Welcome to the new TLQ session! This is the first week of 14, so we're setting goals for the period between now and 14th December, and will have a mid-session check in/recalibration on 2nd November.
Since it is autumn and the start of the new academic year (for most of us at least), I thought we could have a theme of stationery. As soon as I see a change of leaf colour or a cool, crisp morning or another hint of Autumn, I feel this powerful urge for new school supplies. this year so far I just got some new stickers, plus the acronym for the new unit I belong to following the August reorganisation is the name of an animal so I've acquired some tiny models of those animals for my office. But clearly I need MORE stationery.
Let's start by talking about work bags. Do you have a dedicated bag (or two or three bags) for work? Are you a back pack person, a handbag/purse plus tote bag person, a grab the laptop bag and shove everything else in your pockets person? How do you move your stuff between home and campus, and what sort of things do you move around?
So, four things, this week - introduce yourself if you want to, session goals, goals for the coming week, and, if you have time, tell us about your work bag(s).
When setting goals, think about your current context, and what do you need to get done by Christmas. What top left (important, non-urgent) things and personal things would make you feel like it's been a good year overall, or that the calendar year ended well, when we wrap the session up on 14th December?
If you've been thinking for awhile about joining in, we'd love to have you try us out this time around!
Oh, and here's a picture of Mr Shoutypants settling in on my D&D notes just when I needed to check them. He looks like he was very well aware of that!
Hello, hasn't this come around quickly? I'm JaneB, a burntout grumpy mid-late career academic in a UK regional University which is struggling badly with recent trends - we had a huge round of reduction in force last year which included "managed exits" (involuntary leavers) and between people who retired early, left voluntarily or lost their jobs, my subject lost about a third of our team. The start of the new academic year is reactivating everyone's trauma from the whole process, and making it clear how few of us remain and how we've had to trim back our offerings to students (last year we did a variety of one off fixes; but had to strip down this year's offering). So grief and anger and general done-with-everything-ness is local as well as ::the world out there:: around here. And I'm still navigating being a fairly recently diagnosed neurodivergent person (AuDHD, just for funsies). Apologies in advance for rants!
ReplyDeleteOn the positive side, I'm still here, and timetabling perfectly met my "reasonable adjustments" this year which is a first! :-) My Shoutypants remains a pleasure to have around, and Autumn is my favourite season. And I have always loved and still love the prospect of new stationary!
Work bag: I currently have a university issued laptop and laptop bag, and a mid-sized shoulder bag which is unreasonably heavy because I'm one of those people who "needs" to carry around all the things they MIGHT need as well as the basics. I bought myself a nice larger laptop bag which would take all my stuff in one bag, and I've spent the last six months intending to move everything over and failing to do so. I used to be a backpack person but had a shoulder problem (both the bags I have can be worn cross body so they press on only one shoulder) and never got back to it.
SESSION GOALS:
DeleteSELF-CARE: I struggle with this, so putting in some process goals -
a) intentional movement for at least 15 minutes three days a week (this can be stretching or more active exercising, but it needs to be intentional and additional to just "doing life"),
b) doing some kind of making (art or craft) a couple of times a week,
c) doing something gently social (playing D&D online counts, or a multi-text exchange with a non-work friend - living alone makes hermitting easy when life gets stressful and work uses up most/all/more than all of my interaction-tokens for the day) a couple times a week
d) keep up reading for pleasure - I seem to have my mojo back, and its definitely a Good Thing
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT
Another thing which tends to go astray in busy/stressful times. And this is my heavy semester of teaching (plus the new stuff).
a) keep doing the weekly list of chores - aiming for 75% done every week to be realistic.
b) sort out new shelving in my living space - and maybe a sofa
c) clothes storage solutions (currently all my actually-in-the-rotation clothes are either in the laundry basket, on the airer, or piled on a chair or in the clean undies basket. This is not ideal).
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
Basic goal is to deliver every class as timetabled and grading on time - this is my heavy trimester, and I'm still having various burn-out-related health issues, so I don't feel like this is entirely a guarantee. Also dealing with some ISSUES with teaching team colleagues - the changes left us with several not-exactly-competent colleagues and the smaller staff numbers push me into interacting with them more often ::grumble:: But I'ma set some goals anyway. I only have familiar admin roles so nothing new there, and whilst there's a lot of reacting to smaller changes from the Centre, I don't have any big projects in mind. So only two goals for this session:
a) end each work week (Thursday) with everything set up ready to go for the following week and, if possible, have a solid start on the week after that.
b) limit working on teaching and admin issues over the weekend (let's say no more than 5 hours) and if possible ZERO
RESEARCH
I have a lot of balls in the air at the moment. I'm not sure how I feel about most of them.
a) submit multi-author paper (due 15 October) & hopefully get through to acceptance this session.
b) be on top of contributions to large project where I have a small part
c) make measurable progress with at least three other writing/data processing projects (I'll make a list now of what I'm working on)
WEEK GOALS:
DeleteThis week is welcome week so the place will be crawling with first years. I need to be on campus two days for welcome events, and to do rather a lot of cat herding to get ViLEs fully ready and back into the rhythm.
SELF-CARE:
a) intentional movement for at least 15 minutes three days (the two non campus days and one of the weekend days)
b) making a couple of times a week,
c) two gently social things (D&D hopefully)
d) keep up reading for pleasure
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT
a) 75%+ of the weekly list of chores
b) make a plan for the shelving in the living room
c) don't make clothes worse
d) get a new cat litter trapping mat
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) get week 2 materials set up (next week is week 0)
b) limit teaching and admin to 5 hours at weekend
c) identify reading/outline discussion points for new topic for honour module
d) admin role - check my allocation of other people's ViLE sites (we have a checklist of the minimal information that needs to be there, for consistency, and guidelines for assessment requirements. Some people do not think it applies to THEM. This led to a major and embarrassing situation at the exam board with all the external examiners, so this year we are doing the checking By The Book. Sigh. WHY can't we trust adults to follow the rules?)
e) make contact with all my tutees/supervisees
RESEARCH
a) multi-author paper (due 15 October) schedule two meetings
b) attend meetings for big project (more meetings. they love meetings)
c) make the list of all the projects that are in the air, and their current status
d) do feedback comments on texts for senior MSc student and former visiting postdoc.
e) get box text back from former PhD student and send to other author for a different paper.
I initially read "burntout" as "burn tout, which might be a good treatment for the condition!
DeleteGood luck with welcome week! Sympathy for having to start a year in difficult circumstances. Glad timetabling came through for once - it really makes a difference having a manageable timetable.
DeleteJust want to say Shoutypants is a great addition to the group. THough his goals are to be fed and make sure he's the center of attention, right?
DeleteFed at least three times a day on only the current favourite flavour, and given exactly the attention he wants in the moment. Also 100% ownership of my fleece dressing gown.
DeleteWell I think Shoutypants makes an excellent case for getting what he clearly deserves!
DeleteWhat a handsome picture of Shoutypants!
ReplyDeleteIn case there's anyone new this term: I'm heu mihi, a medievalist in literature at a large public university in the Northeastern US. I'm very lucky to be in a very blue state AND at a heavily unionized institution; nonetheless, I expect that Certain Stresses will be felt this term (and in the ones to come). I have a 13-year-old (!!) son nicknamed Bonavenutre and am married to The Minister. I also live with two feline kings (James and Clovis--real names).
My goals this session:
1. Finish proofs and index for forthcoming book (has to get done, but I'm putting it here anyway)
2. Rough plan for Companion essay; research for essay; get ready-ish to draft in January
3. Teach my tiny class as well as I can (it's a required course for our major, but for weird demographic reasons I only have 3 students!)
4. Keep the administrative balls in the air; work on improving departmental climate/cultures
5. Get plenty of exercise, plenty of rest, and plenty of time for quiet contemplation
6. Think ahead to a creative project for the future
7. Finish my current Italian novel
I'm in a bit of a fallow period, research-wise, which is both lovely and moderately anxiety-producing. While I have overperformed in years past and can certainly give myself a break, merit raises have just been reintroduced, which does provide a certain (tiny) incentive to keep publishing. But it can wait, really it can!
Goals for the week:
I'm participating in a roundtable at Very Fancy University tomorrow, and frankly, I'm really stressed about it! I only have 10 minutes to speak plus Q&A, but it is So Fancy!! So getting through that is goal #1.
1. Get through Very Fancy University event.
2. Proofs & index of 50 pages of book.
3. Read 35 pages of Italian.
4. Read grad student's chapter.
5. Exercise at least 4 times. (It's a busy week with many inconvenient meetings that will require me to be creative about my workout schedule....)
Finally: Bags! I've had a big tote for years, but before a work trip abroad last spring, I bought a really nice travel bag that is a rather narrow tote (doesn't hold too much) that converts to a backpack. I've been using this for days when I don't have a ton of crap to schlepp--it's kind of sleek, and I really like the backpack mode for spinal alignment etc. I also carry a purse, since it's nice to have everything in one place at all times, regardless of what else I'm carrying!
Tiny classes can be ridiculously hard! So much changes w/r/t chemistry, both class-prof and within the class, and you can't necessarily rely on *someone* to be prepared, so you always have to be . . . Good luck!
DeleteGood luck with Very Fancy University event!
DeleteIt's very hard to pick up research mojo when you just finish a book. When you're lucky, you can publish a few spin-off essays, but getting going again is slow!
Deleteugh, a three student class! Lots of work but doesn't look like it from the outside or to The Administration
DeleteHope fancy event went brilliantly!
DeleteShoutypants looking very smart there! And thank you for hosting, JaneB. I love new stationery, so this session is right up my street.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone new, I'm Julie, a mid-career academic, promoted to full professor last year, in a history department in the north of England which is not struggling yet as much as JaneB's, but with the same anxieties about the future as the rest of the HE sector in the UK. I am widowed, with a 17-year old daughter embarking on her last year of school and a 14-year old son who is at the start of two years' work for GCSEs (big exams taken here at 16) and is finding that school just got much more intense.
I used to carry work stuff in a leather bag, over the shoulder, which I liked because it looked smart and professional, but then the physio told me off. Now I have a Roka backpack, in a mint green colour. I do like it: I don't think it shouts 'professional' in the same way, but it is much more practical. I also have a small handbag (purse in American?) for purse, phone, keys etc so they don't get lost. It's not the perfect combination, as current handbag doesn't comfortably fit either my diary or notebook, so for meetings in other buildings etc I either end up carrying those in my arms, or taking the backpack just for them.
Session goals:
1. Research
I am on research leave this academic year, so this should allow TLQ stuff to take priority more.
(a) Write chapters for two different edited volumes (one I have a rough draft of, the other is in the outline stage, both need reading I can't easily do here).
(b) Research trip for two weeks: use archive and library time well.
(c) Revisions to journal article when these come back in (should be this session).
(d) Work on article for Big Journal
(e) Book review (due 30th October)
(f) Follow-up conversations from workshop last June.
Teaching/Admin
1. See PhD student through viva and hopefully minor corrections.
2. Two PhD vivas (one internal, one external).
3. Keep up with mentees.
4. Plan for conference next year (last year on the committee, but it's a big centenary conference, so probably more work than usual).
Kids:
1. Steer daughter through university application process.
2. Help son with school work (this is going to be a lot of Latin)
3. Be general taxi driver, sports cheerleader, handy target for emotional teen outbursts, breathing ATM.
House/life admin:
1. Big project: clear piano and old cupboards from dining area, get new bookcase.
2. Medium project: get garden shed built.
3. Small projects: aim for one a fortnight.
4. Travel plans for next year (two significant birthdays to celebrate)
Self-care/fun stuff:
1. Reading for pleasure
2. Keep up with journaling.
3. Exercise: running, pilates, walks, maybe start some weights.
4. Buy a standing desk (for back problems).
5. Do more creative stuff.
6. See friends as much as possible.
Love the third category under kids... Applications and start of big exam period in school are huge things for them! Hope they come through it all smoothly!
DeleteWeekly goals:
ReplyDelete1. Write report on PhD thesis and send to other examiner.
2. Work on chapter for edited volume.
3. Difficult conversation with car crash PhD student. This should be a final conversation, but he's reluctant to accept the inevitable, and my co-supervisor is not good at confrontation so....
4. Self-care: physio appointment (back is playing up again), journal, read, do something creative.
5. Pilates and run if physio allows.
6. House stuff: clear some stuff from garage, fix a couple of small things, buy new coffee pot (nothing happens without coffee!).
Good luck with the car-crash student. And breathe with the kids. It sounds like an intense year for both in different ways!
DeleteThe new coffee pot sounds like a suitable reward/bribe for having the difficult conversation! I hope you can sort out your back quickly. Mine is finally improving.
DeleteGood luck with the grad student - I hope it goes smoothly and everyone agrees on the solution, and that the physio is helpful
DeleteOoh, yikes, best of luck with car crash student!
DeleteThank you! The conversation with grad student was painful, but he didn't resist as much as I feared. He can come back any time to finish the thesis, so long as he can demonstrate that he's done enough work that submission would be realistic. But it's sad: he had a good project, and could produce a solid thesis with new empirical data. Instead, he wants to take down every big name there is in economic history, as aggressively as possible. In some cases, I'm sympathetic to deflating claims, albeit without the macho arrogance, but he doesn't get that he needs to write up his research first. It's also left us potentially with unpaid supervision work: he's not entitled to formal supervision once he deregisters, but because we're nice, we said of course he could stay in touch, send chapters etc. So we could still be dealing with him, but not getting the work credit. I guess we'll just have to see...
DeleteOn the plus side, physio did acupuncture and ultrasound on me, which has made a big difference!
Glad to hear the physio helped! I keep wishing mine would do ultrsound, but it's all exercises.
DeleteAnother medievalist here, late-ish career I suppose, though I keep being very annoyed with people who ask if I'm thinking about retiring (no), living in the American Midwest, working at what I call Large Regional University or LRU, married, three cats, lovely house, large yard in a serious state of disrepair. This fall, I'm teaching two classes that are more or less in my field, plus doing something that we can call museum studies though it isn't exactly that.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad we're back. I appreciate the structure! I may be getting more done now that the term has started than I did over the summer, sad to say, even though I also feel a bit overwhelmed at the same time. But it seems like I'm just not that good at forcing structure on myself, even though I like having it.
I have a lovely grey tweed Levenger bag that I have used for years. It's a good size for carrying laptop, papers, a couple of books, and it has two outside pockets for pens and whatnot, as well as a zip pouch on the inside. Not so many compartments that I lose things in it! It is developing a hole in one corner, which I need to do something about. In addition to it, I generally take to campus a tote bag that I call "the feed bag," with a couple of meals plus a water bottle, and a handbag/purse (look, I'm bilingual!), and sometimes another bag with books.
Session goals:
- keep up with morning exercise
- finish chapter for volume of collected essays
- write abstracts for three conferences next year (shoot me now)
- process student work in timely manner
- find readers for essays, do other editorial work
- deliver various not-museum-studies workshops (about half a dozen planned at present)
- try to do a couple of things on my Life Stuff list
The workshops sound interesting! Hope they are rewarding and fun to do.
DeleteGood luck with editorial work, may all the reviewers respond on time!
And this week's goals:
ReplyDelete- swim x2 or x3, cardio x3, weights x2, yoga x5
- at least 3 writing sessions
- grade grad quizzes, comment on undergrad in-class writing
- read another essay submission
- do Saturday loooong workshop thingy
- assorted appointments (eyes, PT, other)
- remember to be in all the right places at the right times!
Since it's already week 4 here, I am tentatively hoping that I have already settled into the "real schedule," which for once is remarkably close to the planned/hoped-for schedule! Or maybe I have finally learned to plan something I can actually do? The most amazing thing is that I am getting up early enough to exercise in the morning, mainly because that really is the only time I can fit it in, and partly because I bribe myself by promising to continue morning cuddles with Morgana if I get up early enough: there is no way I will get up and head straight to the gym, but if I can start the day with tea and kitty snuggles I can then face working out, apparently.
Mr Shoutypants says mornings are for breakfast first, then snuggles may be acceptable. Even if "morning" is me going to the loo at 4am.
DeleteI am struggling with morning work-outs these days, although that's also the easiest time for me to get them in. Maybe I need more feline inducement?
DeleteFor me, the question is "what's worth getting up for?" and hanging out with Mor (after she gets breakfast, of course) is right up there. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't consider providing inducement as part of her job, and if anything she thinks I should spend more time with her rather than going out to swim (ugh!) or work out (just pounce something at home!). But can you connect the thing you do want to get up for with working out, somehow?
DeleteAnother one of Shoutypants' fans here! Especially now that I am without cats, it's fun to see them!
ReplyDeleteFor anyone new, I'm Susan, a senior scholar in the humanities at a new university in a very important and large state university system in the US. Because it's in a big blue state, we're a target of the current bad news brigade, so there's a lot of concern about budget stuff. I am chair of our graduate program and also chairing a systemwide committee. This is my last year of teaching (retirement July 1, 2026), so it's a bit strange. I'm finishing (I hope) Famous Author, a book about a writer you have heard of, written as a trade book; I'm also almost done with Big Collaboration, a major overview of my field with 30 contributors. I'm trying to get going on what I call the rest of my life project, but like heu mihi, it's slow. I'm a widow, living alone in a small town. (My two cats both died in 2024.)
For this session, my goals are kind of weird, because I don't know what's coming at me from Famous Author and other stuff.
Research:
1. Any follow up on Famous Author, or Big Collaboration
2. Get microfilms on Interlibrary Loan and scan them so I can read them on my computer; start reading them
3. Write 2 papers that I have accepted for conferences this fall
Administrivia:
1. Keep up with whatever needs to be done for the graduate program
2. The Systemwide committee I chair is at the sharp end of a major proposal from our regents that is NOT GOOD, so between now and November 10 I will be running a workgroup to have the faculty response to the whackadoodle proposal. It will be insane.
Life:
1. Keep up with exercise, 5-6 days a week (bike, yoga, weights). I've started working with a trainer on weights every few weeks, and that keeps me going. But it's a good way to deal with stress, of which there is a bit.
2. Do something fun with people every week. Like JaneB, I can become something of a hermit, especially until it cools down here and I want to spend time outside.
3. I am planning to move when I retire, so I am starting now on the de-cluttering process. By the end of this session, I want to have got rid of the teaching books I will not need, and reduced my book collection by about a third to a half. I also want to have dealt with the boxes of stuff in my extra room. And cleared the garage a bit.
Goals for this week:
Delete1. Get new chair for conference session where chair can't come
2. Organize a bunch of talks and events for our graduate program
3. Draft one paragraph on the research of a colleague for a merit review
4. Deal with all the admin stuff which is coming at me very fast right now.
5. Empty two boxes. Get stuff I've organized to the various sales they need to go to. (There's a large bag of shoes for goodwill, other stuff for the cat rescue yard sale.)
6. Submit expenses for summer TOMORROW before they make us use the crappy online system ourselves starting Wednesday.
7. Do fun stuff this weekend
And I realized I forgot to answer to bag question: I carry a tote -- somehow backpacks don't really work for me. I carry a separate pocketbook, so that when I run into the grocery store on the way home, I can leave my laptop in the car. My tote is fairly stylish and professional looking, with enough pockets. For any purse/pocketbook, there has to be an outside pocket for my keys. I have lots of both because I'm always searching for the perfect bag. I know it exists.
DeleteI hope you managed to escape the forced use of the online system - they are remarkably bad.
DeleteI admit to being curious about the whackadoodle proposal. But I'm also sorry that you have to deal with it!
DeleteWhackadoodle may have been a strong word -- it's when people who don't understand something try to fix a non-problem, but are convinced the faculty need something we don't need. There are also serious academic freedom/free speech issues. And because it comes from the regents we have to treat it with respect.
DeleteSympathies - academic life would be so much easier if people high up didn't feel the need to justify their existence and their huge pay cheques by inventing things for the rest of us to do. But free speech issues sounds like a nightmare to have to respond to. Suspect it's only a matter of time before we have to deal with similar over here, sigh.
DeleteGood luck with proposal work... that is always such a giant can worms...
DeleteHope the writing and book stuff makes up for it!
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteThanks to JaneB for hosting!
I am a mid-career professor in a physical science field, at my somewhat under-staffed dream university in a lovely place. I do lots of advising and admin for my department, good investment but time-consuming. I have an extremely busy teenager at home, two slightly nutty cats, and a partner who now works in the same province for the first time ever.
My work bag is a beaten-up, somewhat holey, all-purpose conference tote that has seen better days. I do carry around a university-issue laptop with bag, but I share that one with students for particular things so it only contains actual laptop accessories. The tote gets turned upside-down on a regular basis to get rid of detrital material which accumulates with alarming speed. Every once-in-a-blue-moon I consider getting a nicer bag but then I forget about it so clearly it is not a priority. I don’t have a regular handbag or purse because those tend to turn into repositories for chaos. In an abstract kind of a way I would love a leather messenger bag, leftover desire from high school where some of the really cool arty kids had those!
My biggest goal for this session is to turn half-done papers (at least the two most important ones) into submitted papers. I have stalled on them all summer because of a new grant and lots of unexpected good research things, and a really great pile of music things, and an emergency few months as department chair, but they are frustrating me greatly and I need to get rid of them in a productive way!
Session goals
Turn two half-done papers into submitted papers
Figure out exercise routine
Try new teaching things with favourite courses
Shepherd four research students through their work
This week’s goals
Clear up all adminstrivial things I ignored the last two weeks while registration was in full swing.
Organize student project meetings and tasks
Organize my writing tasks so I can pick something to work on each day
Organize my schedule so I have some time blocks to write
Pick one block and write! (if only it was that easy…)
Feels like there is a theme here!
Oh, the organization at the start of the term! But nice that your partner is in the same province!
DeleteExciting to have your partner nearby for a change!
DeleteGreat news about your partner!
DeleteIf you ever want to try for a writing date, I'm two hours earlier than you, but at least the right side of the Atlantic!
DeleteYes please! Will organize something!
DeleteI see we are now getting spam comments. :(
ReplyDelete