#trying to kick burnout's butt by getting one with a few less hours and a more relaxing environment

[wickedcriminal]

Consider: pufferfish Wodensfang

[linastudyblrsblog]

Burnout, unfortunately, is everywhere. If you haven’t experienced it personally, you probably know someone who has self-diagnosed.

 Defined by the World Health Organization as a syndrome “conceptualized as resulted from chronic workplace stress,” it causes exhaustion, “feelings of negativism or cynicism,” and reduced efficacy. That’s a big umbrella, and the condition has become something of a catch-all for chronic, modern-day stress. 

Here are 11 of our favorites to help you create your own escape plan:

1. Figure out which kind of burnout you have.

The Association for Psychological Science found that burnout comes in three different types, and each one needs a different solution:

1. Overload: The frenetic employee who works toward success until exhaustion, is most closely related to emotional venting. These individuals might try to cope with their stress by complaining about the organizational hierarchy at work, feeling as though it imposes limits on their goals and ambitions. That coping strategy, unsurprisingly, seems to lead to a stress overload and a tendency to throw in the towel.

2. Lack of Development: Most closely associated with an avoidance coping strategy. These under-challenged workers tend to manage stress by distancing themselves from work, a strategy that leads to depersonalization and cynicism — a harbinger for burning out and packing up shop.

3. Neglect: Seems to stem from a coping strategy based on giving up in the face of stress. Even though these individuals want to achieve a certain goal, they lack the motivation to plow through barriers to get to it

2. Cut down and start saying “no.”

Every “yes” you say adds another thing on your plate and takes more energy away from you, and your creativity:

If you take on too many commitments, start saying ‘no’. If you have too many ideas, execute a few and put the rest in a folder labeled ‘backburner’. If you suffer from information overload, start blocking off downtime or focused worktime in your schedule (here are some tools that may help). Answer email at set times. Switch your phone off, or even leave it behind. The world won’t end. I promise.

3.  Give up on getting motivated.

With real burnout mode, you’re too exhausted to stay positive. So don’t:

When you’re mired in negative emotions about work, resist the urge to try to stamp them out. Instead, get a little distance — step away from your desk, focus on your breath for a few seconds — and then just feel the negativity, without trying to banish it. Then take action alongside the emotion. Usually, the negative feelings will soon dissipate. Even if they don’t, you’ll be a step closer to a meaningful achievement.

4.  Treat the disease, not the symptoms. 

For real recovery and prevention to happen, you need to find the real, deeper issue behind why you’re burnt out:

Instead of overreacting to the blip, step back from it, see it as an incident instead of an indictment, and then examine it like Sherlock Holmes looking for clues.

For example, you could ask yourself: What happened before the slip? Did I encounter a specific trigger event such as a last-minute client request? Was there an unusual circumstance such as sickness? When did I first notice the reversion in my behavior? Is some part of this routine unsustainable and if so, how could I adjust it to make it more realistic?

5.  Make downtime a daily ritual.

To help relieve pressure, schedule daily blocks of downtime to refuel your brain and well-being. It can be anything from meditation to a nap, a walk, or simply turning off the wifi for a while:

When it comes to scheduling, we will need to allocate blocks of time for deep thinking. Maybe you will carve out a 1-2 hour block on your calendar every day for taking a walk or grabbing a cup of coffee and just pondering some of those bigger things. I can even imagine a day when homes and apartments have a special switch that shuts down wi-fi and data access during dinner or at night – just to provide a temporary pause from the constant flow of status updates and other communications…

There is no better mental escape from our tech-charged world than the act of meditation. If only for 15 minutes, the ability to steer your mind away from constant stimulation is downright liberating. There are various kinds of meditation. Some forms require you to think about nothing and completely clear your mind. (This is quite hard, at least for me.) Other forms of meditation are about focusing on one specific thing – often your breath, or a mantra that you repeat in your head (or out loud) for 10-15 minutes…

If you can’t adopt meditation, you might also try clearing your mind the old fashioned way – by sleeping. The legendary energy expert and bestselling author Tony Schwartz takes a 20-minute nap every day. Even if it’s a few hours before he presents to a packed audience, he’ll take a short nap.

6.  Stop being a perfectionist; start satisficing.

Trying to maximize every task and squeeze every drop of productivity out of your creative work is a recipe for exhaustion and procrastination. Set yourself boundaries for acceptable work and stick to them:

Consistently sacrificing your health, your well being, your relationships, and your sanity for the sake of living up to impossible standards will lead to some dangerous behaviors and, ironically, a great deal of procrastination. Instead of saying, “I’ll stay up until this is done,” say, “I’ll work until X time and then I’m stopping. I may end up needing to ask for an extension or complete less than perfect work. But that’s OK. I’m worth it.” Making sleep, exercise, and downtime a regular part of your life plays an essential role in a lasting, productive creative career.

7.  Track your progress every day.

Keeping track allows you to see exactly how much is on your plate, not only day-to-day, but consistently over time:

Disappointing feedback can be painful at first – research shows that failure and losses can hurt twice as much as the pleasure of equivalent gains. But if you discover you’re off course, reliable feedback shows you by how much, and you then have the opportunity to take remedial action and to plot a new training regime or writing schedule. The temporary pain of negative feedback is nothing compared with the crushing experience of project failure. Better to discover that you’re behind and need to start writing an hour earlier each day, than to have your book contract rescinded further down the line because you’ve failed to deliver.

8.  Change location often.

Entrepreneurs or freelancers can be especially prone to burnout. Joel Runyon plays “workstation popcorn,” in which he groups tasks by location and then switches, in order to keep work manageable, provide himself frequent breaks, and spend his time efficiently:

You find yourself spending hours at your computer, dutifully “working” but getting very little done. You finish each day with the dreaded feeling that you’re behind, and that you’re only falling farther and farther behind. You’re buried below an ever-growing to-do list. There’s a feeling of dread that tomorrow is coming, and that it’s bringing with it even more work that you probably won’t be able to get ahead on.

List out everything you need to do today. Try to be as specific as you can…Next, break that list into three sections. Step 1: Go to cafe [or desk, a different table in your office, etc.] #1. Step 2: Start working on item group #1…Once you finish all the tasks in group #1, get up and move. Close your tabs, pack your bags, and physically move your butt to your next spot. If you can, walk or bike to your next stop…When you get to the next cafe [or spot], start on the next action item group, and repeat…

When you’ve completed everything on your to-do list for the day, you are done working. Relax, kick back, and live your life. Don’t take work home with you because that won’t help you get more done – it will just wear you out.

9.  Don’t overload what downtime you do get.

Vacations themselves can cause, or worsen burnout, with high-stress situations, expectations, and sleep interruption. Use it to help in recovery from burnout instead: 

Make a flexible itinerary a priority. [A] study from Radboud University found that effective vacations give you the choice and freedom to choose what you want to do. That means two things: Try to avoid structuring your vacation around an unbreakable schedule, and plan on going somewhere that has multiple options to pick from depending on the weather, your level of energy, or your budget.

10. Write yourself fan mail.

Seth Godin uses self-fan mail as a way to keep motivated instead of burning out on a project that seems far from completion:

I define non-clinical anxiety as, “experiencing failure in advance.” If you’re busy enacting a future that hasn’t happened yet, and amplifying the worst possible outcomes, it’s no wonder it’s difficult to ship that work. With disappointment, I note that our culture doesn’t have an easily found word for the opposite. For experiencing success in advance. For visualizing the best possible outcomes before they happen. Will your book get a great testimonial? Write it out. Will your talk move someone in the audience to change and to let you know about it? What did they say? Will this new product gain shelf space at the local market? Take a picture. Writing yourself fan mail in advance, and picturing the change you’ve announced you’re trying, to make is an effective way to push yourself to build something that actually generates that action.

  11. Break projects into bite-sized pieces.

Taking a task on in one entire lump can be exhausting and provide little room for rest in between. Breaking up your projects into set chunks with their own deadlines provides a much healthier, and easier, way of completing a large project:

The default take on deadlines is typically to consider them to be cumbersome and stressful. Yet, from another perspective, a deadline can be viewed as a huge benefit to any project. Without the urgency of a hard deadline pushing a project to completion, it’s easy for you, your team, or your client to lose focus. We’ve all worked on agonizing projects where the timeline just bleeds on and on, merely because the flexibility is there…

It turns out that the manner in which a task is presented to someone – or the way in which you present it to your brain – has a significant impact on how motivated you will be to take action. A study led by researcher Sean McCrea at the University of Konstanz in Germany recently found that people are much more likely to tackle a concrete task than an abstract task… It seems to me like the difference between being handed a map versus following the step-by-step instructions of a GPS device. Not everyone can read a map, but everyone can follow the directions. By breaking your project down into smaller, well-described tasks, the way forward becomes clear and it’s easy to take action.

[lightanddarklove]

Steven Universe Future - Prickling Doubt and Burnout - Chapter 2

This was written before the finale was posted and has been up on my A03 since March. I don't know if I have more to add at this point, but I definitely have more ideas to write for SUF & SU.

Another Chapter with a bit more comfort. I think In Dreams and Bismuth Casual refreshed me so I hope that you all like this chapter as much since its less angsty. Those last four before the finale though, woof. I think we could use a bit more lightness right now, with thing still being stressful in the meetspace.

Some cat sign language and terms for you in case any of it’s confusing since Lion does make an appearance: head-butting is a sign of trust and bonding for felines, chuffing is the forceful exhale of air through a cat’s nose that sounds like a grunt or sigh but is actually a greeting, and the slow blink cats do is sometimes called a cat kiss and is another sign of trust and attachment.

3513 Words | Rating: Teen [description of an injury and swearing, self-esteem/ self-doubt and mental health issues]

Chapter 1 | My Writing Masterpost

Steven awoke from his nap only a short while after he had laid down. He didn’t have any intention to get right back up immediately, as Cactus Steven’s interruption to his sleep had broken before dawn and it was still early in the day. He had probably got about 5 hours of sleep before his nap, and based on the light coming in the room he had dozed for less than an hour. He didn’t have the urge to check his phone, it hadn’t woken him up and he was still quite tired. He found himself staring at a blank square of wall between his desk and his closet, trying to rest, but sleep would not come. He mentally debated getting up for several minutes before he heard a soft but weighty thump on his glass door. He turned over slowly. Peering at him from the balcony was Lion, looking expectantly at Steven. “Hey buddy,” Steven called, sitting up. He stretched and stood as the big cat pawed gently at the entryway. “I’m coming.” Steven crossed the room and opened the door, stepping aside for Lion to enter the room. The pink feline strode in, brushing the boy along the chest with his huge skull in an affectionate head-butt. Steven moved his hand along Lion’s mane as the big cat walked behind Steven and sat on the floor. Lion let out a friendly chuff and Steven scratched gently along Lion’s cheek and behind his ears. “You done exploring for now?” Steven asked. Lion stared down at his charge before giving a slow blink and descending slowly to the floor near the stairwell. The big cat stretched out his rear legs before tucking his front paws under himself to lie comfortably and closed his eyes.

“Aww, love you too, Lion.” Steven said, giving him a pat between the ears before moving to the other side of the room to retrieve his phone. He unlocked it and shut off his alarm, which was due to go off in 10 minutes before checking his messages. The one new text he had was not from Connie, as he had hoped, but instead from Pearl. “Garnet’s gone out but Amethyst and I are here if you need anything,” it read. When he went into his message to Connie, it noted delivered, but not read. He closed the app, disappointed. He set the phone back down to his end table and grabbed a new pair of jeans from the dresser, quickly getting dressed. After pocketing his phone, he looked around his room. Pink sandals sat near the foot of his bed from where they had been haphazardly kicked off after he had laid down for his nap. The bloody apron he had stained earlier lay in a heap on the floor. The few unused fabric strips from his attempt to deal with his injury sprawled from the edge of the bed to the floor. The corner next to his desk shone pink from the glow of his bubble where he had sent the terra cotta shard, dried blood staining its surface. The cactus flower he had sat on the floor before he began vacuuming still was left in its place next to the tv stand.

Steven ran a hand through his hair. He walked to his shoes to slip them on, picking up the fabric strips as he went and moving toward his desk. He opened his drawer that held scissors, glue and construction paper and folded the strips on the desk before putting them inside, closing the drawer softly. He picked up the bubble in the corner, holding it gently in his hands. I wonder if my blood would actually do anything to a plant. He thought. Maybe it would become like a super guardian. Steven’s voice of reason chimed in, sounding almost exactly like Garnet and Connie speaking simultaneously, don’t do it, that’s how the plague starts. He took out his phone again and searched “How to get blood out of Terra Cotta” before setting the bubble on the bed and moving toward the closet.

He retrieved his jacket, setting his phone on the tv stand before putting the letterman on, and regarded himself in the mirror. The bruise above his eye healed when he had applied the healing spit to his face, but that did not help the bags under his eyes. I need to wash my face and put on my eye cream, Steven thought. Besides the tiredness showing under his eyes, and needing to bush his hair again, he looked modestly put-together. No cuts from fighting Cactus Steven were visible and his outfit was in order. Nodding at himself, he picked up his phone, and slipped it into his pocket. He stepped around Lion who lounged comfortably near the glass door, and walked down the stairs. As he went, he noticed several bags on the landing which had a note sticking out of it. It looked like food, so he was glad Lion didn’t immediately stick his face in it and kept a mental note to listen in case Lion decided to help himself while Steven was downstairs.

On the main floor of the house, Amethyst was seated on the kitchen floor and Pearl stood by the kitchen island. Pearl was deconstructing the microwave on the empty stretch of countertop closest to the temple door, and Amethyst had a modest pile of faucets she was comparing with the sink’s pipe connection, trying to find one that would fit. Pearl turned and smiled at him as he came down the stairs. Amethyst glanced up with a nod and greeted him with a quiet “hey,” before returning to her task.

“Oh Steven,” Pearl called, “glad to see you’re up. Are you feeling ok? I went to check on you earlier and I saw you had fallen back asleep.”

“I was still kind of tired but I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I wanted to grab a drink and finish my morning routine,” Steven answered.

“Well, even though the sink is not fixed yet, there’s the water pitcher in the fridge.” Pearl replied. “That hasn’t sustained any damage, according to Garnet. She went to get glass and lumber for the repairs.” She paused and her smile shifted to something more strained as she glanced quickly to his hand and then back to his face. “How does your hand feel?” Pearl asked gently, with worry clear at the edge of her expression.

“It’s healed,” he replied, unbending his fingers and quickly showing it to Pearl. He left his palm exposed for only a few seconds and then curled his fingers closed, his hand pulled back to his side in a lose fist.

“Hmm,” she replied. “Alright. At least it’s not bleeding anymore. It still doesn’t look fully recovered.”

“Well it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Steven said, trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. “It’s not worth worrying about. I heal fast.”

“Ok, Steven.” Pearl answered. Steven approached the cabinets and retrieved a glass before walking toward the fridge. Pearl moved back to the microwave, sparing the occasional glance to Steven’s movements as she continued her task. Amethyst looked up at him from her pile of faucets as he grabbed the water pitcher from the fridge.

“How’d you get that cut on your hand anyway?” Amethyst asked, and Steven nearly spilled the water he was pouring out of surprise. He took a sharp inhale, trying not to look at her as the pink spread over his cheeks.

“I fell,” he replied. “I was cleaning in the dome and there was a piece of broken pottery on the floor. When I went to brace my fall my hand landed on it.” Amethyst winced in sympathy. He returned the pitcher to the fridge and sipped from his glass, impatient to finish the conversation.

“Ouch,” she answered, looking him over and Steven couldn’t help but feel nervous. “If you want some help with the dome-“

“It’s fine,” he interrupted with a wave of his unmarred hand. “I’ll be more careful. Just got unlucky that I happened to land on a broken pot. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Okay,” she answered, sounding unconvinced. He gave an uneasy smile.

“If you could do one thing though,” he requested.

“Sure, what’s up?” She asked.

“I’m gonna run to the bathroom to wash my face,” he replied.

“Walk, don’t run Steven,” Pearl quipped from over her shoulder as she worked as screwdriver on the microwave.

“Peeaaarl-“ He drawled at her with an eye-roll. Amethyst chuckled quietly. Steven continued, “Anyway, Garnet left some food on the stairs and Lion just came back a few minutes ago. Do you mind making sure he doesn’t get into the bags? Also, please save me some if you have any.”

“Yeah sure,” she answered with a shrug. “I’ll wait until you have some to have a snack since it’ll probably be late until all this is fixed up.”

“And please don’t eat my soup in the fridge,” Steven said as he set his glass on the counter. “I’m saving it for later.” Amethyst gave a thumbs up as Steven walked toward the bathroom and she returned to her pile of faucets. He closed the door behind him before seeking out his face wash and eye cream from beneath the sink. He ran the tap to a warm temperature, wetted his face and applied his facial cleanser before rinsing again. With practiced and gentle taps, he put on his eye cream and grabbed his brush as he let the skincare product do its work. He ran the brush through his curls, undoing the tangles from tossing and turning in his sleep. After he was satisfied with his hair, he rubbed the eye gel into his under-eyes and rinsed the excess from his fingers. He gave himself another once-over in the mirror.

“Not too shabby, Steven,” he said quietly aloud. His stomach grumbled in response. “I should probably eat something before I brush my teeth.” He opened the bathroom door and strode out into the living area. Amethyst was affixing one of the faucets to the sink-head with a wrench and Pearl continued her work on the microwave as he moved back to the kitchen to grab his drink. As he turned to head back to his room, a familiar voice came from the steps outside.

“The front of this place looks like a couple of Topaz just barreled through it.” Bismuth said as she came through the hole in the wall. “What happened to it to make it look so Janked?”

“Bismuth, language!” Pearl shouted, and Amethyst snickered.

“Hey Bis,” Amethyst called.

“Ya’ll said it needed some fixin’ but dang,” she responded, not acknowledging Pearl’s admonishment. Bismuth’s eyes wandered around the room for another moment before focusing on Steven, who had stopped mid-way through the living area. “So what’s shaking, gems? Is whatever did this-“ She paused as her gaze fixed on a point on Steven’s person that caught him off guard. Her voice dropped in volume and rose an octave in pitch. “Is that blood?”

Immediately, he glanced down at his outfit, not noticing anything at first. He used his free hand to stretch out the fabric of his shirt and his gaze finally caught the dried speckle of dark red that dotted the black tee where his right shoulder met pectoral. The spots were barely noticeable in the distinction of color, but several of them were quarter-sized. “Oh, I hadn’t noticed it stained my shirt,” Steven replied. “I’m fine now.”

“Is the threat neutralized?” She asked darkly, shifting her fist into a mallet. Pearl approached from the kitchen.

“Yes, Bismuth,” she replied, striding past Steven and laying a hand on Bismuth’s forearm. The burly gem shifted her hand back to normal.

“How’d you even see that stain, anyway?” Steven asked quietly, straightening his shirt back.

“During the war, gems weren’t the only ones fighting for earth’s freedom.” Bismuth answered. “Rose somewhat reluctantly inspired a lot of humans to fight by her side.”

“There were many who loved her, and believed in her cause,” Pearl added. “She hated seeing them hurt but there were many that wouldn’t stay away from the fight.”

“It wasn’t pretty,” Bismuth said. “Guess my eyes just trained on it since sometimes that was the only way to tell if a human could be saved. Stood out on the aftermath of the battlefield, that’s for sure.” Bismuth got a far off look in her eye and Pearl gripped her hand, snapping her back to the present. “You sure you ok, Steven?” He managed a tense smile.

“Yeah,” he replied quickly. “I cut my hand working in the greenhouse and it made more of a mess than I thought. Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright,” she said. “Well, this house ain’t gonna fix itself. So what’s first?” Amethyst stood from kneeling at the sink and walked toward he taller gems. “Amethyst, you said you got parts in your room?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “I probably have some sink basins in the junk piles. Could be some other good stuff too. Follow me.” Amethyst and Bismuth walled toward the temple door. Pearl moved towards the kitchen and gently rested a hand on Steven’s shoulder.

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything, Steven” she said as the other two gems disappeared into the temple. Steven nodded as Pearl moved away.

“Oh, ok.” He replied. He walked up the stairs and grabbed the food bags as he went with his free hand. Lion appeared to be sleeping but once Steven set the food on the bed the crinkle of plastic caused the cat’s eyes to open. Steven set his water cup on the nightstand and sat down on the bed. After changing his shirt he turned his attention back to the bag. He pulled out Garnet’s note first.

“This is all the food that doesn’t need preparation or refrigeration we have right now. If you want hot food, call Fish-stew or ask Greg to use the microwave at the car wash. Ours isn’t safe to use right now.

Love, Garnet” he sighed as he read aloud. He dug around in the bag and immediately lion was at his side. He pulled a granola bar out, sat the snack in his lap and bubbled the rest of the food.

“Not for you,” he said to the feline. “I’ll get you Lion Licker later, ok?” Steven unwrapped the packaging on his snack and forced the bubble up, drifting toward the rafters and out of Lion’s reach. Lion head-butted Steven’s side again and the boy ran his free hand through the big cat’s mane as he ate. They sat in contemplative quiet Steven finished the granola bar. With a light toss, Steven threw the wrapper in the trash and took a sip of drink. Lion regarded him as he set down his glass, before Lion turned and moved towards the door.

“Going back out?” Steven asked as he stood. The pink feline waited by the door and Steven slid it open. Lion took a few steps out, his front half on the porch and rear half still in the bedroom before stopping. He turned his head and looked back at Steven. “What is it?” Steven asked. Lion set his hind leg closer to Steven, nudging him gently and giving another slow blink. “I guess I don’t have anything I need to be doing right now, if you’re trying to tell me you want me to go with you.” Lion chuffed in response and stepped out of the doorway.

Steven stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind him. He sent a quick text to Pearl, “Going for a ride with Lion, be back later.” After returning his phone to his pocket he mounted the great cat. With a roar, Lion charged forward into a portal and the swirling blur sent the boy and his feline familiar to a dark field.

Steven’s eyes took barely any time to adjust and he recognized that he was on a floating island above the Strawberry Battlefield. Stars still shone in the sky as the moon hung overhead and below the lip of the floating isle’s edge he saw some dusting of snow on some of the unflowered strawberry plants below. Lion laid down quickly and rolled the young man off of him unceremoniously.

“Lion,” Steven scolded. The big cat adjusted himself so he had Steven’s shoulders along his flank and rested his great head on his front paws. Steven moved to sit up but Lion stretched his hind leg across Steven’s lap, preventing him from going anywhere. “If you just wanted me to lie down with you for a while we could have done that at home.”

The big cat huffed in response and closed his eyes. Steven let out a quiet groan as he realized without really pressing the issue, he likely was not going anywhere soon. He retrieved his phone from his pocket, quietly thanking his foresight to ask his father for International data as he checked his messages. Pearl had replied, “Ok, be safe.” He opened his conversation with Connie which had a timestamp as Read 8:23am, but no reply yet.

I hope she’s not mad at me, Steven thought. If she’s mad or worried because of me I don’t want it to mess up her presentation. His gaze trailed up from his phone and he looked to the stars shining overhead. He noticed many constellations he recognized, a few that he didn’t, and perhaps it was because he wasn’t usually stargazing at the right time of evening to catch these star patterns. Predawn light came in gently from the east as he watch the stars shift across the sky. The sound of Lion’s heavy breathing and the mild breeze were the only sounds as he watched stars fade and the sunrise shine onto the eastern horizon. He brought his phone back up from lap after the colors began to dance across the sky and snapped another picture for Connie. He added the caption “We should watch the sunrise sometime together when you get some free time. I didn’t even have to be up early to see this one.” After the sun crested the skyline, bathing the field in light, he began to nudge Lion’s foot with his knuckles.

“Ok, that’s enough forcing me to sit still for hours.” Steven pestered the big cat. Lion let out a huge yawn and slowly sat up, stretching his front paws beneath his chest. With one more nudge from the young man, Lion removed his foot from Steven’s lap. “Ugh, my legs fell asleep,” Steven said with a groan as he stood. Lion approached the edge of the floating island and turned back to his charge. “Let’s go, Lion.” Steven instructed, mounting the cat. Another huge roar ripped through the quiet and the pair charged through the portal returning to the beach-house.

----------------------------

Steven spent the bulk of afternoon doing more cleaning, including getting the bloodstain off the terra-cotta shard, repairing the damaged sheet with Greg’s sewing kit, and washing dirty laundry. Having a sandwich for a late lunch between his other tasks, he headed out to go grab dinner at Fish Stew Pizza. He kept up appearances, making small-talk with Kiki as he got dinner. He drove out to the edge of town to get groceries, and found himself not wanting to go home as the sun set.

Connie had messaged him earlier, letting him know her presentation was fine, and they went back and forth trying to set up a time on a future weekend to watch the sunrise over strawberry battlefield. They settled on two weeks from now, which felt far away, but he understood. Her studies were important, after all. He couldn’t whisk her away on a whim, as much as that’s what his heart desired.

On his ride back from the grocery store, he felt the pull of Brooding Hill and took the ride there to finish his meal and watch the sunset. After about an hour, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl found him there, staring out into the ocean.

“I thought we’d find you here,” Garnet said with a warm tone.

“You hadn’t come back in a while, and you didn’t answer when I called,” Pearl murmured.

“Yeah, my phone died,” Steven replied, not looking toward the gems.

“Everything ok?” Amethyst asked. Steven hummed in response. Pearl stepped forward with a strained smile, hands fidgeting.

“Room for three more?” She asked. Steven didn’t answer immediately.

“Actually,” he said, tone quiet and hesitant, “I think I need to be alone for a bit.”

“Oh,” Garnet said, seeming caught off guard. Pearl’s smile dropped and she stepped back.

“Ok,” Amethyst said, breaking the silence, curling her hand into her hair. “We’ll be back at the temple if you need us.”

“Yeah,” Steven replied. “See you back there.” The gems retreated, expressions dejected as they left the teen by himself. He watched the sunset until the sky was dark and wandered back home.

[pertinax--loculos]

Weekly Update 05/09

Currently Writing

Absent That Night (tagged: WIP: ATN)

wordcount this week: 17,898

total wordcount: 76,025 [^^ considering removing this running total, primarily because it is horrifying D:]

total time writing: 9hrs 10min [^^ NOT A TYPO, somehow this is the exact same amount of time I spent writing last week. Fucking weird, man!]

Last week's goal: write minimum five scenes; scene-by-scene outline for first half of Act II Completed and exceeded the second half; against all odds, actually did end up writing five scenes, too!

Summary Started off this week believing it was going to lead up to a Total Failure, and ended up pleasantly surprised. Work kicked my ass at the start of the week with its unpredictability but it will hopefully stabilise from tomorrow. Come to the conclusion that setting specified amounts of time to write rather than word count/scene goals is going to lead me to be my most productive. It kinda forces me to push through the discomfort when the session doesn't start well, and that generally leads to completing more whether I feel like it or not.Additionally, my Shiny New Idea (the Unholy Mash-up Idea, or UMI as I will refer to it in future) has not gone away, but is bubbling away slowly at the back of my brain without taking too much focus off ATN, so that's nice.

Goal for this week: 4x 2hr writing sessions, 2x 1hr writing sessions, one day off

As far as reading... current read: beta reading!

finished Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney Review in Five Words or Less: Not A Fan

In depth ramble about the writing highs and lows under the cut!

the start of this week was a StruggleTM. I think largely due to work, and shifts changing at the last minute and throwing my schedule in the sink. Wednesday especially I had to drag myself to the computer. Instead of 4-11pm Tuesday I worked 7am-2pm Wednesday, scheduled writing for the evening, and by god I did not want to do it. D: Twice I nearly talking myself out of it, cuz I was tired and I'd put it off too long so I'd stay up too late if I started then and excuses excuses

BUT! I did it! Sat my butt down and dragged out the first five hundred or so words, then managed to get another thousand or so on top of it

occurred to me as I was typing that that I also did a fuckload of planning on Tuesday, so the start of the week wasn't as unproductive as I thought

interestingly, the Shiny New Idea (which I've been mentally referring to as the Unholy Mash-up Idea, and henceforth shall be known as UMI) is quietly percolating in the back of my brain. Not taking focus away from ATN, but I'm getting little strokes of inspiration/ideas (generally at night/when I'm otherwise distracted) and I just keep jotting them down and putting them gently to the side. We shall see how this plays out when ATN is finished! Honestly having ATN pretty much plotted is helping me stay with it rather than jumping to a new WIP, because having a direction, a plan and a deadline is keeping me focused and motivated and basically it's great dear lord I hope I can keep this up ahahah

it has becoming blindingly obvious that I work well either in the morning, or at night. Thursday was a Day -- I had a doctor's appointment in the am (bang in the middle of when I'd normally write) and then was called into work in the evening. So I scheduled time for and attempted to write around 1pm. It did not work. I dragged about five hundred words onto the page (497 exactly, actually, which amused me no end) and then actually just quit for the day. I felt really tired (despite getting a decent whack of sleep), nothing was flowing, and I was barely even excited about what was happening in the scene, when it should be a really motivating point. So that sucked.😞 I did manage another hour of planning in the morning before the appointment, so it wasn't an entire write-off, but, just, bleh. Annoying.

re: the above points about not doing much on a few days -- I am trying to be mindful of burnout, as well. I'm pushing hard for a huge goal, and I don't want to end up utterly unable to write for six weeks after it. The deadline is entirely arbitrary, so while I'd like to make it, it's not the end of the world if I don't. And so I think that's definitely something to keep in mind

results are in: I definitely work best in the morning. (Which is gonna be a bit of a problem when I go back to Other Work, but that is Future Pockets's problem.  :')) Also, I'm pretty sure my per-session time limit is about three hours (with a couple of make a coffee/smoke breaks). Things start to get a bit stiff (physically) after that, and my brain starts to feel a bit drained. But still! Good things to have figured out. ^_^

not me adding a new scene before I've even gotten *checks notes* three scenes into my plan for Act Two! Ahahahah stop it this draft is gonna be so fucking long

[kidsviral-blog]

30 Free Workout Videos To Help You Get In Shape

New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/30-free-workout-videos-to-help-you-get-in-shape/

30 Free Workout Videos To Help You Get In Shape

You don’t need to work out for hours: These workouts are all 30 minutes or less. And you can do them pretty much anywhere, anytime (as long as you have an internet connection).

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Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed

Friendly and cautionary note: Not everyone is going to be able to do all of these workouts, and some people won’t be able to do any of them. And what’s hard for one person might be easy for another — it all depends on your individual level of fitness. Before you begin any new exercise regimen, you should talk to your doctor about what’s safe and right for you. And if you feel faint or dizzy or pain during the course of any of these workouts, stop immediately and seek medical attention.

5- to 10-Minute Workouts

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Jenny Chang for BuzzFeed

1. Tone All Over Workout (Women’s Health)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=510N5LS5QEE.

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Length: 5 minutes Equipment needed: Two pairs of dumbbells — one heavy, one lighter (in case you need it) The gist: High-intensity circuit training (HICT) workout. You’ll do five exercises in five minutes. For each move, do as many reps as you can for 50 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and move on to the next move. You can stop working out after one circuit if you need to, but for best results repeat the whole circuit three or four times in a row. FYI: Includes some lateral movement, lunges, hops

2. 5-Minute Fat-Blasting Workout (Shaun T for Dr. Oz)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-kQpTMkQo3Y.

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Length: 5 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: HICT workout. Very intense! Constant movement. FYI: Includes running in place, hops, lateral movement, squats

3. 5-Minute 5-Move Leg and Butt Routine (Women’s Health)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dLAbzfktV5E.

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Length: 5 minutes Equipment needed: Two pairs of dumbbells, one heavier, one lighter if you need it The gist: HICT workout — five moves in five minutes, 50 seconds per move, 10 seconds rest. Repeat the whole circuit a few times for best results. FYI: Includes some lateral movement, squats, lunges

4. The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ECxYJcnvyMw.

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Length: 7 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: HICT workout. 30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, 12 moves total. Repeat the whole circuit a few times in a row for best results. FYI: Includes jumping, squats, running in place

5. Spinal Cord Injury Aerobic Workout: Paraplegia

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-1y3oly6V4Y.

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Length: 7 minutes and 45 seconds Equipment needed: None The gist: A series of upper-body exercises performed back to back. FYI: This workout was created by the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCPAD).

From the YouTube video page: NCPAD presents “Exercise Program for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries: Paraplegia”. This video is funded by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center and developed in conjunction with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability.

6. 8-Minute Boot Camp Workout from XHIT Daily

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=H_iRrXqfp5Q.

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Length: About 7 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: HICT workout. Six moves, 30 seconds each, and then repeat. For better results, repeat the whole thing at least one more time. FYI: Includes squats, kicks, running in place

7. 8-Minute Full-Body Tabata Workout (Class FitSugar)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=T1JutfnQ-Lg.

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Length: 8 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: Tabata workout. Alternate between two moves, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, 8 rounds total. Then repeat the circuit again with two different moves. FYI: Includes jumps, squats, lunges

8. Spinal Cord Injury Aerobic Workout: Tetraplegia

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1CdwOe-5OaA.

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Length: 9 minutes 20 seconds Equipment needed: None The gist: A series of upper-body movements performed back to back. FYI: This is another video from the NCPAD, made for people with spinal cord injuries resulting in tetraplegia.

10- to 20-Minute Workouts

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Jenny Chang for BuzzFeed

9. 10-Minute No-Equipment Fat-Burning Circuit from Turbulence Training

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jgdUCI07fkE.

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Length: 10 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: High-intensity bodyweight workout. Five exercises total. For each exercise, you do four rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest. Then you move on to the next move. FYI: Includes running in place, lunges, burpees, jumping

10. 10-Minute No-Equipment Home Workout, Full-Body Exercise (Class FitSugar)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=I6t0quh8Ick.

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Length: 10 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: 10 moves, back to back, in 10 minutes — no rest. FYI: Includes lunges, burpees

11. Intense Ab Workout (POP Pilates)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=od0j4aNDGKM.

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Length: 10 minutes Equipment needed: Yoga mat The gist: Abs-focused pilates routine. Great to add to the end of another, longer workout. FYI: LOTS of crunches and crunch-like things, y’all

12. Afrobeat Werrrkout! With Scola Dondo

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-zG-5tv0PAU.

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Length: Roughly 13 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: Cardio dance workout, with some bodyweight exercises to warm up. FYI: Lots and LOTS of jumping, dancing, some burpees, squats

13. Yoga Shape Up: Detoxifying Workout (Wai Lana for BeFiT)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NrRJ1WJwpNo.

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Length: 14 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: A very gentle routine to help you relax and unwind. FYI: Includes some twists

14. BabyFit’s Lower Body Workout for Pregnancy (SparkPeople)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=cgOnFANpAng.

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Length: 14 minutes Equipment needed: None, although you might want a chair for balance (and you can add dumbbells if you are up for it, to make it harder) The gist: Short lower-body strength and stretching routine, designed by certified prenatal fitness specialists FYI: Includes some squats. Before you do this workout (or any workout) during pregnancy, talk to your doctor about what’s safe for you.

15. Level 1 Beginners Workout (Chris Powell)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8hV_4qKFV6E.

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Length: 15 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: Total-body bodyweight moves performed one after another, no rest between moves. Good for fitness beginners. FYI: Includes jumping, lunges, some lateral movement

16. 15-Minute Insanity Cardio Workout Exercises (HASfit)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=uzOe2ImO1rk.

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Length: 15 minutes Equipment needed: Light dumbbells The gist: High-intensity cardio moves performed back to back with no rest between moves. Best for people with intermediate to advanced fitness levels. FYI: Includes some lateral movement, jumps, high knees, mountain climbers

17. 15-Minute Total Body HIIT Workout (FitnessBlender)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CamSXRh01EI.

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Length: 15 minutes (not including your warmup) Equipment needed: None The gist: High-intensity interval training (HIIT). This is very intense. You have four pairs of exercises. For each move, you do 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, and alternate from one move to the next in each group. Do 3 sets per group, then move on to the next group. The last round of exercises will be a burnout round. FYI: Includes jumps, squats, clapping push-ups, jumping lunges, burpees

18. Spring Break Abs & Core Workout (Mike Chang for BeFiT)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6n25mT7zDJU.

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Length: 15 minutes Equipment needed: A small towel The gist: Core and lower-back workout moves, back to back with no rest FYI: Includes some hops, lateral movement

19. 15-Minute Bodyweight Burn (David Jack for EVEN Hotels)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=mIE9MLKCvQQ.

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Length: 15 minutes Equipment needed: Workout mat The gist: Starts with stretches, progresses to bodyweight strength moves (40 seconds on, 20 seconds rest). FYI: Includes squats, split squats

20. The Total Mobility Workout (Sonima)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3-89-dJGGFU.

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Length: 18 minutes Equipment needed: A bench or sturdy chair The gist: This workout was designed by Pete Egoscue, an alignment and movement expert, and it’s good for people who are trying to improve their mobility and posture. Good for beginners. FYI: Includes running in place, squats

20- to 30-Minute Workouts

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Jenny Chang for BuzzFeed

21. Strengthen Your Core (Yoga Journal To Go)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=nEnp8sgi4F0.

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Length: 20 minutes Equipment needed: Two blocks The gist: Yoga sequence to help you build core strength and awareness. FYI: Includes a back bend (flip the dog pose)

22. Shaun T 20-Minute Workout

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=f3k5f0AE6Qk.

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Length: Roughly 20 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: High-intensity circuit workout. Series of four-minute circuits. Each circuit has four moves; do each move for 15 seconds, no rest between moves, four rounds total. Very intense, but modifiable. There’s also a break in the middle. FYI: Includes running in place, jumps, burpees, lateral movement, squats, mountain climbers, high knees

23. Denise Austin’s Prenatal Cardio Workout for a Fit & Firm Pregnancy (BeFiT)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pH6IrhTjdR0.

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Length: 20 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: Low-impact cardio workout for pregnant women. FYI: Includes some lateral movement, marching in place. Before you work out during your pregnancy, definitely talk to your doctor about what is safe for you.

24. Gentle Heart Pump Yoga Flow (HangTightwMarC)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=24w39-JkqwM.

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Length: 20 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: A 20-minute yoga flow routine.

25. Holly Perkins 360 Fit Tone (Exercise TV)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9WDxF3PSC8o.

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Length: About 20 minutes Equipment needed: One pair of dumbbells The gist: Total-body strengthening routine, good for people with beginner or intermediate fitness levels. FYI: Includes running in place, lunges, lateral movement, squats

26. Shaun T Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps Workout

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ab8oIJYGwIE.

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Length: Roughly 24 minutes Equipment needed: Two sets of dumbbells, one heavy, one lighter (find the weight that works for you — Shaun T says that it should be heavy enough that by rep 7, you’re “feeling it.”) The gist: Strength-training circuits focused on your upper body FYI: Includes push-ups, boxing, some lateral movement, lots of dumbbell moves

27. Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Level 1

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1Pc-NizMgg8.

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Length: 27 minutes Equipment needed: Dumbbells The gist: This is a beginner workout with both strength-training moves and cardio. The video offers modifications to make moves harder and easier. FYI: Includes some jumps, push-ups, squats, lunges, and lateral movement

28. 30-Minute Total Body Strength and Conditioning Workout (Jen Widerstrom and David Jack for EVEN Hotels)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=AG8d9fFdRJ0.

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Length: 30 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: Total-body strength and conditioning workout. Part 1: Back-to-back exercises for 50 seconds each, with little transition. Part 2: Ladder strength circuit. Part 3: 8 strength and conditioning exercises, 30 seconds on, 20 seconds rest. Part 4: Stretches. FYI: Includes lunges, hops, lateral movement, squats, burpees, running in place

29. The Ultimate 30-Minute Cardio Pilates Workout (Class FitSugar)

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=LrB4CjpC-F8.

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Length: 30 minutes Equipment needed: Two pairs of dumbbells The gist: 30-minute workout that includes pilates, strength training, and cardio. FYI: Includes jumps, squats, lunges, running in place, lateral movement

30. Beachbody Live! Workout With Debbie Siebers

Video available at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=o5ZiXC6CjkI.

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Length: About 33 minutes Equipment needed: None The gist: Warm-up includes yoga poses and flows; workout includes mostly plank work. FYI: Includes squats, mountain climbers

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