The Next Three Months (Spring 2010)

Posted April 3rd, 2010 by Chris Gurney

Believe it or not, we’ve just completed the first three months of the year. Given this startling turn of events, I thought it would be a good time to reflect back on my New Year’s resolutions, and make sure that they’re still resolutions worth keeping for the next three months.

First, let’s take a look back at January, February, and March of Twenty Ten.

The Last Three Months

Running

When I first started getting out of bed at 5:45 AM, in the dark, donning several layers of running gear, and heading out into sub-zero temperatures, I wondered what the crap I was doing.

Things started off slowly, but I started to adapt. Eventually, I got into a rhythm. I managed to start running three times a week, doing about 6K (3.7 miles) per run. It felt great.

Lately, though, I’ve been traveling a lot for work. So, maintaining this schedule has been a challenge because I detest treadmills, and hotel “exercise rooms” are pretty sucky, in general.

Minimizing

Over the past three months I have sold, or given away my TV, DVD player, Wii, Xbox, Apple TV, and iPod Touch. To the library, I donated all of my DVDs, and very nearly all of my books. Video games have found new homes with friends, and at the local Gamerama.

At this point my friends think my condo is near empty now, or that I’m sleeping in my car. All that’s really changed, though, is that I’ve replaced my TV setup with my bookshelf, and photos of my family. A fair trade, don’t you think?

My storage locker, on the other hand, is now about half empty. I still can’t believe how much stuff I had in there! Intelligently disposing of items has been the challenge, but has been an enlightening one.

Speaking of which, as I’ve gone through the process, I’ve been thinking a lot, and writing about minimizing. This has proven interesting for me, and has made for a great conversation topic with a lot of you. I definitely plan to write, and do more with the subject.

PresentationCamp

On March 23rd, I somehow managed to launch the first PresentationCamp Toronto with five amazing presenters, two-and-a-half hours of presentations, Q&A, and over 50 attendees! While I’m happy with how things went, we saw a lot of potential for more.

Writing

Writing’s always one of my underlying goals to keep active with. Ultimately, I continue to say that I want to make writing a daily habit.

Between posting fairly regularly to my blog, promoting PresentationCamp, and seeing the article I wrote for BA Times receive some awesome feedback, I’m encouraged to continue!

The Next Three Months

So, what’s the current plan for Spring 2010?

Resume Running

Even with all of the travel for work, I must keep up the running, especially if the plan is to run a half-marathon later in the year! I’d also like to start cross-training, which means inserting other types of exercise between my runs — biking is the obvious choice, for me.

I’m not sure how else to keep this up, aside from telling you all about it, and then sticking to it!

On a related note, Past Chris signed up for the CN Tower Climb, which is only a couple weeks away. To be honest, I’m kind of regretting this, as I don’t think I’ll be ready. However, after talking to others who have done this, with little preparation, I think I’m going to give it a go anyway. If you would like to donate to my cause, I would appreciate it. :)

More Minimizing

Venturing back into my locker, I still have a lot of crap to churn through. As far as I can tell, the majority of this is comics, technical books, fantasy novels, and other classic video gaming stuff.

Furniture-wise, I no longer have a need for two CD/DVD shelves (Ikea Leksvik), and I’m also potentially thinking of selling my dresser (Ikea Hopen 4-drawer chest). Any takers? :)

Whatever it is I end up minimizing, you can bet that I’ll be writing about it!

Perpetuate PresentationCamp

PresentationCamp was the beginning of a conversation. Before long, I hope to be looking for volunteers, and speakers for the next one.

Prepare for ProductCamp Spring 2010

The date’s been set for the third ProductCamp Toronto, on Sunday, May 30th at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Business. The last two years of ProductCamps have garnered a lot of positive feedback, so we’re aiming for a couple events this year, along with (likely) a pre-planned schedule, so people know what to expect.

Lay the Foundation for My Next Project

While I don’t see it launching in the next three months, but I do see myself laying the groundwork for my next project, soon.

What is it, you ask? Let’s just say I’m hoping to expand the audience for one of the things I’ve been talking a lot about lately. Stay tuned!

How have you been doing with your New Year’s resolutions?

(Photo on left used under Creative Commons license. “Eye of the Tiger” by varunsuresh.)

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