|
As I finish my 2nd year of college I finally came to a rather logical understanding. The summer is the best time not to be lazy for the summer but to catch up and get ahead.
For those who have known this rather seemingly simple concept I am truly jealous. I came upon this epinany during my last semester up until this point I had been pretty lazy about college and not taking studying to seriously which lead to some unfortunate but well deserved punishment (which I wont get into this blog). But basically I started studying seriously for my classes and I found myself having less time to read books/ practice my hobbies.
For example I wanted to get back into casual reading so I ordered the Wheel of Time book #1 (From suggestion at TL :D) I have owned it for about 2 months, haven’t read more than 5 pages. So I came up with a summer goal plan rather than waste my summer doing nothing but working and hanging out with friends all summer I should get ahead or catch up.
As a note all my goals have a numerical goal, I have tried to make up my own goals before and I personally find that having a solid number limit/goal helps me immensely.
1. Practice bass 30 mins every day
+ Show Spoiler +I bought a Bass from my friend about 2 years ago and I did play it seriously over the break but I don’t have it up at school with me (no space to transport it)
2. Limit my “Free Internet” usage to less than 2 hours a day. I define “Free Internet” as basically anything non-productive on the computer (eg. Video games, Teamliquid, reddit, facebook, Starcraft)
+ Show Spoiler + I am personally trying to slowly get myself off video games I was a heavy gamer for the better part of my life and since I enrolled in college I didn’t bring a TV or video games and I was amazed at the amount of free time I have. So I made the decision that the time I spent on video games could be spent being more productive.
3. Read a book every two weeks
Like I was talking about Wheel Of Time, I have heard it’s a good book and I love fantasies/fictions so this one shouldn’t be too hard.
4. Make a Railgun
+ Show Spoiler +You read right a railgun, in my Physics textbook they where explaining how a railgun (not to much detail of course) and I thought hey this is pretty cool so I told my other friend from home we should make one. It fits our personalities perfectly, we both like science and we both like blowing stuff up/shooting things/fire. So this should be a fun project.
5. Study Calc-3 an hour every other day
+ Show Spoiler +Well I am repeating calc-3 because I got a D last semester so I want to do well, not much else to it. This was the only book I ever bought for a class so I didn’t bother to sell it back to the school for obvious reason. Now im really happy I ended up saving it since I can study from it now.
6. Run 5 Miles under 40 minuets and be able to do 100 sit ups
+ Show Spoiler +First before all you smug distance runners smile at my low time, I am a sprinter alright, my proudest achievement was running a mile in 6:15. But this is just general health I am a pretty fit person but I think this one will be the most difficult, I’ll explain later down.
7. Cook at least once a week for my family
+ Show Spoiler +Living at school I like to think I can “cook” But boiling pasta and throwing pasta sauce in it is not really cooking I will admit. Plus I think it would be nice to cook for my parents every once in awhile.
8. Study the night constellations 15 mins before bed.
+ Show Spoiler +I am really big into astronomy but I never really bother to learn the constellations till about a year go. I kind of felt stupid when my friends would ask me “Where is Virgo?” And I wouldn’t know, but to be fair I live on Long Island and there’s a lot of light pollution.
9. Sleep before 12 and wake up at 9 (I thought 8 but I cut myself some slack it is the summer  )
+ Show Spoiler +I’m not much of a morning person, but I personally find myself way more productive and alert waking up at 8-9 rather than 10. Also it feels like the day is gone at 10am. I remember when Skyrim first came out and I came home for winter break my friend got my Skyrim and this is what I did. Wake up at 10am play till 2am repeat cycle for 4 days then I realized what was happening.
10. Play chess a little bit more
+ Show Spoiler +This is the one goal that’s sort of like an “Eh if I can” It would be nice to be able to play some chess and become at least mediocre instead of just plain terrible. But not many of my friends play chess and my brother is even worst than me so online is the only choice and im not a big fan of online chess.
So this is my list TL it is a bit long and it doesn’t help thati I will have a manual labor summer job working 40+ hours a week and the job is about a 40 min drive, so I might be staying with my uncle and aunt in between weeks because they live near it.
I don’t want to overload myself so I will see how this works out and cut out certain goals if I have to. More than strict goals these are more like guidelines i'm not gonna ignore someone's birthday because "I HAVE TO READ TODAY DAMN IT"
Hopefully though I will be able to make these goals into a habit which will carry on into the fall. Another important aspect of these summer goals is for self-discipline which I have very little of.
I hope that by writing this out it will help to remind myself, but anyway TL do you make summer goals? Or just any goals that you have any tips?
|
United States261 Posts
I typically make summer goals and it's a nice way to focus on improving yourself as you stated earlier. Also if you don't have a job it's a nice way to build up skills to obtain one.
|
First before all you smug distance runners smile at my low time, I am a sprinter alright, my proudest achievement was running a mile in 6:15. But this is just general health I am a pretty fit person but I think this one will be the most difficult, I’ll explain later down.
I don't think it will, unless your really concerned about having time/energy to train.
You have a mile in 6:15 to your name, not sure if your in that shape currently but IF you are 5 mile in 40 minutes is something you can do for sure. It wouldn't quite be what I would call easy, but it wouldn't be anywhere a bending over, puking race effort either. To be honest, racing it you can almost certainly get into the 36's.
If your not currently in shape for 6:15 then it's a matter of getting back into that kind of shape. Fortunately you've been there before so your fitness will come back pretty quickly.
If the goal is to be able to just go out and casual jog 5 miles in 40 min then we'll have a little work to do. We'll need to get you down around 5:45 for the mile/20:00 ish for the 5K. You can do it in a summer for sure, especially since you've already gone 6:15 but you'll need to be consistent and reasonable committed, just jogging a couple times a week if you feel like it probably won't get you there.
|
On May 10 2012 01:07 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +First before all you smug distance runners smile at my low time, I am a sprinter alright, my proudest achievement was running a mile in 6:15. But this is just general health I am a pretty fit person but I think this one will be the most difficult, I’ll explain later down. I don't think it will, unless your really concerned about having time/energy to train. You have a mile in 6:15 to your name, not sure if your in that shape currently but IF you are 5 mile in 40 minutes is something you can do for sure. It wouldn't quite be what I would call easy, but it wouldn't be anywhere a bending over, puking race effort either. To be honest, racing it you can almost certainly get into the 36's. If your not currently in shape for 6:15 then it's a matter of getting back into that kind of shape. Fortunately you've been there before so your fitness will come back pretty quickly. If the goal is to be able to just go out and casual jog 5 miles in 40 min then we'll have a little work to do. We'll need to get you down around 5:45 for the mile/20:00 ish for the 5K. You can do it in a summer for sure, especially since you've already gone 6:15 but you'll need to be consistent and reasonable committed, just jogging a couple times a week if you feel like it probably won't get you there.
the only reason i think the running one will be the most difficult is because i have a summer job which is basically manual labor a lot of lifting for 8 hours. The challenge is if i can get myself to stand up and go out for a jog afterwords.
|
summer goal is to play a lot of Diablo 3, then probably look for a full time job a month later
|
This is dumb. In two years you won't have any more summers, you'll spend the fair months the same was as the rest; at a desk pushing papers. Probably for the next 50 years.
Enjoy one of the last two summers you have; there will be time for calc in the fall. You have the rest of your life to wake up early, and your free internet time will be limited whether you like it or not. Spend the time doing something fun or crazy. The railgun idea is a good start.
|
I applaud you for this thread, if you can keep to these goals you will have a very productive summer. Just a few humble suggestions about your goals:
Reading books is a good goal but reading WoT is just as much a waste of time as TL or reddit. It's much mroe worthwhile to read meaningful books where you actually learn something about the world. There are lots of amazingly interesting non-fiction books out there if you make the effort to find them.
100 situps is a pretty lame goal. Become familiar with a bunch of different core exercises like plank, crunches, leg lifts, that one where you hold a weight, sit on the floor and turn back and forth, and a bunch of others that may or may not have proper names. Work all different parts of your core and get an awesome six-pack plus other health benefits. Doing situps alone is not a good workout.
But these are basically nit-picky issues. Good luck with your goals. You should post an update at the end of the summer and let us know how you did on them.
|
On May 10 2012 03:12 ziggurat wrote:
I applaud you for this thread, if you can keep to these goals you will have a very productive summer. Just a few humble suggestions about your goals:
Reading books is a good goal but reading WoT is just as much a waste of time as TL or reddit. It's much mroe worthwhile to read meaningful books where you actually learn something about the world. There are lots of amazingly interesting non-fiction books out there if you make the effort to find them.
100 situps is a pretty lame goal. Become familiar with a bunch of different core exercises like plank, crunches, leg lifts, that one where you hold a weight, sit on the floor and turn back and forth, and a bunch of others that may or may not have proper names. Work all different parts of your core and get an awesome six-pack plus other health benefits. Doing situps alone is not a good workout.
But these are basically nit-picky issues. Good luck with your goals. You should post an update at the end of the summer and let us know how you did on them.
Your probably right with the WoT so i'll finish that book and then read something more pro-active,
The 100 sit ups is just a numerical goal i do plan on doing other core work outs (planks like you mentioned) and probably hitting the gym a bit, but i just wanted some number to be able to reach
If i even accomplish half of these goals (especially the rail gun :D) i'll be sure to update
On May 10 2012 02:44 TheToast wrote:
This is dumb. In two years you won't have any more summers, you'll spend the fair months the same was as the rest; at a desk pushing papers. Probably for the next 50 years.
Enjoy one of the last two summers you have; there will be time for calc in the fall. You have the rest of your life to wake up early, and your free internet time will be limited whether you like it or not. Spend the time doing something fun or crazy. The railgun idea is a good start.
Like i said this isn't a strict "I have to do this don't bother me friends" I just want some direction for my summer, i don't plan on studying calculus instead of going to the beach on a gorgeous day
I don't want to spend it like i did the last two summer, hanging out with friends(i mean excessively like every day) or just aimlessly on the computer 8 hours a day.
|
On May 10 2012 02:44 TheToast wrote:
This is dumb. In two years you won't have any more summers, you'll spend the fair months the same was as the rest; at a desk pushing papers. Probably for the next 50 years.
Enjoy one of the last two summers you have; there will be time for calc in the fall. You have the rest of your life to wake up early, and your free internet time will be limited whether you like it or not. Spend the time doing something fun or crazy. The railgun idea is a good start.
This is really bad advice. Life isn't about being as lazy as you can get away with. And if you are lazy and content with mediocrity, then you probably will have a mundane soul-sucking job for the rest of your life "pushing papers".
Or if you work hard now and learn to enjoy whatever field you are studying, you'll have a job you enjoy and won't want to retire from.
It is important to have fun, but it is right to limit internet/tv/other wastes of time. I don't think any of us are going to look back in the twilight of our lives thinking "I wish I would have spent more time watching funny videos on youtube!"
And I agree ziggurat to make sure to read something useful, especially as it relates to your major. I usually read a fiction and a non-fiction book at the same time.
|
Why do you consider spending time with friends as wasting time? I consider it the opposite unless all you're doing is spending a ton of money/getting wasted 24/7.
|
On May 10 2012 02:44 TheToast wrote:
This is dumb. In two years you won't have any more summers, you'll spend the fair months the same was as the rest; at a desk pushing papers. Probably for the next 50 years.
Enjoy one of the last two summers you have; there will be time for calc in the fall. You have the rest of your life to wake up early, and your free internet time will be limited whether you like it or not. Spend the time doing something fun or crazy. The railgun idea is a good start.
I can sort of understand where your coming from; but at the same time while some of this stuff might take "work" it's generally stuff he wants to do.
With that in mind if he goes and has a completely lazy summer just doing whatever mindlessly it might be somewhat enjoyable while it's happening; but then when you look back in the fall there is this "o shit, I didn't do anything I wanted to do. When am I gonna find time now" feeling. If he goes after the things he wants to do but that maybe require more "effort" to follow through on he has an enjoyable summer and in the fall looking back he gets a good sense of satisfaction from accomplishing what he wanted to do.
If he said he wanted to use his entire summer to study for school to be better prepared for fall and generally work a ton of hours then I'd be more inclined to agree with you but the majority of the stuff on his list are activities that are fun for him. He's still going to be having a good time. Possible exception is studying calculus but who cares, its like 3 hours every other day which isn't much time in the grand scheme of an entire summer.
@DreamChaser - Yea, I hear you about the work. All I can say if go out there and do it. I don't quite have as "intense" of a manual labor job as you but I am definitely on my feet the entire time, moving around, cleaning shit up, etc. Sometimes you feel worn out at the end but when you go out and start running it tends to recede and be only minimally noticeable. I think it's one of those things where your somewhat tired from work but then when your running the intensity is higher and your body just finds another "gear" when it realizes what's demanded of it.
Mindset is important. If you get off and think "aww shit, now I gotta go run 6 miles this is gonna be tiring as hell and suck"...well your run is going to be a slog. If you try to look forward to it, or at least just view it as something that your going to do, you'll have alot more success.
If you haven't been running consistently the first few weeks will probably be tiring, especially in conjunction with the job, but just take the runs relaxed and easy..bordering on absurdly easy as you adjust. Once your used to a decent bit of running it gets to be routine and not even faze you. I run about 70-80 miles a week, and while I was tired all the time for the 2 months as I made the jump from 40 to my current mileage I eventually adapted and now I have as much energy running 80mpw as I did before running 40. It's actually to the point that I am pretty much in a "tireless" state. I can't really wear myself out with anything unless it's solid, intense exercise. Being on my feet for all of the day I will still feel as fresh as I did at the start, and even things like an easy hour run can leave me feeling refreshed.
The point? The adjustment phase can be a little to fairly tiring, but once your through that your body adapts and it gets pretty easy to maintain. You'll eventually probably reach a point where a short, easy run can actually leave you feeling more energized than before even after a hard day of work.
|
You know I remembered you because you made this blog:
http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=324280
How did that turn out? Are you still going to continue engineering? Judging from you studying calc 3 this summer either you are continuing or switched to a math major or something
I was in a similar position as you when I first started engineering. It took awhile for me to adjust so I know the feeling(but I still gotta work my butt off cuz im not as smart as the other engineers). Man I was gonna just chill this summer but u helped me remember that there is no time during the year so I need to be using this summer to study(or be productive)so thank u for that reminder. I already started looking into places to apply for jobs and stuff.
|
My summer goals are to:
try and drop down to 165lbs (from 180.. I'm 6'0 so I just want to be a bit more fit)
play at least 3 more pro's on NA ladder (so get my MMR up more)
and go on a road trip with my gf / friends.
Nothing too extreme, it will just be kind of hard since I work full time during the summer so that cuts 9 hours a day from playing/exercising/fun.
But yeah
|
1. I have a full time job. Lots of programming and analysis for some education company.
2. There was this girl I liked. I want to make a site with a collection of funny pictures and show it to her.
3. I have 6 hours of free time a day if I get a 1 hour lunch. I also need to make up a course: Physics of the Earth, with something else. I'm hoping I can take an online course somewhere and then transfer the credits so I don't have to go to class.
4. This isn't a requirement, but I'd like to spend some time playing dota 2(if I get in) and diablo 3 with a friend. My LoL friends oddly aren't really inviting me. I'd like to spend some time with my little brother too.
I used to read and swim my summers away in middle and high school. I did a lot of summer classes and volunteered one summer at a library. Now that I think about it I feel like much of the reading and swimming was a waste, though a fun one.
Come college I started getting full time jobs and after first year I had to make up Calc 2.
Last year I'd wanted to start a business with apps but I didn't get all the needed materials and often got distracted online. Free internet time is hard to reduce. I've been trying for years.
|
On May 10 2012 05:50 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On May 10 2012 02:44 TheToast wrote:
This is dumb. In two years you won't have any more summers, you'll spend the fair months the same was as the rest; at a desk pushing papers. Probably for the next 50 years.
Enjoy one of the last two summers you have; there will be time for calc in the fall. You have the rest of your life to wake up early, and your free internet time will be limited whether you like it or not. Spend the time doing something fun or crazy. The railgun idea is a good start. + Show Spoiler +I can sort of understand where your coming from; but at the same time while some of this stuff might take "work" it's generally stuff he wants to do.
With that in mind if he goes and has a completely lazy summer just doing whatever mindlessly it might be somewhat enjoyable while it's happening; but then when you look back in the fall there is this "o shit, I didn't do anything I wanted to do. When am I gonna find time now" feeling. If he goes after the things he wants to do but that maybe require more "effort" to follow through on he has an enjoyable summer and in the fall looking back he gets a good sense of satisfaction from accomplishing what he wanted to do.
If he said he wanted to use his entire summer to study for school to be better prepared for fall and generally work a ton of hours then I'd be more inclined to agree with you but the majority of the stuff on his list are activities that are fun for him. He's still going to be having a good time. Possible exception is studying calculus but who cares, its like 3 hours every other day which isn't much time in the grand scheme of an entire summer.
@DreamChaser - Yea, I hear you about the work. All I can say if go out there and do it. I don't quite have as "intense" of a manual labor job as you but I am definitely on my feet the entire time, moving around, cleaning shit up, etc. Sometimes you feel worn out at the end but when you go out and start running it tends to recede and be only minimally noticeable. I think it's one of those things where your somewhat tired from work but then when your running the intensity is higher and your body just finds another "gear" when it realizes what's demanded of it.
Mindset is important. If you get off and think "aww shit, now I gotta go run 6 miles this is gonna be tiring as hell and suck"...well your run is going to be a slog. If you try to look forward to it, or at least just view it as something that your going to do, you'll have alot more success.
If you haven't been running consistently the first few weeks will probably be tiring, especially in conjunction with the job, but just take the runs relaxed and easy..bordering on absurdly easy as you adjust. Once your used to a decent bit of running it gets to be routine and not even faze you. I run about 70-80 miles a week, and while I was tired all the time for the 2 months as I made the jump from 40 to my current mileage I eventually adapted and now I have as much energy running 80mpw as I did before running 40. It's actually to the point that I am pretty much in a "tireless" state. I can't really wear myself out with anything unless it's solid, intense exercise. Being on my feet for all of the day I will still feel as fresh as I did at the start, and even things like an easy hour run can leave me feeling refreshed.
The point? The adjustment phase can be a little to fairly tiring, but once your through that your body adapts and it gets pretty easy to maintain. You'll eventually probably reach a point where a short, easy run can actually leave you feeling more energized than before even after a hard day of work.
Thanks for the input about running, i was only a bit scared because i thought i might be over working my body, if i got injured i would be severely fucked basically.
But if someone has done it at least i know it can be done (with proper stretching of course)
On May 10 2012 06:57 MaRiNe23 wrote:You know I remembered you because you made this blog: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=324280How did that turn out? Are you still going to continue engineering? Judging from you studying calc 3 this summer either you are continuing or switched to a math major or something I was in a similar position as you when I first started engineering. It took awhile for me to adjust so I know the feeling(but I still gotta work my butt off cuz im not as smart as the other engineers). Man I was gonna just chill this summer but u helped me remember that there is no time during the year so I need to be using this summer to study(or be productive)so thank u for that reminder. I already started looking into places to apply for jobs and stuff.
Yea after a lot of thinking i decided to stick with it, im going to a community college at home for a semester and basically i have to Ace all the classes i will be taking in order to go back to the university i am currently at.
|
|
|
On May 10 2012 03:12 ziggurat wrote:
Reading books is a good goal but reading WoT is just as much a waste of time as TL or reddit. It's much mroe worthwhile to read meaningful books where you actually learn something about the world. There are lots of amazingly interesting non-fiction books out there if you make the effort to find them.
Don't listen to this man. Not yet, at least. Use WoT to get back in the habit of reading regularly, and then read all kinds of stuff. I have eight full bookshelves in my apartment, and five of those are non-fiction. One is sci-fi and fantasy (don't worry guys, they're not mixed together), and I think it's just as important as my philosophy/religion/anthropology shelf or my history shelf. Reading things like Guns Germs & Steel is certainly valuable and informative, but the fact that WoT isn't informative doesn't make the experience not valuable.
|
On May 10 2012 07:41 Snaiil wrote:
Why the 100 situps goal?
No particular reason its only a goal theres no real reason to it. I am used to working out my core muscles a lot because i played a lot of sports in high school so its just there.
On May 10 2012 05:05 Gatored wrote:
Why do you consider spending time with friends as wasting time? I consider it the opposite unless all you're doing is spending a ton of money/getting wasted 24/7.
Its not that i don't like hanging out with my friends don't get me wrong they are awesome and i love em all. I guess i worded that harshly, what i meant to say was that hanging out with my friends everyday is a time consumer and i wouldn't say we aren't doing anything (Although most of the time we aren't) and that the memories aren't important but i see a thin line between hanging out with friends vs doing nothing. I don't really know how to type this out with out just saying " I don't like my friends, or i am introvert"
|
Really wanted to take summer courses this semester but our Arts and Architecture building happens to need some renovation so no luck 
- Games and basketball with friends
- Improve my Rhino, CAD and Revit skills
- Improve my health and eating habits; lose more body fat, do more weight lifting
- Catch up on reading material(Something I really like to do, maybe while I'm working)
- Prepare and organize myself for next semester, tame my procrastination abilities!!
And doing manual labor, summer jobs yeah!!!
|
To do more than 10 pullups at once.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
