September-December: Week 14

In this session, this is the last week for which we’ll set goals. In week 15, next week, we’ll report on session progress. Three months and a bit have gone by while we have cultivated our gardens! Here's a link to the post in which we posted session goals: http://topleftquad.blogspot.com/2018/09/september-december-week-one.html Judging by the small number of comments on the last post, this past week was one in which many people were Overcome By Events. These things happen! I hope you were getting things done and just not finding time to check in.

For discussion this week: favorite tips for time management or Getting Things Done? Or, from the other side, common advice that just doesn’t work for you?

About our next session: Humming42 has kindly offered to host. H42, are you up for doing that on your own, or would you like to share the job with someone else? IOW, there’s room for another organizer if we stick to the two-host format we’ve used for awhile now. Any takers?

Bardiac (held over)
1. Work on the paper. Write two pages (what's left of the week is short)
2. Practice!

Daisy (held over)
1) Finish all the half-done things from last week!
which includes:
1) Get the major figures for Northern Paper finished
2) Do point form discussion sections for each figure
3) Write my section for cool joint paper

DEH
1. Health: the usual.
2. Teaching: start grading undergrad final papers as they come in; order books for spring gen ed class. 3. Half an hour of spring class planning.
4. Research: finish the introduction! Polish the conference abstract.
5. Life Stuff: haircut, deposit/bills, Xmas shopping, trip planning, find an account number.   

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell (held over)
Combine two earlier versions of the Introduction.
Read and annotate five articles.

GEW (held over)
1) Clean my stuff and kids' stuff from garage as much as possible.
2) Clean linen closet. (Buy some new towels as a reward?)
3) Chip away at research papers (at least 4-5 per day, with extras on Wednesday) while doing other daily TRQ grading and prep. Try to finish research papers by 12/3.
4) Walk at least twice.

heu mihi
1. Language x5, write x5, sit x5, exercise x5.
2. Write 2500 words of Novel.
3. Student work: Grade the papers that come in today; follow up with three or so Problem Students.
4. Keep on slogging towards the semester's finish line....

Humming42
1 Finish reading current review book
2 Write winter blog posts
3 Work on VSE abstract

JaneB
1) write this year's "christmas letter"
2) wrap all the gifts I need to mail, and mail some of them
3) self-care: the usual
4) prepare for the event (actually TRQ, but...)
5) draft talk for end of semester conference
6) grade the two small sets of work I have in right now (draft essay, interim report).

Oceangirl101
Make progress with estate organizing and prepping house for market

PlantGirl
1. Run at least once before TG and once after (if possible)
2. FL work x2 or 3
3. Read something for fun
4. Do something artsy again
5. Collate responses to book and organize notes in preparation for working on it again after TG

Waffles
1. Focus on F32 aim 1 paper
2. Abstract for APA
3. Make plan for K letters
4. IRB close out/renew
5. LOR for 2 of my mentees

September-December: Week 13

I want to begin by offering condolences to oceangirl101. Quite a few members of this group have ailing parents or have lost parents, and we are so sorry about your mother. We are thinking of you and glad you are part of this group.

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3


This week's topic:

A week or so ago, I came across this tweet:

Apparently, Amanda Brooke wraps up gifts to herself that she can open every time she gets 10,000 more words done on her book project. This seems kind of brilliant. In general, for many people, December is a time of gift giving, and often when I'm out shopping for others, I find a few things that I would like for myself. Normally, I'm not much of a shopper (except for books), but this time of year, I can be seduced by little fun things (like a necklace I found last weekend that has a pendant made from a piece cut out of an old library card). See these things I want also makes me think about rewards.

Do you plan to reward yourself for any of the things you've accomplished this session? Do you have reward strategies in place when you work? I'm wondering if for our next session, I should use Amanda Brooke's strategy and purchase and wrap my rewards ahead of time, labeling each of them with one of my session goals. That might get me going! How do you reward yourself, and do you need any new strategies?

December can be a difficult month, so I hope you're all able to find some shiny bits to keep you going this week!

P.S. Speaking of keeping us going, do we have one or two people who might be willing to host TLQ next session?



Bardiac (held over)
1. Work on the paper. Write two pages (what's left of the week is short)
2. Practice!
Daisy (held over)
1) Finish all the half-done things from last week!
which includes:
1) Get the major figures for Northern Paper finished
2) Do point form discussion sections for each figure
3) Write my section for cool joint paper

DEH
1. Health: the usual.
2. Research: finish the introduction to the translation.
3. Teaching: one set of short assignments; comment on grads’ drafts.
4. Life Stuff: bills etc for December, get siding fixed, book a trip with Sir John.
5. Admin: order books, program review contribution.

GEW
1) Clean my stuff and kids' stuff from garage as much as possible.
2) Clean linen closet. (Buy some new towels as a reward?)
3) Chip away at research papers (at least 4-5 per day, with extras on Wednesday) while doing other daily TRQ grading and prep. Try to finish research papers by 12/3.
4) Walk at least twice.*

heu mihi
1. Language x5, write x5, sit x5, exercise x4.
2. Gen Ed & HFA reviews (this all needs to happen, so it will).
3. Catch up on emails, for Pete's sake. Both accounts.
4. Finish NaNo.
5. Plan revisions to Silence.

humming42
1 Submit Archives abstract
2 Submit Road abstract
3 Two hours on winter blog posts
4 Finish reading current review book

JaneB (not sure if you wanted these carried forward, but here they are just in case)
1) keep NaNo-ing
2) self care - water, sugar minimising, NO WHITE BREAD or pastries, movement, sitting
3) an hour of TLQ writing or writing related work on top of care-and-feeding of ProblemChild2

<3(((oceangirl101)))<3

PlantGirl
1. Run at least once before TG and once after (if possible)
2. FL work x2 or 3
3. Read something for fun
4. Do something artsy again
5. Collate responses to book and organize notes in preparation for working on it again after TG

waffles
1. Focus on F32 aim 1 paper
2. Abstract for APA
3. Make plan for K letters
4. IRB close out/renew
5. LOR for 2 of my mentees

September-December: Week 12

It's difficult to believe we're nearing the end of November, and I don't know about all of you, but once December hits, two things happen: first, I feel an urgency to get a lot of TLQ finished before the end of the year, and, second, all kinds of bugges and invasive mint appear to eat up or crowd my TLQ sprouts and stems, such as they are. These two occurrences work together to make me feel both insanely busy and completely unproductive. In fact, the middle of December is typically my most stressful time of year.

This leads me back to a topic from week four: fencing, bugge spray, etc. As we head into the final stretch of this session, what kinds of December pests or threats to your TLQ plots do you expect to arrive, and what kind of bugge spray or fencing might work best to save, preserve, and increase your final harvests of the year? Or perhaps there something you plan just to abandon to the weeds and wild beasties?

I hope everyone has a great week!

Bardiac (held over)
1. Work on the paper. Write two pages (what's left of the week is short)
2. Practice!

DEH
1. Health: the usual.
2. Research: finish the introduction to the translation.
3. Teaching: catch up on grading.
4. Life Stuff: catch up there too.
5. Admin: order books, choose next year's classes.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Combine two earlier versions of the Introduction. 
Read and annotate five articles.

GEW (held over)

Survive drama field trip

heu mihi
1. Exercise x4
2. Sit x5
3. Nano--12k?
4. Get ready for re-entry: prep for next Monday; read for next Wednesday; Gen Ed review; finish grading.

humming42
1 Write winter-theme blog posts 
2 Work on Road abstract
3 Work on Archives abstract
4 Work on Nostalgia
5 Two hours on Tiny Project

JaneB
1) keep NaNo-ing
2) self care - water, sugar minimising, NO WHITE BREAD or pastries, movement, sitting
3) an hour of TLQ writing or writing related work on top of care-and-feeding of ProblemChild2

oceangirl101 (held over)
1. Try to write 3000 words on puff piece Encyclopedia entry as way to get back into writing
2. Write grant annual report
3. Read and comment on grad student dissertation chapter
4. Liase with Mom's hospice team
5. Liase with Mom's lawyer re: estate planning
6. Get travel plans set for nephew that Mom wants to see
7. Figure out if I want to rent house in spring or find new house sitter etc. 

Plant Girl
1. Run at least once before TG and once after (if possible)
2. FL work x2 or 3
3. Read something for fun
4. Do something artsy again
5. Collate responses to book and organize notes in preparation for working on it again after TG

waffles
1. Focus on F32 aim 1 paper
2. Abstract for APA
3. Make plan for K letters
4. IRB close out/renew
5. LOR for 2 of my mentees

September-December Week 11

When I work in the front garden, sometimes passers-by compliment me on it. This is gratifying but feels weird, since I didn't plan or plant the garden, just try to maintain what was done by the previous owners. But it is nice to know that it gives other people pleasure, even though I am very conscious of the problems: this thing needs pruned, those bulbs got eaten by squirrels, and the Battle of the Bellflower is not something I can forget. It takes someone else's response to make me notice the garden's attractions.

So: step back and consider your garden, literal or metaphorical, as a stranger might. What would someone else compliment you on? What habits are flourishing? What has bloomed lushly this year?

(GEW, I hope I'm not stepping on your toes, but when I saw that you were chaperoning a drama field trip, I thought you could use a break.)

Roll call:

Bardiac
1. Work on the paper. Write two pages (what's left of the week is short)
2. Practice!

DEH
1. Health: eat safely, sleep 8 hours, stretch, cardio/walk, fun thing daily; weights 3x. Social thing Monday.
2. Research: put in 4 hours and/or write 2000 words; keep up with languages.
3. Teaching: grade undergrad short paper, grad proposals. Design and post at least one new assignment for undergrads (the last!). Prep grad class.
4. Life Stuff: make deposit. Plan another trip to see my dad. Plan trip with Sir John in January. Unpack boxes.               
5. Work admin: spring book orders.

EAM
Spend two hours on administrative details.
Revise the outline and schedule for the dissertation.

GEW
Survive drama field trip

heu mihi
Get my shit together.
1. Write x5, sit x5, language x5, exercise x5. (Or maybe 3/4 of these per day, since NaNo takes up a lot of time.)
2. Keep up with Nano.
3. Review grant proposal.
4. Prep a post-Thanksgiving lecture ahead of time.
5. Grade a batch of papers before Thanksgiving departure (next Tuesday).

JaneB
1) keep NaNo-ing, and MAYBE if time allows go and meet some other NaNo-ers in a coffee shop
2) self care - water, sugar minimising, NO WHITE BREAD (PMS said yes white bread, tasted SO good but my body does not like at all, at all) or pastries, movement. (currently waiting for a big pan of roast root veg and sausages to cool for healthy and delicious quick evening meals. mmmm.... I'm trying.).
3) an hour of TLQ writing or writing related work

oceangirl101 (held over)
1. Try to write 3000 words on puff piece Encyclopedia entry as way to get back into writing
2. Write grant annual report
3. Read and comment on grad student dissertation chapter
4. Liase with Mom's hospice team
5. Liase with Mom's lawyer re: estate planning
6. Get travel plans set for nephew that Mom wants to see
7. Figure out if I want to rent house in spring or find new house sitter etc.

Plant Girl
1. Finish out the teaching for this block strong (whatever I think that means to me)
2. FL work x3 (already done one)
3. Finalize materials for one specific app and send in.
4. Do something crafty.
5. Seriously contemplate going to the gym and TRY to run for at least 20 minutes.

Waffles
1. Finish dyad and election parts of paper
2. Revise findings from youth substance abuse paper and send out to co-authors (need to get this under review soon - I fear we might get scooped)
3. Send out plan for asthma paper to co-authors
4. Close out/renew IRB?
5. Make revisions to K application
6. Do a crafty thing
7. Make a plan for all of the letters I need for my K and communicate out.

September-December: Week 10

We had snow this week. It didn't stick around, but nighttime sub-freezing temps have. I never got around to putting the garden to bed (cutting back, mulching, all that). If we get a warmish day, I may finally do that work. Or I may just let it go. The first year we were in this house, we moved in November, after a couple of months of owning two houses while work was done on this one, and I'm not sure I did any garden work in either place, because Houses and Cats (not to mention Job). The winter was legendarily terrible, and yet the roses and most of the other plants came back just fine, as they were well-established and adapted to this climate zone.

Lists can be a good way to keep things in mind, as in, "I'll need to do that eventually and I don't want to forget." I think some productivity/planning people would say to schedule that "eventually" and then forget about the item till its time comes, but I see the value in keeping a list item around. Maybe it's a thing you can tuck into some bit of lost or found time, as when someone is late to a meeting or a committee doesn't meet this week. Maybe you're a person who doesn't deal well with scheduling but likes to look at a list and pick the thing that seems most possible/least unappealing.

When items keep coming back week after week, though, it's worth checking on priorities. Is this item something you'll get to before a deadline, or is it something that you really just want to let go? Would it be better to bite the bullet and Do The Thing? Or does it recur because it's a repeating task, like grading, so however many times you do it, it never Stays Done?

As so often, it's my own behavior around this issue that I'm really questioning. Constant attention to posture is making some difference to my sore neck. Am I going to call my doctor's office for an appointment, or am I going to continue to try to deal with it on my own? Also, I keep anonymizing assignments that I need to make up or grade, and then I lose track: did I do that one and am on to another, or is the old one still with me? I should give them pseudonyms, and make myself a key in my paper notebook; then it would be clearer when I have actually done something.

If you feel like talking about your repeating items, or about preparing for November/December weather, feel free. Here's the list of everyone's goals from last week, or in some cases, before: how did you do?

Bardiac (held over)
1. Work on paper.
2. Get garden prepped for winter.
3. Keep practicing violin.
4. Get regular exercise.

Daisy (held over)
1) Finish all the half-done things from last week!
which includes:
1) Get the major figures for Northern Paper finished
2) Do point form discussion sections for each figure
3) Write my section for cool joint paper

DEH
1. Health: eat safely, sleep 8 hours, stretch, cardio/walk, fun thing daily; weights 3x. Make appt with doc and request referral to physical therapy for neck.
2. Research: put in 4 hours and/or write 2000 words; keep up with languages.
3. Teaching: grade the next iterations of undergrad short paper, grad proposals. Design and post at least one new assignment for undergrads.
4. Life Stuff: make deposit. Plan another trip to see my dad. Plan trip with Sir John in January. Unpack boxes.
5. Work admin: spring book orders, watch some required videos.

EAM (held over)
Plan NaNo project.
Write for 3 hours as many days as possible.
Straighten and organize on days I can't write.
                                   
GEW:
1) Do all the grading and prep and service I can do so that I can do as few of those things as possible this coming Friday-Monday. Monday-Thursday will be painful and intense but worth it, I think.
2) Test the NaNo waters (i.e., see if I can write 1667 words today and tomorrow, and, either way, try to write 5,000 words of fiction this week).
3) Seven-minute workout 3x, 20-minute yoga 2x, daily beach walking next Friday-Sunday.
4) Take son on a nice outing (cheating because I already did this today).
5) Spend Friday-Sunday (and some of Monday) relaxing at the beach house.

heu mihi
1. Write x5, sit x5, language x5. Exercise x2.
2. NaNo: 12k words.
3. Do something ahead: Prep next week's lecture, and/or the guest-teaching class, and/or do a grant review.
4. Read essay for writing group.

Humming42
1 Submit current book review
2 Four hours on Tiny Project, including Actually Writing (session goal of 2500 new words)
3 Send out curriculum proposal

JaneB
1) keep NaNo-ing - I'm aiming for 500-1000 words a day on office days, 2000-3000 a day when out of the office.
2) do an hour on straightforward research thing for FocusedWoman.
3) do half an hour on knitting project.
4) eat limited refined sugar, make sure I drink enough fluids, and take a minute's standing/moving break every 45-60 minutes of desk time (aim to work through my six minutes of basic stretches list over the course of the day). If I have good days, do a five minute cardio work-out thing as soon as I get in the door after work, Fluffball's tea-needs allowing.

oceangirl101
1. Try to write 3000 words on puff piece Encyclopedia entry as way to get back into writing
2. Write grant annual report
3. Read and comment on grad student dissertation chapter
4. Liase with Mom's hospice team
5. Liase with Mom's lawyer re: estate planning
6. Get travel plans set for nephew that Mom wants to see
7. Figure out if I want to rent house in spring or find new house sitter etc.

PlantGirl
1. Keep up on applications
2. Manage last few days of teaching prep
3. 3x FL work (got one in already)
4. Read something for fun!
5. Plan next weekend's trip

Waffles
1. Dyad and election portion of manuscript.
2. Intersectionality paper: flesh out discussion and send to co-authors
3. Asthma paper: If get feedback on results from co-author, revise and then create plan for completion of paper (am trying to get the senior authors to actually write parts of the paper)
4. Diss manuscript: This really needs to be under review soon - big tasks are to reduce word count by 1000 words and email co-authors to get them to review it quickly or be removed from the paper.

September-December: Week 9

I hope this past week involved some careful tending, transplanting, or bringing things indoors to get ready for changing times and seasons--whatever those changes might be. Or, I hope, the week presented a good chance to take stock, at least, of which of those things might need to be done.

I thought this week we might revisit a topic from the past while doing so within the penumbra of our current gardening metaphor: Tools and materials. What tools and materials are keeping your garden (and its gardener) happy right now? However, instead of spades and watering cans, we can think about pens, notebooks, computers, desks, yarn, food, pillows, and more.

What tools and materials are you really loving right now? What things are really making your TLQ crops grow?

I hope those of you with illness begin to recover your health, I hope those who need sleep get some rest, and I hope NaNoers (and the rest of us) enjoying "making marks on paper," as JaneB phrased it last week.

Happy November, everyone.

Bardiac
1. Work on paper.
2. Get garden prepped for winter.
3. Keep practicing violin.
4. Get regular exercise.

Daisy
1) Finish all the half-done things from last week!
which includes:
1) Get the major figures for Northern Paper finished ONE FINISHED ONE TO GO
2) Do point form discussion sections for each figure NOT DONE
3) Write my section for cool joint paper ABOUT HALFWAY DONE

DEH
1. Health: eat safely, sleep 8 hours, stretch, cardio/walk, fun thing daily; weights 3x. Make appt with doc and request referral to physical therapy for neck. 
2. Research: put in 4 hours and/or write 2000 words; keep up with languages. 
3. Teaching: grade the next iterations of undergrad short paper, grad bibliographies. Design and post two new assignments for undergrads. 
4. Life Stuff: mail form, make deposit. Plan another trip to see my dad. Plan trip with Sir John in January. Two car things. 
5. Three boring work admin things.

EAM
Plan NaNo project.
Write for 3 hours as many days as possible. 
Straighten and organize on days I can't write.

GEW (held over)
1. Celebrate my 50th birthday [with] a party.
2. Move like water through daughter's Halloween party.
3. Grade a little bit on Sunday despite all inclinations not to.
4. Read for fun a lot.
5. Fiddle with the novel project just a bit.
6. Don't feel guilty about ignoring some work things.
7. Revisit goals to plan for rest of this TLQ session.

heu mihi
1. Abstract for Longer Impatience (which may be due on Wednesday)
2. Write x 4, sit x 4, language x 4 (because I am taking today *off*)
3. 10k of NaNo words (I cheat and start early to make the project less terrifying)

humming42
1 Blog post on book-related holiday project
2 Four hours on Tiny Project 
3 Draft curriculum proposal and send to committee

JaneB
1) start NaNo
2) my birthday falls on my nominal day off, so this week I intend to take it as an ACTUAL day off, for NaNo starting, fancy coffee consuming if I feel like it, and some knitting...
do an hour on straightforward research thing for FocusedWoman
3) type up the patterns for the first two squares of the blanket. Either work on the next design, or start on a re-knit of the one I just did.
4) reduced refined sugar (birthday. let's not even pretend there won't be sugar), make sure I drink enough fluids, and take a minute's standing break every 45-60 minutes of desk time. 

oceangirl101 (held over)
1. Make decision about Spring semester leave
2. Email/phone meetings with potential graduate students
3. Read books x 2 and take notes
4. Exercise x 4
5. Help Mom with some estate planning loose ends
6. Think about work that needs to be done for collaborative paper
7. Liase with Mom's doctor and hospice team

Plant Girl (held over)
1. Finalize my conference paper, get to conference, enjoy/do well at conference. Try not to be shy/awkward at conference.
2. Try to squeeze in FL work in spite of conference travel
3. Keep on top of applications 
4. Try to at least think about chapter edits? I got some encouraging initial feedback from the peer review on my proposal so I really should be motivated/excited about it.

Waffles
1. Dyad and election portion of manuscript 
2. Interview 5 (I hope, don’t think my RA has scheduled it yet — although interview 6 is scheduled)
3. Work on intersectionality paper and try to get it completed
4. Email PhD advisor and ask for letter for K - ACTUALLY ALREADY DONE AND SHE AGREED AND EVEN OFFERED TO REVIEW MY K - WHICH IS FREAKING AMAZING!!!
5. Get biosketches from my K team
6. Write letters of support from K collaborators
7. Write mentor section of K
8. Edit K timeline
9. Start budget justification
10. Write institutional support letter
11. edit candidate section to talk more about independence, independent projects, goals for more first authored pubs, etc. 

September-December: week 8

Good Enough Woman reminds me that we haven't done the traditional halfway-through revisiting of session goals, in case people need to revise the goals set at the beginning. So if you have realized that you need to jettison (uproot?) some goals, or revise (transplant?) others, there's no time like the present. (It's not going to get any earlier.)

We might think about the goal-revision as setting up the indoor garden, as in this post, which at first I thought was going to make me grumble about hardiness zones and people who can have artistic winter gardens, but in fact is about bringing plants inside: http://maryannemohanraj.com/2018/10/17/winter-garden-2/

What are you bringing inside and finding a sunny window for?

Bardiac (held over)
1. Practice a LOT for orchestra rehearsal and lesson.
2. Revisions.
3. Regular exercise, stretching.


Daisy
1) Get the major figures for Northern Paper finished
2) Do point form discussion sections for each figure
3) Write my section for cool joint paper
4) Do one relaxing thing like yoga or a run or a walk, anything counts

Dame Eleanor
1. Health: go to bed by 10:30 every night, stretch daily, walk or cardio daily, weights 3x. Make appt with doc and request referral to physical therapy for neck. Fun reading and self-nurturing acts daily.
2. Research: put in 4 hours and/or write 2000 words; keep up with languages.
3. Teaching: grade the next iterations of undergrad short paper, grad bibliographies. Design and post two new assignments for undergrads.
4. Life Stuff: file form, make deposit. Plan another trip to see my dad. Plan trip with Sir John in January. 2-3 household tasks. Haircut.
5. Several boring work admin things (not my idea of important, but required).


EAM
Write for 3 hours as many days as possible.
Straighten and organize on days I can't write.

GEW
1. Celebrate my 50th birthday [with] a party.
2. Move like water through daughter's Halloween party.
3. Grade a little bit on Sunday despite all inclinations not to.
4. Read for fun a lot.
5. Fiddle with the novel project just a bit.
6. Don't feel guilty about ignoring some work things.
7. Revisit goals to plan for rest of this TLQ session.

heu mihi
1. Write/read x 5, sit x 5, language x 5
2. Stretch x 6, exercise at will
3. Read something for pleasure
4. Just stay on top of all the stuff, and don't overuse alcohol as a reward for long days

Humming42
1 Finish and submit current book review
2 Four hours on Tiny Project
3 Draft curriculum proposal and send to committee

JaneB
1) coffee shop with pen, notebook and fancy coffee!
2) do an hour on straightforward research thing for FocusedWoman
3) type up the patterns for the first two squares of the blanket. Either work on the next design, or start on a re-knit of the one I just did.
4) no refined sugar, make sure I drink enough fluids, and take a minute's standing break every 45-60 minutes of desk time.

oceangirl101
1. Make decision about Spring semester leave
2. Email/phone meetings with potential graduate students
3. Read books x 2 and take notes
4. Exercise x 4
5. Help Mom with some estate planning loose ends
6. Think about work that needs to be done for collaborative paper
7. Liase with Mom's doctor and hospice team


Plant Girl (held over)
1. Finalize my conference paper, get to conference, enjoy/do well at conference. Try not to be shy/awkward at conference.
2. Try to squeeze in FL work in spite of conference travel
3. Keep on top of applications
4. Try to at least think about chapter edits? I got some encouraging initial feedback from the peer review on my proposal so I really should be motivated/excited about it.

Waffles
1. Dyad and election portion of manuscript
2. Stupid PTSD paper
3. Stupid asthma paper
4. Finish research strategy of NIH K
5. Do 4th interview
6. Winnow down results of intersectionality paper and see if a clearer story emerges