Finally, I have decided to do this! I’ve finally decided to do a self-challenge in September, when it’s the start of the Christmas season in the Philippines, to change myself for the better. I’ve finally decided to do this after reading a bunch of Medium articles about productivity and self-improvement. I don’t know why I started just now, but it doesn’t matter.
A little background about me. I am a master procrastinator and perfectionist. I always stayed up all night doing my projects when I was in school. There were times I completely redid my work if I was unsatisfied or if something minimally went wrong with what I was working on. Thankfully, I didn’t get to do that now as a working professional in my workplace, or should I say “less”.
But here’s my dilemma. I don’t know how to prioritise things effectively and efficiently in my personal space. There’s so much going on in my mind that I cannot function well. I wanted to lose weight, get back to digital drawing, start writing, improve my existing technical skills, do some side hustle, and many others. However, little to none of them were achieved.
The Challenge
So, I’ve listed some of the habits I want to try on and be part of my system eventually. I tried not to be so harsh on myself and made it doable. I also made it flexible in case my schedule changed unexpectedly.
- Get out of bed before 8 AM (every day)
I used to get up at 5:30 every morning to prepare for work. Now that I’m working from home and start work at 9 AM, I also get up at 9 AM. On weekends, I get up at 10 AM onwards, which sounds like every mom’s nightmare. - Exercise at least 5 minutes in the morning (every weekday)
Since I want to be fitter and balance my BMI, I added this to the list. I’m always active on the weekends by going out but not on weekdays, so I excluded the weekends. - Plank at least 1 minute (every day)
I always wanted to try the plank challenge. So, I decided to add this aside from working out. - Walk at least 5000 steps (every day)
I also used to have more than 5000 steps every day before the pandemic. I think it’s time to bring it back. - Study for a certification exam for at least 2 hours (thrice a week)
Now, it’s time for upskilling. There are certain certification exams that our company offers. I’m not required to have one. But why not take the opportunity, right? - Write an article on Medium (every week)
I included this to update the status of this challenge. I would also try to write about other stuff.
I searched for an app to support my journey. I found this app called HabitNow (I am an Android phone user), which looks like exactly what I want.
I did not list many habits. I don’t want to overwhelm myself with what I already felt in the past few months. I plan to stick with the list starting from today until the end of September, which makes it 30 days. Either pass or fail, I am looking forward to continuing this in the following months, updating the list with other things I want to achieve.
That’s it for now. I will post a new article about my progress in the next coming days. Best of luck, self! 🙏🏻
