I am writing out how I plan to spend my summer so that I can formulate a plan of action about the best way of utilizing my time. I also, from past experience, know that when I put in writing exactly what I plan to do, within 13 hours the Universe steps in and thwarts all of my plans, so I want to give myself enough time to adapt to whatever changes will invariably be throw in my path 🙂

This is my last week of classes. Next week is Finals Week. I am signed up to take a Linux scripting class over the summer.

After I get done with my finals I anticipate doing the following:

– Mastering Core Audio. I will work through Chris Adamson’s wonderful Core Audio book and the Apple documentation for it. I plan to spend every morning from the time I wake up until around noon working on Core Audio.

– Take a lunch/cleaning break. I then plan, around noon each day, to spend some time cleaning the house. I have gotten very far behind on my chores and I need to schedule time for myself to do these things.

– Learn Linux. This will happen later in the summer when I begin taking this class. I plan to spend two or three days working on Linux.

– Possible other skill. I am contemplating learning more about Cocoa Drawing or Cocos2d gaming. I realize that learning Core Audio is a pretty sizable endeavor, so I am not committed to doing this third thing. I may also modify my plans to only learn Core Audio in the mornings. I worry that I will burn out if I only work on one thing. If all else fails, I will simply keep working on the skills I learned in my iOS class this semester and work my way through a few of my iOS programming books in the afternoons rather than trying to learn a second large skill. The more I type about this, the more committed I am to that course of action.

My goal is to see if I can make myself work a regular schedule on my own without having a job. Roald Dahl says that being a writer is the worst job in the world because you have to make yourself get up and sit at the typewriter and write a book. If you have a job where you are expected to be there at 8:00 in the morning and you get paid even when you are surfing the Internet reading Dilbert comics, it can be difficult to motivate yourself to work hard when there is no immediate financial reward.

Working for yourself isn’t for everyone. Most people I talk to about being an entrepreneur have this grand delusion of getting out from under the boot of the Man and setting their own schedule and being free. I see that to some capacity, but there is also something to be said about having a job where you get paid regardless of whether you produce something useful or not.

Since, as of this moment, my options are to work for free for myself or to donate work to someone else, I am working for the person who values my work more, which is me.