Hello and welcome back everyone!
Time… always a perennial theme for us… I am super short on it right now, so I’m going to leave a short prompt…
What is your favourite time-saving hack? Anything goes, work hacks, life hacks, household hacks? Free reign for ideas!
Goals for the week below.
Contingent Cassandra
Get advance publicity for mid-late October events related to the study leave project done and deliver to appropriate person.
Daisy
None, so great job meeting those!
DEH
- finish the grading
- power-wash the north side of the house
- write my sabbatical report (due Monday)
- gym tomorrow
heu mihi
1. Write a very basic draft of short weird experimental essay.
2. Submit Kalamazoo abstract and apply for funding.
3. Start reading book for last-minute tenure letter, with the goal of finishing
enough of it to say something intelligent by the end of next week.
4. Work on edits to ch. 3 of manuscript.
5. Exercise: Run at least 3 times; 1 yoga class.
JaneB
1 SELF-CARE. Remember I'm still
recovering from burnout and be kind to myself.
(i) do at least one mildly creative-with-the-hands thing
(ii) start book about Aztecs, start another novel
(iii) play D&D with nibling (who has moved into their uni flat!
a week early to let them settle in to the city and walk around finding out
where everything is before it's chaotic)
(iv) three days of stretchy/bendy type intentional movement for at least 15
minutes
2 HOUSE-LIFE ADMIN
i) at least 75% of regular chore list
ii) declutter kitchen
iii) do some sums related to latest voluntary redundancy scheme and some
pension modelling
3 TEACHING AND ADMIN
i) set up new teaching commonplace book/bullet journal thing
ii) list out teaching blocks for the first half of the session; finish blocks
for second year module reading lists/case studies
iii) get ViLE content done as far as I can
iv) comment on first half of a chapter for Senior Grad Student
4 RESEARCH
i) at least two hours on part 3 of discussion OR supplementary info of
consultancy paper
ii) an hour of notes on my grant idea
Julie
1.
Prep for trip to archives next
week.
2. Revise grant and submit - this is the grant from last session, which finally
came back from the last round of review on Friday, with thankfully only minor
suggestions.
3. Meeting with PhD student.
4. Tedious but urgent life admin - car service, get laptop keyboard fixed.
Susan
1. Finish dissertation related to
what I think is part of phase 1 of RoL project
2. Read some of books that I've piled on my desk
3. Keep up with embroidery
4. Read for pleasure
5. Figure out gym situation
Hi,
ReplyDeleteStudents (new first years at least) are back tomorrow, and I can't believe that it's come around so fast. We're still in limbo about a lot of things - in theory the consultation period ends 29th September and then we should know more, but... sigh... I've got the usual Sunday Scaries about loads of new people and new stuff and lack of information (former Interim Head of School is no longer my boss but IS module lead for one of my babies, the first year "how to Study Beaches" module, and is very late in doing anything useful about it - which is stressing me out as I have to teach in the module and I like to be prepared, especially now when I'm trying to pace myself and avoid crashing. Well, reduce crashing to something that happens on non-work days or for an hour or three on work from home days, at least. Stay In Your Lane.
Time management - not my forte. But I guess one area I have gotten a lot better at is not wasting time on worrying or trying to decide what to do, so here are some things I find helpful.
* having a place to put any little thing that comes into your mind so you don't need to try and remember it is really useful - that can be in a notebook or on technology, or a whiteboard, or a post-it system, but it needs to be a reliable place.
* Parking On A Downhill Slope - with any ongoing project, taking a couple of minutes at the end of any longer or more inspired work session to note the next steps really helps make the most of small pieces of work time or when you don't have much spare brain power to decide what to do with work time.
* when worries are loud, write them down (so you can reassure the brain squirrels you won't forget about them) and decide a time to revisit them or talk about them (so you can reassure the squirrels that you WILL deal with them, not suppress them). I find that helps me set them a little bit aside...
In more positive news my nibling moved into their halls last week and they are doing OK - a very rocky start after their Dad had a minor road accident and wrote off his car on their move-in day, which meant their mum had to leave them to go and pick him up/help with all the police/towing/insurance etc. (he is fine apart from some nettle stings, he had slowed down to go round a tight corner, hit a patch of oil on the road, and went sideways into a ditch and stone wall. He had to climb out of the car into a nettle patch, and was shaken up but completely unhurt. So lucky!). But they've now found a favourite cafe, signed up for the city library and found it has an entire Regional Folklore section, met up with some school friends who are starting their second year in the same city, and got all of their timetable ready for freshers week, so I think they're doing OK.
Yay nibling! That's good news (always nice to have some).
DeleteAll your techniques for keeping track of things and keeping brain weasels under control sound good, though I do get overwhelmed by lists.
LAST WEEK'S GOALS:
Delete1 SELF-CARE. Remember I'm still recovering from burnout and be kind to myself.
(i) do at least one mildly creative-with-the-hands thing did a simple painting exercise (colour mixing to make a row of autumn trees)
(ii) start book about Aztecs, start another novel no, yes
(iii) play D&D with nibling no - we did hang out online for two hours catching up and them telling me all their new student adventures, then we discussed character design principles
(iv) three days of stretchy/bendy type intentional movement for at least 15 minutes two
2 HOUSE-LIFE ADMIN
i) at least 75% of regular chore list about 60%
ii) declutter kitchen no - decluttering person couldn't come due to car trouble - oh dear, I hope I'm not the third in the car problem queue!. But it isn't any worse than it was!
iii) do some sums related to latest voluntary redundancy scheme and some pension modelling started - I actually collected quite a lot of numbers and wrote and submitted a question about the pension modeller, so for me that was pretty good.
3 TEACHING AND ADMIN
i) set up new teaching commonplace book/bullet journal thing yes
ii) list out teaching blocks for the first half of the session; finish blocks for second year module reading lists/case studies yes and yes
iii) get ViLE content done as far as I can yes
iv) comment on first half of a chapter for Senior Grad Student yes
4 RESEARCH
i) at least two hours on part 3 of discussion OR supplementary info of consultancy paper supplementary info done
ii) an hour of notes on my grant idea no. Struggling to feel like there is any point to this
COMING WEEK GOALS:
I have to be on campus three days this coming week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sigh! For new student stuff. We still haven't been briefed on what to tell students who ask about the whole Change Programme thing - even saying things about who will mark their assessments this trimester, or what modules they take next trimester, feels very difficult to navigate honestly and appropriately. But heck, that would actually be USEFUL, so I'm not surprised...
1 SELF-CARE. Remember I'm still recovering from burnout and be kind to myself.
(i) do at least one mildly creative-with-the-hands thing
(ii) start book about Aztecs, continue current novel
(iii) play D&D with nibling (or at least hang out and chat!)
(iv) three days of stretchy/bendy type intentional movement for at least 15 minutes
2 HOUSE-LIFE ADMIN
i) at least 75% of regular chore list
ii) declutter kitchen
iii) do more sums related to latest voluntary redundancy scheme and some pension modelling
3 TEACHING AND ADMIN
i) at least one teaching block (3-4 hours) on non-urgent teaching prep (non-urgent = happening AFTER next week)
ii) do all the needed things to be ready for next week's teaching
iii) get the instructions for placement year reporting all approved and on the ViLE
4 RESEARCH
i) at least two hours on part 3 of discussion for consultancy paper
ii) an hour of notes on my grant idea
iii) abstract for Very Slowly Developing paper
I can't do BIG lists, they're more a series of parking lots. The only "proper lists" I write are my "done" list in my diary, my "top three priorities for the week" list in my work journal, and my list of weekly basic chores. Everything else is what I would call a parking place or a transient list - they get regularly rewritten, if they get too long they get split down, they happen where they are needed (e.g. my Parking on a Downhill Slope lists are a set of bullet points on the first page of the working document or on a post-it in my work journal on the project's latest page, and I cross them off as I go...).
DeleteThat sounds like a really good week, especially w/r/t teaching and research! And good progress with moving, chores, and sums!
DeleteGood luck with the week! So glad nibling is happy with the start of uni!
DeleteWay to go on fitting the research in with all the other things that suck up time whenever they can...
Hope the start of the new year is as smooth as it can be. And glad nibling is settling in well.
DeleteOh, I am a list girl. I have lists everywhere. I have lists within lists. If it isn't on a list, I won't do it (not entirely true, but close). My email inbox also functions as a (very annoying) list.
DeleteI'm glad that the nibling is doing well, and I hope that your week runs as smoothly as it can!
I think every faculty member rejoices to hear of Nibling's success at starting university! And it sounds (in spite of the issues) like a pretty good week!
DeleteI guess my comment to JaneB could spawn my own "how to avoid overwhelm" advice, though this isn't exactly about saving time. Try to estimate how long things will take, at different rates: grade 10 papers at 5 minutes each, or 10 minutes each, or 15. This becomes "under an hour" or "90 minutes/3 Pomodoros (more or less)" or "3.5 hours---not ideal but also not infinite." I'm not actually very good at estimating time for tasks, but that's why I do the range. It helps to see "yeah, this is not a quick 20-minute thing" and also "even if you need an afternoon, you don't need days."
ReplyDeleteI'm TERRIBLE at estimating time as it depends also on my brain state and ability to focus at the time! And that's before we get to sleep, pain, and interruptions feline or human... I'm currently feeling safer with the idea that I will spend an hour or two on a task and just see how far I get!
DeleteThat's a good idea. I also tend to underestimate how long it takes to start/stop/move between tasks. So the fact that I have 20 minutes between finishing teaching and going to a meeting does *not* mean that I can grade two 10-minute papers in that time. One, maybe. But I also never sit down to grade just one paper, so in actual fact, that 20 minutes goes to internet noodling. And email.
DeleteSaving time: not sure I have any bright ideas that don't involve getting other people to do things like clean and shop! Cook in large batches and eat the same thing all week. Do some sort of exercise while waiting for a kettle to boil, rather than doing "just one thing" in the kitchen, because one thing always leads to another. Read or watch fun things while working out on cardio equipment.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
Thanks mainly to that damned cat, who cannot get the hang of our owl-ish household, I'm rolling over most of my tasks to next week. I was just too tired to do anything yesterday except go to the gym, and today my husband and I traded time keeping Mor entertained/ quiet so the other person could sleep.
- finish the grading: NO
- power-wash the north side of the house: NO
- write my sabbatical report (due Monday): NO
- gym tomorrow: YES
New goals:
- finish the undergrad grading, comment on grads' short things, start next round of grading
- power-wash the north side of the house
- write my overdue sabbatical report
- establish a schedule for working on research, at least 20 minutes a day on book project
- prep grad class
- swim 2-3 miles, cardio/weights x2, just cardio x1
Some weeks are just like that... Cat rhythms can mess up a schedule like nobody's business! Hope she adjusts to the more nocturnal house as she settles in.
DeleteStill super impressed with your swim and exercise discipline!
See "exercise addiction," also when I'm well-exercised, especially when I've had pool time, everything seems to go better.
DeleteHope the new cat settles soon and that this week goes better.
DeleteOooh, cats can be very stubborn about their schedules... (New bed has a headboard with a slightly wider top edge, which Shoutypants can just about stand on. He likes to stand above me "singing the song of his people" at 6am. We are Working On It)
DeleteOh kitty! After getting James and Clovis, I don't think that I'll ever adopt a singleton young cat again, because having two at once was SO much easier. --Of course, if one showed up on my doorstep, I would change my tune.
DeleteI'm with you on the exercise. I feel so much more capable of handling life when I've had a good run or a swim, especially first thing in the morning.
Ginger George has long decided that I need to wake up at least one hour before I think I do. It has been as early as 3:30. The feline alarm clock is not good. (Unlike Shoutypants, he doesn't sing, but sits on my chest and makes biscuits.)
DeleteGreetings from northern French city, where I am in the archives this week! It is pleasantly warm enough to feel like Real Summer, with the possibility of last-minute Real Summer things, like sitting outside a cafe, and walking around without a jacket. The archives are in horrible modern buildings some way out of the centre, something the French weirdly like to do, but my Airbnb is very central, so I can at least get some early evening walks in.
ReplyDeleteTime hacks: I would love as many as people have. I don't have any magic ones, other than the stuff Dame Eleanor has mentioned, such as batch cooking and freezing, and trying to use odd moments of time to send a text message. I sometimes tidy up while having phone conversations, and dry my hair while checking messages. I unashamedly use boring bits of meetings to check email: I still feel it's bad manners in a seminar or at a conference, but if what I'm listening to is forced upon me and of no interest, it's a different matter. And folding/sorting laundry in front of the TV. One tip I have found useful is when stacking the dishwasher, if you have a cutlery basket, put spoons in one section, forks in another etc, or if a tray, then stack forks together, etc. When it comes to emptying the dishwasher, the cutlery is already sorted. Probably everyone else here has been doing this for years, but it's something I only discovered recently.
That sounds lovely despite the ugly modern building! Soak it up!
DeleteAnd I never thought to pre-sort the cutlery in the dishwasher basket. That feels like it might be a really positive little change, thank you! I get irrationally annoyed when the forks and spoons fight when I try to take them out...
The dishwasher thing never occurred to me either!
DeleteMind you, not surprised because I am on the raccoon end of the scale... https://www.reddit.com/r/BrandNewSentence/comments/11i0zin/in_every_partnership_there_is_a_person_who_stacks/?rdt=47231
IME, the architect and the raccoon are the SAME PERSON, only it depends on which partner is labeling the other . . .
DeleteUnfortunately, I find that pre-sorting the silverware in our dishwasher basket means that the spoons never get clean (because they nestle), so I have to sort upon emptying. Alas.
DeleteAll the new archives seem to be in the middle of nowhere. Happened to me in Norwich this summer, and a friend was in Taunton recently and the new archives are out in the boonies. I get that it's where there's land, but very hard on those without vehicles!
DeleteTime hacks… I need them…
ReplyDeleteAssign a specific time for tasks that tend to expand. Class preparation works well with this – I assign 2 hours, and I agree to call it “done” after that time. It helps me focus and improves my “guessing” about how long things should take. Things like housework, gardening, organizing, and marking definitely benefit from this approach.
Batch cooking definitely, having random things in the freezer for busy weeks is great.
Doing little things when they are needed instead of waiting for a “good” time – e.g. when responses for a question come in, put them somewhere accessible right away so I don’t have to search later.
Finishing things when doing them, it is always so much harder to come back to things that were left half-done…
This week’s goals
Finish popular article on research topic
All accounting for August
Read and comment on thesis chapters URGENT
Begin sample organizing process
Exercise at least 4 times, anything counts
Somehow when I batch cook I pretty much always don't fancy whatever it is if I froze it, or it isn't the same. So what I tend to do is batch cook/prepare for the week, and prepare ingredients/elements of food for the freezer. So I don't make and freeze soup, but I do chop up onions, carrots and celery and add all the seasonings and bag up into pan-of-soup sized portions, and I make sure there are a couple of tins of beans or vacuum packed things of chestnuts in the cupboard, so if I want soup for the week I throw a bag of base in the pan and add something - which might just be a bag of frozen brocolli, or some random chopped veg and a protein option, or assorted leftovers, or might be more complex. I do tend to keep certain vegetables in frozen form - a bag of frozen brocolli (my favourite vegetable) turns into a dish of steamed or roast brocolli I can add as a side for days or turn into a simple meal by topping with a handful of cheese or into a pasta sauce by chopping roughly and adding a gob of cream cheese or tomato paste or pesto to drained pasta then stirring that and the broccoli through. Frozen peas and chopped onions are also useful. I keep microwave rice packet bases (plain and the ones that are like "mediterranean tomato rice" or "mushroom rice") - again, with a tin of mixed beans in sauce and a vegetable (which can be tinned or raw or pre-cooked) and a handful of chopped nuts or grated cheese if I'm feeling indulgent makes a quick meal.
DeleteOne meal prep I do like to do is making a batch of cookie dough, and freezing it in flattened discs of one cookie size - that way I can have 1-2 cookies freshly baked any night of the week!
That cookie hack literally just BLEW MY MIND! would not have thought of that in a million years!! I'm totally making cookie dough tonight!!
DeleteHere are two takes on finding/making/preserving time that I have found useful:
Deletehttps://pcwrede.com/pcw-wp/writing-time/
https://www.askamanager.org/2014/04/how-to-find-the-time-you-need-to-get-more-work-done.html
I am fascinated by the batch baking: I sometimes make soup or something, and then freeze, but I don't think of it strategically. I love JaneB's cookie hack.
DeleteLast week:
ReplyDelete1. Prep for trip to archives next week. - YES, I actually feel more organised than for other trips, though I will still end up frantically photographing everything in sight.
2. Revise grant and submit - this is the grant from last session, which finally came back from the last round of review on Friday, with thankfully only minor suggestions. - YES! (Finally!)
3. Meeting with PhD student. - YES
4. Tedious but urgent life admin - car service, get laptop keyboard fixed. - YES (laptop keyboard miraculously started working after nice man in computer repair shop shook it a bit, then told me he would have to take the whole thing apart and re-solder it back together, so wouldn't be worth it).
This week:
1. Maximise time in archives.
2. Keep email and other work stuff to the absolute essentials, even if next week will be manic as a result.
3. Enjoy time away!
Sounds like a great week, and I am sending all good wishes for success to the grant!
DeleteI hope the laptop continues to cooperate and doesn't everyone photograph anything that might possibly ever be useful when they are anywhere near a source that isn't their own property?? I admire those very disciplined people who know exactly what they need, but they are alien to me...
Have a fantastic time in the archives and away!
DeleteCongrats on all the done things too, and the grant!
Laptop is still behaving so far. Hope I haven't jinxed it by typing this.
DeleteThe problem with photos in archives is that I always run out of time and wish I'd spent less time photographing some stuff earlier on to leave more time later, except inevitably the really amazing stuff turns up on the last day/in the last box. This time I do have some idea of what I need to be looking at, though there is still a long list of items that sounded interesting from the catalogue description, so plenty of scope for frantic photos.
unexpectedly good stuff usually turns up on the last few days of a field trip too - I guess it's just the universe keeping us on our toes!
DeletePhotographing everything in sight is a good idea. I always return from archives realizing that the one page I didn't photograph is the one that I really need to see....
DeleteHave a great trip!
Oh, I just read your comment about why photographing everything is a problem. Oh well. We do what we can!
DeleteEnjoy the archives!
DeleteHi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling very overwhelmed this semester. My husband's ongoing on-and-off illness is a big part of it--selfishly, I'm not used to doing so much cooking, and that's a big time-suck. Obviously, though, *that's* not particularly important. He finally had some blood work done today and it seems to be something to do with his liver. More tests tomorrow, and we're really hoping for simple and treatable....
So I'm just going to check in and out, and I hope to catch up with everyone's updates in the next day or two!
Last week:
1. Write a very basic draft of short weird experimental essay. -MOSTLY BUT NOT DONE
2. Submit Kalamazoo abstract and apply for funding. -YES
3. Start reading book for last-minute tenure letter -YES, and I'm enjoying it, but it's taking a lot of time!
4. Work on edits to ch. 3 of manuscript. -NO
5. Exercise: Run at least 3 times; 1 yoga class. -RAN x2, YOGA x1, joined a gym and SWAM x2.
I also thought that I was getting a cold last week, but I didn't, thank goodness.
The day-and-a-half-including-all-day-Saturday meeting to plan the conference went great! But I'm sure that it's also contributing to the overwhelm.
And also also, I realized today that five doctoral students whose committees I'm on (I'm the advisor for two) are set to defend this year. Plus the sixth (my advisee) *might* defend this year. That would mean...that all of my doctoral students would be done. It also means...five or six dissertations to read THIS YEAR.
This week: I'm having a hard time coming up with goals, honestly. There are just so many dumb little things.
1. Full draft of little essay
2. Finish tenure review book
3. Administrative: Get spring schedule in order; get requests for fall '25 schedule; find out about this person who wants to teach for us; finish faculty report; review colleague's tenure file
4. Exercise: Run x3, Yoga x1, Swim x2--this will keep me sane
5. Town service committee: Finish putting together little brochure
6. Enjoy being outdoors sometime this weekend, while *not* running
Having been there, I know how worrying an unidentified illness in a spouse is. I hope you have answers (simple and treatable) soon. And six dissertations is A LOT!
DeleteSeconding Susan's good wishes for an easy resolution!
DeleteAlso sending good wishes for easily treatable resolution for illness, that is a lot of worry to carry around.
DeleteYay for all the done things, and much empathy for the giant pile of thesis reading in your future!
Oh, poor you! I've been there, and illness in a spouse is a huge worry. Sending strongest possible wishes for easily treatable illness with no lasting effects. And nothing selfish about minding the impact on your own life - it's a load to carry. So long as you dump towards the outside of the circle, not inwards, you're allowed to express whatever feelings you like.
DeleteTime hacks? I'm not sure I have any, except I have come to ask the question, "do I really need to do this?" As a perennial over-doer, learning to say, actually, that isn't necessary has been life-changing. Otherwise, I am disorganized and just do lots of things at the last minute. But they get done.
ReplyDeleteGoals from last week:
1. Finish dissertation related to what I think is part of phase 1 of RoL project YES
2. Read some of books that I've piled on my desk YES
3. Keep up with embroidery SOME
4. Read for pleasure SOME
5. Figure out gym situation JOINED< NOW HAVE TO GO
It was a pretty good week. The dissertation was interesting, though it had less of what I was hoping for, but lots of great context. Having time to read and think is great. I'm enjoying settling in to my new life here, talking to people (fun) and doing things -- we got to go to the opening of an exhibit at the library on Thursday, which was great. There's a great sense of possibility... This past week I also purchased a new computer (on sale, at half the normal price), and had someone over for dinner and...
Goals for this week:
1. Keep digging to find out where the sources I want *are*. It's amazingly opaque.
2. Prepare for fellows symposium next Monday and Tuesday
3. Keep reading
4. Read for fun
5. Tapestry
6. Take advantage of events here
7. Go to the gym,
8. Get to medical test that has taken ages to schedule. (One of the things about moving from a rural location to a major urban center is that scheduling medical procedures is a lot easier.)
Now I'm going out to watch the lunar eclipse!
Sounds like an excellent start to your away adventure! Yay for finding and joining the gym, and taking advantage of all the interesting things to do.
DeleteLunar eclipse sounds amazing! A post-doc I mentor just got back from your Favourite Library and is raving about it.
Delete