It’s almost April. And, for those of us in this world who work on government grants, that means the end of the second quarter of the fiscal year. Since that’s been my life for approaching five years now (how am I this old how is it possible I’m ancient), it’s certainly my perspective on this time of year.
Of course, being through Q2 of the fiscal year means we’re through with Q1 of the calendar year (concept of fiscal year is so ridiculous). This is a good time of year to also take stock of our progress on the list for the year. I have a general sense of how I need to track each year and what that means on a weekly basis (100 per year, close to two per week), but I don’t really pay all that much attention on a daily or monthly basis.
I wasn’t really paying any attention this year, until recently when I ran the numbers and realized that I was seriously behind. On a weekly basis it’s fine to fluctuate a fair amount, but if you’re behind at the end of Q1, you are probably fairly screwed for the year. So this discovery led to some catch up with some short or easy reads (thanks, Confessions of Saint Anthony and Heather Blazing!), and we’ve managed to get back on track. Go us!
So, how did we get so dramatically behind? I know that busy-ness is a myth or whatever. Therefore, I won’t say that I’ve been too busy, per se. It’s mostly an energy and focus problem. I always have some time that I could devote to reading each day, but some days I’m just really not in the mood.
Also, while I have time outside of the things that absolutely must happen in my life (work and the admin things that keep me alive and not gross, like grocery shopping and showering), the other things that go into it (trapeze, fitness, social life, etc.) do take a lot of my time. So the project ebbs and flows, but more or less manages to stay on track.
