Author Journey (April 7, 2025)

The first quarter of 2025 is behind us. It’s certainly been eventful if nothing else… Anyhow, let’s take a quick look at where I’m at with my goals and what I need to do to ensure I get through the rest of the year!

Author Journey (April 7, 2025)

What happened?

It was another couple of very busy weeks with Real-Life Family Events peppering my daily life. The more I have the less time I have to get the rest of my things done, but at least I have the time to be able to deal with them at the moment. If I were still working, I think I would have melted down. Thankfully, that’s not the case. I still have all my marbles… or at least I think I do. Anyhow, it’s been busy, busy, busy, and downtime has been limited as a result. The most annoying thing that I’m dealing with at the moment is still my broken sleep as it’s making me tired. Some nights I fall asleep well before normal, and despite sleeping for longer, I’m still not getting good sleep, so I’m still tired and even further behind on what I want to do. Nobody wins!

One exciting thing that happened these last two weeks was that I was able to acquire a large number of volumes of One Piece. Of course, I already had more than enough books to read, but with the end of the series on the horizon, I feel like I need to get back into it. The real question is whether it’s quicker to read 100+ books or watch 1,000+ episodes! Anyhow, that’s something to look forward to. I also took the kids to watch A Minecraft Movie, which was a lot of fun. My kids play Minecraft a lot and regularly get me to help them out. Of course, that means I carefully build them things only to discover that they have blown everything up the second I look away. I do have a couple of worlds that I don’t let them in where I can unwind and build my own things without fear of random explosions. Anyhow, the movie was fun and I’d recommend it to anyone who plays Minecraft.

How is it going?

1. Health

I had several really good days with my walking/running and then several not-so-good days. Over the course of two weeks, it managed to even itself out so that my daily average for the year remains unchanged. I really need to find a way to add some more treadmill time back in, as that will easily make up the difference. I think I need to be a little more stubborn about it. As I mentioned earlier, sleep is still a problem. I have had some nights where I’ve only woken up two or three times, but I know as soon as I wake up if it’s been a bad one with more than ten instances of waking. I miss the days when I would fall asleep and then wake up when it was time to get up.

Goal: 3,650 km (10 kmpd), Current status: 744 km (7.8 kmpd).

2. Writing

I finished Action by Robert McKee, which was the final book in the series. I’ve definitely gotten a lot from listening to these audiobooks and have already started listening from the beginning again. I continue to have these stories running in my head at all times, which is great, but the lack of time to get any of it down is frustrating. Hopefully, when the time comes, I’ll be ready to pound out the most incredible first draft that only requires a small amount of editing.

Goal: Publish a book, Current status: I know which story I’m going to do first!

3. Art

No change here, sadly. I want to draw. I want to do it so badly, but I just can’t justify skipping anything else. It’s just not a high enough priority yet.

Goal: Complete artwork for my book, Current status: Desperate to draw!

4. Watching

As I’ve already mentioned, I had very little time for myself these last two weeks, which has impacted me everywhere, and Watching is no exception. I managed to watch three episodes of anime and a single movie. My eldest son has decided he wants to watch the Marvel movie with me, which is great. That should help us fit them in. Anyhow, I want to watch more. It’s one of the ways I unwind, and I’m sure the lack of anime is impacting my sleep.

Goal: Watch more than 629 episodes of anime, Current status: 22 episodes watched
Bonus: 8 episodes of TV, 2 movies

5. Reading

I read just three volumes of manga over the last two weeks which is definitely a low stat for my reading this year. On top of the One Piece books I managed to get, I’ve received several new volumes that I preordered a while back. My to-read list is growing at a ridiculous rate. At least, I’m not going to run out any time soon…

Goal: Read more than 159 manga volumes, Current status: 41 volumes read

6. Blogging

At the time of writing my last Author Journey, I had a full week of posts scheduled. Sadly, I have now just got three posts scheduled. Hopefully, I’ll get the other two done today, and then I can try to push ahead again, especially if I’m to get to a point where I can close in on the annual goal again.

Goal: Publish 365 posts, Current status: 76 posts

What are you planning?

It’s incredibly hard to plan for anything with the way my demands on my time are constantly changing. For example, I only had three days in the last two weeks without a Real-Life Family Event. They range in time and severity, but they always throw everything else out of whack. It’s been a long time since I had a week without incident so I am forever hopeful that this will be the week that it happens, while also being resigned to the idea that it won’t. Fun, fun, fun!

Anyhow, I need to watch and read more. I need to write and I want to draw. As well as that, I need to get back on the treadmill to add those extra kilometres in each day. I think all of these things will end up helping me sleep. The problem is finding the time to fit them all in. But don’t worry, I’ll keep trying and sooner or later, it’s all going to come together in a glorious alignment. I’m going to get on with some things and see how it goes. Thanks for reading.

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