#have no energy during the week and slack off. work during the weeks etc

[serdtse]

//

[wishing-stones]

Hoo boy - anxious about overstepping but willing to give a matchup request a go anyways. Feel free to let this sit if you’re busy :)

Burnt-out overachiever. It’s not uncommon for me to pick up other people’s slack at work (science teacher) even if it means 14 hour days without lunch. Defining trait: “is nobody else going to do this thing that needs to be done” (doesn’t wait for an answer.)

It’s not that I … want, necessarily, to do it? If someone offers I will HAPPILY work out a fair distribution of labors. It’s just that I’m good at Seeing things that need doing. See things that could be improved. Notice gaps and Care enough to say “ah fuck it, add it to the list.” There’s just… a whole world to save and damnit if it’s not going to save itself then I guess SOMEBODY’s gotta do it.

Personality wise, my default is Little Miss Sunshine. High-energy, singing in the halls, enthusiasm x100, energizer bunny. Sometimes I joke that I’m an EduTainer more than anything else, and I will freely admit that I kill myself off trying to keep up with it all, but by god I will figure out what gets results or die trying. The trade off is that by May I‘ve burnt the candle at both ends until I’m nothing more than a stump and need a solid 2 weeks of “don’t talk to me” to recuperate functionality, and the rest of the summer to slowly rebuilt the backup battery that lets me run at 200% energy for 8 hours at a time nonstop for 300 14 year-olds.

Off the clock, I’m more into the humanities. If I have the energy for it I love painting, drawing, writing, cooking, baking, crafting, crochet, sewing, etc. 👀 Still, uh, a bit of a busy bee there too. I’m learning Spanish, French, Greek, Latin, & Japanese. The world is just….. it’s so full of magic, you know? Like I might be 17 kinds of physically and emotionally exhausted (if I sit down I might literally fall apart at the seams ngl) but how can a person sleep when there’s so MUCH out there? Places to see, things to learn, mittens and hats and brownies to make for people so they know I still love them even if I forgot to answer their text and now it’s been long enough that’s it’s awkward…. lol.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," is definitely a trait that attracts Blue. He also enjoys improving things he thinks need improving. He similarly is happy to work out an even workload, and will gladly split the work evenly with you so neither of you wind up too worn out. That way, you don't have to save the world by yourself! He's here to help!

Despite outwards appearances, Blue does occasionally struggle with genuinely being happy-- he figures if he makes other people happy, he'll be happy, too, but it doesn't always work out that way. Having someone else around that matches his energy and vivacity helps this immensely. He's also game to help grade tests or prep courses, and delights in learning what you're up to. (If he knows the coursework, he knows how to correctly help grade things!) Besides that, he's got a little more than a passing fancy in science. He pursued a career in the Royal Guard, sure, but before then, before he had to drop it to take care of his little brother, he was a science major with his sights set on a doctorate.

But, having the summer off means he gets to spoil the living daylights out of you during the nicest months of the year! He loves to be outdoors, so you can bet he'll take you to the beach, or a lake, or to go hiking, or just sightseeing. Maybe even some destination vacations! He's of a very similar mind, and is eager to learn and see everything he can! There's so many amazing things in the world, and he wants to see and do as many of them as he possibly can. He'd also gleefully learn those languages alongside you.

...And also help you when you finally do sit down and fall apart.

I'd have said Baggs initially, but I think the high energy would tire him out quickly. He'd be great in short doses, though! You're welcome to have coffee or tea with him and chat for a while.

[getrising311]

Working with Planetary Days

I hope it is okay that I share this excerpt from my Newsletter this month. It feels right/good to share this on Jupiter's day. Often times, I feel stuck in one place. I don't know how to move on from tasks or I struggle with even starting my day. I wanted to take the time to create an outline of options/ideas/tasks I can do based on the ruling planet for each day of the week. I think that once upon a time, College made me decide that Sundays were the days to get so much done, organize, plan, "catch up" etc- Friday and Saturday's were for indulging and forgetting about responsibilities, monday's were pure panic. Had I attuned to the energy of the days (and diving in deeper, planetary hours, which we will talk about next time) I may have navigated the days and my energy a lot better. Now I am a social worker, mental health practitioner and (baby) astrologer, trying to find the balance between self and others; solitude and socialization; responsibility and creativity; structure and response; Spirituality and Practicality; physical energy and mental energy and emotional energy; work and being still. The purpose of this 'outline' is to provide guidance, inspiration and direction on how to intentionally use our time, more so our Day to our energetic/celestial benefit.  Stick around as I go over the days of the week. Monday-Lunes (Moon)- Wake up late (if you can) Express gratitude (aloud or in a journal/safe space) DEEP stretch (to your ability, if you experience a disability/limitation, I encourage DEEP breathing, belly breathing) Use 'Herbs' (Whatever this means to you) and slow, smooth music (Alternative, R&B, Country, Blues, Jazz, Instrumental, Waves, Sound Bowl if you have one) Drink your coffee/tea/tonic/elixir/etc in one spot. Don't move until you are finished with your cup. Take a drive for no reason or take the scenic route to your destination/appointment/work/home/etc. Either have comfort food or light eating (Whichever your body calls for that day) IF you have a healthy relationship with Home: Call Home or friend or anyone you can be safe with. Water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water Snuggle up with a comfort item. Practice affirmations. Tell someone you love them (or something of the sort) Tuesday-Martes (Mars)- If you are able, take a walk; pilates; yoga; Tai Chi; dance. If you experience limitations or live with a disability, move to your capacity (bobbing your head to music, stretching upper body, deep breathes, chair exercises, rotating feet/ankles, whatever you are comfortable with. I am able bodied so may be ignorant to the options here-PLEASE educate me if you can think of anything further that those limited can engage in Mars like energy). Earthing Face Masks/Steaming/Scrub Hair Masks/Deep cleaning/Salt scrub Tend to yard work (if applicable and if able) Laundry (ALL OF IT, that means cleaning, drying and folding too LOL) Any tasks you have been putting off, focus on these first. Create a to do lists, categorized by home; office/work; spirit; business, etc. Clean your Spiritual tools Clean the space you spend the most time in Work or be outside if you can. Just get out of your usual environment if possible. Brainstorming. Go to bed early if you can. Wednesday-Miercoles (Mercury) Read 10-30 minutes (Of course more if you have the time and/or attention span😉) Journal 10-30 minutes, let it flow if you can. Create or engage in Minor to do lists Create a grocery list Fill out calendar for appointments or obligations- review your planner/calendar/schedule in general Work on your budget Respond to/Send emails-Respond to/make phone calls Work on/Send out Newsletter(s) Take notes on your readings Delete emails, clear voicemail box, go through paper mail Schedule meetings on this day talk to Spirit Ask questions-exchange information Watch a documentary or informative series Grab dinner or a drink with friends Paying attention to car maintenance may work well on this day as well (schedule an oil change/car wash/fill tank/etc) Learn something new Interact with/engage with your environment (if possible, for ex: walk around your neighborhood, smile at a neighbor; if you have the space work in your kitchen/living room instead of your office; if you're working in an office, see if there is a conference room available instead of your "cube") Get a massage/self massage (if possible/applicable) Turn your phone off, or notifications off before bed. Thursday-Jueves (Jupiter) Sleep in if you can Express Gratitude (out loud or in a journal or safe space) Pray Charge and/or cleanse crystals Take a salt bath/shower Soak your feet (if you can, get an Ionized foot bath) Take one risk today, walk by faith not by sight today Get out of your comfort zone (this will look different for everyone) Buy something you've been saving for or start saving for something Try something new Water your damn plants and/or talk/sing to them Play games (board games, phone games, computer games, video games) Watch a comedy Spell work and rituals Try a new tea or elixir Consult with a friend, guide, therapist, energy worker, etc Friday-Viernes (Venus) Make up, moisturize, hair spray/gel, rings, necklaces, perfume, heels, slacks, corsets, glasses, nail polish- WHATEVER you have to put on your bodythat'ss an extra step than usual-Do it! Indulge in your first (or last) meal today Walk (or drive) somewhere scenic/beautiful Watch the sunrise or sunset. Or catch the moonlight Practice your love language with yourself or with others "Love" yourself (hint hint, wink wink) Make your "space" pretty (this can be your bedroom, living room, kitchen, garden, car, this can be social media platforms, journals) BUMP or BLAST some music Make a playlist Aromatherapy, cleanse or charge your Tools, talk to friends/family, set boundaries and don't do anything you don't want to today (if possible 😉) paint, draw, read, shop, write Take a picture (of you or something/someone beautiful) Saturday-Sabado (Saturn) Start a to do list for today and especially for the week ahead Take care of house (whatever this means to you) Meditate Study Fast (If able/applicable) Journal (esp related to your long term goals, worldly affairs/responsibilities) Clean your space and get rid of what is no longer needed (clean out fridge, throw out papers, take out garbage, pull weeds, etc) Clean your car (if able/applicable) Ask Spirit and Ancestors "What work needs to be done?" Use sound bowl (if you have one), binaural beats, instrumental music Water water water water water water water! Sunday-Domingo (Sun) Practice your skills/Review your skills Perform service (whatever 'service' means to you) Post on social media/Establish social media presence Socialize, actively engage with others and/or your surroundings (if able/applicable) Journal (check your Ego, gas yourself up or practice humility) Review/Activate spells and rituals Pray Express gratitude Choose something specifically for you today Aura cleansing (if able/applicable) I hope this is guiding and helpful to at least someone. I experience such guilt around how I spend my time during the day and this outline/list has helped me attune to the energy of the day and generally make the most out of it. This is a light hearted, intuitive post meant to guide and validate how we can use our energy. I try to be mindful that not everyone has the resources, space, freedom, privilege, ability or circumstances to engage in such activities, my only hope is that at least one thing on this list can be activated in your days.

[no-droids]

hi :) 💕❤💗 this is kind of off topic from the usual stuff (butt stuff demands, baby theoyoda, etc.) but i was wondering if you have any advice for getting SHTUFF done? as of recent i've fallen behind on school work bc of lack of motivation and all that jazz. do you have any study tips, or a homework/study schedule or template that you follow or recommend? i just think that you (mother goose) are really responsible especially with college shenanigans AND commitment to fics. help mother i beg u

I love this omg baby theoyoda omfgggg

Basically I always start out the semester doing everything I fucking can at like 100% maximum effort and submitting every single assignment to the best of my ability because I know around this time is where I don’t want to do ANYTHING and I find it’s a lot better for your grades to slack off towards the end of the semester instead of the beginning yknow what I’m saying

I also plan out my homework schedule like a week ahead of time and I always try to stay a good five days ahead of due dates. That’s tough when the semester first starts but it’s really nice towards the end, if you just 100% don’t feel like doing homework then you’ve got a day or two that you can just be a lazy slug without feeling bad about it or worrying that you’re getting behind.

as for studying, idk if this is still a thing but I use this older program called Genius, it’s like an electronic flash card thing because repetition cements things in my brain but I’m too lazy to make real flash cards. It recognizes which questions you get wrong more than others and brings those flashcards up more often, and theres a slider between the learn setting and the study setting so if you're like me and get distracted during online lectures, you can learn the information that way.

I also eat during class. Sounds weird bc I usually would only drink coffee during in-person classes but since everything is online, I get sleepy and sluggish being in the same environment and not moving around much no matter how much coffee I drink. I eat lunch or dinner during class because it gives me energy and makes me more focused, supplements food energy for the energy I would usually get by walking across campus and being around other students. It’s also good to sit at a table or a desk when you’re in class, make sure you’re sitting upright and not chilling in bed. I fell asleep in calc once because I decided to lay in bed and attend, that was a bad idea

Anyways that’s really all I got! Work your ass off right out of the gate, try to keep a homework schedule five days before the due dates, use a flashcard system to study, snack during class and sit up straight lmfao that’s all I got I’m sorry

[yeocult]

ATEEZ as students studying

HONGJOONG:

king of self-care! but studies for 15 minutes then take a 2 hour break and calls it self-care (omg he thinks he’s me or smth)

has power naps every single day at least 30 mins because he’s Stressed

always thinking of ways to drop out during the middle of lectures

that one kid that talks to nobody & sits at the back of the class with his hood on to hide his airpods

doesn’t do it anymore bc one time it disconnected and “there’s some whores in this house” blasted out loud & now he’s paranoid

shows up to group studies but lets the group carry him,,, but he puts out One Really good idea to get his name on the paper

only cares about topics he’s interested in, other than that he’s just astral projecting

“yo can you send me your answers so i can compare mine?” but he copies it and says “we got the same answers” (all men do is lie</3)

calculates his marks; “ok so i need at least a 80 on this...oh wait no, a 95...damn okay...”

the type to arrives late with ice coffee

SEONGHWA:

wakes up at 5 am to study instead of staying up

scented candles and lofi music for the ~studying mood~

a linguistic learner

learns best by teaching others so he’ll do group studies often to help other people

teaches people without making them feel dumb

uses grammarly for his emails with 3 paragraphs asking 1 question with a proper greeting and a ‘sincerely, park seonghwa’

professor: ok - sent from iphone

you’ll never see him during exams week, he’s Gone

a loyal user of the outline method

his desk must be cleared at all times! a clean workspace makes it easier to focus

brings extra pencil just in case anyone needs them bc he’s the sweetest person ever (he’s fully aware that he’ll never get them back but it’s okay bc sharing is caring)

does his readings on time (you’ll never catch him slacking)

actually has his shit together for the most part 1/2

YUNHO:

writes “i love you” or “sorry” at the end of his tests (that he bombed)

the type to ask you to print “just one thing real quick” and it’s 15 page and at 2 am

uses emojis like :D & \(^o^)/ when sending emails to his professors

has a bad habit of copying word for word on the slide and he doesn’t actually understand/learn anything

goes to the library bc he thinks that’ll help him be in the ~studying vibe~

it doesn’t. ends up texting or watching youtube gameplay

has never heard of the colour-coding system in his entire life and ends up with a page filled with neon highlight

snacks breaks are the only thing keeping him Normal

leaves himself an encouraging note at the end of the reading page so when he’s finished he feels good !!

friends with all of the professors and uses all office hours

strongest points are his guessing skills in multiple-choice questions (process of elimination ftw!)

he tries his best, doesn’t care about marks that much because he knows it doesn’t determine him (and he’s right!)

YEOSANG:

probably runs a studyblr/gram

has the cutest note ever, his handwriting is so pretty!!

he thinks that buying an ipad pro & apple pencil will make him smarter

likes it bc he can doodle on it then erase them easily :”)

has to wear blue ray glasses because of how he looks at a screen so much

mildliners, muji 0.38 gel pen, 6 ring binder, minimal planner, washi tapes, you name it! he visits muji and daiso every other week

buys wayyy too many planners and notebooks which he never ends up using

only uses pastel mildliners because they’re easy on the eyes. cringes every time he sees yunho’s highlighters v_v

his flaw is that he spends 10 mins writing his header with brush tip pens

mutes the group project gc but gets his part done like the good classmate he is

sweats every time he gets an assignment back, takes a whole ten minute to mentally prepare himself

a visual learner; makes mind maps, flow charts, etc

actually has a working printer that he uses pretty often to prints lessons before class just to be Extra prepare

tells everyone he slept well but his bullet journal habit tracker for sleep says otherwise (plz rest!!)

exclusively uses college ruled paper like the sane person he is

SAN:

uses wide-ruled paper (unfortunately not everyone is perfect</3)

starts off very positive, motivated, and organized

then everything goes downhill by the second week

will definitely set byeol on top of his keyboard, take a picture, and send it to his professor as an ‘excuse’ as why he needs an extension (it works)

can’t sit still for any longer than 30 mins, his legs are always bouncing or fidgeting with pen

flashcard king! spends a lot of time on them but it’s worth it

a utensil chewer (always willing to share his pencil but when ppl saw the bite marks they’re like No Thanks >_>)

can’t study well with groups or himself bc he’ll be distracted,,, so he needs one person that can ground him bc when they’re in the zone, he will too be on his x game mode

sends his assignment at 11:58 pm hoping his professor will take the Hint (plz don’t be afraid to ask for help u_u)

prefers listening to ghibli studio soundtracks but then he either gets emotional or sleepy

sometimes forget to mute his mic and we just hear him groaning in frustration

“haha sorry i just stubbed my toe...”

then mutes his mic and goes back to his mental breakdown

MINGI:

the only person that studies every single day just to get his brain used to the information and running

probably listens to anime op or edm music for that Energy Boost

everyone either hates or love him because...

1. loves him bc he always comes clutched with study guides (and willing to share if he likes you enough)

2. he’s good at everything even if he’s not paying attention/doing it last minute

just naturally good at retaining information and applying them

asks Big Brain question that even the professors are shook

sometimes he gets super into the topic and wants to know Everything

“i’ve never failed an exam in my life” and he’s right! big brain mingi

fetal flaw is that he forgets easily (hence why the last minute) and has to write on his palm as a reminder

clicks his pens All the time so he switched to pens with caps just to keep others from jumping him

takes naps 10 mins before classes

actually has his shit together for the post part 2/2

“if no one got me, i know khan academy and quizlet got me. can i get an amen”

WOOYOUNG:

y’all know that one mf that doesn’t have a pencil?

yea he’s been using the same one someone lend to him before a test and never returned it

it’s been two months and it’s still working well and they’re never going to get it back

a minimalist,,,, but in a bad way</3 bc he carries his stolen pencil and paper that he spilled his energy drink over and that’s about it

just throw loose papers in his bag and forgets about their existence

doesn’t do binders or notebooks, just crumbled up paper

sometimes carries a textbook just to show everyone that he’s got his life together

really noisy for No reason, always wants to know other’s marks

a kinesthetic learner

hides his screen with he gets the kahoot questions wrong (you’ll never catch him slippin)

plays coolmathgames.com during class

doesn’t really know what to study/prioritize so he overwhelms himself with every single topic ever

thinks he’s god by pulling an all-nighter to look at the 60+ slides last minute

Swears he’ll change and do better next semester,,,</3

goes to the cafe, takes pictures of his notes & laptop, post it on his story, then leaves

JONGHO:

thrives off of red bull and ice americanos

gets notes and study guides from his upperclassmen because everyone loves jongho

an audio learner so he’ll probably work out or go on a jog while listening to lessons/audiobook

never pulls all-nighters bc it messes up his sleep schedule and says he’ll do it in the morning but he never does

doesn’t even own a highlighter, he’ll circle or underline stuff with a red or black pen

has never touched a textbook in his life

only the study guides and slides, his textbook is collecting dust rn

his notes are literally Only for him because his handwriting only makes sense to him

has questionable handwriting,,, it’s like decoding

multitasks a lot but it ends up taking a lot longer than he wanted to (bc it’s a myth)

very spontaneous; he’ll grind for 5 hours straight but sometimes he won’t even touch a pencil

works best when he talks about the work in groups and share information with each other, like having a convo about the topic

unmutes his mic Once after the lesson to say “bye”

does his work right after the lessons but then takes a short break & doesn’t even Look back for the rest of the night

-

a/n: tag yourself ! i’m a bit of hohong (i projected myself on all of them in some way lmaooo)

[thegreenwolf]

(This post was originally posted on my blog at https://thegreenwolf.com/its-okay-to-not-hustle/)

There’s this meme going around Facebook right now, saying “If you don’t come out of this quarantine with a new skill, your side hustle started, or more knowledge, you never lacked time. You lacked discipline.” Thankfully multiple people have already skewered it, but it continues to be shared around by the sort of person who is trying to one-up everyone else, or who’s just plain clueless–or, for that matter, just trying to guilt you into buying whatever they’re selling.

Now, there’s not a damned thing wrong with self-promotion. That’s how indie artists, authors, and other self-employed folks get the word out. You have to be able to talk good talk in order to get people’s attention. But leading with this meme? Guilting people for not leaping from sudden unemployment straight into the thick of the ever-shifting gig economy? That ain’t gonna fly, Brocephus.

You Have Good Reasons to Slack

Excuse me while I dust off my counseling psych degree a sec, here. *ahem* We are in a very sensitive, turbulent time right now. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in a century in the Western world. We are in a hugely traumatizing situation here. Not just for the financial losses, but the fact that COVID-19 has killed thousands of people and left many more with permanent lung damage. We still haven’t gotten a handle yet on exactly how contagious this thing is, how long you’re contagious for, or whether you’re immune once you’ve had it, assuming you survive. We don’t have adequate testing, emergency rooms estimate that for every positive test there are 10-20 people out there infected and untested, and everyone with a cough is suddenly Schroedinger’s COVID case. Governments worldwide are slow to react in spite of the rising death toll. People have had friends and family die horribly from this thing in a short period of time. Even people who didn’t already have issues with anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses are feeling stressed, strained and scared–and, yes, traumatized. This image is guilt-tripping people who are actively being traumatized.

So we’re already starting with a populace that is dealing with this collective trauma, as well as whatever personal trauma each individual is experiencing. Not always easy to seize the day when you’re going through that. And I can think of a few other reasons that might further complicate this whole “Just get a side gig!” thing:

–They’re a parent who suddenly has all their kids at home, all the time, demanding time and attention and food, AND they still have to work eight hours a day from home, or maybe even more if their S.O. is unemployed/sick/etc. By the way, if someone trots out Isaac Newton or William Shakespeare or some other historical guy who managed to do epic things during a pandemic, remember that they usually had wives or servants to do all the laundry and cooking and cleaning and (if applicable) childcare for them.

–They’re disabled or chronically ill, and don’t have the ability/energy/etc. to just go and make something happen, just like that. Imagine if you just randomly got the fatigue from a really bad flu, and you never knew whether it was going to last a day or a month. And if you tried exerting yourself when you were feeling better, chances are you’d slip back into fatigue-land. That’s what a lot of my chronically ill/etc. friends have to deal with, to say nothing of issues with accessibility of resources for starting a side gig.

–They don’t have any money for the supplies needed to start a side hustle, or the supplies have been hoarded by hobbyists preparing for a Pandemic Staycation.

–They don’t have the skills for something that just requires what they already have (like, for example, writing on a laptop you already happen to own). Often these skills are things that can’t be perfected in a few weeks at home, but may take years to develop before they’re really marketable–like, for example, the skill to make a decent living on side hustles.

–They have anxiety, depression or other mental health conditions that make it hard to function even in the best of times, but even moreso in this…well…mess. Even people who were mentally healthy before are going to be developing diagnosable anxiety and depression disorders before all’s said and done. And speaking from personal experience, those of us who look successful on the outside can still be internally hamstrung by these conditions at times.

–Plus there’s the fact that we’re not supposed to, you know, leave our homes, which narrows down the field of potential side gigs by a lot.

Even doing something less financially-wrought like learning a new skill or subject takes time, energy, and sometimes money, any or all of which may be scarce for the reasons above and more.

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

I am saying all of this as someone who is arguably an expert on the side gig. I have spent the past eight and a half years 100% self-employed (and a lot longer doing it part-time) as an author and artist, able to cover all my bills and expenses, and for a time I was the primary breadwinner of a multi-person household. I have like ten different things I was doing for a living before this all hit, a pretty diverse set of streams of income, even if most of them just up and evaporated in the past few weeks. And while I’m definitely a hell of a lot leaner now than I was a month ago, I still have my head above water for the moment. So I think I know side gigs.

I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m overall healthy. I have a dog who is a lot less demanding of my time than kids would be. I have my own space where I can focus more or less without interruption. More importantly, I have the skills, the knowhow, the drive and the personality to go out and seek new opportunities. And I’m used to fluctuations in income, though admittedly this one’s unprecedented. Don’t gauge yourself by where I am now. I’ve spent twenty-two years building up my art business, my first book came out in 2006, and I’ve had a series of really good opportunities come my way that I had the privilege to be able to make the most of. I am not your measuring stick, so don’t say “Well, if she can do it why can’t I? I must suck!”

If you’re feeling crappy because you aren’t hopping to it and carpeing the diem and getting everything done, here’s what I have to say to you: Look, you just had your world turned upside-down. Job loss, scarce commodities, sudden lack of outside childcare, restricted movement and inability to be around much of your support system, and did I mention a pandemic is happening, too? Any single one of those things would be difficult for just about anyone to deal with, never mind all at once. And I don’t even know what all else has already been going on in your life–unstable or unsafe living situation, other health issues, breakups and other losses, interpersonal conflicts. You know, normal life stuff.

You’re Not Lazy, or Screwing Up, or (Gods Forbid) Undisciplined

It is totally okay if all you’re doing right now is surviving. It’s okay if you feel like you’re drowning, overwhelmed by all that’s happening both on a global level and more personally. It’s okay if all you can manage right now is to get out of bed and stumble through each day a moment at a time, struggling with a tidal wave of emotions. It’s okay if you’re just trying to keep your kids busy, dealing with a crowded home every single day, or trying to keep COVID-19 at bay. It’s okay if, instead of firing up DuoLingo or opening an Etsy shop, you spend your evenings vegging to Netflix or reading a book or playing hours and hours of Animal Crossing.

Not every moment in your life has to be about being productive even in the best of circumstances, and that goes exponentially so right now. Be patient with yourself, and be kind. You may be one of those folks who literally has to spend all their time scrabbling to try to cover the bills or get some leeway from bill collectors, and you have to dedicate your waking time hunting for resources just to try to get through this week. Believe me, I feel for you, I have a lot of friends in that situation right now, and I hope all of you can find some relief and assistance.

May I suggest something? If you have the energy for something more than the bare essentials of getting by, put that energy toward self-care, whatever you can manage under the circumstances. You can use it to recuperate, to rebuild your emotional and physical resilience. That way if things get rough again in the future, you have more internal reserves to build on. If your usual methods don’t work or aren’t accessible due to lockdown, ask others what they’re doing to keep themselves grounded in this trying time.

Just because you have more time doesn’t mean you don’t have to throw yourself right into something productive! Don’t feel pressured to just go-go-go the moment you have a little freedom to move. If you do decide you want to try a side gig, or a new skill, or learn all about some specialized topic of interest, go for it! If you have the energy and attention and opportunity to pursue something new, it can be a great coping skill during this traumatic time. Just don’t pressure yourself; keep it fun.

One last thing: I want you to save the image I have at the top of this post. And then if you see someone post that meme, saying “Come on, you lazy bums, get up and make that side gig happen! Learn new stuff! Do all the things! No excuses!” you pull out this version, and you look at the edits, you remember that it’s okay to be where you are, and you get back to doing things at your own pace no matter what someone else says. (I find visualizing stapling a printout of the edited version to the offender’s forehead to also be therapeutic, but that may just be me.)

Hang in there, okay? It’s going to be a rough time, but you’re not alone, and what you’re feeling right now is shared by so many people. So just let yourself be where you are in this moment, and we’ll see what hope tomorrow brings. And remember that whatever you’re capable of in this moment: it’s enough.

Did you enjoy this post? Please consider supporting my work on Patreon, buying my books here on my website, buying my art and books on Etsy, or tipping me at Ko-fi!

[cancerbiophd]

Hey, I am rotating in a cancer bio lab, this will be my third one. The first two worked around my class schedule very well, but for the first semester, these classes are everything. In my third rotation, my PI expects a lot of me in the short time I'm there, and I am working 6-10 hours there every day. This leaves me almost no time to study or do classwork. She knows how much work these classes are, because she used to teach it. Any advice to help me have less stress?

Hello Anon! Ahh I totally understand your frustration. I remember how demanding and absolutely time-consuming (and very important, as you mentioned!) those grad school classes were, and how stressful it was to balance all that and lab work. 

It took me a while to answer this because it really is a difficult problem to tackle. A PI demanding a lot from the rotating student at the expense of the students’ grades in class should not be the norm. Most PIs understand that a rotating student isn’t there primarily to generate mountains of usable data; their priority is to get a feel for how they fit with the lab, and vice versa. So I guess what I’m trying to say: you’re doing amazing, and your PI shouldn’t be treating you this way. 

But I think I’ve thought of a few things you could try (which does not encompass every route you could take), and you can see which one you’re most comfortable doing, or if they give you any other ideas to try. 

The first question you’ll need to ask yourself is whether there’s a chance you’ll want to select this lab as your dissertation lab. I think this is a very important decision, because if you do want to stay, you’ll have to consider options that are more long-term. In other words, staying in this lab may require more energy on your part in finding a schedule that works for both your grades, your research, and your life outside of the lab if your PI appears to have less emphasis on work-class-life-balance. 

If you know you won’t be continuing on in this lab after your rotation is done, you only have to work with a short-term solution. By no means do I mean slack off or not do your research or make a bad impression, of course--but it’ll be more like a sprint than a marathon. 

Once you’ve decided that, here are some options to consider:

Work with your PI to set goals together. Sometimes PIs are super far-removed from classes (even if they teach them) because time makes us all forget the finer details, like how much work it actually takes to study for an exam! And some may just not understand that just because they have photographic memory and never needed to study, doesn’t mean everyone else is like them. Therefore it’s important to communicate with your PI about your limitations and boundaries. If your PI tells you do X, Y, and Z by Friday, counter back with: “Due to my course-load, I may not be able to complete all those tasks by the deadline. If that’s the case, which of those 3 should I prioritize my time on?” and/or “I can get X and Y done by Friday, but I will need until next Wednesday to finish Z.” I think these are very professional ways to reach a compromise. 

Ask for more help from other lab members. Seeing how we can’t freeze time or clone ourselves, sometimes the only way to get more done in a limited amount of time is to get more bodies on the task. When I’m new to a group, I will ask the PI/my boss “If I need help with these tasks, who should I go to?” A lab is a team with a common goal, so I hope yours will see that to help one person is to help everyone. Going off of the first example, you can respond, “Sure, I can get X, Y, and Z done by Friday, but I will need help. Is there anyone in the lab who can help me with ____?” (And if the answer is “no”, that’s something to consider when deciding which lab to ultimately join.)

Say no to any new tasks until you’ve finished your current ones. In lab you can say something like, “I would like to first finish these experiments before moving on. Can we table this until next week?” or “Ok I’ll put this on my to-do list, but I don’t have time for it this week.” or simply a “I don’t have the time to do this.” This also applies to stuff outside of lab as well, like any extra-curriculars or social events. I also think this is a good skill/habit to have throughout one’s life too, but especially in grad school where PIs are just constantly sprouting out new project ideas without any consideration as to how to pause time so we can do it all.

Ask for extensions for lab tasks when you need it. It’s ok to ask for a few more days. Time in academic research can work differently--milestones tend to move a lot slower, and a difference of a few days hardly makes a huge impact down the line. So unless it’s a hard deadline (like data for a grant submission), it’s ok to let your PI know “Hey, I’m working as hard as I can on this, but I did not anticipate some of the set-backs so I’ll need until ____ to get the data to you.” 

Multitask (but smartly). Do you have small but recurring “downtime” during your experiments that you can use for studying? When I ran Western blots, I would have five 5-min washes throughout the day, and that was 25 min of time I sometimes spent reading for class, or even doing small tasks like catching up on emails. Definitely use those natural “breaks” in lab to your advantage if you’re able. 

Block off more time before and after classes to spend away from the lab. Since you have to leave for class anyway, you can try to squeeze more out of it. Maybe like, leave lab 30 min earlier for class, then come back to the lab 30 min later--that’s 1 full hour! If people in lab (ie. your PI) pry, just tell them you like to give yourself the opportunity to meet with the professors before/after class if necessary (not a lie, because it could be true!). Or you can set up a legit mini-study-session with classmates during those times to review materials before/after class. If 30 min is too long, even 15 min before and after is a good chunk of time. 

Ask for advice from someone who’s had experience with situations like these. This includes other grad students (the ones already in this current lab would be a good place to start, as they’ve surely been-there-done-that) and your program advisor/coordinator who’s had years of experience mediating these conflicts. It may not stop your PI from being demanding, but they could give you pointers on how best to handle it. 

And with the time you do have to study, be sure to be as efficient as possible. I know you’re already doing the best you can, but if there are any aspects of your study routine you think could be improved upon, now’s a good time to implement those changes. There are many ways to do this, including study groups, seeking additional resources like educational videos and help from professors/TAs, etc. Work smart, not hard, right?

My last bit of advice is: Make your grades in those classes your priority over the lab rotation. Some, if not all, programs have very strict rules on grades lower than B’s, and it could jeopardize your chances of remaining in the program. Here’s another way to look at it: you can choose to not stay in your current rotational lab, and perhaps even have minimal contact with that PI for the rest of your grad school career; but you can not choose to not have a grade affect your academic records and/or place in the program. 

Good luck anon. I hope this helped a bit and it all goes well for you!

If anyone else has ever experienced something similar in grad school and have any additional advice, please feel free to help reply to/reblog this post! Thanks!

[lablass-2882]

How the Akuma Class handles Social Distancing. Part 2 of idk...

Part 2 is up and ready to roll.  I’m thinking of continuing this AU but in a very disjointed way. I kinda want to talk about different families and plot points that occur during the pandemic.  I probably won’t write a complete fic about this but I will post a bunch of plot bunnies that occur during the story.  Either way; enjoy my rambles. 

Juleka/Luka: Worried to the max but doing alright. Juleka was extremely worried about Rose even before she got sick. Luka tried to help his sister through his music but positive vibes and melodies along go so far.  In the beginning, their mother was against the mandate, but as the number of cases grew, she slowly came to her senses.  Juleka and Luka had the houseboat covered.  They set up a quarantined zone to place shoes and dirty laundry.  Luka made a schedule for dishes, wash, and food. Juleka made sure to stoke up on medicine for just in case.  Emergency contacts were made and a list of possible exposure sites was written down for worse case scenarios.  When Rose ended up sick, Juleka was furious. Rose is her light thought this mess and Lila got her sick during one of her stunts.  If Luka hadn’t been there to calm her down, there would have been an incident.  Ounce Rose is sick Juleka spends hours with her on the phone, sharing pictures, trading stories and I love you.  Meanwhile, Luka’s protective big brother senses go into overdrive. He becomes whirlwind of productivity.  Even Marinette is impressed with how much work he gets done.  The houseboat is spotless, the laundry is folded, Juleka is tucked into bed and his mother receives a stern talking to from her son. By the end of the mandate, a lot of people have a newfound respect for the teenager.

Chloe: She’s trying okay.  Chloe was nervous about this virus well before her class was.  Despite her looks and attitude, Chloe does pay attention to politics, the news and other facets of government.  She’ll never admit to it but she was helping her father with perpetration well before the stay-at-home mandate was declared.  She even talked her father into parts of the mandate as “securing future votes”.  She was relieved when the schools went to home school as it allowed her to slack off a little, but Sabrina put a stop to that very quickly. Stating that she needed good grades to be a future politician. Sabrina is a lot of fire behind Chloe.  When she told Chloe about Marinette’s fundraiser, Sabrina knew what the result would be.  Despite the jealously, Chloe does want to truly help Pairs.  She managers to talk both Marinette and Adrien into helping with her fundraiser for the local food bank.  She’s even guest-starred on a few of Marinette’s sewing streams as a fashion model (from the safety of their own homes of course.) and like Adrien, she has visited some of the harder-hit areas. She even made a new friend while visiting one of the hospitals.  The bossy but dutifully head nurse. Chloe liked her Moxy.  

Sabrina: Is helping where she can, mostly with Chloe but it counts.  Like Chloe, Sabrina knew in advance what was happening around the world and how it would affect Pair.  Her father even drilled her on pandemic plans before the outbreak.  She also made sure to keep Chloe up to date on current events. When school shut down, Sabrina was worried but confident that Pair had a plan.  She had issues with Chloe and her school work, but that child’s play to her real plan. Her new goal is to help her father in any way possible. Local food bank low on supplies? One call Chloe that name drops Marinette’s furnished and boom money raised.  Hospitals overrun with rude patients? A text Alya and her lady-blog fixed that right away. People in need of positive messages? Luka and Kitty- Selection are more than excited about doing a zoom concert.  You got a problem; Sabrina's got a plan to help.  Maybe Chloe’s confidence is rubbing off on her.  

Nathaniel and Marc: They are both doing fine.  The stay at home mandate is like a god sent to an artist.  Nat starts a vlog with Marc over their comic and art. They also chip in to help Marinette with her website.  Nat post daily art projects and even some how to draw videos; while Marc posts a lot of uplifting poetry and sayings.  They are both worried sick about Rose and send her hand made cards through-out the whole thing.  When Chloe asks them to help with her fundraiser, they were cautious, but Marinette reassured them that she is trying.  They end up selling some custom artwork and other commission items, along with design the website it was hosted on.  Chloe is thankful that they trusted her.

Max: He’s fine. Worried about school but fine.  He has plenty of video games, podcasts, and coding to catch up on. He still helps out with the classes endeavors and internally he’s worried about his grades and the effect this mandate will have on the school year. His parents later suggest that he starts a tutoring site to help his classmates out.  It becomes a big success. By the end of the pandemic, Max’s tutor site is listed among the best tutor sites in Paris.  His classmates even get in on it.  Max does a lot of the math and science portions; Alix helps with history; Ivan, Mylene, and Luka teach music, and the art club does fun drawing videos. Max is upset about missing the latter half of the school year but happy he could do his part.

Kim: Is doing horribly.  The boy can’t go outside let alone run around.  Staying inside is doing a number on the poor boy.  Kim’s parents are rather strict about screen time, so video games are a touchy subject.  Max tries to help with homework, but Kim still struggles.  After a late-night call with Max’s parents, Kim’s parents try a different approach. They thankfully have enough room to set up a small basketball court in the basement. The goal is to let Kim release his pent-up energy before trying school work.  They also try more mediation and board games to promote relaxing family time.  It slowly working.

Alix: Is hating every second of the mandate.  She stuck at home with her dad and older brother.  The number of augments within the first week alone could rival the Cesaire family easily.  Max’s tutor site helps out a bit.  It gives Alix and her father something to talk about, but it’s still a minefield with her brother.  Alix tries to relax with some sport-videos and joins her class in the different fundraisers but the isolation still takes its toll. Mylene suggests the mediation that Marinette posted and they help a bit.  Although it’s a daily fight over who surviving this pandemic better. It's not helped by her older brother being her older brother and his half-assed attempts at teenage slang.  

Ivan: He sleeps a lot, reads a lot and plays music a lot. Enough said.  As long as he doesn’t have to do a ton of homework, he’s okay.  He misses his girlfriend sure, but he’s not too worked up over the stay-at-home mandate. As long as he has weekly chats to make sure Mylene he’s doing good. He later helps out with Max’s tutor site, but he’s not putting in more effort then he needs to. Let the boy catch up on his sleep.

Mylene: She is also helping where she can. Mylene is an active child.  One who loves to help and be a part of a group.  Unfortunately, she can’t be a part of a traditional group under the stay-at-home mandate. So, she works with what she as.  She starts posting gardening tips; explains the langue of flowers on charity streams; tries to help Rose out with Lila’s scheme, but that gets veto by her parents rather quickly.  Especially after Rose gets sick. She later joins Marinette and her family’s box-lunch program for the local nurses. Turns out she has a ton of soup recipes and the time to try them all out.

To da! Part 2 is done and part 3 will be up in a few days. I am not a fast typer, so part 3 might take some time.  Second verse is same as the first.  This Au is based off of how America is handling the pandemic, feel free to add in plot bunnies or other interesting idea.  If you want me to tag you in stuff let me know.  

Remember to stay safe, wash your hand,respect people’s wishes, etc.  Enjoy. 

@ mysticsoulgirl

[tarot28]

MANIFESTATION, GOALS, INTENTIONS AND GRATITUDE AND MOREEEEEE

This is my guide to how I do my daily self work to bring some joy and happiness and better things closer to me.  Everything I do listed below is written down in the same place - a generic leftover half used spiral notebook next to my bed.  

I have a little anxiety and uncertainty and a little moop (a word for when you’ve got sad mood that’s kinda blah but it doesn’t have as quite of a severe connotation as depression does imo) when it comes thinking about the future.  To get super real for a second here, it can be so so bleak sometime to look ahead and look at where I am now and where I could be like if only if only.  Coming out of an unhealthy and toxic relationship and being on the mend from that also has me looking for ways of actively reviving my worth and my joy and I’m glad to report that what I’ve outline below has helped me personally and by sharing, I hope I can help others :) :)

Also just as a note: I use the Universe instead of God, Goddess, Spirit, etc bc that’s my preference.  Mentally sub that for whatever works for you <3

Contents: sorry this is a hella long post but here’s the break down - Manifestation (what I used to do) - Goals (what I do/how I altered manifestation to make it work for me) - Intentions (goals are long term, but here’s the daily) - Gratitude (how it puts things into perspective) - Meditation (an on and off again relationship/the one that always gets away) - How the fuck do I fit all this into my daily routine ?

Manifestation: So when I first started this routine I used kinda generic manifestation and threw literally everything I wanted at the Universe like here this is what I want and it’s your problem now.  That’s the idea I got from the very minimal reading I did on manifestation and law of attraction type shtuff.  I reallllllly hesitate to call what I currently do manifestation but it’s like a cousin and is closer to setting goals.  I’m not going to go into manifestation further but the “manifestation work” I do is like everything written here collectively.

Goals: This is the branching out I did for manifestation.  It’s more accessible language too.  A goal is something I want and it’s something attainable.  Transitioning from manifestation to goals was kinda necessary to me because when I was doing manifestation was me throwing every tiny little want and need at the Universe.  Goals was that but with filters and then elaboration.  I went from asking for like 8 or 10 things that would change often to asking for 3 consistently.

Here’s a working example.  One of my old “manifestation” items was “a sense of confidence in my body.”  Let’s pull this apart a bit.  This isn’t a bad thing to ask for at all; it’s definitely something that can happen.  But like does the Universe really need to bestow that onto me or is that something I could do on my own.  It’s too specific and exclusive as well.  The perception of my own physical health comes from my personal relationship with myself, mentally and emotionally.  My body confidence won’t change unless I work at how I talk to myself or unless I start to praise my own appearance.  

I use a different, but related version of this older item currently in my goal statements that aims to “improve the relationship I have with myself for myself through positive self talk, self care, and recognizing the joy that comes through exploring my relationship with myself.”  This is longer, but it’s bigger picture.  It encompasses mental, physical, and emotional health.  It also emphasizes my part in it, which was the biggest issue I had with what I was calling “manifestation.”  I think it’s ok to ask for things, but personally asking and waiting passively for something to drop into your lap just on the merits of asking for it felt unrealistic.  I think my biggest personal distinction between goals and manifestation was introducing accountability, thus empowering myself to make the changes in my life that I wanted to see.

Intentions In addition to writing my goal statements, I write my intentions.  The goals are more specific to the season or a couple month to a year long period, whereas the intentions are a couple of ways I want my day to go.  Again, this is kinda me empowering myself to take action and decide how my day will unfold.  It’s just a couple of brief statements about things I want to happen, but less of a tangible to do list and more like what’s the vibe today boysss

So for example on a to do list I had this week: chem for mon, wed, fri, bio lecture notes from thursday, final revisions on whatever weekly essay it was lmao rip, and then a couple emails.  This was a to do list from Monday and I have work and class and meetings and bathroom break and have to take care of the dogs and make food and eat the food and drink water and maybe squeeze in a workout from 9am to 3:30pm on top of the to do list, which is usually just classwork.  My intention for the day was to “be productive enough to prepare for tomorrow.”  This is a way to say do the bare minimum and feel better about it.  Another intention I had was to “recognize and when I need a break and give myself the rest time I need to be productive.”  Another way of justifying slacking off occaisionally but giving it an elevated purpose through the wording.  It also makes me feel like shameful about not getting everything I planned to do in one day because I carried out my intentions.

Gratitude! This is my absolute favorite part of my routine!  It brings everything home for me and I can really draw attention to all the mundane disguised positivity in my life that might go unnoticed or underappreciated otherwise.  This one is so simple.  I start by writing “I’m grateful:” and then just list whatever comes to mind easily.  

If it’s hard at first, make sure you’re not overthinking.  When I introduced this into my routine I would almost talk myself out of the stupid things, but I think that’s where a lot of my small, daily joy comes from.  Yesterday was cold and rainy and that’s my favorite weather so I wrote “rainy and cold” on my list and I think I put sweatpants on their too.  Don’t overthink it and don’t force it and just start doing it.

Here’s some research for the benefits if you don’t want to listen to me, please listen to the science, more of the science and a little more.  If these links don’t work- sorry but they’re random articles I found from google scholar after searching gratitude journaling.  SO much evidence out there 

Meditation This is my long lost love.  I feel like I never have the time and I’m fighting to put her back into my routine.  It makes me feel great and settles me into my body.  More posts to come if when I get back at it.  If anyone has techniques or guided mediation recommendations omg let me know.  I use a couple podcasts, one is purely guided mediations because they’re like 5 or 10 mins each and I’m short on time a lot.  The other is called nothing much happens and it’s just like bedtime stories about mundane routines and not strict mediation, but I love them.

My daily routine and how I make this work for me and don’t give up: My first rule is that if I’m not in the mood, I simply do NOT.  Like days where shit sucks is different from days where you feel like you’re breaking down and it physically hurts to think about the future or your goals because everything is so hard.  I get that and I treat myself like an adult and know that not doing it one day won’t be an issue as long as I make sure I do it the next day.

In the morning, I think about my schedule.  What is today and what is the best way to approach what I have going on?  What is the best way to direct my energy?  This is intention time :) And then this is where I’m trying to add meditation back in but I really suck at morning time management and I’m trying to use the time to work out before my day gets started.  We’ll see lol I’ll prob add it in at the end of my day to help me get to sleep feeling a little more settled and comfy in my own body and mind.

I try to keep my intentions in mind during the day.  Sometimes it happens, sometimes not.  It’s ok because I did them and I thought about it at least one time during the day for it’s own special, dedicated amount of time.

After I’m completely done for the day, I go what the fuck am I doing on this planet, how can I improve my existence, what do I see happening for myself? Under my intentions, I write my big three goalssss.  Something for my own healthy, something for my career and academics, and something to kinda talk about my meant to be, forever home of person that I’m trying to attract.  Self-career-social kinda triangle of goals.

Under my goals, I zoom in on everything that went great.  The last thing I write down for the day is gratitude so that even if I get a little stressed about not following my intentions too well or not making a lot of progress towards my big picture goals, I can look at today and go I had a great cup of hot chocolate and binged AHS though and I don’t regret it because it made me so happy that I wrote it down.

The end thanks for reading this incredibly long post.  I love these long posts where I can just go on about what I do :) I really hope this helps someone who doesn’t vibe with what they’re seeing in their skimming over of law of attraction and manifestation stuff.  Fuck that and do you.  Sending so much love to y’all <3 L :)

[stimsensory]

Coping Mechanisms: Hygiene.

I think a lot of autistic people struggle with hygiene. I’ve read autistic people and their parents discuss this. There are many reasons why.

Firstly, there are so many things to remember. When your brain is already overloaded, it’s difficult to remember all of these tiny hygiene steps that everyone else seems to do easily. My morning and evening hygiene routines are identical to reduce the stress of remembering everything. It’s much easier to remember to do one routine than it is to do every individual part. That’s one reason why it can be hard to change the routine, or skip parts. I can remember to do my hygiene routine, but I can’t remember each and every aspect and manipulate the order when I’m already tired out.

My teeth-brushing routine is:

Wash toothbrush.

Add toothpaste.

Brush teeth (first upper layer, then bottom. Left to right usually. Start at the front, then the back, then the pointy parts).

Rinse mouth.

Wash toothbrush.

Dry toothbrush (because I do not want mould to grow if I leave it wet overnight).

Wash hands.

Rinse face.

(And that’s just the teeth-brushing part. There are several other ‘sections’ [EG hand cream] but it would get too long to write).

I’m not sure how anyone would remember all of these steps individually. For me, the easiest way to remember is to do them in this order, because then once I’ve done one step I can remember the next. The simplified version of my whole routine would be: Brush teeth, then put spot cream on, then apply hand cream. But that’s not enough. Because I’ll forget to wash my toothbrush beforehand, so the brush will be dry and uncomfortable. Or I’ll forget to wash and dry the toothbrush, and it will soon end up gross and unusable. Or I’ll forget to put hand cream on after drying my hands, so it will feel gross and slimy. Or I’ll forget the hand cream altogether, and my hands will get too dry and feel like they are burning and itchy.

And that’s just one routine! There’s another routine for showers, clothes, etc. There’s a lot to remember.

Some of the ways I have found to help are as follows:

Explicit clothing rules. I have to be told explicitly about clothing rules. You can’t wear a shirt more than once without washing, but you can wear trousers multiple times. But you are supposed to not wear them two times in a row because then other people will think you don’t wash them. (Side note: who actually notices whether someone is still wearing the same trousers as the day before? Do people really pay that much attention to others clothes? Why do they care?). Socks cannot be worn more than once without washing.

Explicit shower rules: You have to shower every day, or every other day. To be honest, I apply this when I have work or school, but not when I’m just chilling at home. I shower regularly, but it seems unnecessary to shower every day if you don’t have the energy or motivation.

Distractions: When I’m showering, I get distracted very quickly. I’ll easily zoom off into a train of thought, and before you know it the hot water has run out. I need something to keep my attention, and to give me a way to monitor how much time has passed. I play music that I know from my phone to help with this. I can sing along, so my thoughts are occupied, and I can note how many songs have passed to keep track of time (usually I assume songs are 4 mins long, so it’s just 4 multiplied by the number of songs). This has helped reduce shower time from 45+ mins to 15-20 mins, and has probably helped reduce the water bill.

Cut yourself some slack. You could design two routines: one for most days, and one for tired days (or if you’re chronically ill or something, one for energetic days and one for standard days). One routine could have reduced demands. For example, my reduced routine is:

Wash toothbrush.

Apply toothpaste.

Brush teeth (any order, as many as you remember).

Wash brush.

Wash hands and rinse mouth.

The other steps and sections are skipped (which can lead to difficulties later on, such as hand dryness, so I try not to use the ‘reduced’ routine too often). Sometimes when I’m running low on time, I feel pushed to use the reduced routine (‘just skip that part!’), but that leads to increased anxiety, potential itchiness, potential tooth pain, etc.

Music!

Music is great for calming down and getting through a routine you may not like much.

Consider sensory aspects. Does someone refuse to bath? Maybe the shower causes sensory overload (it is incredibly loud when your head is under the spray). Maybe the shower gel is too fragrant. Maybe water feels horrid. There are ways to work around the sensory sensitivities, once you identify them. For example, a bath instead of a shower. No scented items in the bathroom. A soft hand-towel could be used to scrub yourself, instead of standing in a shower or sitting in a bath (if the water is too much).

I’m pretty good with my hygiene nowadays. But I still often miss spots when washing my hair, or forget to brush my teeth in the morning. I was worse when I was younger, as my mum would clean my hair up until I was about 12 or so (which I think is later than most people), and I found it difficult to transition from the routine of ‘wash frequently, and clean your hair once a week’ to ‘wash every day and clean your hair every other day’.

It felt unfair, and it was difficult to understand why, all of a sudden, my routine had to change when it had been working so well before. It may have helped if I were taught about this in school beforehand (maybe during puberty talks), so I could anticipate and understand the changes to come. Simply being told ‘you’re older now, you must shower more often’ makes no sense. Explaining why helped quite a bit (EG: ‘When you reach a certain age, you release more oil and sweat, which can build up and smell more quickly. This oil can also build up in your hair, making it greasy and knotty. So it’s best to get ahead of the build up and clean more often. More dirt/oil = more frequent washing’).

[gideonaceleigh]

Camp NaNoWriMo Week 3

Weekly Round Up!!

Word Count: 53,864/10,000 broke 50k what’s upppp

Average Words per Day:  2,564

That’s nearly 30k this week?? I’m mostly building off of what was already written but it still counts okay??

I have also come up with a working title! PROTOTYPE (I’m not completely sold but it’s definitely something to build off of)

~Day 15 ~ Day 16 ~ Day 17 ~ Day 18 ~ Day 19 ~ Day 20 ~ Day 21~

Tag List: @oscarfuckingwilde @minnowf @dove-actually @dahladahlabills

I’m posting a (much) longer excerpt of a chapter I worked on because #fakegirlfriends Caris (approx. 5,300 words)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“This is insane,” hisses Talis, for the fifth time that day.

“I know,” says Iris, also for the fifth time that day.

“By insane I mean suicidal.”

“I appreciate the good vibes you’re sending my way.”

“You know I’m always here for you,” Talis nods sagely.

The tablet is propped back up on its stand on the table under the window so Talis can see the whole room and be a part of the group as Iris and Cat prepare for the gala. They aren’t going to be able to bring much with them. Cat bought a, very tiny, purse while they were hunting for appropriate black-tie attire, but it’s built more for fashion than practicality and therefore barely large enough for them to stuff their ID’s and forged invitation to Claire Bennet plus one, in.

M’Lell didn’t send Iris many documents, but what little they did is chock full of relevant information. Iris spent the morning memorizing the positions of the events security detail and planned watch routes while transferring the documents that sketch out the floor plan of the building to the chip in her arm for ease of access. She feels as prepared for this job as one can be, considering the circumstances, and counts herself lucky not to be going in entirely blind.

While waiting for the taxi Iris gives herself a final look over in the mirror, gently dabbing at her shimmering eyeshadow and lipstick.

Pleased with the outcome she turns to Talis. “What do you think?”

“Very classy. And inconspicuous.”

“Just what I was going for.”

“I know.”

Iris glares at her. “If you know so much then tell me this: where exactly will Ahn have the device?”

Talis disappears from the screen to be replaced by swirling purple mist and black letters slowly pushing through. ‘Try again later’ it reads.

Iris doesn’t bother replying, simply slams the tablet screen down, waits for Talis’ muffled cursing, and shoves it in her purse.

“We ready to go then?” says Cat, emerging from the bathroom. She’s gone with a similar color scheme to Iris’ dress, black with silver accents, though she’s chosen a pair of slacks and suit jacket over a silver button up shirt. Her makeup is more involved than Iris’ however, choosing a bolder red lipstick and dramatic winged eyeliner.

“Whenever you are,” says Iris, admiring her style.

The taxi is waiting for them outside the hotel and whisks them away through the night, passing twinkling streetlamps and bright shop windows. With proper rest the trip through town goes significantly smoother for Iris and she’s able to step out of the cab without the same feeling of nausea. She readjusts the hem of her dress that comes to rest halfway down her thigh, while Cat steps out beside her and takes a minute to process their surroundings.

Ambassador Ahn’s gala is being host at the Galactic Institute of Art and Science, and it is huge. Not big, not large, not giant, but monumentally huge. It takes up an entire block at the center of the city and containes nearly 400 floors. The first ten or so levels are dedicated to hospitality: restaurants, café’s, ballrooms, meetings rooms, etc.; all decorated welcomingly and designed for comfort.

The rest of the floors are split by subject, with art centered rooms on the lower levels, and science higher up. The floors are designed for efficiency and to keep visitor’s attention on the displays. The displays are brought in from planets all over the galaxy and represents the creativity, ingenuity, and genius of a hundred-separate species. Nothing in the known universe could ever come close to comparing to the sheer size and quality of these exhibits.

Not that Iris is going to get much of a chance to look around. In fact, if she’s lucky, she won’t have to look far at all. She’s hoping for a fast entrance and an even faster exit, as long as the universe decides to work in her favor for once.

The night is warm, it’s early summer, but she can’t help a shiver and the goose bumps that form along her arms as she passes between the rose gardens lining the path in front of the museum. She and Cat join the small throng of people making their way up the bone white, marble steps.

They fall into line together and Iris feels Cat jump in surprise when she takes her hand with no warning. Cat looks from their now linked hands, and back at Iris who looks determinedly ahead.

“What?” she starts to ask, but Iris interrupts her.

“We’ll be less obvious like this.”

“Oh,” says Cat. “That’s fair. I usually work alone, and I have to say having a so called partner in crime is a completely different ballpark.”

Iris spares her a smile. “You’ll get used to it in no time. You might even find you like having a partner to help you out,” she says and winks at Cat.

Iris turns her focus on the security guard they’re now in front of. Cat presents the invitation, and both of their ID’s are scrutinized in great detail, but they’re waved through with no problems. A second guard checks Cat’s bags and scans them, taking an extra close look at Iris’ tablet. The machine beeps at Cat and she’s called out of the line, but the harried looking guard waves her through almost before a feeble excuse about jewelry passes her lips.

Annoyance flirts through Iris’ brain. Cat is obviously hiding something in her jacket she didn’t warn Iris about. Cat refuses to meet her eye as they walk the final few feet and into the main foyer. Iris shakes off her annoyance, it isn’t fair of her to expect Cat to tell her everything when they barely know each other and chooses to focus on the room in front of her.

During normal day to day operations the lobby is an impressive site. There’s a mural of the galaxy with every star and planet painted in excruciating detail. On the floor is a mosaic of the more immediate solar system done with the same unbelievable attention to detail. There are shades of green and blue Iris has never seen artificially replicated so perfectly before.

The lobby is divided into twelve sections marked off by pillars made with the same marble as the stairs outside. The room is bathed in a soft yellow light that mimics the tone and movement of thousands of candles everywhere. There are a hundred tables arranged orderly around the room with white tablecloths and silver center pieces. The overall effect is ethereal and mystical. Talis would have loved it if she could see it, but Iris can’t risk being found out, not this early in the night.

“Wow,” says Iris.

“I know,” says Cat.

“Ma’am?” An attendant grabs her attention. “What is your name?”

“Claire Bennet,” she says after a short pause. She’s been caught off guard and hopes he doesn’t notice the hesitation.

Like a professional he ignores her near fatal blunder with nothing more than a quirked eyebrow and checks their logs. “If you’ll follow me, ladies, I’ll escort you to your table.”

“Thank you,” says Iris. She smiles and rests her hand in the crook of Cat’s elbow.  

He leads them across the hall to one of the back tables half hidden in shadow. The positioning suits Iris just fine, she has full view of the hall, is seated next to the less important guests that don’t draw much attention and is partially hidden herself.

She sits back in her seat, sips at the wine the attendant pours for her, and watches as the rest of the guests mingle and get settled. Species of every shape, size, and color wander around the lobby oh-ing and ah-ing over the decorations. Their table gradually fills but they are ignored, and they neglect their neighbors.

Cat sits in the seat next to her, but she leaves her drink untouched. While Iris scouts out their surroundings, she scours through the program the attendant leaves them.

“No mention of the prototype here,” she says, too low for any of their neighbors to hear.

“Not much of a surprise there. We’ll stay here until everything gets going. Just follow my lead.”

“You got it, boss.”

Iris rolls her eyes at the over exaggerated deference.

Soon enough the lights dim, and an expectant hush falls over the crowd. A stage lifts from the floor near the opposite side of the hall and a spotlight illuminates a polished wood podium. Ambassador Kimiko Ahn is known the galaxy over as a woman who likes to put on a show, and tonight she doesn’t disappoint.

Anticipation begins to mount to a soundtrack of classical music gradually growing louder and more urgent until the audience is on their feet. It isn’t until the song hits the pinnacle of its score and the crowd, as a collective, feels about to burst that Ahn steps gravely under the light.

Immediately a thunderous round of applause erupts. Iris clamps her hands over her ears in a fruitless attempt to muffle the overwhelming noise and notices Cat follow her lead out of the corner of her eye. Ahn, on the other hand, preens under the concentrated attention of so many people and seems to absorb some of that energy into herself.

“Thank you. Thank you, everybody,” she says after a few minutes and gestures for the audience to quiet down. They follow her direction and settle down, eager for the speech she’ll open the gala with.

“I appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to come to my little get together here tonight.” She pauses in a very obviously rehearsed manner for the bit of laughter that receives to pass. Two screens are lowered next to her, one on either side of the stage for those in the very back, like Iris and Cat, to get the full Ambassador Kimiko Ahn charm effect. This means that Iris can see the nauseatingly self-congratulatory smile Ahn flashes the audience while she magnanimously waits for the laughter to die down.

“Now, I won’t take up much of your time. I’m sure you’re all eager to get through dinner and start exploring my personal collection. Just a few announcements. This floor is free for you to roam, there are over a dozen different displays for you to peruse through and I hope you enjoy them all.

You will have limited access to the second floor where I have a few more interactive activities for you all to play around with, including a rediscovered holographic game we found in the ruins of Allorn. If you don’t mind me say it is very retro, and much fun. And of course, the bar will be open for the duration of the night.

I won’t monopolize your time further tonight, but please feel free to ask me any questions you may have throughout the night. I could talk for an eternity about everything you will see on display tonight. Again, thank you so much for coming out tonight and I hope you enjoy yourself.”

The stage goes dark and Ambassador Ahn is lost to shadow. A miniature army of waiters come swarming from the edges of the room and descend on the guests with trays of food. The attentive mood that had overtaken the crowd snaps, and is replaced by the sounds of conversation, laughter, and clinking cutlery that now ring out across the room.

While everyone else relaxes and turns their attention to dinner Iris goes on full alert and prepares to make her escape to somewhere a little less populated, but with a lot more security.

There’s a dark hall practically directly behind her. A quick glance around her shows everyone in the immediate vicinity preoccupied with food and conversation. She taps Cat on the arm who in turn grasps her purse close to her person. They slip down the shadowy hall and hide around the first corner.

Iris pulls out her tablet from one of the roomy pockets in her dress and thumbs on the flashlight. She lights up her left forearm and touches the swirly, flower tattoo. She watches as the ink swirls against her skin and forms into the rough outline of the buildings floor plans.

The map shows them on the east side of the facility and in the hall leading to an area generally reserved for employee use, which means it will be largely abandoned during a private function, and has halls leading to all sections of the first floor while avoiding the main floors. She’s reasonably certain she knows where Ahn would stash the device, at least generally, if she brought it with her. The problem being it’s on the complete opposite side of the museum and she’ll have to sneak past the kitchens to get there.

Iris flicks the light off and presses herself against the wall, pulling Cat along with her, when she hears the low murmur of voices and hurried footsteps coming towards her. Iris watches a light bob up and down as the intruders make their way towards them. There’s no way they won’t be noticed. They’re still close enough to the banquet they can easily feign ignorance and claim they got lost on their way to find a restroom.

But if they do that, they’ll probably insist of walking them back to the main room. They need another guise, another reason why they need to be here. Some excuse of privacy they’re likely to empathize with and be willing to overlook their voyeur into a restricted area.

They grow closer, Iris is able to pick out a few words from their conversation such as ‘happy’ and ‘dessert’ and figure they’re part of the serving staff. That doesn’t stop her heart from racing at the idea of being caught.

The glow of the intruder’s light is about to hit them and Iris panics, jumping on the first idea that pops in her stressed mind.

She grabs Cat by her jacket lapels, pushes her up against the wall, stands on her very tippy toes, and presses her lips against hers.

Iris can feel Cat, understandably tense up at first. She is surprised, however, by how quickly she relaxes under Iris’ grip and begins to return the kiss, bending her knees to make them more level with one another.

It almost makes Iris forget why they started this in the first point. It doesn’t last long.

“What have we got here?” asks a voice behind them.

Iris whips around, immediately covering her eyes with a hand to protect them from the bright light shining right at them.

“The parties back that way you know,” says the second party, obviously struggling to push back her giggles.

“I didn’t think anyone was down here,” Iris says, not having to fake the shaking in her voice. “We,” she pauses to look at Cat and grab her hand, “were just looking for a bit of privacy.”

“We can see that,” says the first person. “We’ll pretend we didn’t see you if you promise to rejoin the gala soon. And under no circumstances go further down the hallway. We got a deal?” he asks.

“Of course, thank you so much. I appreciate your discretion here.”

“Don’t mention it,” says the woman. “And don’t have too much fun.” She winks at them.

Iris sighs in relief as they disappeared down the hall. She taps the light back on, this time on a lower setting, and sets off down the hall with Cat in tow.

“What? You’re just going to do that and act like nothing happened?” accuses Cat, tension clear in her voice.

“I told you, acting like a couple makes us a lot less conspicuous.”

“You’re a lot wilder than anyone ever gives you credit for, Iris.” Something close to admiration lacing her tone and replacing the tension.

“I ran off with the son of my families arch-nemesis for two years. What part of that doesn’t scream ‘wild’ to you?”

“Fair enough. Where are we going anyways?” asks Cat.

“We need to get to the other side of the buildings. Unfortunately, is seems the best route there is going to take us straight passed the kitchen.”

“That doesn’t seem like the best plan.”

“It’ll be fine. Like I said, just follow my lead and be quiet,” says Iris. They come to an intersection and she carefully pokes her head out and check that there’s no one there.

“I don’t think being quiet is going to get us passed the kitchen.” Cat rushes after Iris as she jogs through the intersection.

“Thanks, Cat. I’ll figure out a way passed it once I get a look at it.”

“Planning on the fly. I love it.”

“I can’t tell if you’re mocking me or not. I’m going to go with you’re being sincere and ignore any evidence to the contrary.”

Iris pretends she doesn’t hear Cat’s responding chuckle as they resume their trek to the west side of the building. The hallways are pleasantly deserted, it seems almost too easy and she can’t help but feel like they’re walking straight into a trap. Even if they are there’s not much more for her to do but march into the lion’s den, head held high.

Iris and Cat are a few halls down from the kitchens before she starts to notice any signs of life in these side paths. Iris can hear the busy sounds of clinking pots and escaping steam, along with the scent of spices wafting over her.

She waves Cat closer to the wall and inches forward a few more inches until she hovers around a corner where she can observe the kitchen without being seen for a few minutes while she tries to come up with a plan to get passed.

There isn’t much going on this side of the kitchen as there is at the second door closer to the lobby, but every once in a while one of the cooking assistances bustles around fetching some pot or other for the chef. Iris begins to brace herself to grab Cat and make a mad dash by the kitchen door when one of the event’s security guards decides to make a grand appearance.

This guard isn’t from the same group keeping keen eyes on the guests. This one comes from Ahn’s personal contingent composed largely of Walyer’s. A species of large, green specimens with thick, scale like skin, and anything from two to six horns framing their faces making their large eyes, which already take up nearly half of their faces as is, seem even larger.

The bottom half of their face is occupied by a small mouth with lips that are eternally held open by large, yellowing fangs. Walyer’s often find themselves employed as personal security and prison transports due to their intimidating features and ability to exert brute force. Iris has never met a Wayler who stands less that nine feet tall and isn’t too broad to fit through standard doorways.

This Wayler is particularly intimidating. They’re nearly eleven feet tall with two giant guns strapped to its back, a belt of vicious looking knives around its waist, and a vest of grenades and other explosive weapons attached.

Iris swore she felt her heart seize and a wave of dizziness wash over, she feels herself start to hyperventilate.

“Well fuck,” she says, and immediately clamps a hand over her mouth as she inches back to where she left Cat. Luckily the Wayler doesn’t seem to hear her. She grabs Cat and scurries down the hall to hide behind a large potted plant, crouching down as low as she can. A few seconds of clearing her mind and taking deep, calming breathes and she is back in the moment. She slowly loosens her death grip on Cat’s arm and cautiously peeks around the plant back the way she’s come.

“What the hell, Iris?” Cat finally asks, now that Iris doesn’t appear on the verge of bolting out of this galaxy.

Iris peeks around the plant and finds there’s no sign of the Wayler so she relaxes, slumping with her back against the wall, and rests her head in her hands.

“Wayler,” she says.

Cat swears. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“I very much wish that were so,” says Iris, not lifting her head.

“Okay,” says Cat. She sits down next to Iris and thrums her fingers against her leg. “Okay, we need to leave. We can go back to the hotel and work on a new plan. We have time, and this is officially too dangerous.”

“I thought I was the one in charge here? Can’t you just,” Iris waves her hands around, “just siren it or whatever?”

“Oh, come on. First of all, that is so not how that works. And secondly, you don’t actually plan on going through with this?”

Iris raises an eyebrow at her and shrugs her shoulders, already inching forward again.

“Wow. I didn’t believe them, but you really are full hardy aren’t you?”

Iris ignores this as she resumes her earlier spot at the corner peeking into the kitchen, Cat sliding along behind her trying to stick close.

“You know there’s another reason Zerich chose me to come with you. It’s because no one else wanted to be dragged along on your desperate bid for freedom. Your reputation precedes you,” says Cat, hissing the last part under her breath.

Iris rolls her eyes. “You’re exaggerating. There’s nothing desperate about this. I’m just eager for it to be over.”

“Either way, you’re willing to get us killed.”

“You don’t have to babysit me you know. You are free to go back to the hotel. I know you can track my tablet so it’s not like I’m going to disappear if I get back out,” says Iris. She’s growing increasingly annoyed at the delay, she could have gotten passed the kitchen and on her way in the amount of time they’ve spent bickering.

“And miss the fun?” Iris is surprised by the sudden smile on her face. “Not for anything. I’m ready for an Iris brand adventure.” Cat pulls a compact pistol from her inside jacket pocket and gestures to the kitchen with it. “Lead the way, I’m right behind you.”

“I don’t understand you.” Iris shakes her head, happy in the fact that even though Cat kept its existence from her it’s coming in handy now.

“Good.”

“Right.” She motions for Cat to be quiet and strains her ears, searching for any sound or sign of movement. Hearing nothing, she ducks her head out for a quick look. Seeing nothing, she takes a deep breath and looks to Cat.

“It’s not that far,” whispers Iris.

“Make a run for it?”

“It’s worth a shot.”

Iris rolls her shoulders, sends out a plea for success to the universe, and nods to Cat. Cat nods back, and they throw themselves down the hall. They bound passed the kitchen door in a few, sprawling strides, until they reach the shadows of the next hall where they can’t be seen.

Iris slips at the last minutes and ends up scrapping her knee and ripping her leggings in the process. Cat partially catches her and pushes her up against the wall and they freeze, breathing heavily and listening again for any indication they’ve been discovered. Hearing nothing again, they relax, and take stock of the position they’ve found themselves in. Eye to eye, face to face, so close they can feel each other breath and uncomfortably reminiscent of their earlier farce.

The two quickly push apart, breaking eye contact, and take a moment to compose themselves and catch their breath.

There’s no sign of the Wayler. While they’re large, they’re deceptively quiet. Iris can only hope it went through the kitchen and out the other side.

Taking advantage of this quiet moment Iris studies the map on her arm. She waits for it to update and reorient itself to her new position. The situation is getting too nerve wracking for her taste and she’s hoping to find a new route to their destination.

Preferably one unreachable by Wayler’s.

There’s a room in the west wing where the museum catalogs and cleans their items. Some of these items get left in the room for days, so the room is heavily protected and seems the best place to keep something valuable holed up for a night.

She moves the map around, trying to find a new angle, as if that will make a secret route magically appear. Which is exactly what happens. She zooms in to try and get a closer look at their current location and a hidden lower layer of the map appears, revealing a series of vents she didn’t notice before traveling right over where she needs to be. She dances in place as a silent victory cheer.

“What did you find?” asks Cat.

Iris looks up and flashes her light along the hall looking for the entrance to the vent and there, just a few feet to her left on the ceiling, is a grill just big enough for her to squeeze through. Though that assumes she’ll be able to reach that high and force it open in the first place.

She smiles.

“Slight change of plans. I hope you’re not claustrophobic.”

“Not particularly.”

“Good, because I am,” says Iris.

Before she’s able to psych herself up and find a way to get into the vent she hears footsteps. She hurriedly turns off her light and contorts herself into a small, formless blob against the wall until they pass. They have the good fortune of being in a hall that has the lights turned off and easily go unseen.

Light back on she places herself under the vent and slides her hand as far up the wall as she can and finds that, even on her tiptoes, her fingertips are barely able to graze the bottom of the grate guarding the vent.

“Oh, that is cute,” says Cat with a giggle.

“Shut up,” says Iris. “If you don’t have anything productive to add to the conversation then leave me alone. It’s not like you’re much better off.”

“No. But this might help,” she says hauling over a bench Iris overlooked.

Iris stares at it for a few minutes, annoyed at herself for not seeing it first.

“Be my guest.” She moves to the side to give Cat room to position the bench and step up on it.

It’s only about knee high, and doesn’t seem particularly sturdy, but it gives her the extra boost needed making it the best, if only, option she has.

Iris lifts the tablet up until it lights up the entrance to the vent, so Cat is able to get a better look at it as she clambers onto the table. She takes a moment to find her center of gravity, then digs her fingernails between the metal grate and the wall and yanks.

A shower of plaster pours down, sounding like raindrops hitting the ground as they fall to the floor. Covered in a smattering of dust Cat muffles a cough in the crook of her elbow. She crouches down on the table and passes the grate to Iris, who in turn hands her the tablet-turned-flashlight, and gently leans the grate against the legs of the bench on the floor.

This finished, Cat squints up into the dark vent with reluctance.

“It’s disgusting,” she says.

“Would you rather risk running into the Waylor again?”

Cat sighs but doesn’t respond. Iris watches as she grasps the edges of the vent opening, experimentally jumps up and down testing the vents durability, and heaves herself up and in. She wedges her elbows in, hooks a knee over the edge, and pulls herself forwards. The vent’s only a few inches wider than her shoulders and it takes her a few seconds of calculated wiggling to get fully inside.

Iris leaves her alone as she lays on her stomach, gasping for breath, and feels grateful that she wasn’t the one to go in first. She’s also grateful she’s had the foresight to wear a dress with a flexible skirt and practical flats.

“You doing okay in there?” she asks after what seems like an appropriate amount of time passed.

“I am absolutely fantastic. I love having spiders for dinner,” Cat says. Her voice is muffled and has an odd echo to it, like she’s speaking into a tin can. Which she essentially is, all things considered.

“Your sacrifice for the greater good has been noted. You about ready to keep going?”

“Why did I go first when you’re the one with the map anyways?”

Iris rolls her eyes. “I loaded the map on the tablet too. Just follow the purple line I laid out; it’ll be fine.”

“You say that now, but I’m not certain you’re going to be feeling that way once you’re in here, Miss Claustrophobic.”

“Yes, thank you. I’m trying not to think about it so how about you scoot up a bit and let me get this over with already?”

Cat moves forward another foot, giving Iris just enough room to haul herself in. She places her hands on the vent and pushes herself up until the top half of her is lying down. Her feet scramble under her, trying to find something to gain purchase on. She should have made an actual plan here before jumping in. She doesn’t find anything to brace her feet against, but there are a few crevices along the wall she’s able to dig her fingers into and pull herself the rest of the way in with.

She stays where she is, resting her head on her arms for a few minutes trying to steady her breathing. She can feel her heart beginning to race and just the thought of looking up and seeing nothing, but grey walls makes her nauseous.

“Oh my god,” she says. She can feel her chest begin to constrict as panic sets in.

“Don’t worry, it gets better.” Iris can feel the vibrations of her voice through the vent.

“What, are there scorpions up ahead or something?”

“No, I actually mean it. It opens up quite a bit just up ahead.”

“If you’re fucking with me, I will cry. Forewarning.”

“Get up here, Iris.”

Iris groans, but she finally lifts her head, doing everything in her power to focus solely on Cat ahead of her.

Cat is right, the vent opens up considerably just a short distance away. Iris crawls her way forward until she’s able to sit up next to Cat.

“This map is stupid,” says Cat.

“Be nice to my map.”

“I’m sorry map,” says Cat.

“Thank you. What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s rather bare bones don’t you think? How am I supposed to figure out where the hell we are?”

“Let me see it,” says Iris, yanking it from Cat’s grasp when she holds it out behind her.

“Rude, but okay.”

Iris reorients the map until it’s zoomed in on their location and a purple line tracing their path through the maze of vents appears.

“Do you want it back, or do you want me to navigate for you?” Iris holds the tablet out to Cat.

“I think I can handle from here. It’s not like there are a lot of actual direction changes or something,” says Cat. “You ready to go again?”

Iris rubs at her face, trying to pull all the cobwebs from her face. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” She hopes the map M’Lell gave her is accurate, it has been up to now, because the idea of being trapped up here makes her breath catch in her throat. She forces that train of thought out of her mind and focuses on the task at hand. Namely not dying.

[fizzingwizard]

Just venting about work...

At my job, we are supposed to have an hour break and an hour of prep. An hour break is generous and an hour prep is woefully inadequate, so prep bleeds into break all the time. I’ve never taken an hour break. It’s usually 10 or 15 min, 30 when I can.

However, our schedule changes daily and this break/prep time is NOT consecutive. It’s 15 min off duty here, 30 min off there, etc. Which makes getting anything done during that down time really difficult - as soon as you set up, it’s time to break down. Then you have to do it again later when your next off duty block shows up.

We are also perpetually understaffed. Most schools in our company have at least 2 of my type of class divided by age level, and at least two, but usually three, teachers per class. My school? Has 1 class of combined ages (complicating things immensely!) with three teachers, one of whom works 10-7, one who is part time and works 9:30-3, and then me, who works 9-5. This means that there are times of day when I am the only teacher of my age group around, or my coworker is, so there’s no choice but to put us on the duty schedule during those times. In other words, those are popular break times for other teachers, but we have to be on duty because there’s no one else. (It also means there’s no one to share the load for school event planning so I’m a leader for every, single. event. 1 hour of prep a day during which I have to prep, grading, cleaning, organizing, lesson planning, prop making, and event planning... HOW??)

And on top of that, I have never to my memory actually had a full 2 hours prep/break time on my schedule. Never. The longest is 1 hr 45, which is close - but that’s rare. On a regular day, it’s 1.5 hrs, or 1 hour 15 min. On days when another teacher calls out sick and we can’t get a sub, or on days when we have parent meetings or after school classes, and I have to pick up the slack, I might have 1 hour.

And on top of the top of that - meetings run long, the teacher supposed to take over for your shift before you go on break is late, etc, all these things add up and... for example, yesterday I was off literally 40 min the entire day. 10 min in the morning (was supposed to be 15, meeting ran long), 15 in the afternoon (was supposed to be 30 but the teacher who made the scheduled goofed and no one was available to cover a 30 min block, so me and another teacher split it), and 15 min in the afternoon (again was supposed to be 30 but the teachers supposed to take over my duty showed up 15 min late because her class had run long).

And that’s the end of a week of days just like that - only one day this week did I have a normal off duty schedule, and three times during the week I was on duty for 2 hours non stop in the afternoon (a shift that is not coveted!)

Whether normal or crunch time, I am on my feet all day. My legs ache so much at the end of the day. I look after really young kids who need a lot of supervision, and if I so much as look away to sneeze at the wrong time, it could spell disaster. It’s really hard sometimes. I joke that right now I’m working harder at this job than at any other yet getting paid the least of any job I’ve had - but it’s not really a joke. That is the situation. In spite of that, I like this job soooo much more than my others. I am an involved teacher and have a close daily relationship with all my kids. I love that I’m the one who can calm them down. I love joking and playing with them. I love planning our activities and lessons. If you asked me even a couple years ago whether I’d ever want to teach this age long term, I’d have said no. Now, I’m finding it so fulfilling every day.

As you might imagine, I work overtime a lot. TBH, I should be doing it even more, for better quality. But I also have 1.5 hour commute that is sometimes 2 hours especially in the evening, and I tend to pass out after dinner so. I find it difficult to feel like I’m not already working really hard. But there’s always something left to do. It drives me crazy. I worried that it was just me, but my coworkers as well are feeling this way.

We were told that we were going to get a new teacher to help with the burden. They were supposed to come in September... then October... now it’s mid-Sep and we have heard absolutely nothing. They should be showing up for training if they’re going to start in October. We area all extremely skeptical. My personal take is, the company didn’t budget for hiring new teachers during the year at all... we have another teacher going on maternity leave so she needs a replacement, and our situation might be tight, but it’s not as impossible as not having a teacher at all. So that’s how things stand at the moment.

So that’s all stressful but mostly exhausting. I feel like the stress is a lot less than it was when I started the job (thank goodness) and that gives me confidence. But what I really need is to cut down on the exhaustion. I want to spend more time with my bf on the weekends but I tend to drag myself out to see him because I’m so tired. I want to go on hikes but my feet hurt every day. I’ve always been a homebody and an introvert so it’s not like I was super active before, but I definitely did more on my own volition, and most of all, I wasn’t so damn tired. (I mean, I’m also not 20 anymore x’D gotta factor that in too...)

Anyway, as bad as I feel sometimes... I also feel like I can’t complain. Because my schedule probably isn’t as bad as some others. For example, my Japanese coworkers are required to work an hour longer than me. I believe they also get paid less (paid less for more work - international teachers in Japan, this is very often the case for your Japanese coworkers! It was like that at my previous job as well. I don’t know what the reason is - they work a lot of overtime too that they don’t get paid for - they do sometimes get sizable bonuses that some say make up for the salary difference but... idk, it’s all sketchy and weird). So if I complain about my salary, it feels selfish, even though the salary I’m getting is barely sustainable for me as someone who lives alone with no dependents. And if I complain about the amount of time I work or the amount of responsibilities I have, there are people with more of both. Even if coworkers would agree with me, I feel like it’s only gonna make me look weak if I voice my complaints.

Things I love about my job - all the things I mentioned before about my students, as well as the fact that my coworkers are upbeat and team players and very helpful. We all support each other a lot. There’s no brow-beating if you have to stay home sick. It sucks - it does - because of being understaffed, but no one talks badly about you like in some other jobs I’ve had here in Japan. We don’t get sick leave, but at least people understand that sickness is a thing that happens. Generally I feel respected and like I can respect my coworkers. And I feel like everyone really cares about the kids and wants to give them a great school experience. We’re not just coasting by. It’s helped me to think a lot about the importance of work culture. I feel encouraged and inspired to do more for my students because others around me are doing the same with theirs. It’s so different from the eikaiwa where no one really gave a damn about anything. (Except the managers, about money.)

That’s why I don’t want to leave. I wish I could go into every detail because there are sooo many other things driving me up the wall every day that seem like they should never have happened or should be high on the to-fix list... but the to-fix list is extremely long. And it means something to me that, in spite of all that, I still like it here and want to stay. Like, that means something’s going very right, in spite of all the wrong.

And adulthood really is just being tired all the time, I think that’s true for all adults unless you’re just really blessed with an abundance of energy. Caffeine is popular for a reason. It is the hardest pill for me to swallow because everyone seems to expect me to have all these interesting things to say and I’m like, “I just work, eat, and sleep... "

We had a part-time worker in the spring who unfortunately quit. While she was there things were sooo much more manageable. Just one part time worker... If my job could just give us that, I would be so much happier. But it seems like asking too much. I wish I had a coworker to talk to and share opinions but I’m worried about that being seen as weak or selfish thing. You never know what they’ll say at a performance review. (Not that we get those. When you can’t afford to hire anyone new, you can’t really afford to fire over small things either.)

Bah!

[writers-leir]

prince!jeonghan

prince!jeonghan

aka part two of prince!vernon

should probably be named “in which jeonghan finds his nap buddy”

he’s lowkey still salty about his nap buddy leaving him for vernon

but he’s happy for them so he lets it slide

he tried to get chan to be his nap buddy but chan flat out rejected him

after that he went to seungcheol who was like l o l i know i’m your second choice don’t try to fool me

awihgskjlfsadgxcbn he tried

ANYWAYS he naps alone for now cause he doesn’t like any of the women (and men because,,,,have you seen jeonghan he’s such a pretty person) who like,,,,,throw themselves at him SO

introducing: you

you’re a simple gardener at the palace

by simple i mean the only gardener because his parents trust you like 999% with their garden and unless you also trust someone 999% you refuse to let them hire a helper for you

so you’re super busy

you rarely see any of the other people who work at the place much less the prince

jeonghan’s mom is always like ;~; we’ll hire the nice lady who works at the flower shop in the town you trust her right? cause she’s so worried you’re gonna work yourself to death at such a young age

but you’re like no,,,,i only trust her 998% with my flowers,,,

and like while you know what jeonghan looks like you’ve never actually seen him so you,,,,,don’t realize who he is when you find him sleeping on one of the flowerbeds

all you see is this ONE IDIOT WHO IS RUINING YOUR HARD WORK

the work that you put your literal blood sweat and tears into

you can’t even count the number of times you’ve cut yourself or almost fainted from the heat trying to make the flower bed perfect

one time it rained really hard and the left side of the tarp ripped open and half of the flowers were destroyed and your heart broke

you refused to do anything for the next week while replanting all the flowers

the rest of the palace staff felt so bad for you during that week they kept bringing you freshly baked bread or that really good tea secretly

and while jeonghan’s parents knew what the staff were doing they didn’t say anything because they loved you like another child

(and they lowkey would wish that jeonghan would propose to you someday BUT THAT’S A STORY FOR LATER)

anyways back to jeonghan sleeping in the flowerbed

those flowers are basically your children

and so you can’t even beGIN to describe the horror you felt when you saw this one LANKY IDIOT NAPPING IN THEM

honestly you didn’t even realize he was wearing a very expensive white dress shirt and black slacks that CLEARLY looked royal

plus his family emblem was on the blazer thrown to the ground beside him

you’re sooOOoooO ready to give this flower killer a piece of your mind

and as the gardener of course you’re carrying a bucket of water and you’re just,,,,,,SO ready to go fight this person who’s destroying your children

and how else but to dump all the water on him?

at first jeonghan’s like kSDHGAKLJDS what the

and then he looks at you and he just kinda,,,,,,,,,,,oh what,,,,,,,,,,,,

and now you’re like kAKJSDHGAKJSDHG because did you really just pour like three liters of water onto the PRINCE

and jeonghan WANTS to be angry because now he has to go back to the palace to change and the time he has for his naps has been reduced

but he just,,,,,,,,,,can’t seem to get angry because you look???? so scared asdkhgkasd

you immediately get on your knees bowing like asdkjhgkljsHDAGSD IM SORRY I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS YOu and you’re rambling on about how you got a lot little annoyed at how someone was ruining your hard work without a second thought

jeonghan’s like IT’S OKAY i’ll just go get changed pls get up;;;;;;; i didn’t realize how important these flowers were

your eye twitches because,,,,,,,,,did he just imply that those flowers are unimportant,,,,but you don’t say anything because you already almost lost your job

jeonghan knows all the palace staff by name and face so,,,,,he felt pretty disappointed in himself when he realized he couldn’t put a name to your face

he asks his mom about you that night and she’s just kind of like celebrating with his dad because  F I N A L L Y they meet

(jeonghan in the back: what)

she tells him that you’re the only gardener so you rarely have any free time

she also mentions about you being childhood friends with butler!joshua

jeonghan almost runs joshua down the next time he sees him but joshua’s like I’M HOLDING YOUR MOM’S BEST TEACUPS D O  N O T  TOUCH ME

when jeonghan asks joshua about you during his break joshua’s just like //insert suspicious face// why do you want to know

and then when jeonghan tells him about what happened josh’s like LOL you called their flowers unimportant man rip your chances with them

jeonghan: but they’re????just flowers/???????

joshua: don’t say i didn’t warn you

joshua advices jeonghan to offer you some help (even if you might reject it,,,cause it’s the thought that counts right????)

at first jeonghan’s like,,,,a little hesitant because his already limited break time is being cut even shorter and he knows like,,,,,nada about gardening

and the suspicious look in your eyes didn’t help his confidence at all

you end up agreeing anyways, and to start off, you have him fetching water for you

he’s like lowkey shocked at how heavy one bucket of water is but you’re just?????carrying two with no problem (and he swears that there’s a skip in your step like,,,,where do you find the energy to do this all day???)

his parents are also like !????? because a) that’s the crown prince,,,,,,following behind this gardener carrying buckets of water and b) did you really just,,,,,,agree without hesitation or putting thought into it????

they’re supportive of it though

like you’d think that the king and queen would be super against the crown prince doing any manual labor?

but no. not jeonghan’s parents. they’re super supportive because!!!!!their favorite (only) gardener can finally take it a little bit easier!!!!

at first you honestly feel like jeonghan’s not going to do as well as you expect because your expectations are sooooo high but then???? by the third week he’s able to start naming the types of flowers and their meanings, or even knowing exactly how much water the flowers beside the oak tree need (and by exactly i mean to the millilitre)

eventually you allow him to actually start managing the flowers (pulling out weeds, planting more, etc…)

and his parents are,,,,,,quite shocked to say the least

jeonghan actually finds himself enjoying every second he spends working on the garden (it’s totally not because you’re there)

he’s not going to lie, the first week was Stressful seeing as you refused to take your eyes off him

but he also lives for those moments when you thank him for helping you out or when you compliment him on his knowledge on gardening

in reality, he actually goes to joshua every evening for a lesson (but since joshua’s knowledge on gardening is limited, he eventually hired florist!jihoon from the town to help him out)

when seungcheol found out he straight out laughed in jeonghan’s face, telling him that he was super whipped for this person he barely knew

“i am not whipped!!!!”

“you’re literally taking an hour every day out of your rest time just to learn about gardening to please this person. are they that cute?”

jeonghan’s ears are turning red because yes you are that cute

of course his old nap buddy finds out too since they are childhood best friends

his old nap buddy was like a w e when they found out because “does jeonghan have a crush??”

“we’re not in middle school p l e a s e”

it’s highkey cute though because he eventually becomes comfortable enough with you that when he sees you he literally c r u s h e s you into a hug (you don’t complain because 1: it’s the crown prince asdkgjaskdf and 2: you may or may not have a crush on him,,,,,,,)

after the first time you allowed him to do something other than carrying water you forced him to get older clothes that no one cares about getting dirty

but,,,,,,he didn’t have any because they threw out his old clothes as soon as they became too small so he ends up going to joshua who was like i,,,,,,literally have only my uniform and these jeans and a shirt,,,,,you can go ask seungcheol though?

he ends up going to the town to get some stuff and accidentally binged out and bought four bags worth of clothes

so you and jeonghan end up getting into this routine where he joins you after lunch to work on the gardens and then leaves again in the evening to go eat dinner and do his work

you two don’t spend a lot of time together (the most having been 4 hours), but you get to know each other a little bit from that limited time

you find out who his former nap buddy was and you’re like o h my god. that’s the person who killed their succulent plants every time they got a new one

jeonghan: that’s the one yep

jeonghan actually starts enjoying the time he spends with you so much that he sometimes ends up skipping lunch and dinner (and then at like 8pm when you ask why his stomach has been growling non-stop for the past half hour he’s like NO REASON nope none at all)

he just really likes spending time with you like he doesn’t even care that he’s getting mud under his nails, or scars from the thorns on the roses

“scars are manly!!!”

“jeonghan you cried for half an hour and refused to use any bandaid other than the spongebob ones that joshua carries around”

you always feel really bad because now jeonghan refuses to let you do the hard work but you’re just like jeonghan i’m the gardener this is my job i get paid to do this work

suddenly though jeonghan just stops??? coming???

you think that maybe he’s just sick but after a week you’re like ?????????????

they even closed off one section of the garden and you’re like ))): because that was the section that you had wanted to save until you could decorate it to your own style and now they’re going to renovate it ))))))):

except no they’re actually not

it’s actually a surprise from jeonghan for you because he knows that you wanted to make that section your own little personal garden but you just never have time

and the past two, three months that he spent with you was enough time for him to figure out what you wanted

he recruits the help of seungcheol, chan, jihoon, and joshua (when they’re not busy) and the five of them are spending literally hours upon hours trying to perfect it

when jeonghan placed the orders with jihoon he almost fainted because !!!!! it’s literally impossible to find bird of paradise flowers in this part of the world

but jeonghan was firm with what he wanted and he told jihoon to just place the order under the king’s name (to which his dad was like “why did i receive three truck loads of flowers yesterday???”)

his dad was okay with it though,,,as long as jeonghan paid for it

you kind of,,,,,give up trying to find jeonghan after the second week because the rare chances that you did see him he literally sprinted the other way and you were like,,,,,,what,,,,,

you tried asking joshua about it but he refused to tell you anything and you were like!!!!!i grew up with you what do you mean you CAN’T TELL ME JOSHUA HONG DON’T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME

a month later you’re approached by seungcheol and joshua and you’re like ( ≖.≖) at joshua who’s just like LISTEN you gotta trust us

you follow them outside and towards the area that was closed off and you’re like ???? why were they building a glass -oH THAT’S A GREENHOUSE

and you’re sooo confused?? until you get inside and realize,,,it’s a mini palace

literally because there are ROOMS for each of the types of plants like,,,there’s a room for the tropical ones where the humidity is kept higher than those that need a drier environment

you’re like watching joshua and seungcheol try and hide their smiles and you’re just like teLL me what’s going on aksdhgaklsdf

they lead you through the maze of flowers (you swear that it did not look this big from the outside) and you get to the end and jeonghan’s there

and he’s like,,,,,,,dressed up as if he’s at a party

and you suddenly feel super underdressed cause,,,,you’re wearing an old oversized shirt and muddy overalls,,,

seungcheol and joshua leave you two and you’re just like ??is something the matter

jeonghan tells you that he knows how much you wanted to make your own little garden but you never have time so,,,,he decided to do it for you

and at first you’re like aksdhgkjSHLGADSGJ what and he’s like oh,,,,did you want to do it yourself????? )))):

but you’re like nooo!!!! that’s not it,,,,i’m just shocked,,,,

you’re just like a mixture of confused and also lowkey kinda touched because,,,,,he really paid attention to the details and he remembered what flowers you liked,,,,and went out of his way to get them too

you ask him why he did this and he turns red like his ears are so red that you could literally hold a tomato up beside it and it’d be the same color

for a minute it looks like he’s trying to find the words to say and you’re like,,,,,is something the matter?

but then he says “will you be my nap buddy from now on?”

and you’ve known jeonghan long enough to understand exactly what he means by that so you’re like alksdhgakljsdhgKJLSDHAGLDS i would,,,,love to,,,,,except you know i can’t actually take naps,,,,,,right?

and throughout the entire conversation jeonghan just seemed really tense

but as soon as you said yes his entire body just relaxed and he smiled reaaaally really wide like y’know that really pretty smile? yeah that’s the one

when you see that smile you’re like “even with all these flowers, you’re still the prettiest”

and jeonghan’s so red he’s literally STEAMING at his ears asdhgkajlsdf

the next day when you run into joshua he’s like grinning really wide and you’re just like i’m still mad at you >:(

the king and queen hear about it like that very day because,,,,,it’s not like they had to deal with the massive amount of flowers that were ordered or anything,,,,,

jeonghan basically forced you to let him hire jihoon to help you out with the garden because “i can’t be having my future spouse dying early”

despite jihoon having been one of the people who originally helped jeonghan with the greenhouse, he’s actually not allowed to help with taking care of the flowers inside it

it’s kind of like yours and jeonghan’s little secret (even though it’s not a secret but it still feels,,,,nice to have that one spot for just the two of you)

and o f course jeonghan,,,,managed to sneak in a mattress and some pillows and a blanket to put in the corner for the two of you to nap at

when you officially meet jeonghan’s childhood best friend (aka vernon’s partner), you give them a giant book titled “Easy Plants for Beginners” and a ten minute lecture on how not to kill them (you even had notecards and everything prepared)

jeonghan on the side: that’s the love of my life right there

even though you keep telling jeonghan that you refuse to take naps during work he still manages to convince you to take a 20 minute nap

which ends up turning into 2 hours

he’s honestly willing to do anything for you,,,,i mean he gave up sleep to build you an entire garden askdghaskldf how much softer can someone get right?

[volleyboys-imagines]

Glad to see you're back :D and I hope finals weren't too tough on you ! Also also, it's my boi Terushima's birthday so I would like to kindly request headcanons on what would a day in Terushima's life be ( morning routine, practice, what he would do in class /lunch break etc) bonus points for weekend activites ! thanks in advance

halloooo im sorry that this is suuuper late, i was helping out my dad in his work!! College au for now!

Morning:

During school, Teru sleeps until the last possible moment. He has a playlist for his morning routine that is exactly the number of minutes and seconds from getting up to walking out the door. He’s very particular about it; any different and it screws up his morning.

Morning routine? Get up, glass of water, shower, dress, breakfast, check bag, and out the door. Takes about 30 minutes, 35 if he’s still sleepy.

Class:

The truth about Teru is that he’s smart af.

The problem is that, early on, his parents wanted to have a good, smart kid, like the Asian dad meme/stereotype. He knew the kind of work associated with being a topnotch student, and so he secretly decided not to be one. He’s got the grades of a below-average idiot, but he’s actually very knowledgeable.

so their expectations of him are pretty low to average, so he doesn’t get a lot of shit when he gets home with straight B’s or midway between pass and fail

He looks plenty bored most of the time because he’s already read the stuff before. He doesn’t have any questions for the teacher, really. The other kids think he’s a slacker, and gets picked last for any group project.

The irony is that he’ll do his best in group projects. Sure, he’ll be a deadbeat when it comes to direct confrontation, but in the background he’s already done with his part of the paper with amazing speed and accuracy.

I think he finishes everything first so that he can play later, usually working into the night to finish it. He works in a separate document or a notepad on his desktop instead of on the document itself (for a group paper). People who leave it for later and cram complain that he’s not working but really, it’s in a notepad on his desktop. He can copy-paste it when everyone else is done.

They’ll find out outta nowhere that the Gdoc is 3 pages longer hahaha and it’s because of Teru

SLEEPS IN CLASS. mostly because of surfing the internet or finishing that paper or doing whatever late into the night. Teachers hate it haha

Lunch break:

He always says it’s silly to bring in a bento, but really he thinks that it’s better than cafeteria or store food. Nothing beats homecooked!

not sure if he’s still staying at home or not....there’s a lot of unis in Miyagi and I feel he’d stay close to home

if ever he’s able to get out of the house, then he’ll get a scholarship. I don’t know how they do it in Japan, but here you can apply for a scholarship. he feels it’s a good way to thank his parents for putting up with his shit haha

He saves money to buy the more expensive stuff from the store or in the vending machines, and buys on the last day of the week.

Afternoons?

All he has is the volleyball club, really. It’s a way to let off some steam and energy because you can hit stuff with your own hands.

On days without practice, he goes home and does homework. Other days, he goes to the gym. And on even rare occasions, he goes out for ramen and drinks with friends.

Other days he just crashes on his bed and wakes up to find out it’s morning of the next day.

At night:

Well, I did say he goes home to do homework, go to the gym, go out with friends, or even sleep his head off. Here are other things he does at night, right before bed

Reading up!! It helps remembering stuff in the morning

Arranges his bag. He slept on it once, and he forgot a tone of stuff he needed that day. That has never happened again.

Stretching! If he hasn’t gone to the gym, it’s a great way to get your blood flowing

He does get a good soak in a bathhouse (if ever he finds one). He prays he doesn’t fall asleep tho (or come face to face with another guy’s dong).

Weekends? Whatever he hasn’t been able to do during the week (gym, homework), he does on weekends. Sometimes he slacks off and goes on the internet. But he goes out with his friends as often as he can because it’s boring at home. They play silly games and play dumb pranks on other kids, occasionally helping out people when they need it. Sometimes they do practice when they feel like it, but mostly walking around. Sometimes he meets with groupmates if they need to discuss things, and sometimes he goes on dates with his s/o (if ever he’s dating). :)

[universtudy]

How to Study in High School… and Still Have a Life

Since most high school students will be back in school this week, I thought I would write a post about how I managed my time with a reasonable amount of studying. I think that joining clubs and sports and productions, or working a part time job, or just spending time with friends is crucial in high school, and you should be able to balance school with those activities. These tips will help you make the most of your time in high school, without studying 8 hours a day.

Time Management

Set exact, tangible goals for each class and major assignments. I found high school to be extremely results based, so I would choose a goal for my final mark in each class and exam. I found this I found this super helpful because it motivated me, but also because it allowed me to see how well I needed to do on each assignment to reach the goal. And to be honest, sometimes it allowed me to slack off on an unimportant assignment that I didn’t need to maintain my average.

Establish times that you study each day. In high school, I had so much going on with extra curriculars and friends that it was unrealistic to study for hours on end each day. I found that studying during my spare periods at school, and for a few hours after dinner. This meant that right after school and after like 10PM, I could focus on other things.

Only review what you need to. I know a lot of studyblrs preach that you should study an hour a day for each class, or 5 hours a week per class, or other formulaic solutions to how much to study.  But honestly, I found that reviewing for an hour a week or just before quizzes was enough for me in some classes. Don’t bother eating up your precious time trying to study a certain amount if it isn’t actually helping!

Get specific with what you need to study. This is tied to the above point. If you feel like you need to study for an hour for a class, decide what you will do during that hour. Catch up on reading, do review questions from the textbook, or write flashcards. Whatever it is, that’s fine. However, don’t just decide to “study for 1 hour” without a plan.

Remember your deadlines! If you are forgetting about tests and due dates, it will lead you to cram and pull all-nighters to get things done. This is a big waste of time, especially if you could have been dividing the workload over a week or more. I suggest using a planner, and telling a parent about upcoming deadlines so they can remind you.

Divide assignments into smaller tasks. This was my absolute ride-or-die organization method in high school, and I still use it now. If you have a five paragraph essay, make a small checklist breaking it down into the outline, each paragraph, and editing. Then, each day, you can do one task, which will only take 20-30 minutes, rather than spending 3 hours in one night. I have an example of these checklists here.

Study Smarter, Not Harder

Find out what kind of learner you are, and use relevant study techniques. I have a post on this here, so I won’t go into too much detail, but you will save your time by studying effectively.

Don’t just reread notes. Unless you have found simply reading information can make it stick in your head, try to choose a more active form of studying. You could study with a partner, write something down, record yourself reading the notes aloud, etc. I find that if you’re just sitting reading notes, it can often be because you feel obligated to study but don’t know how, so it won’t be effective.

Only use study groups if you can know they are effective. I remember in high school, my friends and I would always use “study group” as an excuse to hang out during our spares. Study groups can definitely be helpful, but if you’ve studied with someone a few times and never gotten anything done, suggest hanging out after you’ve both studied alone instead.

If you find a study technique that works, stick with it. People used to rag on me in high school because I would write out flashcards for every test in every class. But doing that got me 90s and up on all my tests, so I kept doing it. There is definitely a benefit to trying out new techniques if you’re struggling in a class, but if a study method works for you, just keep doing it.

Follow your teachers study guides and tips. I used to always think I was such an “advanced student” and so great at studying that I could make my own study plans. That might be true, but it will save you a lot of time and energy to just follow the guide a teacher prepared for you. If they put in the effort of preparing a guide for you, they probably want you to do well — and they’re the one who wrote the test, after all.

Specific Study Guides

How I Studied for Tests in High School

Tips for Studying History

Giving Amazing Presentations

[aaravdiwanworld]

How to Lead Your Field Sales Team While Working from Home

The one best thing about salespeople? They are independent and do not require micromanagement.

During the COVID-19 pandemic when they are not able to step out, it is important as a sales manager, to keep your team motivated and productive even when working from home.

And here are seven ways to keep your field team motivated as they work from home:

Maintain a relationship

So many people must be experiencing anxiety or may get paranoid with the current situation. So even if they do not need a manager to tell them how to do their job, they need someone to talk to and keep them engaged.

See what you do currently to stay positive and motivated. Schedule occasional meetings via Zoom or another video conferencing platform. And that should be like an open platform where everyone can share their thoughts, stories. And most people derive energy from interacting with their peers so have one-on-one calls with each of your employees.

Sometimes little of letting go is important

Productivity is important within the team. Rather than assuming that a staffer is slacking off or making excuses when a quota is missed, try to find out the real reason behind what’s going on.

Rather than focusing on their failures, offer an empathetic ear and a flexible schedule. Overall there will be a lot of stress they will have to deal with. You have to trust that they will do their best work.

This will help your employees feel like they have room to grow and that you trust them even when things get back to normal. Because it is important to let your employees know that you have their backs and you are aware of their contributions.

The Best Sales Advice to Survive COVID-19: To Sell or Not to Sell?

Direct them 

Unless your company has essentials to offer, whatever you are pushing might be tough to sell right now. And making sales when most businesses are shut, all they would hear will be “Not now”. And after a point, they would not see any point in making any more phone calls.

However, it is the time when you need to step in and change the narrative. Even if nobody is buying today, it usually takes six to eight touch points from initial contact to final pitch, before a new client would buy anything. So remind them of these small things and encourage them to reach out. Because persistence can still pay off.

Work on skills

This time is the best one to take up to get your team into as many online training sessions as possible. While they are sitting at home without any clients, it is time to utilize and sharpen their current skills.

They could learn new software and practice their video conferencing or presentation skills. It will also help you as an individual. This way, your entire company can step up their game by utilizing the free time.

Keep it light and fun

The pandemic is a really grave business. However, it is important to remain positive and keep your team engaged. You can pump a little bit of excitement and new creative ways in your sales meetings.

For example, you could arrange a small virtual party. Have TGIF meets, have fun competitions or if someone is good at cracking jokes, share that stage, etc. To bring some more excitement you could also offer them small prizes such as sending lunch to someone’s home, giving a shopping voucher, etc.

Also, co-workers enjoy joking around and catching up with each other. Have a couple of such minutes at the beginning or end of every virtual staff meeting. Because a staff that plays together works well together.

Celebrate wins (Even the smaller ones)

Whether it is a big win like the first sale in two weeks or a small win when a team member was able to present a decent speech, you need to celebrate both. Take a moment to appreciate and celebrate your team's wins.

Congratulate every achievement. Because at a time like this, celebrations are necessary and appreciated more than ever.

The times are tough. However, as a manager, you need to exercise skills like appreciation, encouragement, empathy. Even if your sales team is stuck, it is time to act as their leader and motivator to deal with the current state of their job, and look forward to the coming days. Develop their skills, increase their self-confidence, and watch them grow.

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Source: https://www.appjetty.com/blog/lead-your-field-sales-team-while-working-from-home/