How I’m Staying Busy and Still Improving
Coronavirus and Covid-19 have decreased my world to mostly just my house. I’m working from home for the foreseeable future. Sue and I are staying inside, not going out. We still think that stay at home is the best way for combating the spread of the virus. Hopefully, smart people will determine a way through this. I’d like to go back to SCMMA and get back to learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But with my lungs, I can’t take the chance, and Sue’s in the same boat. We’re both asthmatics; so, we’ll stay inside. But just because the locations of our lives has shrunk to basically the house doesn’t mean we’re not improving.
Creating a Home Office
When I started working from home, I worked from my side of the bed. That quickly got old and became unmanageable. I cleaned up the room I call my office, which until now was basically a room for the cats and books. Now, I have desk and an actual home office setup. It’s been a drastic change for me. My productivity has increased – both at work and at my hobbies. Sitting at a desk is less distracting than sitting in my bed.
When I worked from the bed, I had difficulty sleeping. Moving to the office has helped my sleep. Having a space dedicated to sleep and rest that is separate from my workspace has been great. In reality it’s only a mental difference, but it works.
Learning New Programming Languages
In the past few years, I’ve started programming more and more at my job. I’m a terrible programmer, though. In college, my two lowest scores were my programming classes. The language I learned back then was Fortran. I never thought I’d program again, but I had to update a massive Excel workbook that a colleague had created. To do that, I had to update the VBA code. I made a small change, and it worked. Then little by little, I began to automate other functions using the code. Now, I’ll code a macro at the first chance I get. It’s surprising that I enjoy it so much, but I do.
In my new work group, a colleague created a program using Python. I decided to have a positive attitude and try to learn some basic Python. Lucky me, Humble Bundle had a programming bundle from Zenva Academy. I bought it, and I love Zenva. It’s teaching me a lot more than I ever expected to learn, and it’s doing it at a pace that is consistent. Some of the HTML and CSS coding, I knew, but all the Java language is new to me. Once I finish the introduction to Java, I’ll start learning Python. The focus of the bundle that I bought is on learning to create and program games. However, I’ll use the learning to do what exactly? I don’t really know, but I’m having fun and enjoying myself. If you’re interested in learning programming, Zenva’s online courses are excellent.
Learning Rhetoric
If you had the chance to take a class from Harvard for free, would you? I did. Sort of. It’s not Harvard on campus; it’s an online course from Harvardx through EdX. I’m taking Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking. The course is seven required modules and one optional module. I’m halfway through the second module. It’s not quite what I wanted when I signed up, but I am learning. My writing will get better from this class.
I haven’t decided if I’ll take another course through EdX yet. It’s a good delivery system, but I’m holding back judgment until I get further into the course. The price can’t be beat, though.
Exercising
I’m not exercising as much as I was prior to work from home, but I’m still working out. I just found today that someone has been posting workouts on one of my employer’s internal chat boards. I’m going to try their workouts to increase my movement. Luckily, the weather has been terrible; so, I can blame my not running on that. Once things start to warm, I’ll have to consider jogging to increase my cardio work. Ugh, I hate running.
Journaling
I like to journal. It’s a newer hobby of mine, but it’s helpful in organizing my life. In addition, it’s the key in my mental health regimen. I subscribe to the Bullet Journal method because I can tailor it to my needs. Since working from home, I’ve been more journaling more, and it’s great. It helps me track medication, exercise, to do lists, brain dumps, progress in my Rhetoric and programming classes, any research that hits my momentary fancy, and, of course, has all my appointments. I’m a big believer in it, and I even got Sue into it.
I don’t do fancy spreads like people put all over the internet. I like a minimal style that is more functional than artistic, but scrolling through instagram and pinterest photos of bullet journals is something I do to kill time. There are a lot of wonderful artists out there who integrated their art with the functions of a journal. It took me a year before I found my ‘style’ of the system. The “try it and see if it works for you” mentality of the system works for me. Having a to do list has helped me so much during this time. And as I fill my life with learning, book reviews, and work, my journal helps keep my stress low and ensure I don’t miss anything.