Raise.

A few things are happening...

Things are changing at work. Some guaranteed funding is not coming through for my main work project. I may eventually have to go full-time with my PhD instead. Even so, I was given my normal full 50% contract again for the next financial year! AND I was given a tiny raise. It is small, but my monthly salary will still increase by about $50.

 After all the funding issues, I'm just grateful to have a job at all. Whew.

June 2016 Goals

In my 2016 goal list, I noted that I wanted to play around with finding my Keystone habit, the one thing I can do that cascades into other good choices/better habits. It turns out that getting up early is the thing that works. After returning from South America, I had an awesome week and a half of jet lag where I was going to bed at 7 or 8 pm and getting up at 6 am (or earlier). It was fantastic. I was so productive and felt so happy and motivated, and was getting tons done.

But my body hates waking up early. I soon slipped back into a much later bedtime. I read up on it to figure out why, and I fit exactly into this syndrome. No matter what I do, my body wants to sleep at the exact times my keystone habit goal requires me to be awake: effing early. It is nearly impossible for me to go to sleep before 3 or 4 am--even if I stay up the entire night before! If I need to get up early for many days in a row, I can do it (with an extremely loud, intricate, and annoying alarm system), and I have done so for my previous 9-to-5 job, but it results in me being chronically, extremely sleep-deprived. I have always, always, always been this way, for as long as I can remember. It would make sense if I do have this, but maybe I don't? Maybe I am just really lazy/whatever.

I feel so, SO guilty, and like such a bum when I do not get up early for work. My job/boss is fantastic and lets me come in whenever I want, but I feel like I am taking advantage of that fact, especially now that I know how productive I could be if I just was able to come in early. I would really love to fix what I deem to be one of my biggest flaws, this thing that I really dislike about myself. I am not sure what to do except to try again, just in case I am just being a lazy jerk. So that is what I want to do this month: try to fix my sleeping schedule.

Other goals: 

1. Get bloodwork done for follow up doc appt
2. Think about physio or not. Made an appt. One of my toes has gone numb!
3. Make appt for therapist. I really should do this. I don't know why I keep putting this off!
4. Meditate/deep breathing a few minutes.
5. Finish online cooking course.
6. Go to one work out class.
7. Do Float Tank or other monthly pampering thing. Got hair cut.
8. Back up my computer. 
9. Keep on keeping track of my time/mood/other items as I can (diet, sleep).
10. At the very end of June, check on airmiles flights to cousin's wedding in US for next May (airmiles seats will be released 1 year and 4 weeks after my intended return flight date).

PhD/Work Stuff:

1. Meet: Meet PhD supervisors to go over progress and work plan/questions/doubts. Two meetings done. 
2. Write: 
1. Turn in draft of grant proposal #2.  
2. Finalise and submit award application (PT) by the end of June submission.
3. Finish short summary of how 2015 award was spent & turn in.
4. Outline paper #1 (lit review/methods/results). This is on-going
3. Analyze: Learn how to process data from December. 
4. Organize: 
1. clean out pen data storage to make room/archive deleted pencasts on PC.
2. Set up ExpanDrive on both my laptop and work computers.
5. Labwork: Start labwork again. 
6. Communicate: Write work project summary article and submit to newsletter. Submitted one press release.

May Goal update

Well, I did what I could to meet my May goals! I became quite ill near the beginning of the month, and was unable to get out of bed many days. My goals kind of fell by the wayside a bit.

I did accomplish a few things, though:

• went to the doctor
• Went to the stardome with friends
• made all my bookings/plans for the Routeburn trip next summer
• went to a meet up (was fun but really far away so won't be going back)
• gave a public talk
• went over my PhD plan with my supervisors. Hopefully soon I will get rid of my provisional status and get confirmed as a REAL PhD candidate!
• finalised my PhD proposal 
• drafted grant proposal #1
• drafted proposal for award application
• start tracking time schedule and mood 
• cut out some junk food items from my diet (I have gained some weight recently)

I half-finished/tried to meet other goals:

• went to 2 workout classes, bought a 10-class pass
• made a physio appointment but got sick and missed it
• signed up for a cooking course for beginners (all online) (part of my work/food planning)
• meditated some days 
• looked at manual to process my data
• went through all my samples and identified lab work to be done

I wasn't able to meet these goals:

• make therapist appt
• write every single day
• no stressing about work (hard to do when you are falling behind because you are sleeping/tired or headache-y or nauseated most days!)

Anyway, June is a new month. On to the next.

May goals!!

1. Go to follow up doctor's appt: test for zika, chagas, other diseases maybe picked up in South America, and normal annual check up.
2. Start physio again. Appointment made.
3. Make appt for therapist now that I have a recommendation.
4. Go to the Stardome. Check! Learned about the evening sky in autumn. Got rained out (again) from seeing anything through the telescopes, drat it.
5. Meditate a few minutes every day.
6. Make work and food plan every week.
7. Start going to work out classes and/or walk 30 min/day.
8. Book photography class.
9. Make bookings for Routeburn Track huts & plan trip. Have huts booked, trip is planned out but the rest of the bookings (flights/qtown stay/bus tickets) not booked yet.
10. Go to one Meetup. 
11. Have lots of fun. :) No stressing about work. 

Work Stuff:

1. Give 1 public talk.
2. Make PhD plan with supervisors.
3. Write every day: 
1. Draft and finalise award application (M) for 1 June submission. 4 pages.
2. Draft grant proposal #1.
3. Draft award application (PT) for end of June submission.
4. Write draft of short summary of how RSNZ award was spent.
5. Outline paper #1 (lit review/methods/results). 
6. Finalise PhD proposal.
4. Process all data from December.
5. Start labwork again.