building muscle
My step-mother, the retired clinical (and forensic, which makes for utterly fascinating stories) psychologist always said it took about two weeks to get used to a new place or a new routine. She originally told me this when I first went to college and found myself incredibly lonely. She said, "Give it two weeks, and see where you are."
She was right. After two weeks, I was making friends and was finding my groove.
I found this to continue to be true for me--it would take about two weeks doing something new for me to adjust.
When Avi started his second year of preschool, he would come home exhausted. It was obvious he had a lot of adjusting to do. After one of the first days, the school's director asked me how he was adjusting. I told her how he was doing. She said that it took the kids, especially the younger kids, about two weeks to adjust to the new routine and schedule and then they would be fine. Then she said, "You know, it actually seems to take the teachers two weeks, too."
We all have to adjust to new schedules, new routines, new goals. We all have to adapt and build.
So, it looks like I'm one week down on the new schedule, with one more to go before I really adjust, but there's still a lot of building to do.
You know, I've been thinking about this process as if it were weight lifting. (I used to lift weights.) When starting to lift weights, you can't just start lifting 100 pound dumbbells. (Well, most people can't ;).) You have to start where you are. For some people that's eight pounds (that's where I started), or five pounds or even with one pound weights. Progressively, you can lift your one pound, or five pound, or eight pound weight more efficiently and eventually it's just too easy, so you start increasing weight and the number of times you lift a weight (the rep). You persist and you succeed.
I think most tasks are like this. For me right now, this is writing fiction and studying and working on writing more and more technical articles everyday. I'm trying to build and build, improve and improve. I'm working on improving my word count, studying more material, and completing more technical articles at specific intervals, knowing if I stick with it I'll achieve my goals.
I'm also trying to remember that, like lifting weights, my mind and body need time to rest from all this work. At the end of the day I'm utterly fried. Come Friday night I'm burnt. My brain screams, "No more! No more!" I have to listen to my body, let my brain and body rest from the mental lifting, just like I would have to let my body rest if I were weight lifting, in order to increase my ability to be more productive.
I have to balance being patient with myself with pushing myself. I suspect I'll be doing this in one way or another for the rest of my life.
She was right. After two weeks, I was making friends and was finding my groove.
I found this to continue to be true for me--it would take about two weeks doing something new for me to adjust.
When Avi started his second year of preschool, he would come home exhausted. It was obvious he had a lot of adjusting to do. After one of the first days, the school's director asked me how he was adjusting. I told her how he was doing. She said that it took the kids, especially the younger kids, about two weeks to adjust to the new routine and schedule and then they would be fine. Then she said, "You know, it actually seems to take the teachers two weeks, too."
We all have to adjust to new schedules, new routines, new goals. We all have to adapt and build.
So, it looks like I'm one week down on the new schedule, with one more to go before I really adjust, but there's still a lot of building to do.
You know, I've been thinking about this process as if it were weight lifting. (I used to lift weights.) When starting to lift weights, you can't just start lifting 100 pound dumbbells. (Well, most people can't ;).) You have to start where you are. For some people that's eight pounds (that's where I started), or five pounds or even with one pound weights. Progressively, you can lift your one pound, or five pound, or eight pound weight more efficiently and eventually it's just too easy, so you start increasing weight and the number of times you lift a weight (the rep). You persist and you succeed.
I think most tasks are like this. For me right now, this is writing fiction and studying and working on writing more and more technical articles everyday. I'm trying to build and build, improve and improve. I'm working on improving my word count, studying more material, and completing more technical articles at specific intervals, knowing if I stick with it I'll achieve my goals.
I'm also trying to remember that, like lifting weights, my mind and body need time to rest from all this work. At the end of the day I'm utterly fried. Come Friday night I'm burnt. My brain screams, "No more! No more!" I have to listen to my body, let my brain and body rest from the mental lifting, just like I would have to let my body rest if I were weight lifting, in order to increase my ability to be more productive.
I have to balance being patient with myself with pushing myself. I suspect I'll be doing this in one way or another for the rest of my life.