physical mail that I receive is rather small, and for now, the system that I have in place works beautifully:

Eliminate junk mail, first

Unwanted sales flyers and other obvious junk mail go into recycling as soon as I bring them into the house. It takes no more time than adding them to the mail pile on our living room table.

Ignore it; it's okay

I reserve one day a week (Monday) to deal with the mail. Any important items go directly into a portable file box, in which I have designated--and color-coded--folders for:

• Unpaid bills
  
• Financial items to file (paid bills; health care, car, and insurance information, etc.)
  
• Other items to file (instruction manuals, warranties, articles and recipes torn from magazines, etc.)
  
• Non-critical action file* (event flyers, community calendars, etc.)
  
• To read (unread magazines, mostly)

Any items that require immediate action are things that I take care of on the same day that I open my mail, to save time and stress, later.

Shred it and forget it

Things of a more personal nature go to the shredder, including all of those solicitations for credit cards and insurance. As I said before, the volume of mail that I receive is small enough that I can usually shred mail on Monday, but I don't have to toss the contents of my home-office wastebasket more than once per month.

File away!

I'm still looking for a filing system that works for me, ideally, one that is simple and visible enough for me to find whatever it is I am looking for in under five minutes. If I had a larger volume of mail to contend with, I might opt for a mail scanning service like Mailbox Forwarding*.

I really love the idea of going completely paperless, with a digital filing system like OfficeDrop*. Here is how it works: you send the paper items that you wish to scan directly to the company. Then, they scan the documents, and make digital, text-searchable PDFs of your files. Finally, they upload the files to a cloud storage drive and provide support for download and integration into Google Docs, Evernote, etc. I'm tempted to try this kind of product, but I'm not quite ready to loosen the reins on security, just yet. I'll have to do more research, first. For now, I'm still looking for something that works for me.

*(Please note that I am not advocating these particular sites, nor have I used their services. I am only providing these links as examples of the kind of services usually offered by these and similar companies.)

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 2: Email)

Admittedly, I am a little insane when it comes to email. I have four separate accounts through Gmail alone, plus my work account. One of the Gmail accounts is something that I use rarely and is painless to manage. The work account is fine, but I do receive a lot of inessential email, there. I initially set up my other three Gmail accounts according to the following guidelines: professional, personal, and outside research. Now, things aren't so clear cut. Sometimes, I receive hundreds of emails per day in each account, mostly from work- or academic-related list serves. As a result, even with the tagging and prioritization features that Gmail offers, communications can get lost. Worse, I feel the need to constantly check and respond to email, even when it serves no purpose beyond maintaining my anxiety over the potential to miss something. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Here are the methods that I am using to tame the email beast.

Batch-check Email ONLY at Set Times

I was tired of feeling like I was "on call" all of the time, so the first thing that I did was to shut off email notifications on my phone. I still sync with Gmail periodically, to be sure that it doesn't take ages to update, but I am no longer running to check my phone every time I hear a familiar Ding!

Instead, I now check and respond to work email twice daily, for half an hour just before lunch and immediately after work has ended--which varies from day to day, due to rehearsals. I was also checking all of my other accounts during these times, but I'm going to cut back to checking personal email once per day, after dinner. I don't get a huge volume of personal messages, so this should be easy enough to manage.

Cut the Fat

I am in the process of eliminating all of the "clutter" email that arrives on a daily basis. Even though I love my academic list serves, not all of the messages hold the same interest, for me. Now when I check my accounts, I often delete these without reading them at all, and I feel no more guilty or unproductive than when I read everything. I have done the same thing with solicitation/advertising/coupon emails. It saves a ridiculous amount of time when you don't have to answer everything.

Also, I really need to reconsider and cut back on the volume of most of my emails, if at all possible. I always seem to fear missing important points, especially when emailing parents. Being more concise and more focused should help. If I do need to send an occasional, long email, I can work on them periodically, and then cut and paste the information into one email. Then, I can batch the information that I need to send, without constantly flooding someone else's inbox.

Automate, Archive, Trash

My goal for the day is to tweak my Gmail accounts so that the emails which come from academic list serves are automatically archived into folders/by label, so that they never see my inbox. Then, I can batch check them at the end of each week. Barring that, I think that I'm going to sign up for the daily digest version of each list for now--though I much prefer following individual conversations. I plan to do the same thing for emails that I routinely trash, one by tedious one. It will be much less cluttered if I can direct some of those emails into the Trash, and then go back to salvage only the ones that are of interest to me. I think that it will be much easier to see and deal with those emails that actually are a priority, and require my immediate attention. The best part is that Gmail will automatically delete the contents of my Trash Bin after thirty days. With the emails that are left, I hope to play around with the label coloring system and the recent addition of priority tabs, to create a more streamlined inbox.

Estimated Time Saved

If I only have to check and send email for 1 hour each day, I estimate that I could save 3-4 hours per week--assuming that I spend a total of 30 extra minutes, bit by bit, checking my email as it arrives. Learning to be more concise with my replies will help me to save all of this time, when used wisely.

Experiment #2: We Need Batches! (Day 1: Foodstuffs)

The Challenge: Plan, Shop, Cook...in batches


The months of May and December are typically the busiest months of the year for me, as far as work is concerned. With many longs days and nights ahead, cooking and eating well can be a challenge. We've all been there: at the end of a full day, you come home and have no interest in cooking full, healthy meals, and yet, what better reason is there to eat well than to feel your best during the hectic periods of the year? If you're anything like me, you probably start raiding the pantry for convenient munchies in lieu of an actual meal, or at worst, you spend more time and money eating out or ordering in than you'd like to admit. All of these moments of exhaustion/laziness come at the expense of both your wallet and your waistline. (I have to confess, my breakfast this morning was coffee and leftover Easter candy. Mmmmmm, healthy!)

In the interest of saving time, money, and muscle, I thought that it would be a good idea to start my first batching challenge with a focus on food. As a pescetarian (mostly ovo-lacto vegetarian, plus --preferably sustainable-- fish, I prefer to eat fresh, rather than frozen, and I have little expertise when it comes to either freezing or canning foods in large batches. Shopping for a month and doing large-scale cooking isn't really my aim, here. Right now, I'd be satisfied with shopping and batch prep. on a weekly basis. Busy times demand simplification, and since I'm only cooking for one, I'd rather rotate and repeat meals during the week, and treat myself to a not-so-healthy day out once per week. This is similar to "slow-carb" eating plans, with an emphasis on veggies, legumes, and protein at each meal.

Here is my batching schedule, so far:

• Wednesday night: Meal planning and recipe gathering for the following week.
  
• Saturday morning: Fridge and pantry check, and then AM grocery shopping.
  
• Sunday morning/early afternoon: Batch prep. and cook for the next six days.

Since I'm starting a day late, I'll be doing both my shopping and cooking this afternoon. (I already planned my meals for the week on Wednesday.)

Here is the menu for this week:
(I know that it lacks variety, but remember, I'm trying to simplify everything, this month.)

• Breakfast: egg whites, spinach, cuban-style black beans, avocado, salsa, coffee
  
• Lunch: hummus and veggies, plus a protein (grilled soy chick'n strips/seasoned tofu)
  
• Dinner: grilled/baked fish (3 days) or tempeh (3 days), veggie, curried lentils
  
• Snack: cottage cheese, acai puree; and fresh, organic oranges
  
• Other: one glass of red wine with dinner, afternoon tea

In addition to purchasing these basic supplies, I'm going to pick up some extra single-serving containers in which to pack and store my meals for the week. (Note: this will also help me to monitor portion sizes, which is always a plus.)

Tonight, I'll be batch prepping/cooking the following things:

• cook black beans
  
• cook lentils
  
• wilt spinach
  
• make huge batch of hummus...this is vastly better than the store-bought varieties
  
• marinate and cook proteins, if necessary
  
• chop or otherwise pre-prep all veggies, and then store

Oh right...and then I should probably wash the dishes.

Estimated time and money saved:

Even if I ate out/ordered in for every meal, I should still save 5-7 hours each week using this alternate plan. How much time do you spend each week on cooking, leaving work to eat, or sitting in restaurants? How many extra calories do you end up wasting on ordering in, for the sake of freeing up extra time? All of this time and health could be saved with batch cooking, and you could still splurge, during one day off each week. Even if I spend $100 on groceries for the week (which is an extremely high estimate for one person), consider the amount of money that you spend each day, on everything from coffee to takeout. I would save $10-$30 on coffee, alone. In general, I expect to save about $30-75/week, without sacrificing meals.

Experiment #2: We Need Stinking Batches! (Introduction)

I almost can't believe that the blogging challenge is over, and that I can start to focus on actual experiments again! I was half-tempted to delete the old posts from my failed C210K experiment and then reboot this newest endeavor as an actual Experiment #1, but I thought that I would be cheating if I did so. After all, the whole point of this blog is to focus on the process as much as the results. I found myself wanting to attack too many experiments at once, and I wasn't quite sure where the sword would fall. It landed here, on the one thing that I need to make the rest of my goals manifest: time. We all struggle with finding enough time in a single day to do everything we want to do, and it's easy to feel guilty when the "To Do" list has items left undone. I thought that finding some ways to free up time would allow me to get more done, hence, my immediate interest in batching and automation.

What is batching?

If you have ever read Tim Ferris' book The 4-Hour Workweek, his blog, or any of the related posts on Lifehack, you probably already have a good idea about what batching entails. Basically, batching involves saving routine tasks (house chores, email, etc.) for set times, and then completing them in bundles, rather than trying to accomplish little bits each day. As an example, you could do several loads on laundry on Sunday night, rather than trying to do a load each day.

What is automation?

Automation involves eliminating time spent on routine tasks by delegating and streamlining those tasks, using either human or technological assistance. A simple and oft-used example of automation is when you set up automatic bill payments through your bank, rather than paying each individual bill online or via mail.

The Experiment

Each day during the month of May, I am going to attempt to batch or automate one routine task. Ultimately, this experiment attempts to answer (number) key questions:

1. How much time can I save each day/week/month by batching and automating tasks? (I will need to record times as best as I can to compare them against my estimates for each task.)
   
2. How will this affect my tendency to avoid overwhelm, guilt, or avoidance associated with completing or failing to complete routine and necessary tasks? (I will also need to record emotional responses to the experiment.)
   
3. What are the overall benefits and consequences of batching and automation, as applied to daily living, both professional and personal?

The Rules In my preliminary online research, I did stumble across one other blogger (Eric G.) who had attempted this challenge. You can find his rules and results here, at My 4-Hr. Workweek. (As a fair warning, much of his blog focuses on and advocates Tim Ferris' principals in the original book. Feel free to take everything here, there, and everywhere with a healthy dose of critical thinking and skepticism.) My rules are slightly different from Eric's, but I may refer to/cite/link to his site if I use the same tools he does.

1. Like Eric, I won't attempt to set limits on how small or large the task needs to be. I will simply focus on those tasks which seem to demand my attention. I will not, however, make excuses to batch tiny tasks just to get out of handling larger, more pressing issues. My tasks will be highly relevant to my own needs, and may not apply to all readers, though many general tasks will have value to a wider audience.
   
2. Also like Eric, I will attempt to quantify the amount of time I spend on routine tasks. The goal right now is not to rush through tasks, but rather, to accurately record the actual amount of time I spend on each task.
   
3. I will be limiting my posts for this experiment to the month of May, though I may continue to batch tasks well after the experiment has concluded. As useful and worthwhile results or tools present themselves, I may "check in" from time to time after the official experiment has ended, and provide links to earlier, relevant posts.

The Show Must Go On (Blog to Learn, Day 19)

I am awake earlier than usual today in order to take care of some necessary tasks prior to the closing of our musical run tonight. I had a dream that someone stood me up for dinner, probably because I did not get the chance to eat a full meal after the show, and it was far too late to consider doing so. I also have very little to eat in my refrigerator, after exhausting my post-break supplies. Obviously, groceries are on the list. They are also on the ever-growing list of things that I can learn to batch. I am starting to realize that batching might be more difficult than it looks, so I'll have to be careful when I'm planning my blog posts for the month of May.

In general, I think that the Blog to Learn challenge was an absolute success. I started late, in the middle of April. I even missed a few days here and there, but I still managed to fall into the habit of regular blogging. In fact, I look forward to it, every morning. I also learned a lot about my motivations, which are leading me directly to the first official experiment, beginning tomorrow. I also got to the important part of the process when I wanted to rebel against blogging. I started to recognize that I could use the time I spend blogging each morning for other things, like exercising or job-hunting. I think that it is important to keep this writing process in tact, though. Writing forces me to focus on the things in my life that demand attention.

I do have a tendency toward catastrophic indecision, and last night as I was driving home, I was struck with a thousand other things that I wanted to substitute for the batching challenge: diet and exercise, decluttering/housecleaning, paperwork, socialization, adventure/excursion based experiments, and on and on.... Rather than looking at this urge as a call to avoid the batching challenge that has presented itself so naturally, I'm going to look at it as a sign of success. I can always include all of these ideas in miniature, as part of the batching challenge, itself. I might even free up enough time and avoid enough anxiety over things left "undone" that I can fill with other goals. I think that I'm headed in the right direction. The trick is to keep moving.

In Sight (Blog to Learn, Day 18)

This is strange. Yesterday was a long day; I probably got home at about 10 PM, after having to contend with a wide variety of potentially exhausting situations. For one, I taught all day, and then I had four or five children who showed up after school, to practice and "chill" before their performance, that evening. At the same time, I had a friend who decided to stop by to pick up some music, and to vent about some relationship issues. I really wish that I had been able to do more work, but these distractions turned into a convenient way for me to avoid that work. Then again, it is show week, and I never had any delusions about making much personal progress, this week.

I addition, I slipped back into an old habit, and I checked my email, first thing in the morning. Wow. That was a mistake. In my personal account was a sad and mildly accusatory note from my dad, about my failure to keep in touch with him. I probably should work on keeping in touch with most people, but it hasn't yet become a habit. It's clearly an area that I need to work on. His email was on my mind for much of the morning, but I know that it would be silly to try to write a worthwhile reply before tomorrow morning.

I can't believe it; my first blogging challenge is nearly over, and I have done fairly well at keeping up with posts, with the slight exception of my illness-and-travel-fueled Spring Break. As much as I hate to admit it, Spring Break was a bit depressing, because I had a difficult time allowing myself to relax. I started to feel a bit useless, doing little beyond sleeping off the sickness and spending time with family. Still, I am already looking back fondly at all of that FREE TIME! This point to some current flaws in my thinking:

1. I don't know how to participate in active relaxation. This probably explains my lack of interest in "going out" to spend time with other people (in dancing, dining, weekend excursions, etc.) It makes me uncomfortable at times, because I find myself feeling guilty for not doing "work." I also tend to avoid the exhaustion that comes with spending time with people, after spending time with people all day. I can admit that I need my quiet moments, but I find that I am now retreating into them. Following #1, my attitudes point to a few key changes that I probably need to make:
   
   • I need better friends, who enliven rather than exhaust me. I either need to minimize or eliminate contact with those people who only seem to want me as a wailing wall.
     
   • I need to consider spending time to keep in touch with the people that really do matter to me, on the deepest of levels: family, intimate friends, and social acquaintances that offer joy or inspire a desire for closer friendship. This may mean learning to schedule social contact, until I get used to it again.
     
   • I need to talk less, at least when it comes to the rambling, unfocused, time-fillers that words can be. In other words, I need to focus more on meaningful communication.
     
   • Finally, I need to make relaxation pleasurable, and not a guilty. Oddly, I feel less guilty when I spend an hour reading than I do when I spend that same block of free time watching an episode of something on Netflix or playing a video game. I think that it might have something to do with my usual focus on intellect and knowledge acquisition, as well as the typical stigma attached to TV and video games as time-wasters.
     
   • Awareness training via meditation would likely be of great benefit to me, for many, many reasons.
2. Busy does not equal productive.
   
3. Sleep, food, physical activity, and other basic needs should be top priority, and not simply "work breaks."
   
4. I need to tackle avoidant behavior when I am faced with overwhelming circumstances.

More and more, this blog is starting to follow a natural progression. Although I initially had a difficult time deciding which experiment to try next, I have found myself seeking out resources and information on (non-programming related) batching, automation, and elimination. Lucky for me, my first post in this category will fall on a Sunday, when I will have plenty of time to do some preliminary research and planning. I have one more day of general blogging to go! See you tomorrow!

Defeat, the Bitterest Taste (Blog to Learn, Day 17)

The Penguins lost Game 7 (0-1) to Tampa Bay, last night. I woke up this morning, only to find that I have coffee, but no coffee filters. Tonight is opening night for our spring musical; therefore, I will be at school from 7:45 AM until 9:30 PM. Yep, it's that kind of day. (If I don't make this quick, I will be late, too...which will cast a dark shadow on the rest of my morning.)

Yesterday was not a very productive day, for me. I found myself avoiding tasks at work that weren't of critical importance, which isn't the best idea during concert month. I'm going to chalk it up to the initial resistance that comes with returning to work after any extended break. The problem is that I woke up this morning, still tired, allergy-ridden, and feeling avoidant. I will have to push through it, with the understanding that I will be better off in the long run if I take care of those responsibilities now. I'm fairly certain that I'm just upset because I didn't wake up early enough to spend time on the very time-consuming task of job-hunting. I have a desire to put in some time each morning, after blogging, to work toward personal goals involving career, music-related research, etc. I have made a lot more time to read, in recent days, which is both relaxing and informative. Doing so has spurred me on, making me ask more questions and forcing me to think beyond daily routine. Sadly, I have little time to jot down my thoughts as I read. I'm going to need to find a solution for that particular problem. On the plus side, I am genuinely looking forward to Saturday morning, when I will be able to start in on my next experiment...and catch up on some much-needed sleep.

This is a Bob Dylan Song Waiting to Happen (Blog to Learn, Day 16)

Well, after yesterday, I am still having mixed emotions about my job. On one side, our morning meeting made it all too clear that change is in the wind, and it may not benefit any of the arts teachers. Latin has already been removed from the schedule, but the Latin teacher has retained his job and will be teaching Language Arts, instead. It also sounded more and more like someone may be cut from the resource schedule altogether. Our principal also warned us that we may not hear about job placement, reassignment, etc. until late August. It's all the more reason to consider my options.

On the other side, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many of the kids practiced their music during spring break. I also got a lot of small but necessary tasks finished. I was in bed early, ready to pass out, when my best friend--who lives out of state--called to share some exciting news. Then, my boyfriend called too. So much for sleep, but I would take the phone calls from people I love, any day.

I am off to another late start this morning, though. I'm going to have to reconsider my mornings...and my evenings, for that matter. Yesterday, despite being exhausted, I made a decent dinner and got an hour or so of reading in before falling into bed. Oh, and I blogged elsewhere for the first time in a while. Not too shabby. Today should be even better, if I can use my non-teaching time wisely and efficiently. I may have to start using more of my A.M. quiet time on job-hunting, for a while. Quite honestly, I think it may be easier to deal with those big, "scary" tasks before going to the job I already have. Then, I can be consistent about spending time on important pursuits, and still have the opportunity to read and sleep in the evenings.

Off to the Races (Blog to Learn, Day 15)

I probably shouldn't feel so wretched and anxious about returning to work, especially considering that I spent much of my break sick and sad. Even though I am not looking forward to the mad rush of concert season, I am pleased to have the opportunity to make some progress, at home (a.k.a. "where my stuff lives"). It has been a week. The girlfriend is here again, and probably has been for days. Very little has been done around the house, in my absence. The stove seems to be in the process of being cleaned. That's about it. Next time though, my cat is coming with me, or I am paying someone to look in on her. The litter box hasn't been touched in over a week, and she had very little food and no water when I got home last night. Ugh.

I got home late, but I couldn't sleep. I'm already too ready to jump into housework and job-hunting. I also have to consider the fact that the grand majority of my time this week will be spent attending to the spring musical and spring choir re-boot. I also started thinking about next month's blogging challenge/experiment. I have done a fair job of keeping up with writing here, but I still have a while to go before it becomes a habit. The one place where I'm going to need some assistance this month--as I always do at this time of the year--is freeing up enough time to get everything done without crazy-making getting in the way.

I'm considering a dual challenge, in which I try to free up some time by batching everything from chores to email, and adding a PM challenge for relaxing and getting to sleep earlier. I have a bit of research to do this week, to consider my options, but I think that I'm heading in the right direction. For now, I have gotten far to little sleep, and I am rushing out the door. Hopefully, that will change, soon.

Rude Awakening (Blog to Learn, Day 14)

I have a lot of catching up to do, but I would like to spend very little time on this entry. ...aaaaaaannnd GO!

I have been absent for a lot of reasons. I have been sick for my entire spring break, thanks to my roommate's girlfriend. Five days of coughing her germs into the house means that I got her cold...just as my allergies kicked in. I can say that I am glad to be be nearly done with this, the day before I have to return to work, but I would have given anything to enjoy all of my break, instead of having to sleep half of it away. Ugh. The worst of it is that I'm fairly certain my mom is now sick, with the same cold that won't die.

Our mini-trip to NYC was fun, despite the illness, though! We took my mom to see Wicked, and basically ate our way through the city. Highlights include: the show, Totto Ramen--which I will dream about for years to come, Teuscher chocolates, and Otto Dix at the German Expressionist show (courtesy of MoMA).

Unfortunately, this coming week marks the beginning of performance season. I would really like to be done with all of it. In fact, the second half of this break has left me more disenchanted than when it began. I'm chalking it up to an odd sleep schedule and inclement weather, but I'm going to need to break this spell, and soon. Right now, I'll be happier when the coffee kicks in.

I Can See Clearly, Now (Blog to Learn, Day 13)

[For the record, I hate that song. Ahem....]

After some serious introspection yesterday afternoon, I actually managed to declutter my closets. I still have far too much clothing, but I certainly made a large dent in the pile. One giant bag of clothing plus one small bag of shoes is in the trash. Two stuffed paper shopping bags of folded clothing are in my car, ready to go to Goodwill. Honestly, it was easy! I expected the usual struggles, but not this time. It didn't hurt that I had the benefit of listening to a lot of quality electronic music while I was cleaning, thanks to Rhapsody. It's the best thing I could ever spend $10/month to "buy."

Next to go will be all of the unnecessary paper, though I expect it to take several weeks to get that under control. Maybe I can focus on paper and take one day off per week to get rid of other things. I have a handful of things that I should probably try to sell, instead of simply listing them of Freecycle.

Today brings with it a whole new set of challenges. For one, it's Tax Day. Secondly, I had planned to drive home for Spring Break tonight, so I have some last-minute packing to do. I'm excited that I got a few critical things done here. It should be much easier to relax and enjoy our mini-trip to NYC, and I will be able to put this motivation to good use in other areas. I'm hoping to declutter a bunch of my old belongings that are still collecting dust at home, and to finish all of my job-hunting paperwork. The idea of facing all of these challenges is a lot less overwhelming when progress is possible. The real challenge will be trying to balance work with these new efforts. (Is it wrong that I am already looking forward to the end of concert season, and the beginning of summer? I have things to DO!)

Pledge to Be Awesome (Blog to Learn, Day 12)

I would give anything to start all over again. It has been two days worth of my "break," and I ache to burn bridges. I'm fairly certain that--despite sleeping downstairs for the last two nights--my roommate's girlfriend has hacked and coughed her way into making me genuinely ill. I read an email this morning that was sent four days late, but which put our school's budget shortfall into hard numbers. We're losing $600,000, which amounts to about 6-8 full-time teachers. Our money has already been frozen this year, so all of my music purchases have been out of pocket, and every department than can has moved in on the music department's successful Friday pizza-sale fundraiser. Ugh. On my first day of break, I usually like to be a lazy bum, but I spent too much of it angry at everything, including myself.

I'm tired of being awash in and surrounded by mediocrity, and I'm starting to think that it is my job to be awesome, for everyone's sake. I see what kind of power it can have; all it took yesterday was for my boyfriend to text me with a reminder about Tarkovsky films to remind me that not everyone makes me sad for humanity. I don't think I have time for anything but awesome things, and neither should anyone else.

Going Overboard (Blog to Learn, Day 11)

I can think of nothing better to wake me up on this rainy day than a fistful of loud dubstep songs and too much coffee.

Yeesh...talk about falling off of the deep end. I killed myself with work, over the course of several days this past week. I was trying to record and burn a practice CD for the choir kiddies to use during Spring Break. Hey, it was a great idea, in theory. In practice, I wish that I had done anything else. Sleep would have been a worthwhile pursuit. I skipped blogging for two days. On Wednesday night, I was up until 3:30 and got a mere 2 hours of sleep. On Thursday I crashed early and woke up at 3:00 AM on Friday. [I had intended to take a short nap, and I did just that. Unfortunately, when I woke up, it was to the sound of my roommate's girlfriend complaining loudly on the phone. On with the headphones, which lulled me to sleep with the sounds of Ovid's Metamorphoses in my ears. Ahhhh, much better. I am thoroughly convinced that teaching and having a roommate have effectively turned on anti-social behavior in me, but that is for another blog entry.]

To add to the usual demands of work, we all received a disturbing note in our daily bulletin. Budget cuts at the state and local levels are even starting to force cuts at our award-winning and parent-supported school. Nothing says, "You might lose your job," quite like the words, "What can we do?/Would you be willing to teach an extra class?/What are our priorities?" As an fine arts teacher, that is definitely not what I want to see. That said, I am a big fan of blessings in disguise. We'll see.

I have a lot of work to do at home this weekend, before I can actually think about enjoying any part of this break. For now, I'd be happy if my computer would stop sleeping, and I had dinner in my belly.

Cheating Myself or Learning to Relax? (Blog to Learn, Day 10)

I am finally awake when it would be most useful to me, but at the cost of productivity, yesterday. I suppose that I should start a bit earlier. While I was driving to work, I started asking myself how my morning routine could be more efficient...looking for flaws in the current system. Two things came to mind that are of any consequence: 1) limiting my blogging time, and 2) getting a decent night's sleep, so that I am capable of waking up with my alarm. Case in point, I am running a timer right now, as I type, and I fell asleep/passed out on the couch last night, shortly after dinner. I clearly needed the sleep, but I woke up a bit bitter for not accomplishing any of the tasks on yesterday's list. Today, I am off to a much better start...we shall see....

I turned rebellious again yesterday. Lacking the energy or motivation to complete non-critical work tasks, I ended up using my planning period to read and get lunch from the grocery store next to the school. Whether that time was wasted or used in the best possible way remains to be seen, but I certainly feel a bit useless. I just gave up/gave in yesterday. I'd like to think that it was a test run of what giving up/in does...I certainly considered it when I opted to read at lunch. That said, I watched an extra hour of television, bought my dinner, had both wine and ice cream, and fell asleep on the couch. I actually think that this could be a positive thing, but just not every day. I like the idea of taking one day a week to be self-indulgent/cheat/relax, but I'm going to have to be careful not to extend those "cheat days" beyond the once-a-week boundaries that should contain them. That means that I need to exercise some advance planning, and suck it up when the urge to avoid responsibility comes calling on the other days.

On the plus side, I had phenomenal and strange dreams, last night, and I am 45 minutes ahead of yesterday morning. I just need to push through the end of this week. After all, spring break is just around the corner.

What Happened? (Blog to Learn, Day 9)

Okay, this has to stop. On Sunday night, I was up reading until almost 1 AM. I thought that reading would relax me, and it did, but not for a while. Last night, I passed out in the middle of writing a sentence in my paper journal, and then woke up much later than I wanted to wake up, this morning. So now, I already feel like I have a backlog of things to do today, and less time to do them. I will need to set some very different priorities. Leaving work right after rehearsal would be a start.

I also probably need to take a good, hard look at the work that I do each day, and try to give myself a bit more credit for doing it. Nothing that was left unfinished last night was particularly critical, and I will certainly have time to catch up, today. I did get a lot done yesterday, but a lot of it felt like pointless busywork. I am hoping that it is just the result of early growing pains, and that progress may happen slower than I would like. Oh, but it WILL happen. I'll see to that.

Taking My Waking Slow (Blog to Learn, Day 8)

I used to be filled with this sort of crushing panic whenever the clock hit 6:50 AM, and I wasn't yet on my way to work. I certainly woke up later than I intended to, this morning, but here I am, sipping coffee and eating breakfast. Lunch is packed and ready to go. My clothing is laid out on my dresser. I am full of calm. Well, I am full of coffee, but the calm is getting there.

Yesterday, I didn't get much done, in the conventional sense, but I did make a lot of internal progress that had been demanding my attention for a long while. Also, I ploughed through a book and a half in short order, and managed to prioritize my work for today. I slept soundly and had strange dreams. All in all, it was a success, right down to the last bite of my second cupcake.

I'm going on a bit of an information fast, for a while. I shut off the auto-notification noises on my phone to ward off the temptation to check my email constantly. I'm going to shoot for the first half-hour of my planning period, and then again this evening, for the last half-hour before I leave from work. I'll save the personal email for when I get home, after I deal with the mail and bills. This will not be easy, since I have a tendency to check my email constantly...but it's a good experiment to try. There is no point in answering email when I can't respond to it immediately. The need to do so weighs on the mind, even when a reply isn't possible. I'm also restricting Facebook and Twitter to two times a day, AM and PM. There isn't really any pressing need to see if people like me enough to stroke me ego from time to time.

Ah, well...shower hour has arrived, and as much as I like this slow going, I probably should aim for being punctual, this morning. À tout à l'heure!

Adventure! (Blog to Learn, Day 7)

Yesterday was a smashing success, despite the fact that I got in my own way more than once. After stalling FOREVER, I finally did get all dolled up and went to D.C. for my Hanami adventure. By the time I got there, a lot of things had already gone wrong, but ended up leading me on completely worthwhile, alternative paths. Here is the breakdown, in reverse order:

The Ugly:

• In the process of trying to find my missing/hiding wig, I managed to completely trash my bedroom. The worst part is that now I probably have to clean it all, this afternoon.
  
• When I got off of the Metro, I walked in the exact opposite direction of the festival, for about 7 or 8 city blocks, and had to turn around to walk back. It took over half an hour.
  
• By the time that I got to the festival, I only had an hour left to see everything.

The Bad:

• I ended up using a different Metro station than my usual, and I had to navigate unfamiliar territory.
  
• I felt pretty stupid after checking the metered parking spots, digging for enough change to last me for the afternoon, and then plunking about $3.00 into the meter...only to discover that I didn't have to pay on weekends.
  
• I could not find my way into said Metro station for a good 15 minutes.
  
• I never did find the wig, and it was cold enough that I kept my jacket on the entire time, so all of my pretty clothing was hidden for most of the afternoon. I spent more time dressing than anything else, which turned out to be (mostly) wasted time.
  
• Oh, and to top it all off, I tripped several times in my fabulous shoes, in front of attractive people. It's a good thing that I make a point of laughing at myself on a daily basis.

The Utterly Fantastic:

• Walking in the wrong direction led me directly in front of the White House, which had the loveliest of cherry blossom trees--as well as a few small but interesting protests.
  
• Walking in the wrong direction also helped me to find the most delicious cupcakes, on the way back. I bought four. I definitely ate two halves as my breakfast, this morning.
  
• Despite losing time over dressing up, I did manage to get a single, gushing compliment on my shoes from an adorable gay boy who is destined to be a drag queen, if he isn't one already.
  
• By the time that I got to the festival, they were tearing down the gates, and my admission was free.
  
• In addition, all of the food vendors who were trying to thin their stock before closing time started offering up everything at insane discounts.
  
• The one thing that I had been craving (okonomiyaki), I found almost instantly, at a 40% discount. It was delicious!
  
• Saving all of that money meant that I could buy more yummy things, so I walked away with every hard-to-find, tasty food item I could grab. The haul: dango (anko and mitarashi), green tea mochi, and oden); as well as the more usual futomaki and inari sushi. OMNOMNOM.
  
• I got to see a fair punk band from NYC (Uzuki) and a comedic shamisen duo from Tokyo (Se-Shami Street Boys). I got a CD of the latter for $5.00.
  
• I had a successful bout with a few uncomfortable things...and won.

All in all, the short trip was well worth the minor hassles involved. The only question that remains is this: why don't I do these things more often?!