Aaron Potts Tagged me with his “Simply Successful Secrets” meme. *Sigh*. Memes. I love reading them, find it hard to do them. This one could be interesting though. Here are the rules.
Compose a new blog post listing the top 5 to 10 things that you do almost every day that help you to be successful. They can be anything at all, but they have to be things that you do at least 4 or 5 times every week. Anything less than that may be a hobby that helps you out, but we are after the real day in and day out habits that help you to be successful.
Successful? Me? Not yet. I will be one day soon, heh.
OK, things I do that help me …
- Read – A lot. I have about four or five books down the side of my bed, most nights I will pick up one at random and read a bit before drifting off. My reading appetite has never been any less than voracious. I firmly believe reading anything helps but of course I read textbooks too. Sometimes because I have to (every few months I am asked to do a technical review or edit of a geek book), mostly because I love learning new stuff. Expand your mind, read a book.
- Blog – When I say “blog” I mean everything involved in blogging. Blogging is both a job and a joy for me. I read my RSS, I post, I answer comments, I write new ones on others’ blogs. Far too many bloggers think it is just about writing, how wrong they are. The best bloggers know the truth.
- Family Time – It’s important those around you get some time. One of the reasons I left my JOB was to see my family more. As I said once or twice before, nobody on their death bed wishes they had spent more time locked up working.
- Communicate Virtually – Locked up in my house as I am I try to hook up with people online every day. I’m sure this is annoying for the people on my buddy list but I need chitchat in my life! Other people, other perspectives, especially people who disagree are SO valuable. Plus it is nice just to make friends and socialise.
- Switch Off – This is soooo important but something I don’t manage to always do. In fact I get into trouble with my wife for not doing this most days. It’s a must though. Do something that relaxes your brain, just have some mindless zero-thought time. My solution is to schedule TV programs that I really enjoy. I watch Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Life on Mars, My Name Is Earl, Ice Hockey, Mythbusters … all stuff that takes little thought and takes me out of my day to day concerns.
Stuff I should do that I don’t
- Sleep – Get up earlier, go to bed earlier, get good quality sleep. My sleep pattern is shot. Partly because I am so obsessive, partly because I have so much to do, partly because I have contacts in diverse timezones. No excuses, I just need to have a better sleep pattern.
- Exercise – I get no exercise. Visibly. I need to.
- Get out – My daily routine rarely allows me time out of the house. Just plain unhealthy. I need fresh air and daylight.
- Organise – While I used to be very organised now I am so disorganised everything is in chaos. I’m going to get a Moleskine and refresh my memory techniques.
- Me time – Too much of my day is work, I am going to start meditating.
So I think it is fair to say I am a disorganised, flabby, workaholic. Great. I expect others will have much better habits and advice.
I am going to inflict tag with this: