100 Days Challenge - Blog Posts

~✧°+* 42/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

14.09.2023

After having finally finished Swimming in the Dark a started a whopping two (2) books today! Kind of on accident, actually...

I've had Ariadne sitting on my shelf at my parents' for forever now and since I wasn't feeling in the mood for the spooky classics I had set out for September I decided to start that one instead. I love studying religious history, especially ancient Greek and Roman cults and religious practices. The way religion was so intricately woven into all parts of daily life is extremely fascinating to me, and the myths (and mythology retellings in turn) really reflect that! I haven't made much progress on Ariadne yet, but I'm excited to read on.

After having started book number one in the morning I promptly forgot it at home once I headed out to pick up my siblings from school. So I did the only logical thing to do and bought a new book to read during the wait :) The cover of Where the Crawdads Sing has been speaking to me for a while now. The plot isn't really in line with what I usually read but, hey, it got a map in the front and my fantasy loving brain is wired to that stuff. In the end I ended up not having much time to read, so I only got through the Prologue, but I like the writing style so far.

Positive things I did that day:

ran errands

got paperwork done

visited family

read

Hours slept: ~ 8hrs 30mins Screentime: ~7hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~5.700

~✧°+* 41/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

13.09.2023

I had one of the most stressful e-mail exchanges ever today. It was with a professor of mine (the dean of the English department and therefore also technically my boss) and it was... a truly surreal experience. It was basically just both of us trying to be as polite as possible which, in the end, lead us to basically get nowhere with that conversation. It was so strange it was funny, but I hope something like that never happens to me again :')

Other than that my day was mainly filled with chores. Sadly, I still haven't managed to fully get back to my academic tasks. I want to but I just can't concentrate. On Sunday I'll be going back to my appartment and things should improve from there! Next weekend will also be super packed (more birthdays and plans with friends), which gives me a nice, gentle personal deadline.

Positive things I did that day:

did two loads of laundry

went grocery shopping

fed the pets

cooked lunch for the family

started doing some paper work

watched 2 episodes of the Netflix show Liebes Kind (very good so far!)

Hours slept: ~ 8hrs 30mins Screentime: ~7hrs Steps taken: ~1.000

~✧°+* 40/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

12.09.2023

While my sister started school again yesterday, my brother only started again today. Obviously, I am just as proud of him as I am of my sister! He also graduated earlier this summer but will continue to go to school for 3 more years in order to get his Abitur (secondary school diploma which enables you to go to university in Germany). He's actually going to my old school now, which I am probably more excited about than he is!

Because it was the first day I drove him to school and because it was only 3 hours long I killed some time in the city before picking him up again. I got breakfast and then did some shopping. I also managed to finally finish Swimming in the Dark! I really loved the novel. It's close to a 5 star read for me (and might have been a definite 5 star if it hadn't taken me this long to finish it). I'll definitely keep an eye on Tomasz Jedrowski for any future releases. His way with words, his prose, was one of the best things about the story in my opinion. Maybe I'll also get a German edition of the book to check out the translation.

Positive things I did today:

went out for breakfast

did some shopping

finished Swimming in the Dark

went grocery shopping

prepared lunch for the next day

Hours slept: ~ 6hrs 30mins Screentime: ~6hr 30mins Steps taken: ~7.800

~✧°+* 39/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

11.09.2023

My younger sister started school again today! She graduated earlier this summer and is now starting vocational training. I am super proud of her! She has some health issues that affected/affect her development and because of that many doctors predicted that she wouldn't ever be able to get to where she is now. Despite all that she worked hard and got far because of it. She'll have to keep working hard and it won't always be easy for her, but I believe that she's going to accomplish great things <3

I also did some self reflecting those past days. My mental health declined a little bit ever since I arrived at my parents'. I'm pretty sure it's mainly stress and the change of environment that is messing with me, but I do believe that my diet is playing a part as well. My family eats a lot of processed food as well as a lot of animal products. When I moved out last year I changed my diet quite drastically. I don't eat animal products often anymore and rarely buy candy and so on because I know I tend to over-eat on things like that. Now that I'm surrounded my all those foods again I gotta make more of an effort to watch what I'm eating. I really hope that'll help.

Positive things I did that day:

started research for my big essay again

continued looking for internships

got some work done for my job at the university

watched Breaking Dawn part 2

Hours slept: ~9hrs Screentime: ~6hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~600

~✧°+* 38/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

10.09.2023

Today I went on a hike with my family! It wasn't very far of very challenging, and we actually weren't out for that long, but I really enjoy traversing the woods of the area I grew up in. Perhaps I should make an effort to do that on my own in the future.

My siblings and I also fed some deer at the enclosure near the trail.

Also, congratulations to my brother for shamelessly running ahead and ending up walking a harder, longer path because he didn't wait for us when the path split (don't worry, he's alright and was keeping us updated via WhatsApp as this was happening).

Positive things I did that day:

went for a hike with family

got up and went to bed at reasonable times

Hours slept: ~6hrs Screentime: ~6hrs Steps taken: ~8.679

~✧°+* 37/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

09.09.2023

Another day for recharging.

I'll try to get back into studying and being productive on monday. My siblings start school again next week which goves me a reason to get up and get out of the house in the morning.

Positive things I did that day:

did the laundry

watched Breaking Dawn part 1

Hours slept: ~8hrs 30mins Screentime: ~8hrs Steps taken: ~500

~✧°+* 36/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

08.09.2023

The post social gathering burn out is real. So amidst helping my mom prepare for my siblings' party with their friends (yesterday was just for family) I just focused on recharging and not being sad.

Positive things I did this day:

did the laundry

helped out my mom

watched Eclipse

Hours slept: ~8hrs Screentime: ~8hrs Steps taken: ~1.500

~✧°+* 35/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

07.09.2023

(this post was written several days in retrospect)

Birthday time!

My siblings turned 17. this year and every time I think about that I am reminded of my own mortality.

Things I did this day:

celebrated my siblings' birthday

spent time with family

helped attend guests

Hours slept: ~6hrs Screentime: ~7hrs 15mins Steps taken: ~1.500

~✧°+* 34/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

06.09.2023

(this post was written several days in retrospect)

This is the day birthday preperations really kicked in, so a lot of cleaning was done.

I also attempted to be productive in the morning and looked for internships. I have to do one mandatory, 8 week long internship as part of my undergrad programm and it's the main thing holding me back from finishing my BA. I innitially wanted to do the internship around this time but wasn't able to find a spot, so I'm pushing it (and writing my thesis) back a whole semester.

Positive things I did today:

helped clean

looked for internships

Hours slept:  ~8hrs 30mins Screentime: ~9hrs 15mins Steps taken: ~700

~✧°+* 33/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

05.09.2023

(this post is written several days in retrospect)

Whenever I visit my family for longer periods of time it's usually around bigger events. Christmas, Easter, birthdays. This time around it's my sibling's birthday and an air of planning, organizing and setting things up in advance controls my day. In all actuality, it has more of an indirect effect on me. I think what I'm experiencing is called waiting mode? This state your in when you have something planned later in the day and can't do anything in the morning because of it. That's what I'm going through at the moment, just that what I'm wating for is days ahead.

Positive things I did today:

put some things up on ebay

did the laundry

Hours slept:  ~9hrs Screentime: ~6hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~700

~✧°+* 32/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

04.09.2023

I went to the doctor's today to get some new meds because the ones I've been taking weren't doing the job. So now I'm on antibiotics and I really hope that'll finally do the trick.

Because I'm still not feeling too great I took it slow again today. I got some more paperwork done in the morning and made a to-do list of what I have to get done within the next week or so. Sometimes I feel bad if all I do in a day is planning, but I always try to remember that planning your tasks takes a huge mental load off of you. Taking a whole day to plan things out is still productive.

The second half of my day has been taken up by great media again. I played some more Lakeburg Legacies and I'm loving it (even though I think I'm failing at it pretty hard). I also managed to get some pages of Swimming in the Dark in. I'm nearly done, only got like 25 pages left. I wanted that book to be my summer read but I had such a dip in energy in late August I just didn't get around to it. But I guess finishing it in early Seprember might still count as a summer read. I wraped the day up by watching New Moon. Probably my least favourite movie from the Twilight-saga, but what can I say? It's the season for Twilight. Also the soundtracks of these movies are so good it's criminal.

Despite having been sick the past couple of days it still feels like I'm managing to be myself more again. I'm very relieved about that. It's weird to explain, but I'm way more interested in doing things I love again, especially writing. Maybe I'll try to do some of that tomorrow. This might also be the perfect opportunity to give my diary some love again. I started it at the beginning of the year but only used it a couple of times...

Positive things I did today:

got paper work done

went to the doctor's office and got new meds

planned tasks

did things I love

Hours slept:  ~9hrs 30mins Screentime: ~4hrs Steps taken: ~600

~✧°+* 31/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

03.09.2023

Some people are Gilmore Girls people as soon as autumn hits and some people are Twilight people. I am 100% a Twilight person, absolutely unapologetically.

Positve things I did today:

did some admin work

played some video games

looked for apartments

Hours slept:  ~8hrs 45mins Screentime: ~5hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~500

~✧°+* 30/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

02.09.2023

It's Simba's birthday!!

The girl, the queen, the goddess turned 6 today! She greatly enjoyed her birthday egg.

Other than that, it was a very slow day. Did some paperwork and organizational stuff.

I also finally got Lakeburg Legacies!! I've been waiting for this game for forever. I came out a few months ago but I finally had the funds to afford it now :D

Positive things I did today:

did the laundry

cooked dinner

played a boardgame with my siblings

did some admin work

Hours slept:  ~8hrs 30mins Screentime: ~6hrs 45mins Steps taken: ~500

~✧°+* 28 & 29/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

31.08.2023 & 01.09.2023

The essay is done! I handed it in Thursday night and while it for sure wasn't my best work (the first 5 pages were alright, then it went downhill a lot) I am glad to have it off my desk. I don't care too mugh about the grade either, or at least I'm trying not to. It's for a module in which I already have one very good grade and the Hamilton grade will just be added on. So even if I don't do well, the final module grade should turn out alright.

Taking my meds again also helped getting being sick back in check. I'm not feeling great yet, but we are getting there! Nothing comparable to two days ago.

On Friday I didn't do much. I played Sims (got the new Sims 4 Growing Together expansion, which I really enjoy) and spent some time with family. I'll be taking the weekend off and get back to studying on Monday!

I also got the worst haircut I've had in years. I was really bummed about it, but I'm hoping it'll grow on me with time.

Positive things I did these past days:

finished the Hamilton essay

spent time with family

got a haircut

rested

Hours slept:  ~7hrs 45mins & ~7hrs Screentime: ~3hrs 15mins & ~7hrs Steps taken: ~600 & ~1.200

~✧°+* 27/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

30.08.2023

I felt a lot better and stopped taking my meds early. That came to bite me in the butt in the evening, so we're back to the meds :')

I did manage to go on a little walk tho! Motivating myself to go for walks is a lot harder whenever I visit my parents because my home town is located in a very hilly area. The city I live in now is mostly flat (also because it's, well, a city and not a small town) and so simply going out (and staying out longer) is, for some reason, easier to justify in my mind. I do, however, love the nature surrounding my home town, so walks are usually worth the exhaustion.

Positive things I did today:

finished literature review for the Hamilton essay and made a writing plan

went for a walk

Hours slept:  ~8hrs Screentime: ~6hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~4.400

~✧°+* 26/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

(first and last screenshot from: 虎狼来 (Kororon) - Eve Music Video)

29.08.2023

Feeling a lot better today! Meds helped a bunch, but they made me quite sleepy during the first half of the day. Because of that, I only really managed to be productive towards the evening. Regardless, I got a decent amount of work done. My Hamilton essay is due on Thursday. I'm planning on wrapping up my literature review tomorrow and then writing it all (minus the introduction, I got that done already) on Thursday!

Positive Things I did today:

continued working on the Hamilton essay

cooked lunch for my family

spent quality time with my siblings

Hours slept:  ~9hrs Screentime: ~4hrs Steps taken: ~500 (note for self: go on a walk tomorrow)

~✧°+* 25/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

28.08.2023

I'm thankfully starting to find a good balance between work, chores and free time again and I'm actually making slow but steady progress on my assignments. The only problems whenever I stay at my parents house are that I don't sleep or eat as well as I do at my place. But I'll try to fix that somehow.

Positive things I did today:

did the laundry

went grocery shopping

worked on literature Review for my Hamilton essay

Hours slept:  ~10hrs Screentime: ~4hrs Steps taken: ~800

~✧°+* 24/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

27.08.2023

In the context of this challange I'd like to forget about the past four days in their entirety.

I haven't necessarily been feeling bad, but I was in a constant state of stress and overstimmulation that didn't allow me to function normally, like... at all.

Today I arrived at my parents'. I'll be staying with family until mid September. I have a few things planned, like my siblings' birthday party and a DnD session with friends, though fo the most part I'll be focusing on finishing my assignments and finding a rhythm again. I honestly think that not being around people (other than my family) will do me good.

Positive things I did today:

cleaned my apartment

did laundry

Hours slept: ~9hrs 30mins Screentime: ~3hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~600

~✧°+* 23/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

22.08.2023

I know I've been saying this a lot these past weeks but I do believe that I'm slowly starting to get back into things. Today I wasn't only more active than the past days but also a lor more calm.

Positive Things I did today:

got breakfast with a friend

studied at the library with friends & spent some quality time with them

started writing the Hamilton essay

cooked dinner

did my skin care routine

Hours slept: ~6hrs Screentime: ~2hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~10.400

~✧°+* 21 & 22/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

20. & 21.8.2023

It's been all chores, chores, chores, andxiety and poor attempts at trying to cope with the heat.

Very excited for things to be a bit more normal again (and cooler, too) next week.

Positive Things I did these days:

lots of chores

played sims

worked on the hamilton essay

went on a walk

Hours slept: ~9hrs & ~6hrs 45mins Screentime: ~3hrs 30mins & ~ 6hrs Steps taken: ~8.100 & ~800

~✧°+* 20/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

19.08.2023

I had a few things planned but got assassinated by cramps while doing the dishes in the morning. So I took it easy instead, ran some errands, ate some things, played Sims.

I also watched All Quiet on the Western Front and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this movie. I think I'll make a post talking about my feelings towards the movie as well as the book at some point next week.

Positive Things I did today:

ran errands

did the dishes

watched All Quiet on the Western Front

went on a late night walk

called a friend

Hours slept: ~6hrs 40mins Screentime: ~2hrs 40mins Steps taken: ~16.700

~✧°+* 19/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

18.08.2023

Do you also have those friends that you love dearly and have fun hanging out with, but who you simply can't talk about work with? I have a very strict (and borderline toxic) work ethic in which I have very high expectations towards myself and hold myself to a certain standard I feel like I have to meet in order to be worth something (which is crazy, I realize that). I don't hold other people to those standards, but when I do have conversations about work and academia with people who are a bit more relaxed about it I get incredibly anxious. And something like that happened today, which kind of forced me to take a break from the Hamilton essay because I was freaking out, thinking I wasn't doing enough and too much at the same time. I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track but I still doubt myself a lot when it comes to those things, especially when I am talking to people who are older or in higher semesters.

I tried to drown out the buzzing sound of anxiety with Sims and it honestly worked quite well.

Positive things I did today:

organized my Hamilton sources

took a break when I was feeling stressed

took a walk

continued reading Swimming in the Dark

Had a couble of drinks with friends

Hours slept: ~7hrs Screentime: ~7hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~9.100

~✧°+* 18/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

17.08.2023

I am still lost in the sauce but the sauce is more like a clear broth now, so I think we are getting somewhere.

I had to escape to the city library today in order not to melt. I wouldn't want an AC in my home, but thank god public buildings have them.

Pogress is being made with my essay. Slow, slow progress, but once I get out of the mental haze that is the planning phase I think I'll manage to wrap this one up quite smoothly. It#s only supposed to be 8-10 pages, probably around 2.5k words, anyways.

Also, damn, I really gotta start putting more effort into taking pictures for these posts again. Sorry about that.

Positive Things I did today:

worked on my Hamilton essay

went grocery shopping

cooked dinner for my me and my friend

continued reading Swimming in the Dark

Hours slept: ~7hrs Screentime: ~5hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~4.100

~✧°+* 17/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

16.08.2023

I blame the fact that I am so lost in the sauce on the amount of stress I am under at the moment. It's also gotten really hot again which my body is NOT built for.

I started looking for apartments, though. I'm planning to move to a bigger place with some friends early next year - we'll see if that actually works, but we for sure are motivated.

Positive things I did today:

cleaned the apartment

worked on the Hamilton essay

read before bed

Hours slept: ~7hrs Screentime: ~5hrs Steps taken: ~4.400

~✧°+* 16/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

15.08.2023

Slowly started working on essays again and it was kind of a fail. So much has been going on in my private life that it was really hard for me to focus on anything. I guess I'm just overwhelmed and deadlines aren't making me less stressed. I also believe I might be getting sick - wonderful timing. But I still tried to make the best of the day!

Positive things i did today:

did some literature research for my Hamilton essay

went out for coffee

cooked dinner for me and my friend

went to bed early because i felt unwell

Hours slept: ~6hrs 30mins Screentime: ~3hrs Steps taken: ~9.700

~✧°+* 15/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

14.08.2023

A very, very eventful day! A friend of mine is staying with me for a few weeks to cut down on commuting costs while she's attending a block course at our university and the whole day revolved around getting things settled and prepared for that.

I didn't get anything productive done because of that but it still felt like a very successful day!

Getting jump scared by the Mollymauk/Lucien book just sitting between Sally Rooneys at the book shop also added some spice to the day.

Positive things I did today:

spend time with friends

went for a walk

Hours slept: ~7hrs 30mins Screentime: ~3hrs Steps taken: ~13.800

~✧°+* 14/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

13.08.2023

It was another inside day, so I can't offer you pretty pictures this time. Instead, enjoy these screenshots of the massive basement farm I've been building in minecraft for the past couple of weeks :')

Monday I absolutely have to get into the groove again. Essay deadlines are staring me down and I wanna make progress before the anxiety kicks in.

Positive things I did today:

did the dishes first thing in the morning

cleaned the bathroom

whiped the floors

washed the sheets

played minecraft with a friend

Hours slept: ~10hrs 30mins Screentime: 4hrs Steps taken: ~700

~✧°+* 13/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

12.08.2023

Super late update because things have been a bit hectic :/

Had a good day but pretty much only did chores again. It is what it is. This is all about balance after all. Sadly let the Duolingo streak die after 20 days, tho >:(

Positive things I did today:

went for a walk

got errands done

continued reading All Quiet on the Western Front

cooked and meal-prepped

played some minecraft with a friend

Hours slept: ~9hrs

Screentime: 3hrs 30mins

Steps taken: ~5.800

~✧°+* 12/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

11.08.2023

Today was chore day. I got a lot done, just nothing for school, sadly.

I also rearranged one of my book shelves! (As you can see above) Space is always a problem in this apartment so I'm preemtively rearranging for future books

Positive things I did today:

kept the duolingo Spanish streak going

cooked a warm meal

cleaned the kitchen

changed the sheets

did the laundry

packed my siblings' birthday presents

Hours slept: ~7hrs 45mins Screentime: 4hrs Steps taken: ~500

~✧°+* 11/100 days of doing better*+°✧~

10.08.2023

More literature review and spending lots of time outside.

Building and keeping routines has always been a struggle for me. It works during the semester because I build my personal routine (when to get up, when to have food, when to do chores) around my classes, but during the semester break it all falls apart :') So for the past week I've been making an effort to get up at a reasonable time and head outide right after getting ready. It's done wonders both for my productivity as well as my mental health

Positive things I did today:

kept the duolingo Spanish streak going

continued literature review

continued reading All Quiet on the Western Front

went for a walk

Hours slept: ~8hrs Screentime: 5hrs 30mins Steps taken: ~8.900