Sunday Focus

I'm focusing on the same daily/weekly goals again---because, you know, habits, and forming them and all that jazz. It's been pretty easy to do things like make the bed and call my parents with some frequency. Exercising and eating vegetables, on the other hand. You know how it is. I didn't get to write all my words, either, because fellowship applications reared their heads and ate all my time.

Especially difficult is the part where I typically only cook for one. Vegetables inevitably come in larger packages than I can use in one week without getting sick of said veggie; so either I come to loathe the veggie for a few weeks after, or I end up with nasty dead veggies by the end of the week. Rather disheartening, but I guess I should really just be working on ways to fight this problem.

In addition to the above, I'm also hoping to make some minor bits of progress towards other long-term goals (things like the afghan, etc.). Part of this is going to involve a post later this week with a mini-roundup of what I've been doing and where I am with goals.

So, for this week:

1. Fruits and veggies, exercise, skin, floss/brush, call Mom and Dad, Lang-8, post here, make the bed, 500-word habit.

2. Play with nail polish, clean out a bit of e-mail inbox, work on afghan, listen to new musics.

What are you focusing on?

Sunday Focus

On Sundays here, I'll be posting what I'll be focusing on for the week (and why). To wit:

1. Write 5,000 words for dissertation/paper.

2. Daily/weekly goals, in particular: Making sure I get my fruits and veggies, taking care of my skin, flossing/brushing LIKE AN ADULT, exercising, and calling the parentals.

The reason behind focus #1 should be relatively obvious: I am dissertating! And want to get published this year! It will also be good to try to get into a truly regular writing habit (although I'm not starting that one in earnest for a while yet).

The reason behind focus #2 is perhaps less obvious, and it's also the reason why I'm not starting the X-amount-of-words-per-day type thing yet. I'm putting particular emphasis on these goals this week because it is damn hard to form habits. I've got a goodly pile of habits listed, and these are the ones that are most important to me. Out of everything on that list, it's these things that make the biggest difference in my everyday life. So, time to start out on these.

What are day-to-day habits are most beneficial/harmful to you?

The first post on a blog is inevitably awkward. So be it.

I'm a PhD student heading into my dissertation year. This is a year in which we PhD students not only need to write The Book, but in which we need to either find an academic job or move out into the big bad world. It's a year which is stereotypically full of long writing binges, stress-eating box mac and cheese at 2a, and large quantities of cheap alcohol, resulting in a frazzle-haired student with giant black eye-bags clutching their diploma for dear life.

Now, as much as I like writing, mac and cheese, and booze, I tend to prefer non-frantic writing sessions, home-made mac and cheese (with a dash of nutmeg), and a leisurely Old Fashioned on the rocks. I would also like to avoid the giant black eye-bags, thank you very much.

To wit, this blog. In the pursuit of work-life balance, coming out safe on the other side of the dissertation, and simply maximizing the amount of awesome in my life, I am pursuing a 101 in 1001-style project. The goal is to form some new habits and push myself to enjoy my life. The list is only partially formed, and subject to change and tinkering; it's an imperfect map.

Dear self, may we meet again on 18 January 2015, and may you be happy with how it has all turned out.

How are other folks dealing with/planning to deal with/have in the past dealt with dissertation years? How about other long goal-oriented projects (like this one)?