shanaqui's Beeminder Journal: 2022

Derailments:

  • N/a

New goals:

  • N/a

Changes to existing goals:

  • /feedback_backlog - I want to have a bit more time for other tasks next week, so I’ve added a break to this goal. Since I beemind the total number of uncategorised feedback emails, I do still have to keep up with the number that come in to avoid derailment, but it should reduce the amount of time I have to spend on feedback emails.
  • /bsupport - I’ve reduced the rate for a week on this, since I’m rejuggling my time a little.
  • /test_anki - Archived, because I just don’t like how the Anki add-on works, and also, I’m running out of cards to review.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /ace - The local library bought a copy of Angela Chen’s Ace for me, so I rewarded them by reading it really fast. I made a graph for it, but it’s already finished and archived.
  • /exhalation - Finally reading Ted Chiang’s Exhalation, for a book club! Also a square on my Litsy bingo card, actually. This is a standard reading goal for now, since I have plenty of time left.
  • /wf3_spacebornfew - Reread finished! Still not my favourite of the series, but it has its good points.
  • /seaisnotmadeofwater - Finally finished! I was not a fan. There were some interesting sciency bits, but a lot of rambling and stuff that is meant to sound deep.
  • /amarvellouslight - Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light is the “DoubleSpin” number in my bingo card on Litsy, so I’ve got stuck in and turned this into a standard reading goal.
  • /whisperingdoor - A new flat-forever goal made to read T.J. Klune’s Under the Whispering Door. This goal replaces the one for A Marvellous Light on the flat-forever list!
  • /virusplaguehistory - A standard reading goal for reading Viruses, Plagues & History by Michael B. Oldstone, since the library kindly bought that as well. I’ve got started, but am mostly in the virology 101 stuff… which I do not need, but I read anyway because it gives me a good idea of the level of the book and how to review the author’s ability to explain things.

Notes:

  • Still struggling with some health problems, mostly anxiety-related. The medical advice is basically to chill out a bit, so I’ll try…
  • For my LSHTM goals (/lshtm_control and /lshtm_biohazard), I’ve stopped carrying 14 days of leeway on both and am letting my leeway decrease a bit down to 7 days. It was giving me plenty of plan-ahead time, but it’s not proven too necessary, and letting myself eat up the leeway a bit also helps with taking it a bit easier for a couple of weeks.

Derailments:

New goals:

  • N/a

Changes to existing goals:

  • /bsupport - Got a bit of a break since I’m not super well at the moment. The rate’s at 18 hours/week for a week… for now, though I’m pretty sure I’ll extend that by a week on Monday, per doctor’s orders. Ratcheted down for the new pay period.
  • /earning - Got an increase in rate due to an increase in earnings and outgoings (darn that pension). Ratcheted down for this pay period.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /exhalation - Finished and archived. I didn’t love this as much as I hoped; it just didn’t quite click for me, I guess.

Notes:

  • Yeaahhhh, let’s hope next week goes better (and more restfully) than this week.
3 Likes

How do you beemind the books you review? Is this a separate beeminder goal from “I do a goal for every book I read. This is so I finish the books I start.” Do you beemind writing a review and post it somewhere?

Your journal is so interesting.

I had to search this forum for where @dreev talked about “beeminding using everything you buy” which led me to @k1rsty 's Beeminding Value which led me to @bee 's beemind sports equipment and I saw your comment in there.

Then I searched the blog and found the post Beemind What You Buy | Beeminder Blog

I have so many ideas to beemind things I bought.

2 Likes

It is! It’s a very simple do-more goal, where I add +1 if I’ve written reviews for all the books I’ve recently finished (and can’t add anything if I have any reviews outstanding). The goal is /writethosereviews.

2 Likes

Derailments:

  • /amarvellouslight - Briefly derailed on this, but it was just a data entry problem, so it was cancelled.

New goals:

  • N/a

Changes to existing goals:

  • /earning - Realised I hadn’t taken into account one other factor of my outgoings changed, so cranked the rate up again. Ouch!

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /kc1_witchmark - Was a flat-forever goal for C.L. Polk’s Witchmark, also needed to get a bingo in the Litsy challenge I do. The end date is set for 31st March, instead of setting it at my usual 5 pages/day, to make me finish in time.
  • /thestoryofsilence - Also a flat-forever goal for Alex Myers’ The Story of Silence, also needed for that Litsy challenge and with an end date of 31st March.
  • /wd2_sugaredgame - A new goal for reading K.J. Charles’ The Sugared Game, and again, needed for the Litsy challenge so that’s the end date set.
  • /ps1_hitherpage - For rereading Cat Sebastian’s Hither, Page in time for my Litsy challenge. Already finished and archived!
  • /ps2_missingpage - Replacing one of the flat-forever goals I’ve now started, and starting a goal for the next book in the series, here’s a goal for reading the sequel to Hither, Page.
  • /wag7_maelstrom - This was a flat-forever goal for reading Jordan L. Hawk’s Maelstrom for my Litsy challenge, and it was such a quick read I was done in a day. Love it.
  • /wag8_fallow - Replaces the flat-forever goal I started! This the next book in Jordan L. Hawk’s Whyborne & Griffin series.
  • /phantomatlas - And another new goal from my backlog of new books, for reading Edward Brooke-Hitching’s The Phantom Atlas.

Notes:

  • I’m actually very close to being done with adding goals for newly purchased books to Beeminder! As a recap, over Christmas I got so many new books that my number of goals was blooming out of control, and I found it too overwhelming. I then decided I’d adopt a different approach. I have a goal making me pick up books from the backlog that have been added to Beeminder (/pileminding, which is carefully calibrated using a combination of auto-ratcheting and auto-dialling), and each time I start one of those books, I have to make a new flat-forever goal for another of the books from my Christmas pile. I have just three books left unadded, as far as I can tell! There might be a book or two on my ereader unaccounted for, but after that, it’s back to trying to whittle down the total number of goals, and occasionally adding ones for not-new books I’d like to start sometime soon.

Derailments:

  • /wd2_sugaredgame - Technically this was non-legit, as it happened due to goal setup weirdness of a buggy nature. However, I let it stand because it gave me a bit of leeway on the goal that I wanted.
  • /thestoryofsilence - Let this derail because I wanted a day off reading it.
  • /feedback-backlog - One day, I’ll learn my lesson about isolating the backlog instead of letting new emails add to it. This was not that day.

New goals:

  • N/a

Changes to existing goals:

  • /bsupport - Scheduled a one-day break for my next day off, just to help this get back into sync with my working days.
  • /dailyweight - Since my weight seems to have plateaued a bit, I’ve scheduled a two-week flat spot while I try to figure out what will work to get things moving again.
  • /thelastremnant - I’ve been getting behind in playing because I have other priorities, so I’ve added a break to next week to help me get back some safety buffer if I can stay on track till then.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /virusplaguehistory - This book’s had to go back to the library before I was done with it, so I’ve put it on hold for after they’ve got it and put a break in this goal to cover the time until I (hopefully) get it back. On the day before it was due I read enough ahead of the line that I’d be safe until the break. Here’s hoping I’m the first in the holds queue, though! [Note: Right now I actually still seem to have access… as long as I don’t close the app. But I’m not removing the safety in case Android kills the app or something!]
  • /thestoryofsilence - Finished! Interesting retelling of the old ballad about Silence; I was worried how the ending would go, but I think Myers stuck the landing.
  • /kc1_witchmark - Finished as well. I liked it more on a reread, but I’m in two minds about continuing the series since I hate the character who becomes the main character of the next book. She redeems herself a little at the end… but not much.
  • /wd2_sugaredgame - Finished! Loved it, and very curious where the developments in Will and Kim’s relationship will go.
  • /amarvellouslight - Also finished. A little long/slow, but that helps build the relationship. Enjoyed it.

Notes:

  • Nothing of note this week!

Derailments:

  • /dailyweight - The flat spot I added last week didn’t come soon enough, and off the rails I went. Sigh!

New goals:

  • N/a; seems to be a season for consolidation and such rather than new plans.

Changes to existing goals:

  • N/a, I think?

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /ir2_ancillarysword - This was a goal for rereading the second of the Imperial Radch trilogy (again), which I have duly already finished because I love this book.
  • /ps2_missingpage - This got started up… and finished within the day. It was great, a lovely sequel.
  • /curry - A backlog goal which has been started up! I expect to spend much of my reading time craving curry; the book does include recipes, so maybe we’ll try something… I started it as a regular reading goal, but I actually need it for the Litsy challenge I do, so now I’ve changed it to have an end date near the end of the month (but not quite at the end of the month, in case I slip and need to extend it a bit).
  • /theonlygoodindians - A book club goal! This one got a mid-month finish date just to avoid reading right up to the line, and it’s working out well so far.
  • /murderersmakemistakes - A backlog goal which I started up and gave a mid-month finish date because it’s part of the Litsy challenge I do. All finished now!
  • /honeycomb - A backlog goal that got started up, again with a mid-month goal to push me to read it faster.
  • /beforewedisappear - A new backlog goal to replace one of the ones above! So right now it’s flat-forever. This one’s for reading Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson.
  • /thehandsoftheemperor - Another new backlog goal! This one for reading The Hands of the Emperor, by Victoria Goddard. It’s a huge book, I’m a little daunted…
  • /folksonginengland - And another one! This for reading Steve Roud’s Folk Song in England.
  • /laboursofstone - And another! For reading Emma Mort Harding’s The Labours of Stone, a book I won in a giveaway.

Notes:

  • Aaand that’s the last of my Christmas books added! I think I still have some ebooks and ARCs that escaped being added up to now, so my next project would be rounding up any of those since, say, December. After that, I’ll go back to adding older books based more on whim… though first I might focus on getting the number of goals overall down a bit, to reduce the pressure (and allow my daily check-ins with each goal to be a bit more involved – e.g. actually trying to guess when I’ll have time for a given book – which I’ve missed with the sheer volume of them).

Derailments:

  • /wd3_subtleblood - I chose dinner with my parents over this goal, and I don’t regret it.

New goals:

  • N/a

Changes to existing goals:

  • /feedback-backlog - Added a couple of breaks just to help me keep up with this – I set up the rate not thinking about the rate that new feedback might come in, so I’m having to run a bit too fast just to stay in place. I’m loath to tweak the rate, though, because I’d like to get this done soon so I can report on the feedback and the changes since the last time I looked it over.
  • /focusmate - I added a tiny break because I couldn’t do Focusmate because my studying sessions were actual live Zoom calls.
  • /bsupport & /earning - Got ratcheted and changed the x-min for the new pay period!

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /be2_theobeliskgate - This one’s finally started up from a flat-forever goal, though I had to check a précis of the first book at this point. I’ve set an arbitrary mid-month end-date, to try and finish it in plenty of time for my Litsy bingo card.
  • /wd3_subtleblood - Started a new goal for this, with an arbitrary end date, to finally finish K.J. Charles’ Will Darling trilogy!
  • /laboursofstone - It didn’t stay a flat-forever goal for long, clearly! I read it in an evening. It was OK, with a twist that didn’t entirely work for me.
  • /griefofstones - A new flat-forever goal for reading Katherine Addison’s The Grief of Stones. It comes out in June, so I might even manage to read it while it’s still an advance copy!
  • /justlikehome - A new flat-forever goal for reading Sarah Gailey’s Just Like Home. It’s due out in July; maybe I should make a note on these goals to help me remember…
  • /strangeandstubborn - For reading Foz Meadows’ A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. Also due out in July, and now I’ve added a note to each goal’s description.

Notes:

  • Nothing much to report this week! It feels kinda odd that I haven’t made a new Beeminder goal for anything except reading in quite a while, but I guess I’ve found a bit of a balance for now.

Derailments:

  • /curry - I decided I’d rather fulfil my /stopbyseven goal than this one, so I let it derail.

New goals:

  • N/a

Changes to existing goals:

  • /earning - This goal has been switched up to have a higher daily rate, with weekends off. Same rate overall, but less chance of me having to work over the weekend to keep up, now I have set things up to have two days off per week.
  • /bsupport - Same!

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /virusplaguehistory - Ratcheted to get it back on track now the book has worked its way back through the holds queue to me!
  • /curry - Finished Lizzie Collingham’s history of curry! In many ways it’s a history of Britain’s colonial days, after the first couple of chapters – at least from Collingham’s standpoint.
  • /subtleblood - Finished the whole Will Darling trilogy! And read the bonus story on KJ Charles’ website. :blue_heart:
  • /s1_restlessspirits - A new goal for reading Jordan L. Hawk’s Restless Spirits, which I devoured in less than 1.5 hours. Almost all in one go, too – aside from one stop to create the goal!
  • /s2_dangerousspirits - For reading the sequel to that, Dangerous Spirits. I’m starting right away, to try and finish the whole trilogy for a reading challenge before the end of April…
  • /theboneorchard - Started up from a flat-forever goal. In the search for more bingos in my Litsy challenge, this has an end date set for the end of the month.
  • /wf4_galaxyground - A new flat-forever goal for reading Becky Chambers’ The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. I don’t expect this to stay flat for long…

Notes:

  • I’m currently thinking of getting a new fitness tracker and beeminding using it. Maybe it doesn’t even matter exactly what I’m beeminding, as long as I beemind one of its metrics… maybe I can commit to that? (As I’ve mentioned in a thread about the akrasia horizon, I’m very bad at staying committed to exercise-for-the-sake-of-exercise, so I’m not sure how well this will go.)
1 Like

How did you set up a beeminder goal/graph to look like this for your clockoff goal? This is kinda new to me. I’d like to be able to do this (but it’s just the time I stopped working)

Here’s a quick screenshot of all the custom settings:

As a warning, it doesn’t behave sensibly on derail, and support don’t fix it because it’s a non-standard graph and Beeminder doesn’t really support non-cumulative goals – I fix it myself.

(It basically jumps up to that datapoint and stays flat there, so if I work 10 hours in a day, it derails and puts the graph at ten hours. You can’t immediately straighten it out the next day because of the “red yesterday” derail condition, so you either have to wait a day or put a step in the graph. I tend to put a step in the graph initially so I get back on the hook, and then remove it a couple of days later. You can tell my “authorised” long workdays are the ones which have the big steps up on the graph, and then derails I leave as red datapoints floating above the line. Really helps visualise what’s going on with me.)

From memory, I think the most important setting there is just the unchecked “cumulative”; for that particular graph, the “plot all” is irrelevant and so is “min” (because there’s only one datapoint per day). “Below” sounds like the setting you need. Because the line isn’t going anywhere, I don’t think “up”/“down” matters a ton, but I’d set “down” to ensure the graph doesn’t trip up on itself.

Despite my caveats, it’s probably my most important goal. Though a goal for a time I stopped working might also be in order now I work M-F; corralling my necessary hours into a sensible working day sounds like a good plan, as I’ve already found myself working past six when I oughtn’t…

2 Likes

Derailments:

  • /clockoff - I’ve changed my schedule and gone back to being bad at mentally calculating my time. Gah. I’ll get used to it again; this sting is a reminder that I need to do so, and can’t make excuses about it. I’m thinking about letting the penalty go up to $90 soon, given my current daily earnings. $30 may not be enough of a sting anymore!
  • /te5_nemesisgames - It was this or lose buffer on my goal to stop doing Beeminder stuff by 7pm, so I let this derail.
  • /s2_dangerousspirits - Ditto!
  • /le5_dangeroustoknow - And again…
  • /theboneorchard - And this one too.

New goals:

  • N/a

Changes to existing goals:

  • /stopbyseven - Added a break to help me regain buffer after a couple of days where external stuff prevented me from completing my Beeminder goals before 7.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /s2_dangerousspirits - Book all finished! It had a trope I don’t love, so it was good the Beeminder goal propelled me through it; I overall liked it in the end.
  • /s3_guardianspirits - To push me to finish the series before the end of the month, for a reading challenge!
  • /be2_obeliskgate - Finished! Wow. That’s all I can say.

Notes:

  • Health stuff continues to be happening, so still no new goals, really.
1 Like

Derailments:

  • /dailyweight - Despite the flat spot I entered, I couldn’t get enough safety in time before I had a predictable but unstoppable weight fluctuation. My weight will probably drop quite quickly in a couple days, but I’ll keep the buffer gained by the derailment while I struggle to get out of this plateau.

New goals:

  • N/a (except Project Bookminder goals)

Changes to existing goals:

  • /feedback-backlog - Done! I forgot to isolate the backlog when creating this, so a lot of this was not actually the original backlog, but the new stuff that came in while I was handling the backlog. Oof. I need to have a think about the best way to beemind handling the user feedback emails, going forward. I know that Make (formerly Integromat) have an integration with our email manager, so I wonder if I can create something with autodata.
  • /clockoff - Changed to have a slightly higher threshold per day, now that all my work hours are concentrating M-F.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /te5_nemesisgames - Finished and archived! If I complained about the status quo being restored at the end of the previous book, this book was my punishment. :scream: Whoa. (This isn’t a bad thing.)
  • /wf4_galaxyground - Started this up and finished it within a day, to meet my Litsy goals. Liked it a lot, but surprisingly, one of the few Becky Chambers books that did not make me cry.
  • /theboneorchard - Finished and archived! It was hard work at first, but worth it.
  • /s3_guardianspirits - Also finished in time, and archived. A good conclusion to the series!
  • /com1_magpielord - A goal to reread K.J. Charles’ The Magpie Lord. Not a standard reading goal – I gave it a fairly brisk rate so I’d finish it quickly, since I needed to finish it for the Litsy challenge I do… and indeed, I’m already done rereading it. Lots of fun.
  • /dgh2_dreadfulcompany - A goal to reread Vivian Shaw’s Dreadful Company! It’s not a standard reading goal, but has a slightly lower rate than The Magpie Lord, since it’s a bit denser. Not finished yet.
  • /woodforthetrees - For reading Richard Fortey’s The Wood for the Trees. I’ve got it set up so I have to read a chapter a day, because the chapters are almost all around 25 pages.
  • /lazinessdoesnotexist - A new flat-forever goal to replace the one I started up, this one for reading Devon Price’s Laziness Does Not Exist – which is more or less homework, recommended for me due to my burnout. I’ll probably start it soon.

Notes:

  • I’m getting tempted to make some new goals… but not quite yet.

Derailments:

  • /bitter - Didn’t feel like reading due to anxiety, and decided to take the hit.
  • /dgh2_dreadfulcompany - I love this book, but I just wasn’t in the mood to read.

New goals:

  • N/a (except Project Bookminder goals)
  • /catalogue - A Trello-linked goal for cataloguing the unread books on my shelves.
  • /ukrainian - There’s a challenge on Habitica at the moment about learning Ukrainian on Duolingo, since Duolingo are donating their ad revenue from people studying Ukrainian to relief. Obviously I’ve made direct donations, but the challenge piqued my interest and now I’m kinda having fun.
  • /frenchagain - Since I’m on Duolingo every day anyway, I started a new French goal for Duolingo. Again. let’s see if I remember anything (I did an A Level in French, so you’d think I should).

Changes to existing goals:

  • N/a, I think

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /virusplaguehistory - Finished and archived. This was okay, but I didn’t learn much new. It was mostly non-technical and then would suddenly throw out a couple of pages of quite detailed stuff; I don’t know how well a layperson would get on with it.
  • /built - Finished and archived! I really got into it around the point where she started talking about the cathedral in Mexico City that needed to be levelled.
  • /bitter - Started reading Akwaeke Emezi’s Bitter for a challenge. Finished already! It wasn’t as good as Pet (the sequel) for me.
  • /lazinessdoesnotexist - I started this up because it was all my brain was willing to grab onto, and have finished it already. I thought it leaned too heavily on anecdote, despite making good points.
  • /portablemagic - Started up as a flat-forever goal, to replace the one I made for Laziness Does Not Exist. This is for reading Emma Smith’s Portable Magic, a book about reading.
  • /hiddenhands - I started this up! It’s not quite a standard reading goal; the slope is a bit steeper, since I want to finish it for a Litsy challenge.
  • /cahokia - Flat-forever goal to replace the one for Hidden Hands, for reading Timothy R. Pauketat’s Cahokia.

Cataloguing with actual index cards? Cool! :slight_smile: As you most probably know, on LibraryThing, people who’ve already catalogued their library and have an itch to scratch, do cataloguing flashmobs or catalogue “Legacy Libraries”.

Your goal gave me the idea to someday start a catalogue “freshening” goal, to check and fill out entries to my latest standards. Most of my books are in boxes, however, so that’s not a project for right now…

Not actually! I put them in on StoryGraph, and then I have Trello and a spreadsheet. (Probably I should pick one to stick to, but that used to be Goodreads and they burned me, so I have difficulty committing. :stuck_out_tongue:)

I actually suggested and led an initiative using LibraryThing to catalogue a volunteer-run community library, a few years back. I moved away from the area, so stepped down from the board… This makes me super tempted to go look and see if they’ve kept it up.

Derailments:

New goals:

  • /feedbackzeroes - Now that I’m done with the feedback backlog, this goal is to help prevent a backlog building up again.

Changes to existing goals:

  • /dailyweight - I’ve added a break because I’m still on a plateau I’m struggling to break, even though I’ve changed things up and got a bit stricter.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /hiddenhands - All finished! It was enjoyable, and did discuss a few manuscripts I hadn’t heard of (like a collection of letters).
  • /woodforthetrees - And this one’s finished too. It was okay, Fortey’s fascination with the woods was infectious, but it was very unfocused.
  • /cahokia - Started up from being a flat-forever goal, since I was in the mood for non-fiction.
  • /deathofabookseller - A new flat-forever goal to replace the one that was started! This is a British Library Crime classic I’ve been eager to read for a while, and I just got a copy.

Notes:

  • My exams are coming up, and I should have a think about whether I’m going to add any breaks for those… but not today.

Derailments:

New goals:

  • /stepitup - I have a fitness tracker once more! This goal is currently set super low while I settle into a routine and figure out how much I can feasibly do.

Changes to existing goals:

  • N/a

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /dgh2_dreadfulcompany - A delightful reread, as usual. All finished!
  • /languageofroses - I made a goal for this to read straight away – a review copy of The Language of Roses by Heather Rose Jones. It was lovely.
  • /griefofstones - Started up from a flat-forever goal in hopes of finishing it by the end of the month.
  • /haveyoueatengrandma - A new flat-forever goal to read Gyles Brandreth’s Have You Eaten Grandma? – eventually.

Notes:

  • I decided not to put in any breaks for my exams. Let’s hope I don’t regret it.
  • My new fitness tracker is a Garmin, and I’ll probably stick with it despite the fact that their support team says (despite this not being documented anywhere) that you have to be able to walk faster than me in order to be able to properly calibrate it. (I walked at 3.6mph today, so I have questions, but okay.) So one neat thing it can do is show the notifications from my phone on my wrist. I’m keeping those super limited so I only see the really important ones there… and I do wonder if this might make reminders on goals work for me, meaning I might want to let my goals be in the red. I’m not sure yet, but I might experiment!
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Derailments:

  • /lshtm_control - Alas, I goofed and misread which lshtm_ goal was due. Fie upon it.

New goals:

    • /meditation - My overall stress levels are ridiculous, and the first recommendation is so often meditation that I’m giving it a try, using Headspace’s courses (via a free year’s subscription from my health insurance). I’ve set a rate of 6/7 per day, so I do have some leeway for slips, but a max safety buffer of 2 days.

Changes to existing goals:

  • /lshtm_control - This one came to its predefined end! Technically the exam isn’t until the 13th, but I didn’t know that when I created the goal. I hit the target!
  • /lshtm_biohazard - Ditto, only the exam is on Monday.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /ww2_wallflower - Finished and archived! Cute, and fun.
  • /potatopeelpie - A standard reading goal, which I started immediately, for reading The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. I’ve been promising to review this on Postcrossing’s blog for waaay too long; now I fulfill my promise.
  • /griefofstones - Well wow, this book was quite a turn for the character. I can’t wait for more. Goal finished and archived!
  • /haveyoueatengrandma - Started this one up! Less “old man yells at sky” than I feared, but not very informative for me.
  • /moderntribes - I made this as a flat-forever goal to replace the one I started for Have You Eaten Grandma?, and promptly started it up… and then decided to just skim and “DNF” (mark as “did not finish”) the book since it was way too heavy on lists.
  • /hashtagsandhyphens - I made this one as a flat-forever goal to replace the one I started for Modern Tribes, then started the goal within a day or two, and have already finished it! Pretty interesting stuff about the various symbols/glyphs that accompany/clarify the printed word. I’ve opted not to make another goal in its place for now; I’d like to slim down the number of goals I have going at once… but probably I will re-fill this slot for now, just pondering first.

Notes:

  • I’ve noticed that somehow I’ve never failed at a lot of my goals, and they’re still on the initial pledge. The annoying thing is that that includes stuff like my inbox zero goal, where I was catastrophic at it right up until I created that Beeminder goal, and then a lamb ever since. Anyway, I’m thinking about bumping up some of these pledges (since I have Beemium) to ensure I get right back to it if I ever fail.
  • I’m probably going to turn on the autodialler for my steps goal! Also add an intensity minutes goal now I’ve got the hang of how Garmin calculates those. But not today…
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Derailments:

  • /2022reading - Exam season. Too stressed to settle down with a book even when I have time.
  • /thehandsofthemperor - It’s such a chunky book, I confess I found it too exhausting to even look at.

Changes to existing goals:

  • /dailyweight - Realised it’d somehow got set as end-date-and-end-total, which was not right; changed it back to rate and end total, to fix the fact that the line was going down too sharply. That might partially help with my repeated derailments!
  • /2022reading - I asked for a belated break in this one, as the respite wasn’t as long as I expected (through my own error), and I didn’t think it was fair to derail twice during exam season.

Project Bookminder:

Most new goals are “flat-forever” goals. Flat-forever goal = a goal made to remind me that I have this book and want to read it someday, with a rate of 0; standard reading goal = rate of 5/day, autoratchet to 1 day of safety. All reading goals have public datapoints with daily comments describing how I’m getting along with the book… or not even starting it, if the goal is still flat-forever!

  • /dresscode - Started one of my new books right away, so I set this up as a standard reading goal from the word go.
  • /potatopeelpie - Finished! It was okay, but I definitely have thoughts about the background romance and the odd juxtaposition of the present romance against the discussion of the horrors of the German occupation of Guernsey.

Notes:

  • Nothing new or changed for now, re: current pledges/adding autodialler. Still on my radar, just not with all this (broad gesture at my life) going on.
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