22 Apr - 15 May:

I haven't been very active here recently, mainly because of multiple back-to-back holidays. Since Monday I've been busy with the usual stuff, including doing my homework for the lecturer course. I'm feeling somewhat restless about the exam next week, but I guess it will be fine. It's just draining me to not know how much time will my homework will take though.

Anyway, I got some small chores done I've been postponing for weeks, so that's a win. My blood pressure is better also!

Adding to the post above to reflect better in the future:

Worked on pricing, played table football tournament with my friend, been busy with the lecturer course, worked out, played billiard with my girlfriend.

 

16 May - 25 May:

So I've successfully completed the lecturer course. Now I only have to use all this knowledge and skills in practice!

I had a few social activities - a FIRE meeting, a family meeting with my parents and my girlfriend's family and a pub quiz.

I've spent a lot of time watching the hockey championship, but now that's over, so I will have to find other ways to keep me busy 😄 

I also spent a lot of time exercising, running, biking or hiking, sometimes alone and sometimes with my girlfriend.

I'm using the template I used the last time. 16/3/25 - 27/5/25

"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: Reading the new book by Dawkins called "The Selfish Gene". I'm about halfway through. Read on Reddit about finance and English teaching again.

T: 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.

Possible direction/goals:

(Borrow) and read one book until the next monthly report.

 

Family:

L: Had some family visits. Also went to watch hockey with my parents and a family friend. Made two kitchen-related trips to my grandma with my friend.

I had a small incident with my grandma yesterday. We talked for about five minutes over phone. She was worried about... my brother envying me an 8€ banknote that she gave me at the weekend. In front of the whole family, as my girlfriend rightfully pointed out. She said she was afraid he wouldn't talk to her anymore, so she asked me to write him. He said that he might consider not talking to her indeed, after she thought he might envy me an 8€ note (which I frankly think he didn't even remember, as our grandma gives us stuff regularly) 🙂 

In relation, my brother told me a similar story about her thinking that our mother is an alcoholic. I also just remembered the time my grandma was low-key saying that she probably won't live much longer. I think it's a mix of fear of abandonment, overthinking and creating doom and gloom scenarios and being paranoid. I guess insanity can take many forms. From now on, I'll try to be more receptive towards my mom and take grandma's opinions for what they are; opinions.

Nothing new, except we found out yesterday that the dimensions in the kitchen don't add up by a few centimeters, so we couldn't stick to the original plan. I guess there's always April...

T: As I wrote above, 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 😄 

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 first part of the course was engaging and interesting. The reworked online table is pretty much finished now. Pricing is worked out for now too. Worked on the website and I'm currently looking for someone to do front-end for me, perhaps along with SEO and marketing.

T: 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.

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

English table update - since December 2024

lecturer trainings - ENG business February-May 2025 

55 minutes F2F lessons (+ online reminder too); pricing updates

 

Areas to work on continually:

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: These days, I normally manage 1-2x exercise sessions (or runs) and 1-2x stretching sessions a week. All that along with some hikes at the weekend and regular walks once or twice a day. I had the last cardiology check at the end of January. As for health, I also started flossing more regularly.

 Did some heavier (lifting/cardio) exercise twice a week for the last month, on top of walks and yoga/stretching. The headaches haven't stopped; however it might be because of the altitude changes, so I'll test it the next time we'll go hiking. Perhaps biking is gonna be a better activity for me. I might go to the neurologist to check up on me. Flossing as usual. What I do enjoy is going to the sauna; and then to submerge in the cold water, it's fun 😄

T: 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.

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: I did these cool activities: having a board-game night with friends, visiting my girlfriend's family, reading about finance, reading about English, attending a FIRE meeting, meeting with friends, going to the shooting range, going to the sauna, going biking, going to an improvisation show.

T: 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.

 

---

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 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

---

27 May - 3 June: 

I wrote my monthly report, finished the book by Parkinson and read on fin/Eng reddits. I did almost no exercise, as I felt very weak after my tetanus shot on Monday, except a charity run on Sunday. We also visited my girlfriend's family that day, as her mom had birthday. On Saturday, we did most of the remaining work at my grandma's kitchen, so it's now fully operational. I expect one or two more visits for the finishing touches and a cleanup. I had a meeting about my new website yesterday.

Plans for the next few days: Work on a few tasks regarding the website and finish the rework of my questionnaire for students. 

3 June - 7 June:

Started reading "Getting to Yes" a negotiation book. Went to the pub quiz with friends on Wednesday. Sent out the questionnaire for students. Worked out with my girlfriend Friday. Went the the VR zombie shooter with friends too. Played Scrabble with my girlfriend yesterday, on top of reading fin/ENG reddits. 

8 June - 16 June:

I helped my girlfriend with buying some dresses, as she hates shopping for clothes. We also cycled, went for a hike and a trip. Went to the theater with my girlfriend and a few other friends. 

I did on my monthly financial report. I also have to plan my finances into the future, as the situation when I was more or less at net zero for a year or two has passed. 

Been busy working on the website. I also did a lot of cooking the past week. 

Went for lunch with my mom and read financial and English reddits today. 

17 June - 30 June:

These are the activities I did in no particular order: reading "Getting to Yes", finishing Black Mirror with my girlfriend, taking the car to the mechanic, exercising and going for a running race last weekend, visiting my girlfriend's family and mine, going for a trip to the mountains, cycling, working on my grandma's kitchen with my friend (finished), playing (and winning) our local table football tournament with the same friend, working on the new website.

- 

I've been a bit stressed the past few days, mainly due to the work around the kitchen, the problems around our car and some misunderstandings. I feel better today though. The summer season also means I will have more time for myself and my personal projects. 

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

---

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. 

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. 

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 😄 

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

---

Thanks for helping out as a mod! 

1 hour ago, Cam Adair said:

Thanks for helping out as a mod! 

No problem, thanks for running this! 😄 

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

---

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. 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 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. 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

---

52 minutes ago, Ikar said:

Maybe I should just learn to plan better, though just the thought of having some hours of my day scheduled makes me cringe.

I can empathize here. It's hard for me to plan my day out for some reason. I've tried timeblocking and it's just as difficult, mostly because things change easily throughout the day. Something I'm still working on... Right now I just put appointments in my calendar and then empty spaces are for working on things I've prioritized for the day, in whatever order seems natural (I use the Franklin Planning System mixed with GTD).

54 minutes ago, Ikar said:

No, I just need to stop reading and learning all the time and start doing things. Imperfect action yields results. Information alone is useless.

Love this. Trying myself more and more to be action oriented. That is, unless I'm reading or learning about something simply for pleasure, what do I plan to do with the information and how soon can I act upon it? Not always an easy question to answer. I certainly find myself over-researching into analysis-paralysis.

23 minutes ago, FDRx7 said:

I can empathize here. It's hard for me to plan my day out for some reason. I've tried timeblocking and it's just as difficult, mostly because things change easily throughout the day. Something I'm still working on... Right now I just put appointments in my calendar and then empty spaces are for working on things I've prioritized for the day, in whatever order seems natural (I use the Franklin Planning System mixed with GTD).

Love this. Trying myself more and more to be action oriented. That is, unless I'm reading or learning about something simply for pleasure, what do I plan to do with the information and how soon can I act upon it? Not always an easy question to answer. I certainly find myself over-researching into analysis-paralysis.

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.

On 1/3/2026 at 9:59 PM, Ikar said:

To get back to the point, my business is also my lifestyle

An amazing point to be at. In my opinion.

On 1/3/2026 at 9:59 PM, Ikar said:

I know specific time-blocking and being precise works for some people (I can think of @Yan here).

Mostly does work for me. So long as I keep the habit of treating my pre-written detailed schedule as my boss, and do not lose trust with myself by missobeying.

That is in regards to the daily schedule.

In regards to Pomodoros(25 minute focus intervals) I write a plan on the start of each one, even if it's general and get to work.

I don't know you guys @FDRx7 , I think that unless we plan our time we remain largely uncontrolled. Random objects flying in space. Not optimal for self-actualization.
In any case it's just like any habit. Makes you "cringe" in the beginning, bus as you go further and further, just becomes a part of your habits.

However, I also have, for quite a while been planning only one day ahead. Instead of a week...
Maybe this long neglected "better" habit of doing it for a week needs revisiting.

Let me know if this makes some sense. Or if I may share something else that may help.

7 hours ago, Yan said:

An amazing point to be at. In my opinion.

Mostly does work for me. So long as I keep the habit of treating my pre-written detailed schedule as my boss, and do not lose trust with myself by missobeying.

That is in regards to the daily schedule.

In regards to Pomodoros(25 minute focus intervals) I write a plan on the start of each one, even if it's general and get to work.

I don't know you guys @FDRx7 , I think that unless we plan our time we remain largely uncontrolled. Random objects flying in space. Not optimal for self-actualization.
In any case it's just like any habit. Makes you "cringe" in the beginning, bus as you go further and further, just becomes a part of your habits.

However, I also have, for quite a while been planning only one day ahead. Instead of a week...
Maybe this long neglected "better" habit of doing it for a week needs revisiting.

Let me know if this makes some sense. Or if I may share something else that may help.

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.)

10 hours ago, Yan said:

In regards to Pomodoros(25 minute focus intervals) I write a plan on the start of each one, even if it's general and get to work.

I like this! I’m going to try it out.