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Saturday 20 January 2018

Week 3: Start Again

My old (grad-school-era) yoga teacher used this phrase all the time, but especially when he had us do short sitting meditations: "Has your focused shifted away from the breath? Start again." And we--or at any rate I--always needed to start again.

I find this refrain rather consoling, because it's a reminder that it's all a practice, even more than it's a process. To have a daily writing habit, you have to write every day--that is, you have to start again, every single day. (Or every work day, whatever.) It does get easier the more you do it; in that sense, it's a process where you can see yourself making progress. But a few days off--which happens!--means that you need to start again. And again. Thinking of it as continually starting, rather than something done or not done, provides a constant opening to opportunity: You can always start again.

And anyway, I need a re-start, after that bout of the flu. I'm more or less on top of my course prep (I start on Tuesday), but my research/writing goals have been seriously sidelined, and exercise is still a dicey proposition. So I'm going to try to start again this week, in some deep ways.

What about you? Do you already need a re-start in any area? Take one! Are there habits that you have successfully internalized, but where it might be helpful to think about it in terms of continual practice, rather than a goal with an endpoint?

Check in as usual: Prompt optional, report on last week, set goals for the coming week.

Last week's goals:

Bardiac:
1. Big one, for sabbatical, think about an adventure (or two)
2. Do some birding
3. Finish writing a review letter
4. Prep for writing a second review letter
5. Practice violin: work on bowing, especially!
6. Exercise at least a bit every day (shoveling counts...)
7. Start prepping classes (start in two weeks!)


Daisy:
1: Finish the figures!!!! Seriously...
2: Do reading for new literature review section on new project
3: Decide on new round of lab work and get contracts set up


Dame Eleanor Hull:
1. Research: Daily translation work; upload at least one chunk. Make plan for revising the last article. Fill in a form and write an e-mail.
2. Teaching: Start teaching notes. Do some more assignment-writing. Set up online stuff.
3. Self-care: see dentist; stretch at least once daily; cardio 6-7 days; weights 2 days.
4. House/Life: stuff from last week, plus pack for a trip.
5. Admin: annual evil documents.


Elizabeth Anne Mitchell:
Compile list of research questions to answer before the sabbatical.
Walk 0.75 miles a day.
Three hours on the grant for four days.
Switch to first pair of socks and complete foot to heel gusset.


Good Enough Woman:
1) Print and read chapter four (aka "Jenny").
2) Try (again) to find a bookshelf that will work.
3) 1-2 hours tidying office.
4) Finish reading gothic novella for class.
5) Morning (or evening) pages 4x.
6) Walking 3x.


heu mihi:
1. Meditate some amount.
2. Finish both syllabi; prepare Moodle pages.
3. Balance checkbook, pay bills, generally get my s*** together
4. Write letter for student group
5. Finish Contest Book 1; read intro and 1st chapter of Contest Book 2
6. Read 1-3 essays from Silence bibliography


humming42:
1 Submit book review
2 Edit Buildings draft
3 Work on pitch paragraph
4 30 minutes writing/research related 3x


JaneB:
1) do revise and resubmit for Problem Child 3
2) write some newsletter pieces for Society Thing
3) do some teaching prep
4) grade things
5) be kind to myself


KJHaxton:
1. Finish marking coursework and exam scripts
2. Finish draft of opinion article
3. make contact with people about outreach events
4. finish teaching admin for semester ahead
5. knit something else
6. plan victorian paper, gather references before writing retreat and write a significant quantity of the first draft


Susan:
1. Finish way outside. I got final comments just before Christmas, and I just need to sit down for a few hours and do it.
2. Start permissions for way outside
3. Finish organizing my desk 4. Read grad applications5. Walk 3 times plus 3 times workout. 

13 comments:

  1. Hi all,

    I start over ALL THE TIME. In fact I've named the check in process on my blog "year of new years" with the idea that every few weeks I have a mini "New Year" when I can reflect, celebrate or recalibrate, and start over. Very very important for me!

    I still have The Crud. And I feel cruddy. But I have started doing some work things a bit more consistently, and tomorrow I will (try to, weather allowing) go into the office and see if I can talk (I have my very late January 2017 appraisal meeting scheduled, for a start...). I'm still tired and fed up, and although my interest in food/appetite isn't back I'm starting to regain the weight I lost by being properly ill earlier on, which is a pain. So I'm grumpy, and low on resources.

    last week's goals:
    1) do revise and resubmit for Problem Child 3 I started it, and did two big pieces of the restructuring. I also realised I had two weeks left, not one... so it's TRQ this week, but hopefully if I can find an hour a day I can get it done...
    2) write some newsletter pieces for Society Thing sort of - edited my co-secretary's text, and one is now submitted. Two to go!
    3) do some teaching prep I've made a start. And a list
    4) grade things yes - I'm up to date on my (not hugely onerous) January grading, which is something
    5) be kind to myself ish. eating toast too often, but its warm and easy.

    goals for the coming week:
    1) make an appointment to see my GP if possible
    2) be kind to myself and put sleep before everything else on the list!
    3) do revise and resubmit for Problem Child 3
    4) finalise and send off two other newsletter pieces for Society Thing
    5) do as much teaching prep as possible - I'd like to be prepped to the end of the following week (new lectures to write, sigh, if I even have a voice to lecture with...)
    6) grade things (I have two large things to double-mark for the teaching fellows coming in this week, and need to collate marks from 17 other people (aargh) for my giant first year module)

    And now I will go and get a shower and pack stuff to try and make tomorrow morning less painful... because of course my sleep patterns have drifted...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the idea of a Year of New Years! It's a great way to reconceptualize patterns--it makes them seem so much less permanent. I hope that you feel fully better soon!

      Delete
  2. So far, so good for the new year.

    Last week:
    1. Big one, for sabbatical, think about an adventure (or two) - STARTED!
    2. Do some birding - LIFERS: Am Black Duck, Golden Eagle(s), Rough-Legged Hawk. So pretty good there!
    3. Finish writing a review letter DONE
    4. Prep for writing a second review letter FINISHED IT!
    5. Practice violin: work on bowing, especially! Practiced most days, still need more practice, of course
    6. Exercise at least a bit every day (shoveling counts...) - Not quite...
    7. Start prepping classes (start in two weeks!) -Barely Started. Ugh.

    This week:
    1. Prep classes!
    2. Write a grant proposal (internal)
    3. More birding!
    4. Practice violin
    5. Get some exercise every day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congrats on the birds! I am not a birder, but I live in a place that birders like. Today I saw the white pelicans that usually come to the bay this time of year. I always enjoy seeing them.

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  3. I like this idea of re-starts, and I find I need a lot of them. Many good habits seems to fall by the wayside at the end of each semester (and often during vacations). I guess it's good that an academic schedule is built on re-starts. Then again, the academic schedule is part of why I need them.

    I'm definitely off to a better start than I've had since last summer, I think.

    Last week's goals:
    1) Print and read chapter four (aka "Jenny"). DONE
    2) Try (again) to find a bookshelf that will work. DONE!
    3) 1-2 hours tidying office. DONE.
    4) Finish reading gothic novella for class. ALMOST . . .
    5) Morning (or evening) pages 4x. ALMOST . . . 3x
    6) Walking 3x. DONE 4x!

    This is the best weekly check-in I've had since last summer, I think, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I was really struggling with the bookshelf until I realized that the shelf in our dining area would be perfect in the witch hut. So I took it to the hut, and I ordered a new shelf that I hope will work in the dining area.

    I also finished another science fiction novel.

    My husband is leaving for five days on Friday, so I need to be realistic about what I can done. The weekend might not provide much time for progress.

    This week:
    1. Read intro and skim new theory book and take notes for article.
    2. Grade all or most of the assignments I'll get on Thursday so I can give them back next Tuesday. I want to stay ahead of the game.
    3. Do some homework/training to prep for the Poetry Out Loud competition I'll be judging in a couple of weeks.
    4. Morning/Evening pages 4x.
    5. Walking 3x.
    6. One hour tidying campus office.
    7. Have fun with the kids during my "Mommy weekend."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, it's 12 days since I got sick, and I still have periods of exhaustion, wooziness, and backache (which seems to crop up when I'm tired). And a cough. So exercise is still pretty minimal, but I'm hoping to be able to restart that next week, and make it to some gentler yoga classes this week.

    I also need a major research/writing restart. I have a conference paper due in March, on a book that I've taught but not written about since early grad school, so I need to cover a lot of scholarship. Since classes start this week, I'm going to try to think about the whole week as starting up a new schedule (which will go into effect mid-week, really, since my son has a day off school today and my classes start tomorrow and I'm still so tired).

    Last week:
    1. Meditate some amount. ONCE.
    2. Finish both syllabi; prepare Moodle pages. DONE.
    3. Balance checkbook, pay bills, generally get my s*** together. DONE. Vacuumed, too! Which *really* needed to happen and was bugging me a lot.
    4. Write letter for student group. DONE.
    5. Finish Contest Book 1; read intro and 1st chapter of Contest Book 2. DONE.
    6. Read 1-3 essays from Silence bibliography. NOT DONE. I consciously dropped research/writing last week because I needed to focus on the more urgent semester-prep tasks. But now I want to balance things out again. My teaching load isn't bad this semester, and my schedule is pretty nice, so I should be able to get some work done again.

    OH--and the big political fundraising party (for the local Swing Left group, in which I've become active) was last night. It was a huge success! We had hoped to raise $10k for the Democratic candidates in our nearest swing districts; we raised almost $12k! Because I agreed to send out an email, I ended up being in charge of food and drink for 150 people; somehow, we wound up with a great spread and refreshments to spare. It was wonderful to be part of something that actually *worked* for a change (unlike, say, the coffee hours and things that I schedule for students, of whom about 3 typically show up).

    This week:
    1. Meditate some amount. (I like this way of phrasing it!)
    2. Read 3 Silence articles; sketch in notes about how to use them (if they're usable).
    3. Look at NaNo novel and 2006-07 novel; make a decision about which to pursue right now.
    4. Submit grant app for student group
    5. Finish Contest Book 2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congrats on the success of your event! I don't know how you did that when you are still in the throes of recovery. I'm glad it went so well.

      Delete
  5. "Starting over with intention" seems so much better than "screwed up and need a do-over"... Same thing really, but less guilt-inducing? This week I will be starting over on those figures on which I have not made any progress for 2 weeks.
    My week got derailed a bit with a snow day, and multiple student things that needed urgent feedback, and by a huge pile of shiny new data that had to be processed so other people could write conference abstracts (mine were already done yay!).
    And also, thanks to the hole the maintenance crews had to punch into my wall to access the frozen pipes, I now have actual rats in my office... They don't mind the cold apparently. So I'm not going back in there until everything is fixed and sanitized. Thank heaven I have a semi-functional space to escape to in my sample storage area! I know all old buildings probably have thriving populations of all sorts of things but I really did not need to know that...

    Last week's goals:
    1: Finish the figures!!!! Seriously...NOPE
    2: Do reading for new literature review section on new project DONE
    3: Decide on new round of lab work and get contracts set up DONE

    This week's goals:
    1: Work on figures (less intimidating than "finish"?)
    2: Read student's thesis chapters and provide detailed yet supportive feedback...
    3: Get enough sleep so I don't get kid's new cold (fat chance, but I can try!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ick on the rats. It's one thing when they are in the walls, but you don't want to SEE them.

      Delete
  6. I learned Begin Again here at TLQ, and even made an art card with that phrase that sits on my (unused) desk. I so appreciate the weekly check-in because a bad week isn’t the end of the world, it’s just the end of the week. This is indeed one of the weeks where I didn’t even touch my goals. I should know by now that the first week of classes should include only goals about resting, sleeping, and maybe a bit of reading. So it’s a no on last week’s goals, which I am beginning again:

    This week:
    1 Submit book review
    2 Edit Buildings draft
    3 Work on pitch paragraph
    4 30 minutes writing/research related 3x

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the idea starting over: it relieves me of the sense of failure and inadequacy that hangs over me. I'd like to do that on the health front in particular. As the light comes a bit earlier now, I want to get out to exercise.

    Goals from last week:
    1. Finish way outside. I got final comments just before Christmas, and I just need to sit down for a few hours and do it. ALMOST
    2. Start permissions for way outside NO
    3. Finish organizing my desk PART WAY
    4. Read grad applications YES
    5. Walk 3 times plus 3 times workout. 2 walks

    Analysis: well, half of Saturday was spent in Urgent Care with my mother surrounded by sick people. (She's OK, getting better now.) That really scuppered the day. Otherwise, the revisions were a bit more substantive than I thought, and required that I think. I ILL'd a few books, and want to do one more read, but it feels pretty done.

    Goals for this week
    1. Really finish way outside
    2. Request permissions for Way Outside
    3. Start outlining keynote, figure out research/reading needed
    4. Walk 3 times
    5. Get at least 6 hours of sleep
    6. Decluttering: 5 minutes per day of SOMETHING

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thinking is haaaard. But seriously, it is hard to re-think a piece you thought you were done with! I’m glad your mother is getting better.

      Delete
  8. I will need to Begin Again after this week. Family stuff is going okay but is time and energy-consuming, and I’m not getting so much time to work here as I had hoped. I’ve been anxious about not meeting my daily translation goal, but I was actually a little ahead when I left, so it will be fine if I just do a tiny bit this week and start again next week.

    How I did:
    1. Research: Daily translation work; upload at least one chunk. Make plan for revising the last article. Fill in a form and write an e-mail. YES on translation, NO on plan and form/mail.
    2. Teaching: Start teaching notes. Do some more assignment-writing. Set up online stuff. YES
    3. Self-care: see dentist; stretch at least once daily; cardio 6-7 days; weights 2 days. YES. I think cardio may have been a bit skimpy, but close enough.
    4. House/Life: stuff from last week, plus pack for a trip. MOSTLY. Quite a lot of the Stuff, and packing happened.
    5. Admin: annual evil documents. DONE

    New goals:
    1. Regular stretching and exercise, safe food, enough sleep.
    2. Touch work.
    3. Keep up with online class stuff.
    4. Be present with my family, be tactful or at least keep mouth shut, think things through.

    ReplyDelete