A blow out - moderation in moderation

The hard reset I recently experienced is necessary. A terrible experience yesterday can lead to some betterment today. That state does not remain forever.

Two days ago I drank too much with a friend. The British drink too much and celebrate that. The university life is about spending student loans on drinking the atmosphere of improvement is thin on the ground.

Socialising is expensive, and also involves drinking too much.

The need to drink too much seems to happen reasonably frequently, perhaps every 3-6 months. I have managed over the past 3-4 months to attain atomic habits. Now I desire moderation in all things, including moderation.

I have effectively one week left of holiday to spend. What to do?

To consider what I have done, and what I will do. Who to message, who to nurture in friendships etc.

Read Rules of Power.

Be the man!

This counts as 'Bacon'.

Then Books soon. Yesterday the habits dropped, that is fine. I will pick them up today.

The drinking was so expensive yesterday that I will need to claw back some of that money over the coming years. That is fine - I can absorb that amount of money (10k). But I will need to do so over a good many months. I also think that the desire to live in ways of frugality is ideal.

 I think that something that symbolises the end of the day etc.

I think that some meditation is ideal.

Habitus

Living by habits has made for a better life.

The old fears of my university life remain, of the coldness of Hull with its weak networks leaving me to suffer my dearth of social capital.

However, being with Grace now means that my mind is free a more structured life instead. I feel able to do more and avoid living day to day. The angst of modern life is alleviated somewhat by the greater things I can build up simply by living by my habits.

I have spent many years putting my passion into that which is immediately in front of my face. This has limited me, especially because energy is finite. But I have done well with the time and effort I have regardless.

I also relied upon some fairly weak leaders (Lottie, Marie, Louise etc) to regulate the time I spend in a job. It is important I think to regulate time I spend in a job.

Let's take marking. Geoff Barton talks about marking being 10 hours a week on average. If we take teaching as being a 40 hour a week job, that would equate to almost 9 weeks a year spent solidly on marking. That is clearly ridiculous.

Currently, I think I can plan with this:

Pomodoros 

1. Exercise x 4
2. Finance Projects x1
3. Socialising x 4
4. Academic Reading x 7
5. Side Gigs x 7
6. Reading Fiction x 7
7. Catch up with family x1
8. School Planning x 4
9. Marking x 5

General Elements

10. Eat fruit x 7 
11. Skin Medication x 7
12. Tracking students x3

Things not a habit

Playing Music

Playing Games

So what would be an ideal lifestyle? Let's say when I am retired/traveling? 

Cerebral each week: Academic 

Body each week: Exercise + Eat Fruit

Perception each day: Reading Fiction

Social each day: Garden of Athens (chatting to pals); Cosmopolitanism (travelling)

Hustle each week: Need to get this metaphor

Aesthetics each week: Music or Games? 

Sustaining each week: Planning Teaching; Returning learning; Financial Planning

So each day as a minimum:

a) Perception: Reading fiction for 25 minutes b) Hustle: Need to look at that metaphor (25 minutes) c) Cerebral: Academic reading for 25 minutes.

d) Body: Moving.

This is all doable when I am at school or travelling.

Additions to that each week:

d) Exercise: moving every day and getting the heart beating x4 a week... how?

e) Social: seeing people x4 a week.

f) Aesthetics: to do as I please. I do not really want to mandate the aesthetics... or do I? Maybe music...

Let's see how this goes.