Sunday 12th June

As of the 6th of June, my degree ended! I worked out I need to get a minimum of 43% for my EMA and seeing as I submitted both assignments within the word limit, I imagine I would get more than that. Which means I'm expecting a pass 2 for this module and if I get that, then I'm in with a good chance of graduating with a first (goal #1)!  The graduation ceremony booking opens some time in July so I may be able to attend a ceremony near the end of this year too (goal #2).  Can't wait to strike those off my list!

Goal #3 of getting a full time grad job is on the backburner for now. I'm going to spend the summer enjoying my free time before getting invested in job searching again. Which means I've been investing time in my hobbies and in to my little side business (goal #6 & #7). I did do a little bit of reading recently, but I will push myself to do more now I have some more free time. 

Sunday 28th May

Sadly things didn't go too well with the interview. I was extremely nervous for a start, but they didn't ask me about myself or why I applied which kind of threw me off and gave me a bad vibe. It's a charity but they didn't care why I applied or try to identify if I had passion for the charity or not? They asked 9 long, convoluted questions, none of which I was prepared for. Each question had like 2 or 3 underlying parts to it that you had to remember and think through and I just couldn't think straight. I think it's largely because I'm a little exhausted from the EMA, I've not been in a good head space as of late so I felt like my mind was blank, as well as the nerves. Either way, shortly after it ended, I felt that if they offered me the job, I would've refused because I got a bad vibe from the interviewers. They weren't personable or chatty at all. It wasn't a two way conversation, more of a grilling of myself and asking me questions I felt I wouldn't have known unless I was trained. I also got the impression that you have high case loads and are hounded every minute of the day with phone calls and I felt that I wouldn't have liked that, especially for the pay. So yeah, it wasn't a very good interview experience and it made me feel pretty awful for some time afterwards, but I'm feeling a bit better now.

For my EMA, I have completed the first essay, I think I got to about 1900 words (and I'm making sure to back them up with Google Drive. I can't imagine the thought of losing them suddenly!). It's essentially a draft because I plan on going back through it if I have the time. I wanted to get started with the second essay though first. I planned more for my second essay and I feel it's turned out stronger than the first one. But I'm trying not to let it bother me too much, I know that just submitting two assignments, even if I feel they aren't the best quality will be enough to pass. I worked out that the absolute minimum I can get to still get a pass 2 in the module is 43%, a score I've never had so I'm feeling confident that I can get this 1st which is my number one goal! I've reached approximately 1000/2000 words for the second assignments, so I'm sort of 3/4 of the way through them now. I can't wait to finish!

I'm going to do some cross stitching now to relax before bad and work tomorrow. I started watching Vampire Diaries for some reason, so now I go to bed and do cross stitching whilst watching that  I've also started watching the new season of Stranger Things  I have been wanting to continue playing my fave game (and start a new one after that) but I just feel either too tired or guilty when I do anything other than my assignments! Can't wait for that guilt to go with the end of this module! I look forward to getting platinum for that game and maybe doing a cross stitch related to it in future  <3

Wednesday 30th March

Oh dear, I don't know where the time's gone! Not much has even happened over the past two weeks other than getting COVID and then I had time off from work. I spent that time mainly resting which was nice, but I also did some uni work (goal #1) and spent some nice time taking part in my hobbies (goal #6). I have also done a decent amount of exercise over the past couple of weeks, mainly walking more and swimming (goal #5) which is always good! The weather really helps. 

As I'm approaching the end of my degree (only two deadlines left) and in the current financial situation, I've thought more about the possibility of even beginning to search for a house this year (goal #4). The idea of everything getting more and more expensive, I worry about being able to get a graduate job and earning enough to be able to afford a mortgage on top of rising bills on my own. :\ So that's a goal that I'm not too confident I'll achieve this year but we can remain hopeful!

One goal that has slipped is reading!  I've not read much at all over the past couple of weeks, though I did read one chapter last night. So that's something to work on over the year.

Monday 14th March

This week brought me a surprise - a positive COVID test!  I've been unwell for most of the past week, which is why I didn't make an entry yesterday. It's only been today where I feel like my energy levels have gone up a little bit. This means I've not done much uni work since the beginning of last week, but today I have been productive; I cleaned my room and have spent about 2 hours on my assignment (goal #1).

I've spent most of my time resting, but I have been playing lots of mobile games and yesterday I played on my PS5. I also did some cross stitching the other evening (goal #6). So it's been a good time to rest and forget about work and uni, though that's easier said than done! But it helped encourage me to put myself and my health first. Everything else will have to wait when I'm not well! Thankfully I'm coming out of it it seems, I'm still a little run down but not as bad as I was. It feels good to be able to have the energy and concentration to focus on my work again though. 

Sunday 6th March

Yesterday I had some pampering done at a salon and I'm having more pampering next Saturday. I did some more of my big outstanding cross stitch project (goal #6) and earlier in the week I did a little organisation of my business spreadsheets (goal #7).

I began reading a new book (goal #9) a couple of days ago and I'm almost at chapter 5. 

But for goal #1, I have been working on my fourth assignment and I'm about 2/3 done with that! I'm planning to do some more later today after a rest. It's due at the end of this month but I want to submit it earlier so I can get to work on my experiment project write up which I think is going to be a headache to do. Not long now!

Monday 28th February

It has been a good week!

Yesterday I completed an embroidery piece I have been working on for a while! (goal #6) It's always nice to finish a creative project so I can then move onto the next one. I'm hoping to continue with an original design of mine that I started a while ago, using left over threads from the kit I just finished. It's a design I hope to share on my Etsy in future (goal #7). 

I did some reading (goal #9) last night too, I've got about 20 pages left of my big Brian Cox science book!

And for goal #1, I have been working hard collecting more participants for my experiment. I'm at a fairly decent number. I also began working on my next assignment so I don't fall behind and then I can get working on my final project report. It feels so strange that I only have a few more deadlines until I graduate! 

Monday 21st February

This week feels like it had a good balance of things I enjoyed and working (#goal 6). I took yesterday off as Sundays are designated as study free days, so I did the things I enjoy all day. Today hasn't been so productive though as I had a headache and didn't feel all too great.

However, I'm finding that focusing on this balance has been helpful to keep my stress levels down. I can get stressed quite fast, especially with uni, and it can kind of consume me. When I take time out for myself, it's a bit of self care whilst reminding myself that there's more to my life than just working and studying. There are artistic ambitions I'd like to achieve, there are other things I enjoy doing and there's just more outside of uni! So it's helpful to remember that when sometimes it feels like I'm drowning in work and uni assignments. I think it's always good to take a step away from all of our commitments and work to just forget about the world consumed in something stress free and enjoyable.

I still haven't gotten started with much reading! Maybe I will try to read tonight before I go to sleep.

Here's to hoping that next week stays balanced, whilst also productive and stress free!

Saturday 5th February

I've had a somewhat lazy week. I had two deadlines due on Wednesday which both got submitted early and I did well on one of them (I'll post about that in my study blog). 

I was looking at Ghost of Tsushima videos last week, and I kept saying to myself that I'll wait until my birthday to get it. But as I looked more and more into it, I started getting pretty excited for it and I thought, why am I waiting months before I treat myself?! I am so bad at treating myself, I almost never spend money on myself, so I thought, for a change, I'll actually treat myself! So I bought the game on Saturday last week and it arrived the next day.

The last RPG game I completed was RDR2, since then I've not had a good RPG game to invest in. I've only completed the RDR games and GTA5, as well as Watch Dogs 2. I'm very picky with video games I play and I will quit a game and sell it on if it doesn't draw me in or I just don't like it. Well this game encapsulates what I love which is Japan, their culture and history, as well as an awesome Samurai character. The game is a work of art and I really appreciate that side of it.

I played the game all day Sunday, then did some assignment work on the Monday and submitted it on Tuesday, then played the game all day Wednesday and Thursday after work! I felt like I deserved a couple of days to do something I'm enjoying and excited about as I had done my uni work in time for the deadline, I thought a few extra days off wouldn't hurt.

Today I plan on working on building my experiment, but I have work tomorrow and this year I've set Sundays as my day off from studying, so I'll likely play some more GOT tomorrow.  I would say at the moment, I have a good balance of uni and leisure time (goal #6), I even did some cross stitching last night and did about 100 stitches. 

I haven't managed to get much reading in yet (goal #9)! I did finish that introvert book which I think I mentioned but haven't finished my other ongoing book or started reading a new one yet, but I'm sure I'll get to that eventually this year.

And so far, I am updating this regularly so I'm doing well for goal #10!

Sunday 16th January

 I've not been able to sleep very well this week and I'm not sure why. Hopefully my sleep improves soon.

I'm finding it hard to find a balance between studying and leisure time (goal #6). I'm either 100% studying or 100% doing hobbies or chilling, and it's usually the latter. I did some studying recently and I usually decide to spend the last few hours of the evening doing something I enjoy, except I got caught up with studying and didn't stop until around 8pm. I hopped onto a game thinking I could play for just an hour but I don't know why I tell myself that because that never happens! So two hours later, I ended up going to bed late.

When I am studying well, I don't want to lose my momentum and call it quits when my brain has decided to work and my energy levels are good. I may not get a day like that for a while. Monday and Tuesday I tried to study but I couldn't get into it but I think it was Wednesday and Thursday where I had a good couple of productive days. It looks like this weekend is going to largely be a lazy one but the couple of days I did study this week, I did get a good amount done.

I've been trying to teach myself OpenSesame and have tried to design my experiment in it. I believe I'm up to date with my weeks, though there's not much to do now but focus on the experiment. My next assignment is my project proposal which I've kind of started. I felt I couldn't answer some of the questions until I had a clear experiment design in my head and felt more confident at understanding the new program, so that's why I've been focused on that recently. My project proposal is due on the 2nd of February so I should be getting on with that! (goal #1)

I've booked some time off at the end of this month and near the end of March so I have a week off to look forward to just before the deadline, so that's nice. 

Apologies that this kind of turned into a study blog post haha, I'm used to writing those and I guess my life is just studying rn anyway. 

Saturday 8th January

I added to the first post to include reading more (goal #9). It was a goal of mine in 2021 to read 10 books (I do have a Goodreads if anyone is interested in following that, let me know) and I think I read about 9, but I'm in the middle of reading three books.

I read a little bit of one last night which is a Brian Cox book full of information about space and astrophysics. Then I read a little more of a book which is about 70% complete and it's a book on introversion. The third book is my uni book of course and I read some more of that yesterday in work during quiet times which was about discursive analysis. I just realised that that is the end of book one so I have completed reading a book! Today I'm reading a chapter on how to conduct my experiment, which is really intimidating.
I have set a new goal for 2022 to read 10 books. 

Today is going to be a day of some studying (goal #1) and then a time of rest and hobbies in the evening and I'll likely do the same tomorrow too. I always try to balance out the two (goal #6) but it's not always possible when you're being drowned in uni work and deadlines!

In terms of art sales/commissions, I did have some interest recently but haven't chased it up. In 2021, I restarted my Etsy and have managed to get 6 sales which is amazing and more than I could have expected! I also have a Redbubble where I get passive income (I've had 59 sales since I started which I think was back in 2019) and I've just noticed that I got a sale on the 5th of Jan! Technically I could say I've reached goal #8 but I don't think I'll count it because I don't have to do anything with RB to get sales. Ideally I would like to sell a physical piece of work or simply complete a design I've started and post it everywhere and on Etsy and make a sale from it (I sell embroidery patterns).

I've added updating this blog to my calendar on a weekly basis too (goal #10).

Have a lovely Saturday! ♥