Budget Update: January 2019
Budget Update: January 2019
Wake up. Brush teeth. Make coffee, have breakfast. Check my daily to-do list. Anxiety. Take out phone, scroll online for hours for distraction. Tell myself to get back to work. Anxiety. Find food to eat. Repeat until midnight. Repeat for days on end.
January 2019 should have represented a new start and a new beginning, but it didn’t, at least not for me. For much of the month, I was stuck in a destructive procrastination mode. I’d spend hours mindlessly scrolling the web and eating comfort food, knowing that those behaviours are my unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Guys. I want to do so many things. I want to achieve so many things. But they’re overwhelming and I fear failure and instead of rising up to the challenge, I… get anxious instead. When I feel that way I just want to distract myself (phone) or feel comforted (food).
Does this happen to you? What do you do to break yourself out of that spell?
Yay of the Month:
- Took off my braces!!! I paid RM1000 as final payment in January 2019 and that’s it, the journey’s over. A part of me misses it, but I definitely like not worrying about having food stuck in the braces after a meal.
- Attended an eye-opening talk hosted by Kenanga. Learned so much about the stocks market. Here’s the writeup for your reading pleasure: 4 Things I Learned from Kenanga’s Investment Event
- My parents safely completed their umrah, Alhamdulillah <3
- Made good use of my RM80/month gym membership. Went 11 times in January 2019, making my cost-per-entry a mere RM7.30!
- Wanted a good speaker for ages. Was looking at JBL and Harman Kardon range (RM600-RM1300~), but decided to go with a local brand called Vinnfier after testing it out at Lowyat Plaza. The sound quality was surprisingly good despite costing only RM99. I’m quite happy with it tbh, it does the job.
- Attended an event organised by Own Your Story. Love the values behind the community – they’re all about self-development and exploration of new concepts. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, attend one of their events too (and make sure to leave a donation).
- Guest-lectured at TAR 😀 I spoke to a bunch of PR students about what I do (content creation and management and working with brands).
- Invited to a media dinner organised by Hong Leong. Apparently, and I didn’t know this until I was there, but I was the only blogger in attendance – everyone else was from big big media companies you’re familiar with. Interestingly, some of the night’s conversation is all about how traditional media organisations are struggling financially. On the flip side, business is booming for online platforms and independent content creators (like myself).
- Read one book: Plato and a Platypus walk into a bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein. Fun read!
Nay of the Month:
- Like I said above, procrastinated a lot. My weight increased again, despite actively going to the gym. I did tone up though, so maybe some of the weight gain is muscle gain? *wishful thinking*
- Lost my eyebrow pencil. Luckily, the Guardian sales are going on and I managed to snag an eyebrow kit for 50% off (RM18+ after reduced price).
- Both my electric kettles broke within one week -_- Complained to Mom, who generously offered her extra set. Thank you Mommy for saving me RM100-ish <3
- Wanted to try Escape Room for ages. Kind of disappointed by the experience. There are hard clues, then there are purposely-impossible clues. I won’t try it again, not worth the money (RM76 for two people).
- Kena parking fine. RM15 paid out (because paid within 24 hours). Plus RM2.17 because MYEG also want profit.
- One of my clients told me they need to receive certified true copies of some documents. Asked on Twitter – most said the price range is reasonable. But…
I GOT CHARGED RM20 PER PAGE FOR CERTIFIED TRUE COPIES OF MY IC AND SSM REGISTRATION HOLY SHIT
BUKAN KORANG KATA RM2.50—RM8 KE??
Dammit lawyers kat PKNS cekik darah siot. Habis RM60 😭😭
— Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror) January 15, 2019
- The upside is I got a bunch of recommendations from you guys, including getting them done for free at police stations and school principals. Some friends and followers also offered me free services the next time I need to get them done again. Thanks so much for the offer. That part was sweet of you.
Things to Look Forward to:
- Luang Prabang holiday. I’m excited to go to Laos and add a new country to my list! Like always, expect a travel guide later in the month 🙂
- Meal-prepping. I’ve let food become my pleasure, which is fun if done occasionally, but I’ve definitely taken liberties in indulging my appetite in January 2019. I need to look at food as fuel now.
- Doing my best. I don’t know how to cure this anxiety, but I do want to do the best work I can despite the circumstances.
Please help by cheering me on. And tell me your demons too. What’s preventing you from doing your best work? Share with me, sometimes I feel hella alone with all this. Thanks so much.
To read about my past monthly budget update, click here. Graphs are taken from my expense-tracking app Money Lover (how expense tracking works)
Oh Suraya. Hang in there mate, I know you’ve got a lot of things you want to achieve but to think about all of them at the same time will overwhelm you!
It’s best if you do some dreamlining: take any project/goal and break it down to steps and tasks. If it takes a year to do it, split it down to monthly -> weekly -> daily tasks.
Then, every day you wake up, you only have to look at the tasks for that day. At the end of the week, you can review your progress and adjust if needed. Don’t condense a whole year’s worth of efforts into one day, it’ll make you likely to procrastinate more.
If it doesn’t work, try the 2 minute rule: do 2 minutes of the task. It’ll sound easy, but 2 mins is all you need to get into the groove
Hang in there and hope to catch up with you soon! -N
Hey Norman,
Thanks for leaving not one, but two thoughtful comments!
I just came back from a trip, and feel so much better. Quite pumped to work hard. Let’s hang soon – lots of things to catch up!
Oh Suraya. Hang in there mate!
You could be overwhelming yourself with so many different ideas and goals. Doing and achieving all of them may be ideal, but you’re thinking of years of work and effort in one day.
It’s best if you do some dreamlining: for each goal that you do, split it into monthly goals -> weekly goals -> daily tasks. Set aside the rest and focus on only that day.
When you’re preparing for tomorrow’s tasks, you’d only have to look at each day, not the rest of it. Force yourself to think smaller during your working hours, so that you know how to be in the moment and do some good work.
Later on, you can motivate yourself by checking your progress every day, review every week, and adjust accordingly. Here, you think big to motivate yourself that you’re getting closer to your goal.
Give yourself permission to do a bit at a time when tackling those big goals. We know you work hard 🙂
Hang in there and hope to catch up with you soon! -N
Weight increase after workout? Of course. For the same volume of fat and muscle, muscle is heavier. Check your bio book.
Hey Fred,
Your logic is solid, but the problem is the jiggly bits are jigglier