I was struck reading last week's responses about the mentions of place. Also, heu mihi, Julie and Dame Eleanor are all traveling for work or pleasure. It got me thinking about my somewhat ambivalent relationship to travel: I enjoy travel and exploring new places, but I am always grateful to get home. Are there things you understand differently or think about differently when you are away? Or are there ways of thinking that only happen at home?
Goals from last week:
Daisy
FINISH work permit
FINISH paper revisions
Help student with thesis revisions
Help student with thesis data
Sort out field school stuff
Do something fun with friend
Run 3 times
Dame Eleanor
Finish the conference paper
Keep up some semblance of exercise (yoga, walking)
Have fun!
heu mihi
I have goals this week, but they're mostly just about staying afloat, so I'm not going to post them! I just need to try to check off as many of the little necessary tasks as possible....
JaneB
I need to get OUT of waiting mode and I'd like to try to do some of the "not just the basics" things around the house/in terms of self-organising. But I always feel capable of making and following All The Plans later in the evening, it just all goes away overnight and takes a LONG time to come back the next day. And I'm still suffering from the "none of this is appealing or feels worth doing because Everything Is Disasterous and I Am Ineffective" feelings which go with burnout, and also with life under late capitalism. Although working on the Mixed Volume paper was actually quite interesting (we've gone outside our "just the data" comfort zone to also write about how Enlightenment thinking might be causing blind spots in our understanding of what prehistoric peoples were doing and why, and it's finally coming together...).
** self care: Needs changing up somehow because it isn't progressing really. So Daily Journalling is going first, because that at least stirs up the brain sludge, then physical care through movement and food choices and showering regularly and using moisturiser, then care for my environment through routine tasks, then adding in a couple of less routine tasks and paperwork type tasks like financial review and finding out about Access to Work scheme
** Fun - read a novel, start a non-fiction book, knit/crochet, do some art, do some D&D prep, play D&D at least once.
** Work and boundaries - follow up from employment advisor meeting, maintain boundaries and grey-rock the Interim Head of Dept check in meeting, do minimal work hours (I have some grad student meetings)
** work projects - nothing
Julie
On holiday -- goals from previous week:
1. Carry on marking!
2. Expenses claim
3. Figure out travel to conference
4. Prep for Berlin trip
5. House/admin jobs - 1 urgent, 1 important
6. Go to friend's bookshop and buy books for holiday reading.
Susan
1. Finish revisions to introduction to Big Collaboration
2. Read last straggler essays and upload to google drive
3. Do preliminary check on sources for new project and potential research trips this summer
4. Keep up with all the admin stuff
5. Have fun (brunch with friend, dinner with another, and who knows this weekend!)
6. Sleep/ eat / move
I love travelling, whatever the reason. Travel for work is always good and productive: either I'm immersed in archives, or I'm exchanging ideas/getting inspiration. I find I can get quite a lot of admin stuff done in airports/on trains etc, but also have the get-out clause of 'I'm away at the moment, so will deal when I get back' for anything that is complicated. These days also I think the appeal comes from the lack of domestic responsibilities. I get to focus on work without interruptions or having to think about other stuff too much. It's not a total lack these days, unfortunately - I can't leave my parents to deal with everything, whereas I was happy to let my husband have sole responsibility. But I can hand over some, even if it requires almost military level planning in advance. Travel for pleasure is just a complete break, so even if I don't think much about work while I'm away, I come back with more energy.
ReplyDeleteLast weeks:
On holiday -- goals from previous week:
1. Carry on marking! - YES
2. Expenses claim - YES
3. Figure out travel to conference - YES (it involved a very early bus and an Uber the day of the train strike)
4. Prep for Berlin trip - YES
5. House/admin jobs - 1 urgent, 1 important - YES/NO
6. Go to friend's bookshop and buy books for holiday reading. - YES
This last week was great: three days in Berlin, which we all loved, with travel either side on trains, so we got to briefly see Cologne as well, and took the sleeper train on the way back, which was an adventure. So I feel recharged. I still have a week before term starts, so I can ease back in gently.
This week:
1. Proofs for article - urgent.
2. Online meetings with dissertation students.
3. Finish marking.
4. Review revised journal article.
5. Work on grant application (have blocked out Friday morning for online writing retreat).
6. Exercise
7. Healthy eating.
8. Important house job.
That sounds like a great trip; I'm glad it went well! I used to get a lot done on airplanes/in airports, in the days when I traveled to see aged relatives, because it was so freeing to be somewhere no one could reach me, or at least where I was already on my way to them. These days, I just don't feel the same pressure to use that in-transit time, and am more likely to pass the time reading fluff. Good luck/bon courage this week as you ease back in!
DeleteGlad trip was great, lovely adventure!
DeleteHope the re-entry is pleasant and not overwhelming...
I'm not good at travelling - I like/really enjoy seeing new stuff, and learning things, and have had some great trips and experiences, but travelling is just getting more and more difficult for me to tolerate cheerfully for lots of reasons - I'm getting older and creakier, the world is getting more difficult to navigate what with security controls and overbooking and the density of people on public transport systems, I was always concerned about throat infections/laryngitis (and almost always got sick from a trip) and now COVID added to the mix doesn't help at all although the increased acceptance of masking is a small plus (especially now I know several acquaintances with persistent post-COVID symptoms and difficulties), plus I'm getting less tolerant of what I now know to call "sensory issues" - all the noise and light and crowding and being too hot or cold or humid or itchy or just "out of place", and just accepting that I am a person with limited energy in all aspects of life and "pushing through" is no longer always an option. I really do ENJOY aspects of travel - being in interesting new places, attending conferences etc. - but I need at least as long either side for preparation and recovery, or longer than that if I am having to still work in that time, so I increasingly feel that travel is too costly. My plan as of now is to not travel outside the UK for the next twelve months, as I work to properly recover from burnout and to work out if this job is done with me and vice versa, and probably not within the UK much either. Which feels really BORING. But I also feel I have to put the energy I have into repairing what I can of the damage I've done to my reputation at NorthernUni and into seriously exploring my options (as well as looking after myself and adjusting to knowing I'm neurodivergent).
ReplyDeleteIn other news, firstly ShoutyPants the new cat has (just today) discovered the cat bed on my desk, and now all feels right in the world as there is a cat snoring away behind my monitor at this very moment... secondly, I spoke to Interim Head of Dept about how demotivating being assigned mostly "team member giving lectures" roles was for next year, and she said that module administration wasn't "high level work" and as a "senior academic" I needed to be teaching within my expertise (broadly defined... I'm teaching approx nothing in my research field), not managing teaching. Thinking back to all the years when I was managing multiple modules because we couldn't expect new staff to do such high level work, and being removed from teaching in my broader field to be pushed into skills teaching, I wasn't exactly convinced, but I DO feel that I made my point politely and she heard it, which I will consider a win. I think I'm contributing bits to seven modules next year (along with project supervision, tutorial groups for other modules etc. - our system is at times very messy), leading one, and two of the others are led by people I work well with. The rest... well, I get to practice my patience!
The Voluntary Exit Scheme exiters left on Friday, and I am envious. And sad to see more really good colleagues leaving (and others staying, sigh). My reasoning was fine at the time, but I'm not in the same headspace any more, and I'm accepting my envy! Just got to keep going and hope things are better than I currently anticipate.
LAST WEEK
DeleteWas a week. Some good days, some less good days. I am not looking forward to going back to work, but work is pushing into my week anyway (or I am reverting to being more of a doormat...).
** self care: Daily Journalling is going first, because that at least stirs up the brain sludge, then physical care through movement and food choices and showering regularly and using moisturiser, then care for my environment through routine tasks, then adding in a couple of less routine tasks and paperwork type tasks like financial review and finding out about Access to Work scheme inconsistent, some movement but better food choices and continued to struggle with being consistent with the other personal stuff, did most of the routine chores but none of the less-routine ones
** Fun - read a novel, start a non-fiction book, knit/crochet, do some art, do some D&D prep, play D&D at least once. no, no, yes several nights, one doodle, yes, three times
** Work and boundaries - follow up from employment advisor meeting, maintain boundaries and grey-rock the Interim Head of Dept check in meeting, do minimal work hours (I have some grad student meetings) no, yes, erm... 11:30 again - see below
** work projects - nothing a draft of a paper came in from a former PhD student with an urgent deadline in the context of their application for their next job so I spent a good while on it on Friday, and then as expected "crashed" Sat and Sun - this is why I'm concerned about returning, if I actually do a full day's brain-work the next two days I just... don't have the capacity to do much at all. But it will be an interesting publication.
NEXT WEEK'S GOALS:
Last week before phased return starts, sigh!
** self care: Daily Journalling, physical care through movement and food choices and Boring Stuff, care for my environment through routine tasks, adding in a couple of less routine tasks and paperwork type tasks like financial review and finding out about Access to Work scheme
** Fun - read a novel, start a non-fiction book, knit/crochet, do some art, do some D&D prep, play D&D at least once.
** Work and boundaries - follow up from employment advisor meeting, maintain boundaries and grey-rock the Interim Head of Dept check in meeting, do limited work hours (I have three grad student meetings)
** work projects - nothing
Well, I'm glad you made your point to the Interim HoD, and she heard you. And that ShoutyPants has found the cat bed on the desk. (My cats have never adopted the cat beds I've purchased for them, for reasons I don't understand.) I hope you can have a restful week.
DeleteGlad kitty is settling in! All work is better when there is a cat on the desk... Like Susan's my kitties don't like cat beds, so they each have their own cat-sized tupperware bin to hang out in during the day. Also boxes... so many boxes...
DeleteI think in many ways local travel is the best kind. Less trouble, less chance for disasters, not as tiring, and if it all goes to crap I can go home quickly!
Glad you got your point across, and hope something comes of it. And sounds as if Shouty Pants may boost morale. Plus you can tell yourself that you're staying home for his sake, though I don't think you should feel you need to apologise for not travelling - it is stressful! I think I hate airports more than the actual flying. Stations are also manic sometimes, but at least you don't have to be there hanging around for two hours beforehand.
Delete"at least you don't have to be there hanging around for two hours beforehand"---unless you allow three hours for clearing immigration (I have seen some truly humungous lines) and it only takes 40 minutes!
DeleteI nearly always love traveling *while I am doing it,* but I am ridiculously anxious about it in advance, especially of doing anything that is new to me or that I haven't done in a long time. And yet it always works out just fine. This trip, I spent too long sitting in a train station because I got through immigration way faster than I had allowed for (but, though boring, this is not such a terrible thing), and I had a problem with one train reservation but it got sorted out all right, so you'd think these things would build my confidence. It just seems that I'm the nervous type. OTOH, at home I'm often fretful and want to be Somewhere That Is Else, although that has eased off enormously since we moved to the current house, which is surrounded by green (grass, trees) so that I feel almost like I'm on vacation all the time. But at present I am on vacation in Paris, which is interestingly familiar and yet unusual, at the same time. Do I think of cities as "real life"? There are so many things I like about French life, including Parisian life, and at the same time I don't think I could live here permanently. Bureaucratic issues aside, I'm very accustomed to American notions of space; my 3-bedroom split-level, while modest by American standards, is enormous by comparison to normal European houses. In short, I sometimes feel like I've never really been "home" since I left the house I grew up in, though, again, our current house is really great. Maybe traveling just makes me feel like I want it all: my house, but with a fantasy portal or sci-fi transporter that lets me walk out into the streets of Paris or Oxford (or straight into the Bodleian, like in the Invisible Library books: I'm sure I have enough books for my home to qualify as a library for transportation purposes).
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
Finish the conference paper. YES (whew!)
Keep up some semblance of exercise (yoga, walking). YES.
Have fun! YEEESSSSSS!!!!
New goals:
Have fun
Get enough exercise without wearing myself out
Make it to the airport on time
Unpack, laundry, sort mail, take stock
So glad the conference went well, and enjoy Paris! There are always good things to do there, never mind the markets.
DeleteYES I would unabashedly love travel with a transporter or portal powers, one could combine ones own bed and familiar things for grounding with all the novelty (like a medieval king on progress!)
DeleteYay Paris! Have a fantastic time with the trip!
DeleteParis in the spring! Your post made me laugh: I do share your feelings about space - much though I love cities, I find apartment living stressful as noise really bothers me. Berlin was perfect in that regard: rules about no noise after 10 pm seem really strict, whereas our old apartment building in Barcelona you knew EVERYTHING the neighbours were up to! But the only US private house (not hotels or hostels) I have ever been in was an apartment in Manhattan that was ridiculously tiny. So I'm guessing space only applies in the suburbs? American houses always do look amazing in the movies!
DeleteI'm always up for talking about houses! Our first was a townhouse, 20 ft x 20 ft, on three floors, so 1200 square feet (sorry, I think in feet, not metric) if you counted the unfinished part of the basement where the washer, dryer, water heater, and storage room were. It was built c. 1950. Our second (the "too big, too old") was originally a c. 1915 bungalow, 2 bedrooms on one floor, c. 1000 feet, but around 1990 a second story was put on (not a well-thought-out addition), adding three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It always seemed much too big, and it was really a hike from my study, at the back of the second floor, to the kitchen, directly under it, but down the hall, down the stairs, through the living room, dining room, and hallway to the kitchen. Our current house was built in 1974, on 3 levels (4 if you count the garage): 3 small bedrooms and a bath mostly over the 2-car garage (one bedroom is somehow partly over the laundry room), an entry, living/dining, and kitchen on the main level half a flight down from the bedrooms, then the garage another half flight down, and a family room, utility room, and half bath that are partly underground. I think it's around 1600 square feet, and it feels like a good size for 2 people who have more books than is good for us.
DeleteBut there are McMansions in our neighborhood that are probably 3500 square feet or more. If you have four or five children, this makes some sense, but I'm not convinced that anyone really needs that much space.
We're currently staying in a 3-room plus bath apartment in Paris, where the kitchen, amazingly, is big enough for a table for six. The salon is about the same size, and the bedroom is a little bigger. But though differently configured, it's probably about the same size as our main floor at home.
I love to travel, and when I'm traveling the distance from daily life often allows me to figure out things that are rolling around in my head. But I also really like being at home, reading, and working out the details. As I said, I land on both sides of the fence!
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Finish revisions to introduction to Big Collaboration MOSTLY, but footnotes still to go
2. Read last straggler essays and upload to google drive YES
3. Do preliminary check on sources for new project and potential research trips this summer STARTED
4. Keep up with all the admin stuff I THINK SO
5. Have fun (brunch with friend, dinner with another, and who knows this weekend!) YES
6. Sleep/ eat / move YES
Well, I think I'm almost done on big collaboration: my straggler essays came in, they were good. And I got most of the substantive work on the introduction done, but not the footnotes. Give me a few hours, and I can finish that, I think. I did some examination of the sources, and realized that figuring that out will require MUCH more time, so I'm just going to leave it for the time being. It was a social week, though a rainy Saturday meant that the Saturday party was on zoom...
Today my brother came up, and we started working through my mother's storage unit. We did enough that we know what's there, and what we have to do. We took 45 lbs of paper to be shredded, an equal amount to be recycled. It was a huge load off me.
Goals for this week (which will be heavy on admin stuff)
1. Really finish the introduction
2. Follow up with people who need to send bibliographies
3. Start looking at Famous Author again.
4. Work in Garden
5. Do something fun
6. Eat/ sleep / move
I wish I had a head that would solve things just by being somewhere else, even if that meant traveling rather than just going for a walk, but I think the only time that worked was when I was struggling with a marginal inscription in a MS in the old Duke Humphrey's, got up for a break, and on my way back saw the MS from another angle and realized the inscription was upside down! A very literal change of perspective.
DeleteI'm so glad your straggler essays turned out to be good! And it's a big thing to get started on your mother's storage unit, so congratulations on that! Also it's great that you had family help with it.
So glad Big Collaboration is coming together well. It's so great when you get to the stage where you know it's a matter of days or hours to finish a project.
DeleteTravel is amazing. I love traveling, for work and for fun. My work is 100% place-based anyway so I really cannot work in any area that I cannot visit, so that works out great. Seeing the physical landscape literally IS research, so that’s where all my good ideas come from. I love being able to explore culture and landscape in places where I work, so I always make a point of seeing as much non-work things as I can. In small towns that means going to all the local museums or historic sites and taking students along for all of that, in super remote areas it may just be looking around and getting out and exploring wherever we are based. In cities it is easy of course, I always add night-time jaunts to everything possible of I’m working in the daytime, and I find that everyone I visit really loves pointing me to their favourite spots for locals so there is always a vast selection of places to go. I don’t ever expect my hosts to entertain me, so the point-and-go system is great, but some like showing off their cities and come along. Conference travel is where most of my good collaborations come from, same with inspiration and ideas, the change of scene really makes a difference, and the ability to step out of everyday care and feeding routines is critically important for me. By the time my next sabbatical comes around kid will be in university so I’m totally going to plan an away period for that one!
ReplyDeleteFor fun I would travel way more than I do now, finances and scheduling make it a bit tricky but I try really hard and local travel counts too so I do a lot of that with my kid and we love that. We are taking a big-for-us trip to a place I used to live, and doing all the fun big-city stuff there in August. Travel is the great reminder of “they do things different elsewhere and that is a good thing” and really makes us grow I think…
Last week’s goals
FINISH work permit DONE
FINISH paper revisions HAHAHA NOPE
Help students with thesis revisions 2 THESES SUBMITTED YAY! ONE ONGOING
Help student with thesis data DONE
Sort out field school stuff DONE
Do something fun with friend DONE
Run 3 times ONCE BUT SOME GOOD WALKS
It was a good week, two theses were submitted, one as a final document, and one for review. Another one came back from review with major edits required so that is something to work on. I had the other paper from February accepted with minor revisions, so that is great news and I’m very happy that both of those papers will see the light of day soon. And we have a fun field trip with upper year classes this weekend where I get to visit some of my favourite local rocks and beaches, which are nice even when it is freezing cold which it no doubt will be!
This week’s goals
Paper revisions, seriously…
Start other paper revisions
Planning meeting for new paper
Clean up all teaching samples
Mark exams and submit all grades
Exercise x5
Theses, papers, field trip---there's a lot of "yay" there! Hooray for you and your students!
DeleteI love the idea of landscape being research!
Delete