Ikar

2025 yearly report Reading, learning and books: Facts: Read about 8 books this year - fun books, but also about money and psychology. Also spent some time reading financial reddits, but very little. Feelings: This is really a hobby;, but it has its special place here, because I like to read and I consider learning important, otherwise I'd just put it to the bottom with the rest of my hobbies. Plans: Read a book a month. Habits to help with plans: Read daily (a few times a week). Reading (and crosswords) are a good way for me to relax. Drop a book whenever I don't look forward to reading it. Family: Facts: It seems to me my grandma's health got pretty bad pretty quickly, at least in terms of her physical condition. After getting sick and going out less during summer, she had two pretty serious falls in December. She likely also has hallucinations every now and then. My mom needs to assist her when going shopping or to the doctor etc., for which I am quite grateful. Add-on: Had to solve an emergency with my grandma again this Friday. Her legs started to fester due to a heart failure. It's exhausting. Regardless, I'm also quite grateful to my girlfriend for informing my views with hers. There are issues in her family as well, and sometimes we share the news and have a laugh, because there's nothing else to be done :D Also, the rest of the kitchen project was finished in June. For whatever it's worth, I'm happy my grandma got to use it. Feelings: Compared to last year, turns out it wasn't my mom succumbing to dementia, but my grandma, and fast. Again, it's a label and maybe not even that accurate, but it captures the essence of things. As for the kitchen, I think it was a mistake to not have it done by somebody else. It would have been done much faster and with much less emotional stress for everybody. And even if something had been wrong, at least the contractors would have been to blame. The lesson is: pay money for the kitchen, pay money for the wrapping of gifts, pay money for stuff I really hate doing. Plans: Finished the kitchen this year as planned. I don't have any specific plans for my family. I don't want to get alienated from my family. Habits to help with plans: Continue work on maintaining the relationships with my family. Keep in contact at least once a month. Business/English: Facts: I have a new website, got PPC working on it, attended the lecturer course, worked on pricing, played around with the comprehensible input method. Implemented the 10-13 daily break and decided to work less (and for more money), as I think I'm already doing well financially. Eliminated the last language school course. Also, I got back into the army and I'm there as a part-time reservist. Roughly the same amount of lesson count, but 15% increase in profits, year-on-year. Feelings: So the web-building and PPC ads are finished. My business expenses this year were roughly the same size as last year. Education-wise, I got the lecturer course for free and it was a nice change of pace with some benefits. The lessons with the students have been nice overall and even a little more challenging towards the end of the year. I also decided there is no need to go overboard with money. I don't make a ton of money in the conventional terms, but I prefer to have more free time and work less. I also make pretty good money from the part-time army job relative to the time spent, on top of it being meaninful. Over the last two years, I actually didn't save that much as I did in the years before, but I traded that for more time and spending on things that matter (better quality food, budget traveling with my girlfriend, health etc.) Plans: Stick to the plan of roughly 15 hours of lessons per week. I'm gonna continue with the part-time army job. I've already scouted for an interesting English/lecturer course, without luck, but I'll keep looking. Habits to help with plans: Find more teachers/colleagues to share workload with (with or without commission). I'm gonna continue with the 10-13 break daily break. Be receptive to students' needs. Exercise/Health: Facts: I think I can say I exercise most days of the week, meaning roughly 4x a week. I exercise at home with weights, at the gym or go running. I also go hiking or cycling. I get headaches always after being in situations when I don't eat or drink regularly. I just lose sense of hunger and thirst during a stressful or fast-paced part of day. No other health problems. Feelings: It was a good year with growing amounts of exercise over its course. No serious health problems. Plans: Keep on exercising most days of the week (4x a week, including hikes, cycling trips etc.) Keep hiking and cycling. I don't want to become fat. Habits to help with plans: Start flossing regularly. Incorporate balance and spine exercises. Keep on using the Oura ring to track vitals. Relationship with my girlfriend: So we've lived together for almost two years and I can say it's still a nice experience. I don't think we've had any really heated arguments that would span days or even weeks. Last year, I often got a bad headache during the holidays/trips and was a bore to be with. So staying hydrated and fed during trips is my top priority these days. Still, these days I have a feeling I'd like to do more things with my girlfriend. It sometimes feels as if we are next to each other rather than together. I gave her a voucher for English lessons to help with that (which she enjoyed having a few years ago). Plans: - Habits to help with plans: Make time to talk every day. Keep on working on strengthening our relationship via common activities. Social + Personal Hobbies + Free Time: Again, I took part in various social activities and hobbies: playing board games, FIRE (financial) meetings, going to the shooting range (now somewhat retired because of my army part-time job), playing table football (though not so much anymore), doing crosswords, visiting an improvisation show, going to the sauna or playing billiard. I can also say students socialize me quite often. That strikes me and perhaps weirds me out, but my girlfriend told me she also spends a lot of time at work with her colleagues. She basically spends as much time with them as she does with me. And of course, she spends much less time with her friends or her sister. I don't have colleagues, but my students. Most of the time, they look forward to the lessons and so do I. Plans: Keep in touch with my friend groups (FIRE, quiz, best friends). Habits to help with plans: Meet.

Oh yeah, in that case, I do it the same way really. At this moment, I have a lot of small notes/tasks piled up with no set deadline, because I was away for two weeks and I need to prioritize. I'll start working on those when I finish writing my yearly reports here.

Thanks! I can say I worked for it 😄 I think there can also be "proto-habits"; maybe they're not exactly where we want them to be, but it's clear we're trending upwards. For example going from 0 exercise to 1-2x a week, even if at random times. That's how it was for me in the second half of 2024. I think it sometimes takes some time to "convince" ourselves we need to start/work on the habit in general. If I believe exercise is important, I will do it; if I don't believe it, I might will through it for a week or two, but ultimately fail. By the way, my first 10-13 block today worked perfectly, managed all the things I needed and wanted to do (exercise, shower, lunch, walk). @Yan , I can definitely recommend planning for the week, as some stuff doesn't need to be done daily and can get lost in the daily routine. Depending on how often you deal with other people, I also think it's relatively difficult to plan a meeting with somebody from 0 in X hours, rather than in X days. (By that I mean organized people normally won't be available on a whim, unless it's an emergency, because they have their rhythms and habits.)

If you want a low-commitment starting point, I linked a newsletter about freelancing below. I think they send it out every month and there is always a list of interesting articles. I'm also sure you'll have a few interesting events and organizations in your area to help you out at the start too. Do you actually have the possibility to reduce your workload for your employer? I'm asking, because I think it's extremely difficult to run two jobs at the same time. World-class freelance news and insights from Freelancing....We monitor countless quality sources on freelancing and choose only the best content to save your time. Subscribe to our monthly Freeletter with a curated selection of world-class freelance news and s I have to write that it's nice that your wife cares about sleeping next to you :D Anyway, I'm sorry, but I probably missed something. I thought you wanted to get into circuit board repairs as a freelancer. I actually know nothing about building a business with other people. The thought of becoming a manager or a CEO never really appealed to me, but it might change in the future. I just built a job around doing something I liked :D

I've added these paragraphs you quoted some time last year, so I can glace over them every time I write these reports. Happy they've inspired you! I know specific time-blocking and being precise works for some people (I can think of @Yan here). It's also why I wanted to experiment and carve out the 1000-1300 time for myself, to be more consistent with exercise. I will start with it next week, so I'll see how it goes, but I'm optimistic, as I'm already quite strong as far as getting to exercise goes. That said, my day today was unstructured today. I didn't plan anything. I slept in a little, did some household tasks, went for two walks, spent time with my girlfriend, did some financial planning, reading for fun and my monthly report. I just did it in the order I wanted to. I managed to eliminate a few tasks from my Google Calendar, so I'm happy. Now it's true I'm back to my computer after almost two weeks I have some more urgent things to do, but these things were near the top of the list too. I find that these things (which are in the 2nd quadrant - important, not urgent) are the hardest to get done. I know the most urgent thing is to get my lesson preparation done for the next week, but I also know I have until Monday morning and that I wouldn't dare to go to the lessons unprepared. To connect to your second paragraph, I think my analysis-paralysis disappeared over time. I shook the thought of trying to be "productive" all the time. I can now recognize when I'm reading for fun and maybe some inspiration, but I already have a working business and a functioning life for that matter, so there's probably a good chance I've been doing it fairly right after all. I like the idea of having fun too, as Feynman did. He did some high-level theoretical physics about elementary particles, but also cracked safes and played the bongos. He didn't just grind the problem (and life) every second and minute, he let his imagination recharge. I really like his holistic approach, of having fun and having an interconnected life. To get back to the point, my business is also my lifestyle. During my holiday, I made around 10 points of what I wanted to do when I get home, but it came naturally, so I just made a quick note and continued with my holiday.

I'm using the template I used the last time. 3/12/25 - 3/1/26 "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: Read on Reddit about finance. I managed to read "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" from the same guy. I also started reading "The Richest Man in Babel". Had more time to read at the army training. T: Finished "The Richest Man in Babel" and "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" by Feynman. Possible direction/goals: (Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report. Family: L: 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. Last time I saw grandma, she was doing better, so that's good news. T: There were two pretty serious incidents regarding my grandma this past month. There was more nuance to it, but in both cases, she fell down in her flat and couldn't get up. Oddly enough, I was the one to detect both incidents just by calling her (she didn't pick up) and then alarming my parents, who live a few minutes by car from her. My grandma has a few neighbors who visit her and my mom visits her a few times a week as well, but I'm thinking it might not be enough. I had a burger with my brother and his girlfriend and I also met my parents yesterday. 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: I got a few new courses, so my hours are a bit up, but it's still manageable. I also got some nice feedback from my students. I had a more hectic week last week, as some students wanted to catch up on lessons that they didn't have because of my army training. The two week army training was both relaxing and challenging at the same time. Relaxing because all I needed to do was to just be ready and do the next thing. Challenging because I caught a cold and we pulled two night shifts. The guys there were overall nice and I'm planning to go there for the next training in February/March. 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. T: I did my biannual questionnaire with my students, but this time I changed my approach and gave the students the option not to do it. I also carved out the 1000-1300 time for myself. Had a end-of-the-year taxes meeting to inform myself and to optimize. My latest group course has been a tough nut to crack, but so far I can say I've been probing and using slightly different techniques each lesson. Now I've got the experience and feedback, I decided on the next steps. I'll also try to find more teachers/colleagues to share workload with (with or without commission). I have options for online, but I have nobody for F2F replacements. 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 - finished August 2025 with some small upgrades in autumn 2025 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. Find more teachers/colleagues to share workload with (with or without commission). 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 didn't have much exercise at the army training, paradoxically. I was also sick the week after the training, so I went to the gym just twice in the last two weeks or so. Gonna exercise today, as I have some time and feel better already. Went to the dermatologist to check up on my skin marks. T: Went to the gym, for a run or a hike about four times a week, including on my holiday in Spain with my girlfriend. Feeling a little sick after coming back, but I assume I'll be fine by Monday. Went to the ear doctor, all is good. 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 (cool things I've done): L: I read a lot, had a FIRE meeting, had another meeting with friends and a call with one of them. Had a lunch to celebrate the anniversary with my girlfriend. T: Went to Spain for a holiday with my girlfriend and hiked there. Watched some shows and films together. I'm very happy with and proud of the gifts we exchanged. Baked Christmas sweets together. Called with a friend from another city, went for a burger with my brother and his girlfriend. Went to watch a basketball match with my girlfriend's father. Attended a few game nights with friends. Met my high-school classmates at our annual meeting. Read a lot and had good fun with it (Feynman mostly) too. --- 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. --- 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. --- 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 ---

I see, in that case, I guess I had "first" clients twice, let me explain: 1) I got most of the initial work back in 2020 and 2021 through agencies (language schools). In this phase, I was testing if I would even like the job. The agency pay was peanuts, but it was a start. I was studying at the university during this time too, so I had something to fall back to. 2) In 2022 and 2023, I started having more students/clients come to me through my website I made back in 2020. There were also people who remembered me through the agency lessons and contacted me later or switched companies and still wanted to have lessons etc. I gradually traded agency courses for my own over time (I remember I even tracked it in my journal). I was still at the uni finishing my degree just in case. That written, the "0th" leap was to leave the job in the army in summer 2018 and absolutely struggle through the rest of the year and first months of 2019, perhaps up until April when I decided to quit gaming and start a journal here. My business is extremely competitive. I was really too naive thinking I'd get a job/lessons easily. I had money saved up and no dependents, so it was OK, but I'd have done it way differently now. It's great you have somebody knowledgeable to help you out, so I hope you won't lose much time doing something that doesn't work or doing nothing at all.

Hi, welcome back! Sounds like you've been keeping yourself pretty busy! I hope the situation regarding your work gets better over time. It definitely did when I took the jump from employment to self-employment a few years ago. I'm happy to give an opinion, sources or a tip of what's worked for me on some of the more universal stuff. And yes, I'm still around :D

I'm using the template I used the last time. 3/11/25 - 3/12/25 "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: 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. T: Read on Reddit about finance. I managed to read "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" from the same guy. I also started reading "The Richest Man in Babel". Had more time to read at the army training. Possible direction/goals: (Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report. Family: L: 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. T: Last time I saw grandma, she was doing better, so that's good news. 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. 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. T: I got a few new courses, so my hours are a bit up, but it's still manageable. I also got some nice feedback from my students. I had a more hectic week last week, as some students wanted to catch up on lessons that they didn't have because of my army training. The two week army training was both relaxing and challenging at the same time. Relaxing because all I needed to do was to just be ready and do the next thing. Challenging because I caught a cold and we pulled two night shifts. The guys there were overall nice and I'm planning to go there for the next training in February/March. 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: 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. 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. T: I didn't have much exercise at the army training, paradoxically. I was also sick the week after the training, so I went to the gym just twice in the last two weeks or so. Gonna exercise today, as I have some time and feel better already. Went to the dermatologist to check up on my skin marks. 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: 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 about football 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. T: I read a lot, had a FIRE meeting, had another meeting with friends and a call with one of them. Had a lunch to celebrate the anniversary with my girlfriend. --- 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. --- 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. --- 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 ---

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. --- 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. --- 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. --- 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 ---

I'm on my second day of just catching up with some the interesting activities and being curious after a long time again, so I can empathize. Anyhow, when I'm struggling with some mundane activities (actively), I try to make them fun or meaningful one way or another. It's hard to brute-force all of it all the time. I may not be the best planner to e.g. nail exercise daily, but I already got myself to not think twice about whether I want to exercise or not and I try to cram it into any time window I come across.

I'm using the template I used the last time. 5/9/25 - 11/10/25 "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: I finished "Getting to Yes". It was a good read about negotiation techniques and finding win-win situations. I now started reading "Influence" by Cialdini, which is more about manipulation rather than negotiation. Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. T: Same this month. Continuing with "Influence". Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. I also started doing crosswords back in August. 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. T: 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. 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: So I've upped the prices/repackaged the offer. The new website is up and running and it seems to be having a better performance than the previous one already. Looking good so far. T: 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. 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 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: 4x a week this month as well, plus all the walking during the holiday with my girlfriend. T: The same, up until perhaps two weeks ago, when 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. 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. Social + personal hobbies + free time: L: Visited Estonia with my girlfriend, went to a comedy show, took up doing crosswords, read up on leveraged investing, met with my FIRE group and quiz group. Went to the mountains a few times with friends. T: 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. --- 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. 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. --- 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. --- 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 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 ---

I'm using the template I used the last time. 1/8/25 - 5/9/25 "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: I finished "Getting to Yes". It was a good read about negotiation techniques and finding win-win situations. I now started reading "Influence" by Cialdini, which is more about manipulation rather than negotiation. Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. T: Continuing with "Influence". Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. Possible direction/goals: (Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report. Family: L: I didn't see my family much this month, just at my brother's birthday party, though strictly speaking I'm visiting my parents and grandma together with my girlfriend over the weekend. Nothing new otherwise. T: 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. 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: The work is still ongoing on some pricing changes, as well as on my website. I also have a lot of my students on holidays, but I don't mind, as I can use the time for other projects. There are some minor tasks before the launch next week. Lessons are about 2/3 of the usual, which is a good amount to keep busy. T: So I've upped the prices/repackaged the offer. The new website is up and running and it seems to be having a better performance than the previous one already. Looking good so far. 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 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: Overall, I managed to exercise in various ways 2x-3x per week this month. I also took part in two running races this month. I'm quite happy with the results, even though I was a bit slower on the 4 km this year 😄 2024: 4 km - 18:40 8 km - 45:17 2025: 4 km - 18:44 8 km - 42:00 Upped the exercise (cycling, running, hiking, weight training or swimming) to about 4x a week this month. T: 4x a week this month as well, plus all the walking during the holiday with my girlfriend. 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. Social + personal hobbies + free time: L: Attended the FIRE meeting, met my high school mates at the cottage, met my friends at gun-range and other places. Managed to fix the window blinds by myself instead of calling the repair company. Watched the Bourne Trilogy, Tour de France and Severance. T: Visited Estonia with my girlfriend, went to a comedy show, took up doing crosswords, read up on leveraged investing, met with my FIRE group and quiz group. Went to the mountains a few times with friends. --- 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. 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. --- 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. --- 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 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 ---

Yes, as long as it's within our circle of control, I do think we can achieve anything. Except the games that are zero-sum and either/or with a lot of competition (e.g. being the top company for lawnmowers in Colorado or becoming the president). But everybody can work on their health, friendships and the quality of their work 🙂

No problem, thanks for running this! 😄

I'm using the template I used the last time. 30/6/25 - 1/8/25 "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: Finished Parkinson's book and started "Getting to Yes", a book about negotiation rules and techniques. Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. T: I finished "Getting to Yes". It was a good read about negotiation techniques and finding win-win situations. I now started reading "Influence" by Cialdini, which is more about manipulation rather than negotiation. Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. Possible direction/goals: (Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report. Family: L: We had two work sessions with my friend this month. I expect one more, but it'll really be the last cleanup session. I'd like to say that I am happy, relieved or in general something positive, but nothing really comes to mind. I'm just numb in this regard. Other than that, I only spent time with my mom during her spa stay. T: I didn't see my family much this month, just at my brother's birthday party, though strictly speaking I'm visiting my parents and grandma together with my girlfriend over the weekend. Nothing new otherwise. 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: The work is still ongoing on some pricing changes, as well as on my website - pretty much the same. I also have a lot of my students on holidays, but I don't mind, as I can use the time for other projects. I haven't been bored so far and I'm catching up on other things. T: Pretty much the same. I finished work on the texts last week. There are some minor tasks before the launch next week. Lessons are about 2/3 of the usual, which is a good amount to keep busy. 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 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: Overall, I managed to exercise in various ways 2x-3x per week this month. I also took part in two running races this month. I'm quite happy with the results, even though I was a bit slower on the 4 km this year 😄 2024: 4 km - 18:40 8 km - 45:17 2025: 4 km - 18:44 8 km - 42:00 T: Upped the exercise (cycling, running, hiking, weight training or swimming) to about 4x a week this month. 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. Social + personal hobbies + free time: L: Went to a few pub quizzes, went to the VR shooter with my friends, managed my finances well, won a table football tournament, went to the theater. Spent time with my girlfriend shopping, hiking, watching series and going to trips. T: Attended the FIRE meeting, met my high school mates at the cottage, met my friends at gun-range and other places. Managed to fix the window blinds by myself instead of calling the repair company. Watched the Bourne Trilogy, Tour de France and Severance. --- 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. 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. --- 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. --- 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 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 ---

22 Jul - 29 Jul: I finished writing texts for the website. I also read a new book called "Influence" by Robert Cialdini. I also read up on financial and English reddits. I started watching a new series - Severance. I quite like the dystopia. (Thanks for the tip @WilderDaze !) Aside from that, I worked out, did some cycling and running. I had a meeting with my local FIRE group and we welcomed some new members. I had a meeting with my highschool classmates at a cottage at the weekend. Spending just a day or two together, there was time just for the "main events" - who changed jobs, broke up or got married. I came back home happy that the things with my girlfriend are still the same, in a good way too 😄

What do you think the potential obstacles are in your field in the future? I understand what you're saying by writing about the perceived prestige and getting forced to fit a certain image. Honestly, having a "simple, uncomplicated" job is freeing. I get asked every now and then whether I am planning to expand my English teaching into a company. The media also bombards me with starting a business too. But honestly, I am happy where I am at, so I invest into maintaining and improving my current situation. If (and that's an if, not a when) that changes a few years down the road, I'll change my approach. In my current situation, work is the meaning. I don't need to make x10 of what I make to create meaning from the money. If driving a forklift or a truck makes you happy, you'd be against yourself to not do it.

9 Jul - 21 Jul: Two weeks have passed since my last entry. I haven't been active too much here, but I chalk it up to the fact I don't need to actively reflect and de-stress when I have more free time in general. The thing is, maybe I don't even have more free time, as I do other tasks instead of the lessons: writing texts for my website, going to the gym, working on more chores and others. I've just remembered how awful I've felt during holidays when I gamed, because there was nothing else to do; nowadays there's always something to do or improve, even if the main priorities are taken case of.

1 Jul - 8 Jul: I've had the first week of summer and I have about 50% less lessons. I took that time to read the book "Getting to Yes" more often, did some swimming, cycling, hiking and working out at the gym. I also had a good meeting with my friend on Friday. I also watched Punished with my girlfriend. Work-wise, I've been working on the texts for my website, putting in an hour or two every day. I've been a bit lazy yesterday and today, which doesn't feel great, but overall I am still getting important things done. I'll have the whole weekend for myself without my girlfriend, so I'll take the time to do something outside, hopefully it won't rain.

I get that. I think of it in the way that we truly got to be the best version of ourselves while gaming to compensate for the bad real-life version of ourselves. Contrary to pop wisdom, just because a person spends all of their time online at home doesn't mean that they are introverted. I streamed online and had many interactions with people, so I had little incentive to have interactions offline too. I assume that's the problem with really becoming addicted to games, work etc. People want to save their "best" version for the thing they find most important and leave the "bad" version for everything else. It normally doesn't work on the human level, because it's unnatural to narrow down the focus so much. We're not machines to do just one thing 100% right. I guess love got me away from gaming too if I think about it in this way. Gaming couldn't emulate the experience and I was just too curious and determined to get the love back. It still took some time and experimentation to get it right, but I believe I've arrived 😄

Huh, it really seems odd. I think wrote something different, maybe the forum is bugging out a little or maybe I'm just being stupid. I meant to write it was good advice 😄

Everyone has hardships. Do not allow this to become your excuse. It's okay not to know how to be independent and lose the phone less. That's why we're all here for. But my advice is not to stop at this. My advice is to not say "I do not know how", but to ask "how may I do that?" Because that is indeed an obstacle to your real goals, the "reality avoiding activities" like gaming, social media, movies, etc. I can relate, perhaps I was in the same position a few years ago. Once I quit my toxic relationship with games, I suddenly noticed all the other toxic relationships I was in. School and family weren't exactly helpful at the time when I was gaming either. You actually already figured out what to do - to find a job. It'll help you gain more independence from your parents, because then you can choose not to be at home with them. Maybe some welfare housing benefits could help out too. Maybe the new job and the new flat will suck, but it will at least give you some perspective and help you realize you don't have to live with your parents forever. Good luck and let us know!

I'm using the template I used the last time. 27/5/25 - 30/6/25 "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: I didn't finish "The Selfish Gene", as it just didn't interest me enough. I started "Parkinson's laws", a small and funny book. Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. T: Finished Parkinson's book and started "Getting to Yes", a book about negotiation rules and techniques. Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again. Possible direction/goals: (Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report. Family: L: As I wrote last time, the kitchen is indeed 95% finished. My plan is to go there with my friend on Saturday and to finish the rests of work. I wrote about the all-family experience above on April 16, but there's one more thing that came to my mind: I've always perceived my father to be extremely independent, micro-managing but competent. I think with age however, he is becoming more irritable, perhaps rash, and less competent. He assembled the car vacuum cleaner for my girlfriend and I, just so we won't do it wrong. OK, fair, but when he was disassembling it again after a while, he loudly asked who pushed the hose so hard into the cleaner. My girlfriend and I chuckled 😄 T: We had two work sessions with my friend this month. I expect one more, but it'll really be the last cleanup session. I'd like to say that I am happy, relieved or in general something positive, but nothing really comes to mind. I'm just numb in this regard. Other than that, I only spent time with my mom during her spa stay. 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: So I've successfully completed the lecturer course. Now I only have to use all this knowledge and skills in practice! I definitely have many ideas for the future. I finished the rework of the table for students, now I only need to let them know 😄 The work is still ongoing on some pricing changes, as well as on my website. T: The work is still ongoing on some pricing changes, as well as on my website - pretty much the same. I also have a lot of my students on holidays, but I don't mind, as I can use the time for other projects. I haven't been bored so far and I'm catching up on other things. 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 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 haven't stretched in a while, but I still keep on doing some running and some strength exercises. I even bought weights. My girlfriend and I went to some hiking and cycling trips too. I've been lazy about flossing though. Went to my GP yesterday, showed him the cardiology results and my blood pressure measurements. I also realized I often get headaches 1-2 days after a day of heavy physical activity. I need to be more mindful of relaxing properly afterwards, alongside with drinking and eating well. T: Overall, I managed to exercise in various ways 2x-3x per week this month. I also took part in two running races this month. I'm quite happy with the results, even though I was a bit slower on the 4 km this year 😄 2024: 4 km - 18:40 8 km - 45:17 2025: 4 km - 18:44 8 km - 42:00 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. Social + personal hobbies + free time: L: Attended the book festival, watched some films, talks and conferences with my girlfriend. I also attended some board-game evenings, FIRE meetings. Played table football, billiard and a pub quiz too. Watched the hockey championship. T: Went to a few pub quizzes, went to the VR shooter with my friends, managed my finances well, won a table football tournament, went to the theater. Spent time with my girlfriend shopping, hiking, watching series and going to trips. --- 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. 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. --- 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. --- 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 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 ---

If it's any consolation, I can't read fiction either. I need something packed with useful or at least interesting information, that I could use in reality 😄 It's OK to not have that ONE thing to hyperfocus on. In fact, it's the normal state of affairs for most people. They have their work, family, friends, girlfriends, hobbies... I think "investing" time into a few "tried and proven" areas common for everybody, plus a few personal hobbies/work, is best. That said, driving is indeed nice. It gives you a lot of independence. I wasn't even 18 when I started practicing driving, just to get the license at the time I turned 18. It can give you something to focus on daily for an hour or two, either by direct practice or doing the theoretical tests and preparation 🙂 Sounds good! It's important to manage expectations from both sides. I'm happy you managed to talk it over with your boss in a reasonable way afterwards.