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A Druid's Battle Log


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Saturday/Sunday stats:

 

Fitness:

 

100% plan: 

        - Yoga 20-30 minutes 3 times a week 

        - Strength training 10 minutes once a week  

        - Walking 30 minutes once a week ✔️ -- Walked 30 minutes yesterday, nothing today. 

 

10% plan:

        - Yoga 10 minutes  

        - Strength training 5 minutes 

 

Rest day. 

 

Nutrition:

 

100% plan: 

        - Eat 1 serving of fruit and veggies 2-3 times a week  

 

10% plan:

        - Eat 1-2 servings of fruit or veggies every day -- Eh, no fruit yet this weekend, but I'll make sure to have at least 1 serving today. 

 

 

Intellectual:

 

100% plan:

        - Revise 1 and a half to 2 pages every day ✔️ -- 2 pages yesterday, almost 4 today. Decided to try to write first thing in the morning yesterday and today to see how much I could get done in the morning compared to the afternoon and I got so much work done. Seriously, I got it all done in half the time I usually do. Clearly I need to do this more often. 

        - Write down 1 new plot point a week 

 

10% plan:

        - Revise half a page. 

 

 

Miscellaneous goals:

        - Read 30 minutes a day ✔️ -- Read for a couple of hours last night. I'm going to try to do a mini reading goal: I want to read Jennifer Estep's entire Elemental Assassin series this year (there are like 20 books). I'm on book 3 now, so we'll see how far I can get by the end of the year. I still need to read Andromeda Strain for my book club though, hoping to do that this week.

        - Cook breakfast on Sundays ✔️ -- I cooked two meals today, breakfast (scrambled eggs) and lunch (tacos). 

        - Go to bed half an hour early ✔️

        - Draw once a week 

        - De-clutter the junk room once a week ✔️

 

I did All The Things this weekend. Got lots of stuff done, and worked a little more than half a day's worth of OT. I checked out the office chairs again this weekend, and I think the chair I want isn't going to work for my setup. It's super comfy, but it might be too comfy LOL. And the height doesn't adjust quite low enough for my desk. I think I found another chair that will suit better. Thought about it over the last day and decided to go for it. Now I just need to go and get it. 

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Debating whether I want to do a challenge since this one is the 10 year anniversary, but I'm not sure which group I'd fall under since I do a couple different things now. Hmm. 

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The challenge will be awesome! Maybe the rebel guild? I think that is the one I will join for the next challenge. I have a few goals and none of them are all the same thing XD. 

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"You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course! Stick to it, no matter the squalls."
- Long John Silver, Treasure Planet  🏴‍☠️

 

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Monday/Tuesday stats:

 

Fitness:

 

100% plan: 

        - Yoga 20-30 minutes 3 times a week 

        - Strength training 10 minutes once a week  ✔️ -- Increased the reps by a few, seemed to work out pretty well. Today's a rest day. 

        - Walking 30 minutes once a week 

 

10% plan:

        - Yoga 10 minutes  

        - Strength training 5 minutes 

 

Rest day. 

 

Nutrition:

 

100% plan: 

        - Eat 1 serving of fruit and veggies 2-3 times a week  

 

10% plan:

        - Eat 1-2 servings of fruit or veggies every day ✔️ -- 2 servings. 

 

 

Intellectual:

 

100% plan:

        - Revise 1 and a half to 2 pages every day ✔️ -- Yesterday was a 100% day with 1 and a half pages, today's a 10% day with barely half a page. Writing up an alternate ending scene for this chapter. I really like it a lot, and I wanted to add all this stuff but I feel like I'm getting off track, so need to scale it back a bit. 

        - Write down 1 new plot point a week 

 

10% plan:

        - Revise half a page. ✔️ 

 

 

Miscellaneous goals:

        - Read 30 minutes a day ✔️ -- Skimming through Andromeda Strain for my book club. It's not as good as I was hoping. 

        - Cook breakfast on Sundays 

        - Go to bed half an hour early ✔️ -- Went to bed early the last two nights, but I woke up at around 3am again Sunday night and about 1am last night. Oi. 

        - Draw once a week ✔️ -- Doodled on my work pages. Still working on eyes and such. 

        - De-clutter the junk room once a week 

 

Ugh, I'm exhausted. I think all the work I did over the weekend is catching up to me a little bit. Also it's expected to get crazy at work in no time, and I'm already starting to see it. The fun times are coming. 

 

ETA: And I just realized that I leveled up. I'm a separatist now. :D 

 

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12 hours ago, LostValkyrie19 said:

The challenge will be awesome! Maybe the rebel guild? I think that is the one I will join for the next challenge. I have a few goals and none of them are all the same thing XD. 

 

Yeah, I've been checking it out and I think it might be the rebel guild for me this time around. Thanks for the suggestion, and hope to see you over there! :D 

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Wednesday stats:

 

Fitness:

 

100% plan: 

        - Yoga 20-30 minutes 3 times a week ✔️ -- Only made it 20 minutes, but it's still 20 minutes. 

        - Strength training 10 minutes once a week  

        - Walking 30 minutes once a week 

 

10% plan:

        - Yoga 10 minutes  

        - Strength training 5 minutes 

 

Rest day. 

 

Nutrition:

 

100% plan: 

        - Eat 1 serving of fruit and veggies 2-3 times a week  

 

10% plan:

        - Eat 1-2 servings of fruit or veggies every day ✔️ -- 2 servings. 

 

 

Intellectual:

 

100% plan:

        - Revise 1 and a half to 2 pages every day ✔️ -- About a page and a half. Getting a little frustrated with this chapter, to be honest. It's not doing what I want it to do. 😕 

        - Write down 1 new plot point a week 

 

10% plan:

        - Revise half a page. 

 

 

Miscellaneous goals:

        - Read 30 minutes a day  -- Will do once I log off. 

        - Cook breakfast on Sundays 

        - Go to bed half an hour early ✔️ -- Didn't get the best sleep but at least I didn't wake up in the middle of the night. 

        - Draw once a week ✔️ -- I miss doing more than doodling. 

        - De-clutter the junk room once a week 

 

In other news, I'm utterly slammed at work and within a day I'm somehow super behind. Just looking at how far behind I am at the end of the day exhausted me and I ended up leaving earlier than I probably should have. Anyway, I think I may go read because my brain has decided it doesn't want to work anymore today. 

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Thursday/Friday/Saturday stats:

 

Fitness:

 

100% plan: 

        - Yoga 20-30 minutes 3 times a week 

        - Strength training 10 minutes once a week  

        - Walking 30 minutes once a week 

 

10% plan:

        - Yoga 10 minutes  ✔️ -- Thursday was a rest day, did only 10 minutes of yoga on Friday, nothing today. 

        - Strength training 5 minutes 

 

 

Nutrition:

 

100% plan: 

        - Eat 1 serving of fruit and veggies 2-3 times a week  

 

10% plan:

        - Eat 1-2 servings of fruit or veggies every day ✔️ -- 2 servings Thursday, 3 Friday, nothing today. 

 

 

Intellectual:

 

100% plan:

        - Revise 1 and a half to 2 pages every day ✔️ -- Half a page Thursday, then worked on that same half a page on Friday, about another page today. Still a little frustrated with it. Feeling like I absolutely suck at this writing thing right now (and pretty much everything else these last few days). 

        - Write down 1 new plot point a week 

 

10% plan:

        - Revise half a page. 

 

 

Miscellaneous goals:

        - Read 30 minutes a day  -- Nothing the last 3 days. 

        - Cook breakfast on Sundays 

        - Go to bed half an hour early -- Didn't go to bed early the last few nights but oddly enough I slept a little better. Must be exhaustion from all the work stress. 

        - Draw once a week 

        - De-clutter the junk room once a week 

 

Rant ahead, feel free to skip. 

 

Spoiler

 

Work was...work. Full disclosure: I dislike my job. Intensely. Especially when we're crazy busy, which is like, 6 to 8 months or longer out of every year, which means we have to work 60 to 70 hour weeks to keep up with everything. I've done this for...what, 6 years now? Well, last year I told my bosses I won't do it anymore. Rather, I told them that I can't do more than 50 hours a week anymore because I need more time to work on my writing. They were receptive to it (after months of fighting them on it) but they're still giving me 60 hours' worth of work every week during the busy months. Which is fair--they have to give everyone an equal amount of work--but that means I have to try to get 60 hours' worth of work done in 50 or less, which only adds to the stress. And when I can't keep up and everyone is clamoring for my attention with several calls and several emails that I'm too busy to answer, it makes me feel like crap. And then there are days like yesterday where someone called me 7 times after I left for the day, about something that could have easily been done on Monday, but no, they wanted it Right Now. I kept to my set boundaries and didn't answer (after I clock out I am Done For The Day Dammit), but again, adds even more stress (because I am the kind of person who would jump on it regardless, but I have to tell myself no). (And don't get me started on the people who emailed me over and over after hours asking me repeatedly where their stuff was). All that stress and crap at the end of each day makes me feel like crap. It makes me hate my job and makes me feel like I'm being suffocated. Because even when I leave I feel like I can't really leave. After 6 years of this crap I am losing my tolerance. The busy season is only just starting and I already feel awful, and the trend is likely to last a while. Problem is, I can't do what I did last year (worked 70 hour weeks between the day job and writing (with workouts on top of that) for about 6 months and then I hit major burnout). Another problem is that the money and benefits are good so leaving isn't the smartest move. But at the same time, I don't know if it's worth being miserable for most of the year. I'm going over my options and making plans, but I don't know I'm going to do. 

 

Also, just to clarify: I work hard during my hours and my boss is always telling me how much everyone loves me and how much of a good job I'm doing. 

 

 

Rant over now. 

 

Anyway, went to my first book club meeting this week. It was fun, but kind of weird too. Nobody introduced themselves or said hello (I did introduce myself to one or two people who showed up early but when the whole group showed up I didn't feel comfortable speaking up) or even acknowledged me in any way. They just sort of showed up and jumped right into the discussion. I didn't say much, mostly listened. The conversation was interesting and everyone seemed nice, but like I said, the whole thing was a little weird. Or maybe it's just me. 

 

On to today. I was supposed to do all these things, including work a few extra hours of OT, but I was so stressed out still and depressed from this week that all I did was binge watch this old show called The Tomorrow People. 

 

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Was going to do All The Things today but still felt awful, so kept binge watching The Tomorrow People. How was this show cancelled after only one season?? Anyway, all I did today was cook breakfast, so at least I did one thing, if nothing else. I also decided to do some drawing, and OMG, I hadn't realized just how much I missed it until I sat down and really put some time into it. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but it's not looking too bad considering I haven't had the time to do more than doodle for over a year. 

 

Anyway, I've created my challenge thread finally. Missed zero week but oh well. Here's the link if anyone's interested:

 

 

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12 hours ago, Jupiter said:

How was this show cancelled after only one season?? Anyway, all I did today was cook breakfast, so at least I did one thing, if nothing else. I also decided to do some drawing, and OMG, I hadn't realized just how much I missed it until I sat down and really put some time into it.

 

They always cancel the good shows....

 

firefly.png.7693f733ec4eac72fbc7803775c53db9.png

 

Yay for drawing!! :D

Can't wait to check out your other post!

 

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"You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course! Stick to it, no matter the squalls."
- Long John Silver, Treasure Planet  🏴‍☠️

 

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On 2/9/2020 at 4:59 PM, Jupiter said:

2 pages yesterday, almost 4 today. Decided to try to write first thing in the morning yesterday and today to see how much I could get done in the morning compared to the afternoon and I got so much work done. Seriously, I got it all done in half the time I usually do. Clearly I need to do this more often. 

From February 9th

Look at all you accomplished here. You totally DO NOT suck!

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L3 Human Ranger/Assassin

Str. 6 Dex. 2 Sta. 1 Con. 12 Wis. 8 Cha. 3

https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/58014

Motto: Where there is life, there is hope.

Soli Deo Gloria

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On 2/15/2020 at 10:50 PM, Jupiter said:

And when I can't keep up and everyone is clamoring for my attention with several calls and several emails that I'm too busy to answer, it makes me feel like crap.

For what it's worth, here is how I would handle this: set boundaries. Make sure everyone knows that you're only checking/answering e-mails at a certain time(s) of day (set a time (between 9:30-10 am for example)& stick to it.) Also let them know you don't take calls after hours. There may be some initial resistance...but be strong.

Adding more in a sec.

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L3 Human Ranger/Assassin

Str. 6 Dex. 2 Sta. 1 Con. 12 Wis. 8 Cha. 3

https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/58014

Motto: Where there is life, there is hope.

Soli Deo Gloria

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On 2/15/2020 at 10:50 PM, Jupiter said:

And don't get me started on the people who emailed me over and over after hours asking me repeatedly where their stuff was).

If it is a project or paperwork, send out an end of day e-mail telling them where you are on the project/paperwork. Hopefully that will forestall any other off-the-clock e-mails/phone calls.

If it is something they need to pick up from your desk; put a post-it note on it (I prefer neon ones because they scream 'hey, here I am!') & write their name in big print.

Then Go Home! You've done all you can do.

Like I said; there will be some initial resistance because you're changing your work habits, but do what you need to do.

 

P.S. take the advice or don't; I'm not going to be offended if you decide not to. :)

 

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L3 Human Ranger/Assassin

Str. 6 Dex. 2 Sta. 1 Con. 12 Wis. 8 Cha. 3

https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/58014

Motto: Where there is life, there is hope.

Soli Deo Gloria

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10 hours ago, LostValkyrie19 said:

 

They always cancel the good shows....

 

firefly.png.7693f733ec4eac72fbc7803775c53db9.png

 

Yay for drawing!! :D

Can't wait to check out your other post!

 

 

Thanks! :D 

 

7 hours ago, fitnessgurl said:

I know! Firefly was sooo good!

 

LOL I actually have never seen Firefly. 

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7 hours ago, fitnessgurl said:

From February 9th

Look at all you accomplished here. You totally DO NOT suck!

 

Thank you!! :) I try to ignore negative self-talk and stay impartial but when I hit a certain point of tired I can't quite block it out. 

 

7 hours ago, fitnessgurl said:

For what it's worth, here is how I would handle this: set boundaries. Make sure everyone knows that you're only checking/answering e-mails at a certain time(s) of day (set a time (between 9:30-10 am for example)& stick to it.) Also let them know you don't take calls after hours. There may be some initial resistance...but be strong.

Adding more in a sec.

 

7 hours ago, fitnessgurl said:

If it is a project or paperwork, send out an end of day e-mail telling them where you are on the project/paperwork. Hopefully that will forestall any other off-the-clock e-mails/phone calls.

If it is something they need to pick up from your desk; put a post-it note on it (I prefer neon ones because they scream 'hey, here I am!') & write their name in big print.

Then Go Home! You've done all you can do.

Like I said; there will be some initial resistance because you're changing your work habits, but do what you need to do.

 

P.S. take the advice or don't; I'm not going to be offended if you decide not to. :)

 

 

No, this is great advice, thank you! I definitely needed to hear this, LOL. But you're right, I need to start making some changes in my work habits for my own sanity. There will definitely be some push-back (from my supervisor especially, she prefers we use the 'be everywhere, do everything, all at the same time, all the time' approach), but I need to do it. Thankfully today was really quiet and I was able to handle everything and leave without issue. Tomorrow should be interesting. 

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Just musing, feel free to ignore.

 

Spoiler

I think my problem with all this work stuff is burnout. I worked close to 70 hour weeks a lot of last year and I hit what I call a "crash point" towards the end of the year, which was basically burnout. I kept pushing with day job work (had to, we were still insanely busy) and writing, even though I felt like my brain was broken and I'd never be able to write another thing (which is obviously not true, but it felt like it at the time). I've felt burnout before, but this was the worst I'd ever gone through. And I feel like I've been limping along ever since. Little things at work keep getting to me more and more that didn't use to bother me, and my brain is still lagging behind and I feel like I can't figure out the solutions to problems even though I know they are simple. I never take a full week off from work (or even two), but I'm thinking of taking at least a week off soon. Hoping that will help me bounce back a little bit better. 

 

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Giving yourself a break week or two is a great start! I'd also look at, if you have the brain power to, maybe tweak some systems to empower you to push back against work when it starts to demand 50+hr weeks from you (I know you said close to 70, but that cap is too high, IMO ;)). And/or maybe a change of workplace may be appropriate for 2020? Might be time to look at what else is out there, if that's an option available to you. Life is too short to live for work.

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...but I'm adorable! Ask anyone who doesn't know me...

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On 2/19/2020 at 10:36 AM, Defining said:

Giving yourself a break week or two is a great start! I'd also look at, if you have the brain power to, maybe tweak some systems to empower you to push back against work when it starts to demand 50+hr weeks from you (I know you said close to 70, but that cap is too high, IMO ;)). And/or maybe a change of workplace may be appropriate for 2020? Might be time to look at what else is out there, if that's an option available to you. Life is too short to live for work.

 

Thanks! And I'm sorry, I don't think I was very clear in my last post, that's my bad.

 

Spoiler

Last year I only worked around 50 hour weeks at my day job so I could do more writing work (with my boss' permission). So around 50 hours a week there and then another 15 to 20 hours extra a week for my writing, totaling around 70. Added to that, my supervisor always tried to push me to do more despite having permission to cut back my hours, and she wasn't always nice about it, so the hours plus the stress of everything, plus workouts, and very few breaks did me in. And yup, you're right, life is definitely too short, for sure. I've thought about switching companies, but there's not much out there right now, and it was about this bad at the last company I worked at so I don't know that it would be better at another place. I'd love to be a full time writer, but I know that'll take a while to happen, so I'm trying to figure out a plan and put it into place. Right now though I'm just trying to find ways to make my day job a little easier on myself: Like @fitnessgurl said, putting my out of office on when I leave, only answering emails at certain times, and I've been letting my supervisor know if there's anything leftover in case anyone asks about my files and needs something after I leave. Also working a few extra hours over the weekend and asking for help if I need it. I'm not sure what else I can do at this point. 

 

On 2/19/2020 at 9:46 PM, fitnessgurl said:

A week off would be good. You definitely need some chill time (don't overplan your time off either or you'll defeat the purpose).

Defining is right; life is too short to live for work.

 

OMG yes LOL. My only plan is to Read All The Things. And actually, I had originally planned to take a week off to just read after I finished my novel as a reward for myself, but I definitely need to do it sooner rather than later now. I'm really hoping it'll help revive my brain a bit more.  

 

Just want to say thank you guys so much for your comments and your input. It helps to talk this stuff out with people and to get it out of my head and look at things with a little more clarity. 

 

(Also, I need to see if they have Firefly at the library, because I keep hearing such good things about it and now I'm curious.)

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New challenge is up. And I just realized I forgot a few things. Whoops. 😕 

 

 

 

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