Report on the first 3x10 - #29

 I've been using the concept of the 3x10 in my day for years -- sporadically, ephemerally -- to jumpstart some habits, to get off my ass.

Recently, I updated the idea in a number of ways. I created a number of rules for them. Each one would start on a "middle season" date -- that is, begin on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month, creating 36 of them for the year.  That provides some regularity and structure.  Another rule: there would be "genres" for each of the 3s of the 3x10.  One of the 3 would be about keeping myself strong and flexible -- so, for example, a mini habit on weights, yoga, foot exercises.  Another would be about making something/ creating something - a poem, painting, drawing, the last would be a step in a major life or house project -- the first is the basement redo project, which has been sitting in limbo for ages.  These "genres" I label projects types A, B, C in the binder below.  Finally, I decided to make the 3x10 into 3x15.  That felt like a good balance -- I'm not getting very much done in 15 minutes of demolition work, haiku writing, or weight lifting (especially if I divide it by 3 for lifting), but I'm building that habit.  And, a little bit is always better than nothing.

I started a binder to keep track of each step briefly and to have an overview of all of the projects for the year.  There's a page overview with four columns - the starting date (and number (29 for the first one, being the 29th middle season), and three columns for the specific goal of the 3x10.  There's another page per habit type(A, B, C) (these are on graph paper) divided into 6 boxes -- each with 10 lines for a brief update about what happened.  If I miss a day of doing the habit, the line is blank.  Rereading the list of 10 small items I did in "basement project" provides a quick reminder of what the small steps accomplished. 

Last Wednesday (on day 4?) I was working on the basement project and a big florescent light came down on me, yanked wiring inside in a way that shut down the circuit.  Luckily, I called dad to help me think through what I could do just to cap the separate wires in the complex 3-way circuit (in an electrical box that was also part of several other lighting and outlets).  

On to the first report!  The lighting accident "pulled the plug" on progress... but I got back to it on day 9 and 10 and ended up with 6/10 days of basement work completed.  In that time I pulled all the nails and staples from the walls and removed a pretty good number of ceiling slats; after the accident, I worked to create an emergency system to catch the lights, then began securing the lights to the floor joists so I could remove the aluminum slats.

For the poetry, I did it on 6 days... and wrote 12 haikus during that time.  Most were from my daily list of 10 things I noticed, mostly (all?) about nature.  I began using old lists in my apple notes app of things I noticed from a year ago to get additional raw material.  

For the strength, I had trouble thinking about whether I should be doing muscle building, yoga, or foot exercises, so my goal was to "get into the workout room" and do 5-mins of each... which I did.  I found a "yoga for runners" youtube video from REI.

In order to build the habit, I made one option just to "get into the place" for 15 minutes (rather than 10!).  Even if I didn't get a huge amount done, I was hoping that the being in the place and getting started in the most minimal way would be helpful.