My Poker Journal

Have you considered trying running for the high?

Goals for today:
Poker:
2 - 3 work bouts, visit library
COMPLETE - studied for 3 hours and 45 mins. played in home game for 3.5 hours

Exercise:
PT exercises
COMPLETE - also did cold plunge

Goals for tmo:
Poker:
2 - 3 work bouts, visit library

Exercise:
PT exercises, prob do sauna blanket too

ye I got an mcl sprain rn tho

Goals from today:
Poker:
2 - 3 work bouts, visit library
COMPLETE - it was just 1 bout but it was 3 hours long so that's sufficient. I went to the library for 4 hours, the other hour was spent readiing

Exercise:
PT exercises, prob do sauna blanket too
COMPLETE - did PT exercises and sauna blanket

Goals from this week:
Minimum: 10 hours - 3 Library visits
Target: 15 hours - 5 Library visits
Stretch: 20 hours - 7 Library visits

MINIMUM HOURS COMPLETE - 11 hours of studying (9.5 were focused hours)
STRETCH VISITS COMPLETE - 7 library visits for the week

My hours for studying were lower than it could have been for a few reasons
1. My boss gave me extra contract to work on this week. That took up 2 or 3 work bouts I could have used for poker
2. If I wasn't at the library, I struggled to get work done. I watched too much youtube in the beggining of the week. I had to ban it for the back half and that seemed to help

Another note, idk if blocking out a whole week to study feels the best way to structure my time. I'm going to try a mixed week this time

Goals for the upcoming week:
This week I'm going to do studying, online, and live play.
My live days will be wednesday, friday, and/or sunday since that's when 5/10 runs.
My online days this week will be tuesday, thursday, and/or saturday
I'm not sure what my study days should be yet, but I'll prob go with saturday for now

Monday:
Library visit
I won't have much time so no poker goals
Electronics off by 11p

Tuesday (online day):
Minimum: 1 hours of online play
Target: 1.5 - 2 hours of online play
Stretch: 4 hours of online play
I want to try being at the library the whole day on tuesday. or hopping between libraries. Taking breaks to eat or something.

Wednesday (live day):
Library visit
Minimum: 2 hours of live play
Target: 3 hours of live play
Stretch: 5 hours of live play

Thursday (online or study):
Library visit
I'll let myself pick what to do this day. No expectations. Contract work will also be longer this day

Friday (live):
if I can get to the casino early enough I'd like to play live.
Minimum: 2 hours
Target: 4 hours
Stretch: 6 hours
if something comes up to hang w/ friends I'm allowed to do that instead

Saturday (study preferred, can do online tho):
just visit library during the day
Minimum: 1.5 hours
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 5 hours
if something comes up to hang w/ friends I'm allowed to do that instead

Sunday (online, study, or live):
Either visit library and use goals from saturday or play live with goals from Saturday
if something comes up to hang w/ friends I'm allowed to do that instead

Goals from today:
Contract Work:
2 bouts
COMPLETE - I ended up doing 3 or 4 work bouts. I had a lot of work to do today

Poker:
Minimum: 1 hours of online play
Target: 1.5 - 2 hours of online play
Stretch: 4 hours of online play
I want to try being at the library the whole day or hopping between libraries.
TARGET COMPLETE - 2 hours of online play. I wasn't at the library the whole day cuz I had a deadline for contract work right in the morning. So I did my first 2 hours at home. I was at the library from 3p to close. I consider that achieving my goal tho.

Exercise:
PT exercises
COMPLETE

Goals for tmo:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts

Poker:
Minimum: 2 hours of live play
Target: 3 hours of live play
Stretch: 5 hours of live play

Physical Health:
PT Exercises, maybe throw in wim hof or some meditation

Sleep:
start winding down at 10:30p

Goals from today:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts
FAILED - did maybe 25 mins of work spread out
I didn't have much work to do today so I figured I'd just work at home. This didn't pan out as I intended. I was on reddit for 2 hours :(

Poker:
Minimum: 2 hours of live play
Target: 3 hours of live play
Stretch: 5 hours of live play
STRETCH COMPLETE - 7 hours of live play at 2/5/10

Physical Health:
PT Exercises, maybe throw in wim hof or some meditation
COMPLETE - PT exercises and cold plunge

Sleep:
start winding down at 10:30p
FAILED - it's almost 11p rn. I'll need to schedule dinner and organizing poker notes after

Goals for tmo:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts
I'll make sure I go to the library for this.

Poker:
No goals set for today. I play online or study

Physical Health:
PT appt

Misc:
sort out insurance thing that's been on my plate for a bit
go thru emails?

Sleep:
start winding down at 10:30p

Hello again! Came for a quick check: have you been following through with your goals, to the best of your abilities? What are the biggest obstacles and how to overcome them?

Goals from today:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts
I'll make sure I go to the library for this.
COMPLETE - did 3 work bouts

Poker:
No goals set for today. I play online or study

Physical Health:
PT appt
COMPLETE

Misc:
sort out insurance thing that's been on my plate for a bit
go thru emails?
DIDN'T DO

Sleep:
start winding down at 10:30p
FAILED like helen keller in spanish class. it's 2:15am right now. I procrastinated doing my last thing of work sooo much

Goals for tmo:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts

Poker:
Idk if I 'll try to hit this many hours. My sleep will suck cuz I'm up so late, might end up playing C game.
Minimum: 2 hours of live play
Target: 4 hours of live play
Stretch: 6 hours of live play
if something comes up to hang w/ friends I'm allowed to do that instead

Physical Health:
PT exercises

Sleep:
start winding down at 10:30p

Hiya, I'm following through with my goals for the most part. Still def room for improvement. The goal I've failed the most often is not starting my wind down routine on time. The goal that I miss sometimes, that prob has the largest affect, are when I miss my work bouts.

The most effective method so far is going to the library without my phone. I attempt deep work sessions or just uninterrupted, lookup cal newport for more info on those. I set a timer and ALL i'm doing is the task I'm working on. Not even bathroom breaks or sips of water. Helps a ton The most common causes of me hitting my work bouts is getting distracted via youtube or reddit when I'm at home.

Your comment sparked the idea for me to start documenting exactly why I miss each of my goals. I'll be able to create a list of common causes and work on how to tackle those obstacles. Super excited to start tracking that

Goals from today:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts
COMPLETE - did 1 bout and then some additional work

Poker:
Minimum: 2 hours of live play
Target: 4 hours of live play
Stretch: 6 hours of live play
MINIMUM COMPLETE - 2.5 hours of 2/5, got to casino late for 2 reasons. 1. Getting to bed late last night. I sleep around 10 hours a night so I woke up around noon. I delayed my work bout about 2 hours.

Why was my work bout delayed 2 hours?
When I start my work bout I have to use my phone to get authentication codes. I also wanted to use my artificial bright light as a substitute for sunlight in the morning.
Goal:
- Use phone at home for setup so my work bout is more focused at the library
- While setting up use the artificial bright light
- knockout easy stuff like emails
- Right after setup head to the library

Outcome:
- While using phone to setup, I decided to peak at reddit "just for a bit". Proceeded to be on reddit for an hour or so
- Did get artificial light
- knocked out easy stuff
- didn't head to library right after

What are some alternate strategies for doing this work bout?
1. Setup laptop with phone while at library (in an environment that's much easier to focus).
Pros: likelyhood of getting work bout done is way higher and no need to worry about social media bans
Cons: focus of work bout is likely to be lower and less sunlight in morning
However, if I book a conference and bring the light pad, sunlight will not be a problem

2. Ban reddit and youtube for a period of time. I haven't tried just morning bans yet. I'll prob try that next week

Physical Health:
PT exercises
NOT COMPLETE YET - Planning to do it after writing this journal

Sleep:
start winding down at 10:30p
COMPLETE - I'll be getting to bed a bit later

Goals for tmo:
My sister's skating competition is tomorrow. Hitting 2-2.5 hours will be just fine.
Online or study. I'm not sure which one I'll do yet :/ Maybe I'll just do both
Minimum: 1.5 hours
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 5 hours

Physical Health:
PT exercises

Sleep:
start winding down around 10:30p

Goals from today:
My sister's skating competition was today. Hitting 2-2.5 hours is fine.
Online or study. I'm not sure which one I'll do yet :/ Maybe I'll just do both
Minimum: 1.5 hours
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 5 hours
REVISED TARGET COMPLETE - played 2 hours of online. I had poor sleep and was B/C gaming the session

Physical Health:
PT exercises
COMPLETE

Sleep:
start winding down around 10:30p
COMPLETE

Goals for tmo:
Either visit library and use goals from saturday or play live with goals from Friday
if something comes up to hang w/ friends I'm allowed to do that instead
Minimum: 1.5 - 2 hours
Target: 3 - 4 hours
Stretch: 5 - 6 hours

Physical Health:
PT exercises + something additional

Sleep:
start winding down around 10:30p

Goals from today:
Either visit library and use goals from saturday or play live with goals from Friday
Minimum: 1.5 - 2 hours
Target: 3 - 4 hours
Stretch: 5 - 6 hours
TARGET COMPLETE - 3 hours of studying and 30 minute online session

Physical Health:
PT exercises + something additional
MOSTLY COMPLETE - did most PT exercises (skipped one cuz of pain), sauna blanket, quick ab workout

Sleep:
start winding down around 10:30p
FAILED - started winding down at 11p

Goals from this week:

Monday:
No goals

Tuesday:
Target Complete (2 hours online)

Wednesday:
Stretch Complete (7 hours live)

Thursday:
Do whatever

Friday:
Minimum complete (2.5 hours live)

Saturday:
Revised Target Complete (2 hours online)

Sunday:
Target Complete (3.5 hours studying + online)

Minimums Complete - 5/5
Targets Complete - 4/5 (cause of missing target was extremely delayed work bouts on thursday)
Stretch Complete - 1/5

Online:
I think my target goal for an online day can be increased, contract work permitting. For weekdays, I'll increase target to 3 hours. I'll increase stretch to 4.5 hours. I'll keep minimum at 1 hour.

Live:
I totaled 9.5 hours this week. This surpasses the sum of both live target goals. There will be some variability in how much I can play in a day due to other priorities (contract work and PT). For weekdays, I'll keep minimum at 2 hours.
I'll keep target around 4 hours. I'll keep stretch to 6 hours.

Studying:
I'll not think about this for now. It's getting late.

Goals for the upcoming week:
No reddit, youtube, tv, music, etc before 2pm each day (M-R).
For library visits on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, remember steps below.
1. If I can book a conference room in the morning, bring my lightpad and go straight to the library. No need to setup at home
2. If I can’t book a conference room in the morning, setup laptop at home while using the lightpad. The ban should help reduce distractions while setting up the laptop.

Monday (study day):
Minimum: 1.5 hours
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 4.5 hours

Tuesday (online day):
Minimum: 1 hour
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 4.5 hours

Wednesday (live day):
Minimum: 2 hours
Target: 4 hours
Stretch: 6 hours

Thurdsay (day off):
Dad's retirement party

Friday through Sunday (day off):
trip to milwaukee for sister's birthday

Goals for tmo:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts

Poker studying:
Minimum: 1.5 hours
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 4.5 hours

Physical Health:
PT exercises

Sleep:
start winding down around 10:30p

Goals from today:
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts
COMPLETE - 2 high quality work bouts, 1.5 hours each.

Poker studying:
Minimum: 1.5 hours
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 4.5 hours
MINIMUM COMPLETE - 1.5 hours of studying
Causes of not hitting target:
- waking up at 11:15a instead of 10a (ie staying up late the night before)
- doing 2 contract work bouts instead of 1
- leaving the library at 7:15p instead of at 9p (didn’t have car, dad drove me back)
- not doing a work bout once I got home
- watching youtube and tv shows once I got home

Solutions:
- get to bed sooner (tracking causes is helping me be better about this)
- contract work, just making sure I’m on top of work when it comes in - doing 1 bout of work during the day regardless of if I feel like I have anything to do
- acknowledging that when I’m leaving the library, experience indicates i’m unlikely to do focused work if I don’t have an active ban on entertainment (mental leak)
- acknowledging that thinking “i might get a work bout done in a bit” probably won’t lead to a work bout. even if I’m really amped about it. It’s more correlated with deciding to do the work than feeling good about it (mental leak)
- do an entertainment ban - not doing this for now tho
Physical Health:
PT exercises
COMPLETE

Sleep:
start winding down around 10:30p
COMPLETE - i do find this easier to accomplish if I'm watching tv or youtube before hand. A common cause of missing this is getting home right after working and the urge to watch tv at that time is greater than after watching it for a bit

Next week I think I'll chunk my studying differently, cuz I don't think I studied to enough depth to understand it. I'm cutting things short. I'd like to work on it tmo but I set goals to play online

Goals for tmo:
Contract work:
1 bout, I have a **** ton of meetings tmo, so likely won't have time for 2 bouts

Poker online play:
Minimum: 1 hour
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 4.5 hours

Physical Health:
PT exercises

Sleep:
Start winding down around 10:30p

That's great, I should follow your example and completely turn off my phone during game sessions. Don't sweat the wind down routine, if you are already consistently doing it, you can gradually start doing it early, but that you are doing it is already significant. Good luck!

Goals from today:
Contract work:
1 bout
COMPLETE - did work like the whole day

Poker online play:
Minimum: 1 hour
Target: 3 hours
Stretch: 4.5 hours
MINIMUM COMPLETE - 1 hour, had a ton of work to do and a ton of meetings so didn't go to library

Physical Health:
PT exercises
FAILED

Sleep:
Start winding down around 10:30p
FAILED - stayed up a lil later to get hour of online in

Goals for tmo:
Contract work:
2 bouts
i'm gonna gave a lot of work tmo

Poker online play:
I have my live goals but I'll have a lot of work to do tmo and I have to pack and plan for weekend. So I won't hold myself to getting those hours in

Physical Health:
PT exercises

Sleep:
Start winding down around 10:30p

Goals from today:
Contract work:
2 bouts
COMPLETE

Poker *live play:
none done

Physical Health:
PT exercises
COMPLETE - missed morning ones tho

Sleep:
Start winding down around 10:30p
COMPLETE

Goals for tmo:
It's my dad's graduation party tmo so no goals other than contract work.
I'll be traveling for my sister's birthday friday-sunday so I won't be writing goas for those days
Contract work:
1 - 2 bouts

Physical Health:
PT exercises

Recap for today
Did 2/3 contract work bouts.
It was a bit of an odd day. Had to do a decent bit of driving for work

Played online for about 45 minutes
Studied for about 1 hour

Did PT exercises & Sauna blanket

Also went to the grocery store

Recap for today:
2 work bouts (relatively short tho)

poker
30 mins of online

physical health:
Physical therapy appt, also had regular therapy today

Misc:
Cooked, and recorded podcast w/ buddy

Pretty good day overall. I could have decreased time between PT and starting work bout. There was about 2 hours of me not doing anything then.

Recap for Friday:
Contract Work:
2/3 work bouts - didn't finish til about

Poker:
3 hours at home game

Physical Health:
Some PT exercises

Recap for Saturday:
Poker:
3.75 hours of live 2/5

Physical Health:
PT exercises, additional exercise, cold plunge

Misc:
Went out for buddy's birthday
poor sleep tho, went to bed at 4am

Recap for today:
Poker:
2 hours online 3 reg 25 nl tables on iggy
4 hours of live poker (3.5 hrs of 2/5 and 0.5 hrs of 1/3)
was playing B/C game most of the time due to dreadful sleep, but I seem to be getting better at playing in this fatigued state

Physical Health:
PT exercises & Sauna Blanket

Recap for this week:
This week I set no goals and basically let myself pick what I do, except watching youtube or netflix. I did watch netflix sunday night after I felt my week over. I'll write out this exception for next week. I still noticed myself placing expectations on the amount of work I should be doing (necessary for contract work tho). In this type of week I want to experiment with not using guilt or 'this is what I planned to do so I must do it' as the reason for any of the facets below. The purpose of tracking these results is to see how my week's setup affects my growth.

Results:

Poker:
- Online: 3 hours and 20 minutes
- Studying: 1 hour
- Live: 14 hours

I didn't write out how many hours I spent on contract work. I believe it was relatively high this week tho. I worked an average of 2/3 bouts a day. This is higher than usual.

Physical Health:
- Missed one day of PT exercises
- Sauna blanket two days
- one cold plunge
- sleep was meh, not a lot of extra time at night to reflect more deeply about how my days went (I got an oura ring so I can be more accurate with this later)

Social life:
- Improv
- 2 home games
- Friend's Birthday

Misc:
- Grocery Store
- Cooked

Plan for next week:
I'm going to do the same plan as last week. No expectations for poker work. This will also kinda serve as a baseline as to how much work I tend to naturally do. However, still no youtube or netflix UNTIL saturday and sunday night.

Is this "no expectations" working? If I may, I would suggest not focusing on the results, but do focus on the processes. About missing one day, that's ok, I try not to miss two days in sequence, as long as I do what's right most days that's what counts. Good luck!

not well lol. There's a few reasons it didn't go well other than the "no expectations". I'll try it again later but I'll switch back to setting goals.

Reason 1: Swamped with contract work
Reason 2: Sleep schedule got super late, made it harder to do contract work and have time left over
Reason 3: Netflix, Youtube, and other media consumption
Reason 4: Sick for a week

I appreciate your honesty, and I wish you well and the best for your health.

I've been reading the book "Atomic Habits", it's been really useful, I recommend it so that you can efficiently organize your environment, schedule, and make your journey more efficient.