A prospective for 2025

2024-08-17

It's a little early, but I'm going to try write a prospective for 2025. I will try to see what kinds of things will interest me, what will be that which I work on, etc.

I've been working a little on a C script to try get the wv (currently just text files, in a Markdown like format) entries to be in HTML, but I'm not that experienced in C, and it's very fiddly managing individual bytes etc., and with off by ones, pointer arithmetic, etc. But it's fun, and hopefully I'll get it done soonish. I don't really program that much anymore, but working on the new setup, scripts, etc. is certainly making my computing experience more pleasant (river on Wayland feels like dwm, but nicer) and is good practice for me to program.

Anyways, I want to try to predict what I will do in 2025. What will I be focussing on?

Currently, I'm on my self-improvement arc, and am trying to overcome bad vices, as well as build good habits going forwards. I want to get to a state where I can succeed, and accomplish something, I guess. Currently, my focus is on my physical form, by going to the gym, and my music ability in terms of guitar. I am also trying to work on my social capacity, however this is rather taking a backseat to the first two.

Last year, I began to work on the allotment, and gardening, which has been great fun, and kept me very busy last year. This year, though I have certainly still been gardening, I've been to the allotment far less. I got a bit dispirited by all of my crops getting eaten by slugs, my carrots failing to germinate, my Jerusalem artichokes dying in the last frost, and so on. Now, it's in a bit of state, but it will all die back over winter, so I've a fresh start next year. And I've learnt a fair bit.

So, next year. I really currently have three things I am focussing on, as stated: guitar, gym, and allotment.

Next year, I want to manage my time better a bit. I of course do have limited time, and the gym takes a lot of time, the allotment too, and guitar too. I suppose next year, I need to continue the gym, however...

The gym to me feels like a temporal liability. It takes a long time, and if I want to keep on improving (or even keep even once I'm no longer interested in gaining muscle). However, I must continue it for at least all of 2024 and all of 2025, and can decide then if I want to continue it, or reduce the amount I go, or bring it home by buying weights for home use, to save a little time.

In terms of guitar, it would be a pointless investment if I do not actually continue it likewise, with around half an hour each day, and so I should also continue that. I think I will for both of these as well, as they are a sign of a victory, in a way. Of course, I know I won't feel any happier once I've gotten to a good point with them, but nonetheless...

In terms of the allotment, I really want to have it be better next year. I want a decent show. I will grow things that provide a good, consistent yield, without being too labour intensive. I have also learnt quite a lot from this year, which has been an abject failure, honestly... But next year will be better for the allotment, I hope.

So, how do I schedule it? I want to have, say, thrice weekly gym and allotment, as well as guitar for half an hour each day. I will additionally need to continue to do my RHS, work of course, and should read, etc. Sort of, it racks up.

If I plan it in terms of time, I can have six hours each week to the gym. This will be Monday and Friday morning, and Wednesday evening. Guitar will be in the morning ideally every morning, before I do anything else, for a half hour. I suppose I can't do it before gym - I wake up at half five to get to the gym for six, then return about eight and need to eat breakfast before work...

But regardless, I can very easily fit in a half hour to each day for guitar. I can also manage thrice weekly gym. For the other days (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evening) I can go to the allotment. Study can be handled on the six hours of sitting on the train I get per week.

I aim to stop going to the cafe to study over the weekend. It has been a good tradition, but is very expensive, and would be better served by me going elsewhere. The allotment would be a good shout. I can produce my own food (falafel wraps, for instance) and can then simply sit and study as I want, where I want.

(As an aside, what can I do in terms of the milkshakes I won't get... well, I can just make my own milkshakes, can't I? Fun.)

I do like the routine I've built up though. I think it does me well, but of course I need to be better in terms of managing my time. In terms of wv, I want to write more often... I suppose I could write one a day if it does only take a half hour if I do it quickly, though this one has taken me an hour and a half as I have been taking my time.

I additionally do want downtime, the ability to nap of an afternoon, etc. And I need time to work on the new system and scripts. Really, I feel as if time is the largest thing limiting me at the moment.

Is there anything else I will want to do next year? Likely, yes. I think I will want to try to be more sociable, though likely it is best to work on that in terms of the existing social relations which I have, as opposed to building new ones. I do perceive my social relations (i.e. count of friends) to be inadequate, but that is not a problem for now, I think. I also do not really have the means to find new friends at the moment, in terms of time and schedule. Perhaps changing my schedule so that I meet new people will be something I can work on next year.

Art would be something worthwhile to pursue as well next year, a little more than I pursue it currently. Perhaps I could allot a full hour each day to guitar and art, which would be good.

Ok, well, that's all really. I guess I have no real ideas for what to do next year, and will work it out with time, but I think continuing with what I'm already doing would be best. Hopefully by the end of 2025, I'll be good in terms of guitar, allotment, and gym!

I recall hearing about how it's better to go deep into one thing as opposed to trying to spread yourself over many things. So for me, just doing these two or three things is not spreading myself too thin, and I will make good progress on them.

Nice! Ok, have a good one. I'm writing a lot of wv today and yesterday...