NttG#4 – Creating a Lifestyle

Creating things is fun. Designing mechanics, writing stories, crafting visual art, any of those makes me feel amazing. When I don’t get to do those things I get cranky. This means I needed to create a lifestyle that would accommodate me and what I want.

I wasn’t always good at this, to be honest I’m still not great at it, but I’m getting better. It’s thanks to Phil and his life hacking philosophies and project management skill set that I’m improving in these areas. Also, having a little more structure isn’t a bad thing. Here’s a rough schedule of my life.

So let me unpack a bit of this. My job has me on call for one to two hours a day. Those hours I use to do Encoded, Misdirected Mark, and other writing work. In fact I’m writing this during one of those times. Alex is my son and those are the days I have him. I’m divorced by the way, hence why he’s only on the schedule those days. Encoded/MM is time I have set aside specifically for those activities. It’s so I make sure there are times where I’m focused on that. Jen is my fiancee and those are the times I have specifically set aside for her. Game Night is there because what I do requires new gaming experiences and having it scheduled is important to me. Flex are those times where I can choose to do what needs to be done (like writing for a deadline or spending some time with Jen) or what I feel like doing (like writing because I love it or spending time with Jen). I know myself and I need to be able to be spontaneous sometimes and just get a little downtime others. The / on the schedule means I have one or the other of those things on a particular week because it’s not always consistent. My Thursday game night is three weeks on then one week off. Sunday is always weird and sometimes on Wednesdays Jen has things she needs or wants to do that don’t include me.

So that’s my framework for my life. Of course life messes those things up from time to time, but this is the normal I try to get to. In there I also have a lot of other little tasks like house cleaning, paying bills, watching TV, playing video games – those last two go into flex mostly – trying to get some exercise, eating, etc. For that I’ve been introduced to productivity and organizational programs and right now I’m using HabitRPG. It has a lot of those daily tasks and habits I want to cultivate on it but I don’t think I’ve quite gotten as much out of it as my other Encoded companions. But here’s to continued effort and a productive lifestyle.