Each week, I’m sharing a quick star rating and one-sentence progress report for how I’m doing on each of the seven goals I’ve set to change my life over the next seven months, and then tell you a bit more about one of the seven goals.
Training for the half-marathon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Yesterday’s long run felt so good that I went for almost another 15 minutes on top of the hour-and-22 that Garmin had programmed for me. I experienced all four seasons (and every type of rain imaginable) in one run - the post-run cappuccino tasted like victory!
Master’s dissertation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I had a meeting with my supervisor last week, and between that and the progress I made over the course of the week (though not as much as I might have hoped for) I feel relatively on-track. At least I know what track I’m aiming to be on, which helps!Look after the space I live in: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I managed three of the five days of the cleaning schedule that lives on my fridge, and sold five things on Vinted (totalling £63.50). More importantly, I spent some time yesterday afternoon clearing the mountain of clean laundry off my sofa and armchair (to be immediately replaced by packing for this week’s trip… sh!).Screen time below 3 hours: ⭐️⭐️
Frustratingly, my screen time for last week was… 3 hours and 8 minutes (up from 3 hours and 2 minutes last week). Need to get this going in the opposite direction!Read the books I have: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I read two paperbacks off my book shelf this week, plus three books off my kindle - one was a re-read from 2014! (Ad - that’s a commission link). One that I know will stay in my mind for a long time to come was Reading Lessons by Carol Atherton (Ad - commission link); it’s a non-fiction book with elements of memoir from an English teacher who’s been in the classroom for almost 30 years. From the start, where she writes about how she uses My Last Duchess by Robert Browning to talk about issues of coercive control in relationships, I knew I was in safe hands.Draft 1 of the Unhinged Fiction Project: ⭐️⭐️
I spent a very productive few hours with Katytastic’s ‘27 block outline’ method on Saturday - so although I didn’t get new words on the page, I do feel like I’m further forwardKnitting progress: ⭐️⭐️
Continued to truck along with the blanket for Baby G last week; nothing in particular to report there though.
Weekly Focus: Master’s Dissertation
I’m approaching the end of my one-year Master’s programme in Law, Environment, Sustainability, and Business, and it has been a rollercoaster to say the least. As part of the course, we spend the summer writing a dissertation research project in an area of the field that most interests us - and for me, that’s the way that the language of climate law reflects rhetoric used on environmental issues, and how it drives real-world behaviour.
As an indication of what that means in reality, here’s just some of the books I currently have on loan from the university of library (as you can see from the labels, my uni library uses Library of Congress classifications to organise shelving, instead of Dewey. I’m not a fan).
Because this is a huge topic, I’m narrowing down my work to analysing one specific recent law in England and Wales (fun fact, there’s no single UK-wide legal system), so I’ve spent much of the last week with a highlighter in hand, working my way through a 300-page printout (double-sided and two pages on each, so ‘only’ 80 sheets of actual paper).
One particularly exciting thing about this topic is where it leads me next. Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have seen the very exciting news that I’m starting a PhD this September; my research will be focusing on the real-world consequences of the wording of regulations and rules about decarbonising financial services (i.e., are well-meaning people ‘following what the rules ask them to do’ rather than what will have the greatest effect in terms of making the world greener?).
I’m super excited to get started; the question is one that I’ve been wrestling with in my professional life for a number of years, and I can’t wait to dive into real empirical research that can then support policymakers working to make the world actually greener with the necessary urgency. (I caught myself yesterday thinking “Wow, it’s been unusually hot this summer so far; I wonder if next summer will be cooler” and then remembered… probably not, mate).
Before then, I’ve got plenty of work left to do on this dissertation, and a Master’s degree to finish earning!
Best
Lily
Nice progress!