Oh man, I met an old friend yesterday and he blew my mind.

It was so interesting, I think fate / the universe / the stars aligned for us to meet up and I gotta say, he really lit a fire under my ass and really gave me some tough love.

He was telling me about what kind of projects he’s up to, how he runs his businesses and lives his life, and man, I was thinking to myself – jeez, I need to be more like him.

He’s an artist, and we’ve all heard the old trope about the “starving artist” who basically can’t feed himself or herself and doesn’t want to “sell out.”

Well he’s the complete opposite of that, and some of the numbers and figures he was dropping on me were jaw-dropping.

Not only is he a hardworking and talented artist, he is a savvy businessman.

And to top it all off, he’s got a great personality and really fire social skills.

Holy moly, I need to be more like him haha.

All right, 70% complete!

Man, I’m getting really excited about finally finishing the analyses.

The problem with these analyses is that it’s not something that the process of doing the analyses is not conducive to creating any other content.

Well, I thought about streaming like doing a “study with me” kind of streaming thing.

However, I don’t know if that would be the best idea.

I think it might help me focus knowing that other people are watching me study hahaha

However, even if I did want to do streaming, I would need to buy a new computer since my computer isn’t strong enough to stream.

Or I could just use my smartphone to stream me sitting at the computer looking at my desk and studying.

Who knows.

Okay, I’m going to try something new.

I haven’t been very consistent with my Korean and Japanese flashcard studying.

So I need to analyze different ways to get myself to study more.

Timing

• Study first thing in the morning?
• Use a  timer
  • Pomodoro Technique? 

Devices

• Android phone (my main phone)
• iPhone
• Laptop

With or Without a Pen and Paper

• I think simply adding a pen and paper is probably going to improve my productivity

Study Buddy?

• It’s kinda hard to find study buddies now that the Seoul Metropolitan area is implementing stricter restrictions

Location

• Outside?
• At a cafe?
• At a friend’s house?
• Lying in bed?
•  

All right! 

I’m past the 1,000 Kanji mark, and it feels great!

As this pace, I should be able to finish analyzing and sorting the Kanji before the end of September.

Then after that, I can finally do an audit and play with the data with various spreadsheet tools.

I can’t really do that yet because there’s so much missing data, but soon I will be able to!

Okay, now that I’ve analyze my Kanji for today, I’m going to get on the flashcards and try to study as many as I can.

Also, it’s Thursday, and normally I would go to a language exchange, but I think the event has been cancelled, so I’ll have a lot of time to focus on the flashcards.

All right, I’m feeling pretty good with the progress I’m making with my Kanji analysis.

I’m almost at 1,000, which would be a pretty big milestone for me, at least psychologically.

However, although I’m doing really well with my Kanji analysis habit, I’ve been slacking off on my Korean and Japanese flashcards habit.

I thought that it might be because I’ve been trying to study using my smartphone.

Even though it’s very easy and convenient, I use my smartphone for a lot of things so I easily get distracted.

Well, it could just be a habit issue, since I was able to study flashcards consistently on my smartphone last year, where I was studying Kanji flashcards for hours at a time.

Let’s just try to get the ball rolling again.

A little bit at a time.

All right, I’m over 60% finished with my Kanji analysis.

It seems to get easier and easier the closer I get to completion.

It definitely feels like the most difficult stuff is behind me and that it’s just smooth sailing from here on out.

The main issue I’m dealing with these days is dopamine and sugar.

I think I definitely need to go on a detox – basically go on a fast.

It’s been something that I’ve been meaning to do a fast, and I think I just need to go on a full on detox – no food no water to “reset” my body and brain.

One of my good friends here in Korea is very interesting.

He speaks Korean really well, and I’ve known him for maybe over 8 years, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him study Korean before.

I talked to him yesterday about how he learned Korean, and he just basically studied every day very consistently.

And comparing his experience to my experience, I have been much more on and off when it comes to my Korean studies compared to him.

In fact, I have been quite on and off for many of my projects that I have attempted, but not quite completed (Japanese, Spanish, etc.)

Basically our conversation was really enlightening because it really highlighted the importance of consistency.

Okay, my pace seems to have picked up in terms of analyzing the Kanji. 

I am almost 58% finished, and each day I get closer and closer to finishing the most difficult part of my Pahanngana project.

I’ve also been getting into the groove of studying my Korean and Japanese flashcards.

My ultimate goal is to memorize 10,000 words but it seems like it’s going to take a long time.

I need to temper my expectations and just work little by little.

For example, 10,000 words divided by 365 days = about 28 words a day.

From that perspective, that pace seems very reasonable. 

However, since I am impatient, I want it all to be done at once.

This is I think for me, the biggest lesson that I’m taking away from my Pahanngana project and Korean, Japanese, and Hanja/Kanji studies – that consistency is key.

Uh oh, I forgot to sync my data from my desktop setup.

I usually do my kanji analyses on using my desktop setup at home, but I have to sync the data so it’s available on my laptop.

I was planning to continue analyzing the data with the same spreadsheet, but it’s not the most updated version of the spreadsheet.

So what I think I’ll do is just do some analysis on a separate document and then update the main document on my desktop when I get back home.

Wow, I was able to do a lot of analysis at a cafe.

I think that I need to get myself into a state of mind where I am focused and with little to no distractions. Then I can get a  lot of stuff done.

Okay I’ve been a good analysis streak with the Kanji.

Now I need to work on doing the same thing with my vocabulary study.

I need to just get in the zone and get studying.

I think one thing I can do is just go straight to studying flashcards after I analyze the Kanji so I can just transfer that momentum.

Also, I think that when I am in my apartment, it’s hard for me to get excited to get studying.

It doesn’t help that my apartment is quite messy (distracting) and I live by myself (no consequences if I don’t clean up or don’t study)

I just need to maintain my energy and keep things moving.