Alex Stone

I’ve been checking out Jake Lodwick’s We Have Standards for some time now and think I’m finally at a point where I desperately need to “hack” my brain and become a more functional, happy, accomplished person.

For the uninitiated, the way We Have Standards works, is that it’s basically a form you make and print out with daily goals. As you miss the goals, you log what happened and over time, you adjust yourself or your goals until you have something achievable and realistic for you, while still meeting your ‘standards’.

So… here’s a quick glimpse at what I plan to achieve and I hope, more than anything, that I can meet my goals and get into a real groove and get enough done that I can be happy.

• Awake at 5:30am
• Out the door for work at 8:15am
• Bed at 8:30pm

The We Have Standards site suggests starting small, at about 3-4 items, so this is my short-term “starter” list of things I need to master before I move on.

Here’s my longterm Standards list I hope to achieve:

• Awake at 5:30am
• Showered, dressed, and settled in to the computer at 6am
• Finish my article for ProgrammableWeb at 7am
• Put together a project task list for later and do any research I need to do by 8am
• Be out the door for work at 8:15 am
• Lunch at 2pm (too early in the day and I’ll be groggy, too late and I’ll lose focus)
• Leave work at 5pm
• Be home and settled at my desk at 5:30pm
• Complete project task list(s) by 7:30pm
• In bed, reading at 8pm
• Sleep at 9pm

The sad thing here is that it really doesn’t leave any time for friends, family, and Heather during the week. Don’t get me wrong, I really tried to work them in there, but with only 2 hours in the evening to make an attempt to do anything, I need (yes, need) to work on getting things done so I can be a happier person, both short and longterm.

I know some people are able to stay up all night and only get a few hours of sleep and be ready for work, but I have yet to adjust to office life and really can’t mess around with my ability to focus during the day. Office-style is really not my thing and it likely never will be. Bright lights, no music, a roving boss, and the constant feeling that I’m doing something wrong or that I’ve somehow faked my way in the door makes me anxious. On to of that, my best ideas come to me during the day and it’s been painful not being able to stop and go research an idea or at the very least, jot it down (I’m too nervous to whip out my phone to use Evernote for a sec).

So… wish me luck. I hope this works out.