Two Weeks

Ok, so I have two weeks off. It looks like it'll be two weeks at home, pending a possible quick Melbourne trip in the first week of school holidays.

I was always going to have a week off, but decided to expand it to two, well, for reasons. Wifey and I had some good chats this week, and I need time away from work to reflect on that, and work on myself for a change. There is a lot going on in life, and I need to get my priorities right, protect and love my family first and foremost, and look after myself too. I also need to put in perspective where I'm at in terms of my commitment to my job, and whether or not I need to consider a change. Remember, I was looking for stability as my top goal. I now have it. But perhaps my psyche yearns for a bit more variety? It certainly yearns for Asia...

So what is it that I am going to do in my break? I need (want) to achieve a number of things:

1) Hopefully get my bonus paid and distribute according to my plan. That includes investments, savings, and others below... (done)

2) This will include booking Darwin flights, important for others' planning, not just mine (done).

3) Importantly to me, I want to do a blog post for each day of the break. Including this weekend, that makes 16 posts in all. I will update this post to measure my progress as I go;

        1- A bit of a free kick here, as the first one will be this post!

        2- 50 Best Cities - finally finished this one off!

        3- What Advice Would I Give My Younger Self

        4- Supplements - worth it or not?

        5- No Time Like The Present, To Be Present

        6- Productivity Tools

        7- Retiring Early - Part 5 - We Got This

        8- Going C.U. Version #4

        9- My Health Tips

       10- My Career - Part 5 - Gladstone

       11- Leadership

       12-16 didn't make it, but I'm satisfied with the output! (done).

4) I want to do some serious weeding in the backyard, and arrange some of the next steps in the yard development, namely quoting for concrete, talking to landscaper, perhaps buying the big planter box for outside the kitchen, getting pavers, getting and installing a clothesline. That would be a good start. Maybe also get the guy in for pruning and hard rubbish removal (done).

5) I want to go to Sophie's assembly for her award, and her PT interviews (done).

6) I want to take the boys to the cricket try-outs and see how they like it (cancelled, they decided against it, but in the end we spent a lot of time together, so all good there, done.).

7) I want to look to get another bookshelf, for my room, so that I can look to bring home my personal goods from Cohuna. Ditto for a pin-up board that can go in my office.

8) I want to clear my desk. That means reading the mag's and saving the good bits, then disposing of them or putting in my office at work. It also means dealing with all the annoying bits of paper. It also means deciding if I need all these bloody decorations or not (largely done).

9) I need to open and start using the Mal Paper goal setting thing that I got a few weeks ago and have been carrying around Australia ever since. Being productive is a HUGE part of my wellbeing. I feel SO much better, so much more in control, and more content with life, when I feel like I am being productive, and Getting. Shit. Done. I think also, in order for me to properly assess where I am at with my job satisfaction, and to be able to better manage upwards, this particular goal is essential.

10) I want to do some more reading (currently got Stephen King's new book of short stories on the go and bought the latest Money magazine), and build another Lego set (done).

11) I want to wrap some presents, and do some more Xmas planning (what's Ma doing for instance) (done).

12) I want to review my current stock holdings, so I can decide what income shares I want to stick with, set some sell targets for those I don't, and make some calls on my growth / penny stocks. This is important, as it forms part of my retirement plan (done).

13) I want to do some spring cleaning, and do a donation box run (done).

14) Finally, after all these months, plug my laptop into the internet box and see if there are any issues.

15) Set-up quarterly rates payments, and adjust budget spreadsheet accordingly (done).

16) Do that passport photo framing, and look into the other ones (done).

Ok, so we have ended up at a goal for each day (not specified to a particular day), including a blog post for each day as well. I don't think that is too onerous (as I do want a rest too), but at the same time, will see me accomplishing a lot in this next fortnight. 

Let's do this! 

Update: at the end of today (Saturday) I will be 50% through my break. How are we going for goals so far? Well, blog posts, I have done 6, so am falling a bit behind. Goals, I have done 6 as well. So realistically, I need to put a bit more effort in this coming week. Might be hard with the kids at home now, but I'll have a crack.

Update2: at the end of today (Sunday), my break will be complete. Back to work tomorrow. In terms of goals, we have hit 12 out of 16. Not bad, by my usual standards! Especially considering half the break was laden with children. In terms of blog posts, we have hit 11 out of 16, also far better than what I would usually achieve in such a timeframe. I will try to continue the run during the coming week, and I will try to knock off the remaining tasks. In fact, I will put them in my to-do list now.