Become a Bard Challenge Month 4 Summary

How Was Month 4?

Month 4 of the Become a Bard Challenge spanned from 30 September to 29 October 2024. This leaves a two-day gap between the end of Month 3 (on 27 September) and the start of Month 4, but I just completely forgot to record my accomplishments in those two days. I decided it would be better to delay the start of Month 4 instead of guessing and possibly misrepresenting results for 28-29 September.

I wish I could say the trend of not recording data was isolated to those two days. It was not! I recorded my BAB Challenge points for the first seven days of Month 4 before completely falling off the wagon. Between sinus infections, work, reworking the structure of a manuscript, and a trip to Disneyland, I just did not give the proper attention to recording daily data. But that does not mean the end of the Become a Bard Challenge. Meaningful effort still happened in this past 30 days. The best I can do is honestly report this effort and move on.

Thoughts & Reflections

Although I do not have exact numbers to show in this month’s summary, I can say that I did not get good sleep on many nights, put good effort towards music practice and language study, made a lot of leeway with reading and writing, exercised moderately, and could have hydrated better. The category I want to focus on in this post is reading and writing.

The first few months of the Become a Bard Challenge reflect tremendous dedication to the consumption of books, whether it be through listening to audiobooks or reading physical copies of publications. I still put a lot of focus on reading this past month as it is one of my favorite things to do, but I decided to be slightly less intense with reading so that I could give time to the other categories of the BAB Challenge.

Even with this change, I was still able to finish four titles in the past 30 days. In the order I finished them, my October 2024 reading list includes: (1) Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore, (2) The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza, (3) Cinder by Marissa Meyer, and (4) Lotería by Cynthia Pelayo. Check out my reviews of The Sons of El Rey in the Fiction bookshelf and Lotería in the Horror & Suspense bookshelf. I will publish a review of Cinder in the Science Fiction bookshelf in December.

The effort I put towards writing this past month was slightly different than what I had been doing in the previous three months. I made sure to compose and schedule several Bookmarks & Armchairs posts in preparation for a family trip to Disneyland. I also spent a lot of time revising the outline for a novel I have been working on. In the version that existed last month, the story was structured in such a way that one character in particular was inadvertently villainized. But as the story moved along, I realized that this particular character was not the villain I anticipated them being. The version that exists now expands on the perspective and experiences of that particular character.

My greatest takeaway from Month 4 of the Become a Bard Challenge is a developing an appreciation for how much effort it takes for me to repeat the same actions every day. I have never consistently tracked my daily activities or efforts towards habit formation before beginning the BAB Challenge. So seeing raw data of my (in)consistencies with maintaining hobbies and habits is enlightening. For many, it could take 66 days to form a new habit. But people with ADHD face challenges with executive functioning processes, which means that forming a habit could take me much longer than the average 66 days for others.

Taking this into consideration, the best I can do going forward is to keep showing myself patience and understanding. Yes, posting monthly summaries of my efforts on this blog is a way to keep myself accountable. But using Bookmarks & Armchairs as an artificial body double will not be effective if I am not kind to myself.

Expectations for Month 5

I dropped the ball on recording my stats for most of Month 4. But the BAB Challenge goes on! Month 5 will span from 1 to 30 November. The daily goals of each category for Month 5 are listed below.

1. Sleep: 7 hours

2. Music & Language: 10 minutes

3. Reading & Writing: 1,000 words

4. Rigorous Exercise: 15 minutes

5. Drink Water: 24 oz.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading the Month 4 Summary of the BAB Challenge!

BABC Category Cheat Sheet: Each category is worth 4 points total.

1. Sleep

   Naps do not count. Only hours spent sleeping at night qualify.

2. Music Practice or Language Study

   Studying music notation and music theory as well as playing an instrument qualify as music practice. Going through language exercises, translating song lyrics, listening to music, and watching movies or TV shows all qualify towards language study.

3. Reading or Writing

   Physical copies, digital editions, and audiobooks of published fiction or non-fiction all count towards reading. Writing includes creative writing, blog writing, and journaling.

4. Rigorous Exercise

   Whether it’s doing yoga and other routines at home, going to the gym, or going for a walk outside, make sure to move with purpose every day.

5. Drink Water

   Just drink water!

Post Date: 7 November 2024

Books of October 2024