I keep track of the number of times I do certain activities in my life. This comes from a pretty severe case of perfectionism/”fear of the blank page”. Keeping track of this stuff has helped me immensely over the years, and is actually how I developed the Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice.
You can read more about the process from last years’ blog post Stuff I Keep Track of – Totals for 2019.
Here are the totals for 2020
Background
This year saw a lot of change in my life. I moved to Marquette, MI in last November of 2019. Between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31 of 2020 I lived in five places for at least a month and, including other travel, all total I slept in about 15 different beds.
And, then there’s the pandemic.
Basically what I’m saying is, that is why my numbers are not as complete as I would like them to be. I know that I kept track of my numbers for all the months, but I can’t find where I wrote them down! I only have numbers for seven months, which is SUCH A BUMMER!
Final Numbers
We’ll say that there were 215 days available (in the months that I have data for)
- Music making = 189 days = 88% (This is the first year of collecting this data)
- Visual Art/Writing = 150 days = 70% (Down 16% from 2019.)
- Body/Mind Work = 169 days = 80% (Up 53% from 2019).
- Skateboarding = Well, this is a sad one. I got 30 days in, in the late spring and early summer, BUT, I broke my shoulder on July 10, 2020 and I have retired from skateboarding.
- In addition, I started collecting some data on how many days I work on my “business” (that is not my actual teaching.) This is a very new category and I’m still not sure how to keep track of it. I hope to have more conclusive data next year.
Quarterly Focus Words for 2019 (I got this idea from the Being Boss podcast.)
- Quarter 1 = Nurture
- Quarter 2 = Patience
- Quarter 3 = Prepare
- Quarter 4 = Clarity
Goals for 2021
- Music-Making – I’d be happy to maintain these numbers. It was so helpful to re-engage with the Dozen a Day piano books. It’s so helpful to have a concrete set of musical exercises to play in the mornings.
- Visual Art/Writing – I think that this will be stronger in 2021. I am much more confident with my work as a visual artist. And, I’ve found many ways to “break through” in those moments when I am feeling unsure.
- Body/Mind Work – I mean, I could actually see myself being able to get to 365 days. That would really be something. I wonder. 312 days would be six times a week. 300 days would be 82%. I wonder.
See you next year!
I love this! So inspiring, thanks for sharing J.