I'm using the template I used the last time. 11/10/25 - 3/11/25
"L" will stand for the (last) plan/notes for this term. "T" will stand for done this term.
I added "Future goals/direction" to better reflect on the things I am trying to do and to add specificity. I will copy it and stick it somewhere where I can see it to remind myself whenever I feel aimless. I will also use different colors: blue for newly added goals/habits, green for completed/successful, orange for ongoing/some progress and red for ones I haven't worked on in that period.
Books/Reading articles/Learning:
L: Continuing with "Influence". Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. I also started doing crosswords back in August.
T: Finished Influence. I also read "War with the Newts" by Čapek. Borrowing a few new books soon. Read on Reddit about finance. I unsubbed from the English teaching forums, because most of the issues there were irrelevant to me. Did the crosswords a little again.
Possible direction/goals:
(Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report.
Family:
L: My father and I had our birthdays, so we met for the celebration. Met my brother separately for lunch too. What's special is that my uncle came for a visit, hadn't seen him in years.
Over the last few months, I noticed grandma's getting worse; she had troubles with balance and memory. She had a cold a month or two ago, so she couldn't go out much. We now bring heavier groceries to her. My brother and I will try to convince her to go for a few medical checks, but she's stubborn and doesn't want to visit the doctors.
T: My mom, brother, his girlfriend, my girlfriend and I went to a standup show. It was OK. I also went to sushi with my brother, after a long time.
The health of my grandma is more or less still the same. Our family collectively managed to convince her to go to the doctors. Turns out she hasn't been to her GP in four years, though she did visit eye, internal or other specialized doctors. My father is organizing the care these days; he delegated a lot of the tasks onto my mother, who is retired. My brother and I are on standby and involved in some of the smaller tasks. I'm not sure whether that is the best (and fastest) course of action, but something's being done and that's the main thing. I hope it turns out well.
NOT: I don't want to get alienated from my family.
Possible direction/goals:
Work on getting the new kitchen for my grandma.
Continue work on maintaining the relationships with my family.
Business/English:
L: Launched PPC ads on Google with the help of one of the guys. I also met one teacher colleague and she gave me the idea (and asked about) forwarding students/courses to her. I could even do it for a small commission, but at the moment it seems like too much hassle for too little profit. We'll see what comes up in the future.
The last few months I've been testing the comprehensible input method and I, and the students too, are fairly happy with it. It focuses on learning the language naturally through audio and video. It's also graded based on the student's current level, usually with a few new words thrown in for context. The same thing also exists for reading.
Many students often say they're afraid to talk, but I think it's not because they're shy. It's just a symptom of the fact that they don't know enough vocabulary in useful contexts. Small kids learn vocabulary and meaning without memorizing lists of vocabulary. This was brought to home to me yesterday, when we met my girlfriend's little nephew. He said: "I pick up walnuts, NO." Yes, grammar is wrong, but meaning is conveyed. As he listens to people more and more, he'll soon understand that the sentence should be structured differently.
T: I and one of my FIRE friends organized a teacher/lecturer meeting. Two other people came and we had good fun. I might organize more of these in the future. Visited a seminar on AI tools usage and learned a trick or two to help me. I also made a few minor website updates.
Important: From next year, I'm planning to have a late morning break every day, roughly from 10 until 12/13. I will use this break for exercise, lunch, shower and the walk with my girlfriend. The main thing is to take the exercise seriously and that's fairly difficult if my day and lessons look different every day. Check this next month and inform the students.
NOT: I don't want to have a job that I don't enjoy. I don't want to have a job that is not well paid.
Past projects: Copied to a Google Doc to keep this less cluttered.
Current projects I'm working on:
Website improvement project - since August 2024
lecturer trainings - ENG business February-May 2025
55 minutes F2F lessons (+ online reminder too); pricing updates
I and one of my FIRE friends organized a teacher/lecturer meeting.
Areas to work on continually:
English table update - check every now and then for improvements.
Keep classes at a stable 20-25 hours a week.
Keep asking for reviews or recommendations from students.
CELTA colleagues calls.
Go through "lecturer academy" + CELTA materials + lecturer course.
Exercise/Movement/Health:
L: I got a bit ill. I think I recovered about week ago, but then my girlfriend and I spent an extended weekend in another city and went for a bike trip. This week was busy with work, so I didn't have time to exercise. I haven't had almost any home exercise in two weeks. Gonna pick up the slack today and over the start of the next week.
My girlfriend and I also got a new gadget called the Oura Ring that tracks vitals. Looking forward to using the vitals data in the future.
T: Managed to exercise, cycle or run 3-4x a week the past three weeks. This includes the trip to Slovenia with my girlfriend as well. I again noticed that my blood pressure went down after being active for a few days. Minor activities also include changing wheels on my car. Went to dental hygiene too.
NOT: I don't want to become fat.
Possible direction/goals:
Keep in shape by exercising at least twice a week for 30-60 minutes.
Have a session every weekday from January.
Social + personal hobbies + free time:
L: Watched a few films and attended a few events with my girlfriend, met my friend a few times, played billiard in a group, met another friend in another city, attended the FIRE meeting and visited yet another city with my girlfriend.
T: Went to Slovenia with my girlfriend, for hiking and cycling trips. We also went to a sauna night (surprise gift from her) and went to a wellness cottage (gift for both of us from her family). I also did some maths and finance; about my business, stock brokers or mortgage. Watched a funny series I've seen in the past by myself.
I also met my friend a few times and that was that. I don't really meet that many people outside of this friend and my girlfriend; unless I also include my students into this. I don't think I'm missing out on anything though, so I guess I'm doing fine in this regard.
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For thought:
Maybe I should just learn to plan better, though just the thought of having some hours of my day scheduled makes me cringe. Oddly enough, I don't get this feeling while planning lessons of my students, normally in bigger blocks. Maybe I should rethink that belief to make me happier. This might change with the late morning exercise lessons.
I've had this recurring thought every now and then that I am often somehow prevented from what I want to do in my free time; basically whenever I am not with students or sleeping.
No, I just need to stop reading and learning all the time and start doing things. Imperfect action yields results. Information alone is useless.
I like these reports, because they take me back in the calendar and let me see if there's something I've missed or something I need to check on again.
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Plans for 2025 (check each month and color - red, orange, green):
Family:
I don't have any specific plans for my family, besides finishing my grandma's kitchen. I also don't have any plans of starting my own, although I've always said I'm ready after finishing the uni. The main thing for the success of that would be to manage time and money correctly.
Career:
The last year was successful business-wise. I got the confirmation for the new lecturer course running from February to May. The main goal is to get the website finished, so I want to actively cooperate with the other freelancers. I'm not going to set any arbitrary goals, except keeping my lesson work-hours around 20-25, and to managing the other admin stuff (preparation, mails, trainings) in another 10 hours. That makes the total of 30-35 hours worked a week.
Friends, community:
I am part of more friend groups and communities. I don't have any big plans in mind regarding this area of my life. I expect to naturally drift towards more libertarian, financially educated and entrepreneurial/self-employed communities. I find the most inspiring people there.
Relaxation, hobbies, creativity:
I intend on continuing the hobbies I currently do, including writing, working out or going to the shooting range. I also want to remain curious about things and keep on traveling to break out of the cycle to unwind completely sometimes. Maybe I'll get around to blogging again. I think the line between work and relaxation is blurry for me.
Physical health, fitness:
Again working out (and stretching) and flossing. I think my diet is OK. I might start tracking some indicators of body fitness, but I don't think I'm quite there yet.
Mental health, self-knowledge:
Avoid overwork and burnout. Keep hours on roughly 20 lessons + 10 hours of ancillary work a week. Keep on doing things that feel right. Keep on planning/marking down things in my calendar.
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Habits for 2025 (check each month and color - red, orange, green): Habits that define you:
family - keep in touch with my family at least once a month
girlfriend - make time to talk every day and keep on working on strengthening our relationship via common activities
career - work on my education continually, learning something new every week, even in unstructured ways; sources: CELTA, meeting other English lecturers/teachers, reading on their websites, lecturer course coming up in February, working on the business side of my work
friends/community habits - meet with my best friend a few times a month, meet with my friend groups a few times a month too
relaxation, hobbies, creativity habits - shooting range, writing, traveling, blogging, reading, being curious, sauna
fitness habits - stretch every day, work out/run twice a week; floss daily
mental health habits - keep my hobbies, work and other activities in balance, try new things every now and then
a better tomorrow habits - provide great added value back for the money of my students
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By
Ikar ·
