Balancing Life and Work... Harder When You Actually Like Your Job!

Ignoring the fact that I even had a job!

I've never really had trouble separating my work and home lives. When I'm at work, I do my job... whatever it is... and when my hours are up or I'm off the clock, I just sort of forget about it all.

That's what I've done historically at least. But I think it's beginning to change, and there is a simple reason for it - I actually like my job now! When I head home after a day's work, I keep thinking about what I'm working on and sometimes even break out my laptop later in the day to continue my work. I'm writing, editing, and developing content (not to mention posting on and monitoring our Facebook page) for a living now. Not my dream job yet, but it's on the road!

(For those who are wondering, my ultimate dream job is to work as a full-time writer for HowStuffWorks.com. That would be AMAZING. Just sayin'.)


The best part about it is that I am happy to keep thinking about work and doing my job beyond the typical 8 hours.

Ah! You see the paradox too, didn't you? If I like my job and am willing (and happy) to take my work home with me, how does my regular life fit into the equation?

Personal Goals to Accompl.sh

Just over a year ago, I wrote a post about a list of 101 things I wanted to accomplish in the following 365 days (this original list can be found here). The website for this was originally called 101in365.com, but has since been renamed Accompl.sh. I actually quite like the new name! In any case, I did not complete all 101 items, but did knock out exactly 51 of them. A number were also in progress and partially completed, but others were not at all.

Before continuing, I'd like to give you a little bit of insight into this project. Before the name change, the tagline for the site was, "Avoiding mediocrity one to-do list at a time", which I found brilliant. Jenn, the creator, has brought it into a slightly different realm. Instead of limiting users to lists of 101 exclusively, she allows you to set the length of your list and lock it at whatever size you desire. In Jenn's words, "Accompl.sh harnesses the power of the social web to support personal growth. Its mission is to create a place where you can develop, track and share your goals over the course of the next 365 days and beyond by providing the tools, network and support you need to accomplish great things!" I loved the concept of 101 to-do items, so when I built my new list, I made sure to come up with that number once more.

In creating a new list, I had to take a hard look at my original list and think about why the items that were not completed were left in that state. Some of them were very simple and I should have been able to accomplish them in no time, for example, "98. Post reviews of books I've read on Goodreads". This maybe would have taken me an hour. I could have taken more time and posted even more than a few or reviews of the books already in my Goodreads account. But it would have taken little time. Unfortunately for me, I was lazy. And that sucks. Because I know I could have done this easily.

Chapter 4: Discovering Felicity, the Fierce Amazon Nook Within ("Amazon" in the Xena: Warrior Princess sort of way, not the company)

Introduction and Prologue
Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader
Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook
Chapter 3: How Magic and (Dare I Say) Karma Resulted in a Spur-of-the-Moment Indulgence (Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Purchasing My Nook)

I don't know about you, but when I get a new gadget I always feel like I'm learning everything about it from scratch. It doesn't matter if the new item is a replacement, if I had played with other ones before, or if I had never touched one a day in my life. All I can say is that a new gadget is a new experience every time. For me, at least.

Despite the number of times I had handled the display Nooks, there was something different about beginning to use the one that was to be my boon companion. Once I set it to charging, I naturally began to register my Nook by connecting it to my BN.com account. When I started this process, it prompted me for the name of my Nook.

Chapter 3: How Magic and (Dare I Say) Karma Resulted in a Spur-of-the-Moment Indulgence (Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Purchasing My Nook)

Introduction and Prologue
Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader
Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook

Not everyone who reads this will know me, so for those who don't, I have a tendency to keep very busy. I almost always have something going on and some plans in the works. What this has meant recently is that I have some rather expensive plans in the works coming up and, in addition to buying a car and the upkeep on that, all of my spare money was going toward trips I would be making in the future. For every new thing I had to pay for, I realized it was going to be yet another month until I could afford to purchase a Nook. In mid-September, by my calendar and financial planning, I determined that I would finally be able to buy myself a Nook sometime in mid to late November. By then I would have finished paying for my trip to China, I would be back from Wrockstock, and I would be caught up on my bills. In the meantime, however, I was living on the extra $30-40 per paycheck, and that wasn't going particularly smoothly.

One night, a friend told me a story of his good fortune to find hundreds of dollars in his account when he anticipated very few. To this, my immediate response was, "If the $3 in my account magically turned into $300, that would probably be the most amazing thing ever." Little did I know, things were already beginning to turn around for me.

Chapter 2: In Which Dinah Veritably Salivates Over the Nook

Introduction and Prologue
Chapter 1: The Rise of the eReader

At this point in the story, you may be thinking about just how fickle I seem to be. Why did I give up on the idea of an eReader with the Kindle around but immediately transfer my former feelings for the Kindle to what amounts to a different version of the same thing?

It sounds petty, but I can’t deny that a major attraction for me was the Barnes & Noble name. I have been going to Barnes & Noble stores my entire life and have always loved the atmosphere, the new book smell, the chairs provided for sitting and reading, and the overall helpfulness of the employees. Most of their employees are also great lovers of books and tend to provide fun and interesting suggestions based on what I’m browsing, carrying, or reading a few pages from. I have rarely been disappointed with a recommendation from a Barnes & Noble employee.

Another aspect of it being a Barnes & Noble eReader that made it so attractive is the fact that there are plenty of physical locations that I can go to at a moment’s notice. Once the Nook was officially released, there were tables set up in almost every Barnes & Noble store where there was an employee waiting to answer your questions and there were Nooks on display waiting for you to try them out.

Oh! The glory of that first time I held a Nook in my hands!

Things You've Always Wanted to Know About Me

I posted this on Facebook as well, but wanted to put it here to get the full spectrum of ideas and topics to discuss:

In an effort to write more in my personal blog, I'd love to hear some questions or topics that my friends would like to hear me talk about (even though I'll actually be writing and you'll be reading, you get the point, right?). So if there's anything you'd like to find out my opinion on, any stories you'd like me to tell, or just curiosities about me you always wondered about... now is the time! Let me know and I should get to it at some point!

Getting Started

Yesterday after work, I went over to Bria's and we worked with a Yoga DVD she got a while back. It was her first time using the DVD, so neither of us knew just what to expect from it. As it turns out, it was generally a decent routine, but they had these weird "anti-transitions" where they just finished describing a pose and you were supposed to hold it, but then the video would straight cut to them in a completely different pose and it was awkward and you weren't quite sure if you were supposed to continue holding the original pose or move yourself into the position they were now shown in. Besides that weirdness, it was pretty good, though.

I also found my old Yoga journal from when I took Yoga at university.

A Little Discussion of my Goals

I let things get in my head way too much. Little things that don't necessarily mean anything will drive me crazy and morph into wild situations where people despise me and all they want is to be rid of me. Sometimes I find there's an inkling of truth to my insanity, but that it isn't accurate in that crazy way I let it get in my mind. That place where I'm 10 years old again and running home crying because I literally have no friends.

Like I said. I let things get in my head too much.

Just yesterday, I got a fortune cookie that told me, "You will make a change for the better." I think that this 21.5.800 project could be the key to that. I want to use it as time to be introspective, to really assess myself, and to work toward improving myself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So I think that this time, for once, my fortune cookie will prove true.

21.5.800: A New Project!

Today, I am embarking on a new project. I know exactly what you're thinking right now: "But Dinah! You NEVER start new projects! I mean, seriously! You're like the laziest person I know in the world!" Come on guys! Where's the encouragement? ;)

In all seriousness, this is going to be another fun project. I mentioned it briefly on Facebook about a week or two ago. It is called 21.5.800. It lasts just 21 days, but it should be an intense and fun 21 days. What it all comes down to is this: I will be writing a minimum of 800 words per day (similar to the idea of NaNoWriMo, but it can be any kind of writing, even blogging!) and I will be doing Yoga at least 5 days of the week each of the 3 weeks in the project.

You can read more detail about this project here, at the original post from the person who organized it.

As for me personally, I am going to be doing this project with my friend Bria, the Dizzy Pixie. She is actually the one who first told me about it and I have to say... I'm pretty darn excited to do it! After work today, we're going to head to her place and do our Yoga together. While it will definitely be too expensive to go to a local Yoga place 5 days a week for 3 weeks, we plan on hitting that up every now and then in the coming weeks. For now, we are sticking with a Yoga DVD that Bria has and I plan on using my Wii Fit for some Yoga (hopefully in the mornings before work if I can wake myself up in time!). Heck, I think I'll even break out my old Yoga journal to see about some of the morning rituals that I haven't done in years.