Day 7 - Conclusions
- Progress my MA study in some way
Almost completed the course
- Learn something in Chinese
枕头 （Pillow...I'll take what I can get...)
- Do something work related (email/student help)
Responded to another request for a recommendation.
- Do some form of physical exercise
Went to the gym.
- Do something I find awkward or embarrassing*
Nope. I was lame.
- Read something literary )
Finished the second chapter (another 60 page affair) of Love in the Time of Cholera.
When I came up with this idea, the main reason of it was to force myself into study: I had been off work for two weeks and still had not got anything done with my MA. If we look at the last 7 days simply in terms of professional development, this method works well(in that I directly furthered my study, and indirectly furthered it by broadening my reading).
In terms of social progression, the uncomfortable/awkward thing was pretty much a failure. The reason for this one is that I am, for the most part, a huge wuss, and once I've settled into a comfort-zone I rarely venture out of it. What this means is that I'm not one of those people who can rely on experiences to pick up language and opportunities, and this needs to be actively addressed if I want to be able to do more stuff whilst living abroad. On the other hand, I'm not sure how successful this will be in future as I still don't really prioritise it more than my studying, my reading and my job.
Physically I feel pretty good. I've signed up to a gym that's about a three minute walk from my apartment, and whilst it's basic and the changing rooms haven't opened yet (it's pretty new), it does mean that I've been going a lot more regularly than before. The main issue with the gym is that I need to branch out into other areas of exercise, which again relates to the comfort-zone issue that I have.
Moving forward, I'm going to keep the daily reading and studying requirement, as well as the physical exercise requirement. I'll also keep the daily Chinese word requirement, but I think I will supplement this with formal language lessons. The awkward/uncomfortable experience thing I'm going to try to reduce to twice a week. I'm going to remove the work requirement as I'm on summer holiday and there's not really a lot of important things to do to justify the daily ritual.
And that's it. More later.
Almost completed the course
- Learn something in Chinese
枕头 （Pillow...I'll take what I can get...)
- Do something work related (email/student help)
Responded to another request for a recommendation.
- Do some form of physical exercise
Went to the gym.
- Do something I find awkward or embarrassing*
Nope. I was lame.
- Read something literary )
Finished the second chapter (another 60 page affair) of Love in the Time of Cholera.
When I came up with this idea, the main reason of it was to force myself into study: I had been off work for two weeks and still had not got anything done with my MA. If we look at the last 7 days simply in terms of professional development, this method works well(in that I directly furthered my study, and indirectly furthered it by broadening my reading).
In terms of social progression, the uncomfortable/awkward thing was pretty much a failure. The reason for this one is that I am, for the most part, a huge wuss, and once I've settled into a comfort-zone I rarely venture out of it. What this means is that I'm not one of those people who can rely on experiences to pick up language and opportunities, and this needs to be actively addressed if I want to be able to do more stuff whilst living abroad. On the other hand, I'm not sure how successful this will be in future as I still don't really prioritise it more than my studying, my reading and my job.
Physically I feel pretty good. I've signed up to a gym that's about a three minute walk from my apartment, and whilst it's basic and the changing rooms haven't opened yet (it's pretty new), it does mean that I've been going a lot more regularly than before. The main issue with the gym is that I need to branch out into other areas of exercise, which again relates to the comfort-zone issue that I have.
Moving forward, I'm going to keep the daily reading and studying requirement, as well as the physical exercise requirement. I'll also keep the daily Chinese word requirement, but I think I will supplement this with formal language lessons. The awkward/uncomfortable experience thing I'm going to try to reduce to twice a week. I'm going to remove the work requirement as I'm on summer holiday and there's not really a lot of important things to do to justify the daily ritual.
And that's it. More later.