So we’re officially entered June, and within a blink of an eye—the year will be half over. May has been helpful slightly in that I’ve realized that I need to do a “reboot break” some time soon. One of the books I finished reading this month was “Reboot your life: energize your career and life by taking a break” by Catherine Allen, Nancy Bearg, Rita Foley, and Jaye Smith. It showed me that sometimes “quitting” something is the best thing to do, in order to figure out what it is you really want to do. So sometime between now and November (when my job contract is up), I’ll be starting my reboot break (more on this in additional posts).
But while I’ve realized that I need to take a “reboot break”, the things I realized over the course of April still hold true: 1) I still have no idea of what I want to do job wise (though I have a couple of ideas). I also realize that this statement can be taken literally, and it isn’t meant to be—all I mean is that I haven’t decided which direction I want to go as a “specialist” and which direction I want to go as a “generalist”. 2) I still have yet to find a good balance between things—I seem to be either all in or barely in at all; and 3) I really need to work on getting the anxiety and stress under control.
But as we head into the final month of the second quarter, it is time to reflect back on the goals that I set for May. Again, as I’ve mentioned previously—the goals are going to be staying the same (more or less)—that way I can continue trying to reach them monthly, and once they become an habit—then I can switch them up.
So the goals for May included:
At least 434,000 steps (again breaking down to 14K/day)
Continue with the photography challenge
Start back on a workout schedule (potentially alternating between weight training & cardio).
Read (or finish) at least 3 non-fiction books
Aim for two weeks of no spending (keep a money log)
Continue to try to interact more on linkedin
Continue working through the various e-courses/groups and transition plan (making notes, narrowing down on cities, looking into companies, and figuring out my superpower trifecta)
Read at least one article on FiercePharma and/or FierceBiotech (weekly and work up to daily) and make notes so that I can do a blog post (or weekly recap of what I’ve read).
Read at least one scientific article a week and write a 500-word summary for a potential blog/science post.
So how did I do with each one?
At least 434,000 steps (again breaking down to 14K/day)
I managed to surpass my goal of at least 434,000 steps (even though there were several days that I was below both 14K and at times 5K). My final step total for the month was 466,661 steps. This brings my yearly total to 2,240,365 steps. In terms of my yearly goal of 5 million steps, I’m 2,759,635 steps away and there are still 201 days left in the year. That means I only need 13,730 steps per day for the rest of the year to reach 5 million.
In terms of my 1001-day goal of reaching 14,014,000 steps that I had originally set last year (which would end approximately Sept 28 2020)—I’m at 7,519,336 steps. There are ~472 days left in my first 1001-day challenge. I’m 6,494,664 steps away (which breaks down to again 13,760 steps a day to reach the goal). So I’m good on this goal as well.
Continue with the photography challenge
I had to post a couple of days together (or several on the same day) due to the wifi being down in the evening at home. I had to post four days worth over two days (instead of doing three at once—I did two on Friday, and then two on Saturday morning). I’ve managed to keep up with the challenge (even with having to do catch-up posts). This only happened twice in the month (one long post for days 80-82; and then for the end of the month and beginning of June).
Start back on a workout schedule (potentially alternating between weight training & cardio).
I will admit that other than walking and trying to get my steps in daily I haven’t been doing a real workout program for the month of May. This is one of the things that has really made me stop and look at how far I’ve let both my mental and physical health slide the past couple of months.
Read (or finish) at least 3 non-fiction books
I actually managed to finish four books this month, and I’ve written a book review for one of those books (“Reboot your life: energize your career and life by taking a break”). The one by Devin Thorp was okay—since I don’t have kids, own a house, or and things like that, there were several chapters that didn’t pertain to my life.
The two that were basically career/networking guides just helped to remind me that I do need to try to spend more time networking and figuring out what I want to do with life (there are still questions in one of the books that I need to go back and continue working through).
So the full titles and authors of the books that I finished reading during May were:
925 ideas to help you save money, get out of debt, and retire a millionaire by Devin Thorp
Reboot your life: energize your career and life by taking a break by Catherine Allen, Nancy Bearg, Rita Foley, and Jaye Smith
Next Gen PhD: A Guide to Career Paths in Science by Melanie V Sinche
Navigating the path to industry: A hiring managers advice to academics looking for a job in industry by M.R. Nelson
Aim for two weeks of no spending (keep a money log)
I managed to go maybe two days a week without spending money on campus this month. I’ve realized that part of my problem is that I turn to sweets to help deal with irritations at work (also it’s one of my excuses for getting my steps in). I’m hoping that I will do better during the month of June (especially if I figure out how to “forget” my wallet at home a few days a week).
Continue to try to interact more on linkedin
This is something that is up and down throughout the month. Mentally I feel drained in the evenings and weekends—therefore I focus on things that help me mentally regroup before the next week. Interacting on linkedin right now isn’t one of those things. Again—I know where my problem is, I just need to figure out the best method for starting to deal with it in a way that isn’t going to backfire on me in long run.
Continue working through the various e-courses/groups and transition plan (making notes, narrowing down on cities, looking into companies, and figuring out my superpower trifecta)
I’m slowly working on things—but since I’ve realized I need a “reboot break” I’m trying to figure out how to fit that into the whole plan as well. I want to mentally recharge and find my footing again—but at the same time I don’t want to be wasting time that I could be spending on job searching either.
Read at least one article on FiercePharma and/or FierceBiotech (weekly and work up to daily) and make notes so that I can do a blog post (or weekly recap of what I’ve read).
Have totally forgotten about doing this during the month—my bad. Need to get the pages to almost pop up as my home pages to remind me to scroll through things and start “acting” like an adult.
Read at least one scientific article a week and write a 500-word summary for a potential blog/science post.
I’ve read the abstract of several different papers over the month—but that has been as far as I’ve gotten on this one. It’s hard to do, when you’ve realized how close to total burnout you’ve gotten.
So the major thing I managed to accomplish this month was realizing that I really need to take time for myself—get my health (mental and physical) back on track, take care of a few other things, and then also focus on my job search. While I know that there are people who will disagree with me—currently I’d rather not have a job and be able to sleep well at night, then have a job, sleep miserably, and not enjoy what I’m having to spend 40 hours a week doing. I’m also 39 and just realizing that it’s time to sit and really try to figure out what I want to do with the second half of my life (though I’m sure I’ll live past 78).
Therefore the goals for June include:
At least 420,000 steps (14K/day)
Reading (or finishing) at least 3 non-fiction books
Continuing with the photography challenge
Working on planning my “reboot break”
Aim for two weeks of no spending (keep a money log)
Continue to try to interact more on linkedin
Start back on a workout schedule (potentially alternating between weight training & cardio).
Continue working through the various e-courses/groups and transition plan (making notes, narrowing down on cities, looking into companies, and figuring out my superpower trifecta)
Read at least one article on FiercePharma and/or FierceBiotech (weekly and work up to daily) and make notes so that I can do a blog post (or weekly recap of what I’ve read).
Read at least one scientific article a week and write a 500-word summary for a potential blog/science post.
I’ve added in one additional goal—but I think that could be the goal that really gets me to focus more on the others in the second half of the year. Because I need to keep reminding myself—that every day is a new start, and when taking everything into account, we only live once. I’ve put work and being in a lab center in my life longer than I should have–now I need to pull it back and see what else could benefit with being the center of my life for awhile.
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