Week Two: Take Five

Welcome to week two of the fall/spring (depending on your hemisphere) session of the TLQ. 

I am fortunate enough to be on sabbatical this term, and I am luxuriating in long stretches of work time. But what this means is that I find myself snacking a lot and sitting a lot, and, as a result, my weight is going up and my fitness level is going down. This past week, Earnest English said that she wanted to "engage in research and reflection on what kinds of stress-relieving breaks would work (saying I'll meditate is fine, but maybe there are better things I like more -- I'm seriously open to ideas!!!!)." JaneB offered some great suggestions:

adult coloring book
puzzles
knitting and crochet
meditation
stretching
ta'i chi
stand up and sing or declaim!

For this week's topic, I'm hoping you will add to this list or get even more specific about some healthy ways that you like to take five or ten minute breaks.

Below, I've listed each of your goals from last week in alpha order. Please let me know if I've forgotten anyone. 

Here's a reminder of the standard format for check-ins:

1. comment on the week's topic, when there is one
2. report your progress against last week's goals
3. analysis (optional): analyse what happened, what went well, what came up to derail things, note what you learnt/want to change, ask any questions of the rest of the group if you want some tips or suggestions
4. planning (optional): something about the coming week: what the priorities are, what issues are going to present challenges, what the framework for your goal-setting is
5. goals for the next week (or multi-week period until your next check-in)

Amstr:
1) now that I can eat again, eat healthfully
2) write 2x
3) 1 hour decluttering
4) put materials for letter of rec in a folder
5) go see a play this weekend

aw (no weekly goals stated; these are aw's session goals):
1) So,I plan to answer the question for each and every week of this session, have I put my personal health and wellbeing ahead of work?
2) My second goal is to submit three papers. It is ambitious, but knowing what I do now about national science organisations, I think this will make a real difference to a number of things. and, I have a number of papers more than half written, so I think it should be possible, and I will feel greater wellbeing once I have a sense of work being finished.

Contingent Cassandra:
1) get back on sustainable sleeping/eating schedule, and begin adding in regular exercise (especially walking, since the next month or so will bring some of the best outdoor-exercise weather available in our climate)
2) continue progress on household/financial tasks
3) planning for rest of semester (including scheduling of prep for school and church classes and figuring out where to fit in conference prep and possible work on DH article)

Daisy:
1) Data for CP1, polish and send away
2) Write conference abstract based on outline for NP1
3) Workshop field guide and program


Earnest English:
-work out at least twice this week
-get draft together of short chapter (which probably breaks down into working on it several times this week)
-prep and write several big emails to get those projects done
-keep head from exploding by engaging in frequent stress-relieving breaks by. . .???
-engage in research and reflection on what kinds of stress-relieving breaks would work (saying I'll meditate is fine, but maybe there are better things I like more -- I'm seriously open to ideas!!!!)
-compile Big Project drafts so I can take stock of what I got done in the last quarter
-prep somewhat

GEW:
1) walk 3x, swim 1x, yoga 1x
2) explore possible organizational patterns for Chapter 2
3) read a LOT of secondary material (too much to list, but I'll aim for at least 10 chapters of secondary books)

humming42
1. Draft writing plan for manuscript
2. Finish last week’s meditation 
3. Submit book review 

JaneB
1) go through both sets of minor revision instructions, email co-authors with any parts I can't do myself or they can do more quickly
2) complete a rough draft of each section of the administrivia report and email all the colleagues who need to send me information or add bits
3) rough out the grant budget and put down bullet points of what needs to go in each section
4) be nice to JaneB... do at least two sanity-supporting things each day (early to bed, exercise, crochet or other handwork, work on my NaNo-writing, sitting on the back step in daylight with a cuppa and nothing else to do for at least fifteen minutes...)

Karen
1. Block out 2 hours for P1 material gathering
2. Set sleep alarm clock
3. Cut out snacking outside of meal times.

kjhaxton:
1. Finalise research tool for scary project in anticipation of perhaps maybe getting ethics approval to go ahead. [this will count as my research half day]
2. Sort out as much as I can for the first few weeks of teaching
3. Tidy up workspace for craft and make a list of what I need to buy

Matilda:
1) Prepare for a talk on 3rd October.
2) Re-read Chapter 1 and make a revision plan.
3) Do three minutes exercise three times a day.
4) Write for 15 minutes three days.

Maude:
-So I guess the next two weeks I'll pound out some research and then turn what I have from the conference paper into a full length article to send to him.
-eat right, sleep, and workout during all of this

Mercy:
1. grade short answer Qs on mid-term exam
2. "touch" HA paper for 25 mins 2 days/week
3. visit Dinosaur museum w/kid
4. walk each day, no email at night, go to bed on time

metheist:
1) Edit 10 pages of Behemoth
2) Refamiliarize myself with 'goddess' book
3) Prep week for 2 classes
4) Cook 3xwk.

Susan:
1. Revise last two chapters of book
2. Begin to draft conclusion
3. Sign up at Gym so that I have a place to go for exercise. Go at least twice next week.
4. take care of one more bag of junk.

Fall TLQ: Sign Up and Week One

Welcome to the Top Left Quadrant session for Fall/Spring 2015!

Many of us are now leaving the open spaces of summer behind as we transition into teaching periods, while others have been teaching  through the last few months - but we are all now at the point where the end of the year seems to be looming closer and closer. Holding on to the time, energy and headspace for TLQ over the next few months in the face of pressures from teaching and more is not only about stepping back from crisis mode to structure in longer term productivity, but also about caring for ourselves as embodied being with connections to places, people and ideas.

Your hosts for the fall/spring session are GEW and me, Karen - one of us from the northern hemisphere and one from the south, hence the doubled season. This session of TLQ will run over 13 weeks (hopefully without any bad luck) from now until Sunday 13 December. The basic ground rules are posted here. We will put up weekly prompts for discussion and check in each Friday (well, sometime Friday in our respective time zones) which should give participants the chance to reflect on the previous week and get ready to start the next week with goals in mind. 

We welcome back those who have joined in a session before and encourage new people to join. To officially join in, just leave a comment below following the prompts. Please feel free to share and promote through your own blogs and social media.

So for this first week, please briefly introduce yourself.

Then set your key, overall goals for the session. Within the domain of TLQ (important but not urgent) you might find goals relating to research, writing, creativity, self-care and more. Some of the reflections from the last session highlighted the importance of goals that were realistic (both in scale and number of goals) as well as motivational (finding goals that you saw as valuable and/or felt enthusiastic about).

Then set your weekly goals, which you will report back on through the check-in post going up on Friday 25 September. Weekly goals are a great way to break down the overall goals into smaller, manageable steps, and you might want to think about goals that could be set for each day or a couple of times over the week as well as single action goals.

Welcome! Good luck! And please do share your insights and support with one another through the comments - one of the best parts of this group is the community it generates.