Accepting the #nerdlution Invitation

It has been bothering me for some time that I do not post on a regular or frequent basis on this blog.

Part of why that bothers me is because I know that when I have written here regularly, the writing comes easier.

Part of it is because I miss watching my world through the lens of a writer. Everything has the opportunity to become part of my writing and I look for patterns and things that might be interesting to pursue.

My notebook fills up much faster when I write here on a regular basis.

It has also been bothering me that I have gotten out of schedule with going to the gym. That wretched virus or whatever I caught weeks ago threw me off so terribly that I now have to fight all the habits that have been set in place of going to the gym to get back on track.

These things tend to weigh more heavily on my mind whenever schedules are upended anyway – by being at a conference or being home for the holiday break. Next week feels like a fresh starting point when we head back to school, an opportunity to reboot, so to speak.

I also noticed while I was at NCTE and ALAN that I hadn’t been spending much time on Twitter having the conversations that move me so much. (Could be that so many of us have moved on to become Facebook friends that some of those conversations are happening there now – but I am missing a lot.) Maybe it’s time to build some Twitter time back into my evenings while Jr Librarian is working on reading his own book or building his Lego projects or watching Scooby with his dad.

Thank heavens for my blogging friends for pointing out what I have missed. Based on what Katherine Sokowloski wrote, I suspect I’m not alone for needing a reboot because there was a lively discussion about making #nerdlutions – plans for doing something every day over the next 50 days beginning on December 2 and tweeting out your progress using the hashtag #nerdlutions.

So what are my #nerdlutions?

1. Blog daily. Honestly, I just feel better when I do this. So why do I fall out of the habit? I don’t think I’ll limit my posting to here either – Franki Sibberson asked me to write something for her Reading Teachers Running blog and I haven’t really gotten around to it. This seems like a good time to do it since it would also fit in with my next goal…
2. Log at least 10,000 steps daily on my Fitbit. So I bought this Fitbit Flex for myself for my birthday (the previous Fitbit went through the laundry and didn’t fare so well). It’s a pretty spiffy contraption and I think that it could be super helpful in motivating me to do more and to keep me honest about what I have done.
3. Check in on Twitter daily. I need to find some time where I can throw out a couple of thoughts or comments on others’ tweets and find myself part of awesome conversations with some of the smartest and most encouraging people I have ever met. Not sure how this fell by the wayside, but it’s time to get back to it. I’ve missed it.
4. Read for at least 30 minutes a day. This last one is just a reminder to myself. I went for a couple of weeks where I only read a page or so before I fell asleep each night and that was not enough. I was miserable. I just downloaded a bunch of audiobooks to enjoy while I’m doing some cleaning projects at home and when I get my butt back to the gym next week. I’m hoping that those help meet both goals.

You’re welcome to take up this invitation as well and tweet about your progress. There’s something to be said about making your goals public that keeps you on task – and even more positive to say about being part of a community that is going through the same thing.