Hello everyone!
It is the time of the summer where I am consistently seeing two things happening in my world, and they are giving me a good dose of cognitive whiplash…
On one hand there is the “time flies” approach. I was planning things with a group of campus leaders, and someone said “well we’d better get on with it because summer is almost over”… It was said at least partly in jest, but does reflect a very real feeling of time flying by and us hanging on for dear life…
On the other hand I’ve hung out with a lot of high school seniors the last week who have graduation on Monday, and their overwhelming opinion is summed up as “we are ecstatic that the long summer days are here, and isn’t it great to have two whole months of summer ahead of us!”. They have lists of summer jobs (all the camp councilors I know are even more excited for those than the campers!), plans with their families (everything from camping to finally painting the whole barn!), plans to learn new things (new instrument for band camp, of course!), no plans at all except chill with friends or alone (introverts I see you!), and their enthusiasm and joy has been wonderful to see.
I see the second attitude reflected in the outdoors right now too, with abundance everywhere. Asparagus is not sold as bunches, they come in buckets. Strawberries do not come in individual containers but in cardboard flats. Flowering bushes are not producing one set of blooms, they are doing thousands like the one in this week’s picture (if someone knows what it is, I’m curious!).
Those two groups are talking about exactly the same span of time…
So, a timely challenge for the week (we are doing mid-session check-ins next)… How can we shift from our typical “adult” scarcity approach, and embrace more of the feeling of abundance the “kids” have going into July and August? What can you do this week and for the second half of the summer to maintain that feeling?
DEH
-back
to gym: swim x2-3, weights x2, cardio x3
-finish the editing tasks and make the issue the press's problem
-4 x half-hour on research
-more defracking of habitat
-book the dang August trip
-get EU visas for July trip
-avoid thrashing
JaneB
SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 1 x small thing with people, reading
every day (with dinner, in waiting times)
* resting during the day in hot weather with my feet up - the inflammation and
swelling that comes with hot weather gives me a lot of joint pain and
definitely contributed to last summer's plantar fasciitis flare, and I want to
Be Sensible this year. Also horizontal rests do a better job of resetting my
irritation levels!
* write a small list for the following week - which I have taken as Annual
Leave, and whilst I want to do a lot of rest/chore things I'd like to do a
couple of more finishable, not-just-more-of-the-usual things
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores
* make the most of the decluttering session (which is rescheduled to the coming
Friday) and if not do one thing off the small items list
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* last exam board for this session this week and associated paperwork
* one hour on Icky Admin Task
* checking in with other research masters student
* one block on teaching for next year
RESEARCH:
* submit small group paper if time (will take 2-3 hours because, ick,
submission portals)
* continue to help student with changes on rejected paper
* discuss progress and run a couple more sets of modelling (park writing til
July)
* complete first draft of revisions for the group paper (I submitted a revised
version in April - It's come back quite quickly with a much more positive and
useful set of comments, thankfully) - it needs to go to the rest of the team at
the end of this week.
* referee two journal articles (I'm an idiot, only meant to accept one...)
Julie
1.
Plan for next week's trip to archives.
2. Finish the primary sources I was working through, maybe look at another set
if time.
3. Read ILL books, take notes, add bits to Big Article.
4. Get back to a student who emailed ages ago.
5. House/life admin: get daughter safely off on trip, plan for being away next
week, book a bunch of train tickets, if possible book a bulky rubbish
collection for later in the month.
6. Self-care/fun: run x 3 unless heat is too awful, journal, read, above all,
remember to pause!
heu
mihi
1. Write 3500-4000 words
2. Find reviewer 2 for new submission
3. Process other journal submission
4. Read grad student's exam doc
5. Read two essays for festschrift; check formatting consistency
6. *Only* read Italian and Legenda Aurea on days that I'm home!
Susan
1.
Keep unpacking
2. Contact handyman about attaching stuff to wall
3. Have a fun reunion with friends from last year
4. Keep up with admin stuff
5. Try to get back into formal exercise that isn't unpacking stuff
6. Get back to cooking (that involves putting stuff away enough that I can use
the cooktop - the nice thing about induction cooktops is that they do provide
extra counter space when not in use. )
Daisy
REMEMBER the small actions!
Get some teacher gifts
Comments and edits for student chapters
Do a lot of data processing for joint project
Enjoy/appreciate all the “lasts” this week and next
Bike to work 3 times
Good luck with the week!
Hello! This is an apt question for me - I have a lot of anticipatory anxiety and my Sunday Scaries can start Friday night, but I also have the dodgy time sense that comes with ADHD which is made stronger by the very long evenings of the UK summer. I don't know what I can do, but I have the week off (apart from a paper review I didn't get to last week and a mid-week email check for urgent things) so I will be doing my best to live in the moment and get through a lot of fun and necessary things. I do need to have a productive July - but first, I get a week off!
ReplyDeleteLAST WEEK: was grim. I do not do well in hot weather. And it was well beyond the normal hot - the edge of the heat dome did cover my part of the world, and before all the human manipulation my location was a group of smallish gravelly islands at the edge of a floodplain of reedbeds and watermeadows - so humid is normal. One day there was a thunderous downpour with water running down the street at 7:30 am and by 11 the outside temperature was above 30 degrees C so that was no fun! It's settling back to seasonal norms now, but that was a hard week - at least I was able to avoid needing to go on campus and could be miserable in peace and, when necessary, with an icepop stuck in my bra. But I'm sleep-deprived and itchy (hot weather gives me heat rashes and gastric issues on top of the joint inflammation and the hayfever, so I'm just not a nice person in hot weather even when I was relatively skinny - which I no longer am!).
On the plus side - British strawberries are at their best and most affordable, Mr Shoutypants loves this weather and is very active and engaging, and being able to choose what podcasts to listen to whilst lying awake on a hot humid night is much better than having to listen to the choices of the radio!
SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 1 x small thing with people, reading every day (with dinner, in waiting times) 1x, one 10 minute stretching routine, and the other days I was doing 1-2 minute "seated stretches and mobility" thingies at my desk to try and help the joints, so there was intent but also heat. I did a lot of zen doodling (this is a lovely time of year for watercolour - layers dry really quickly and well), played D&D twice, and read
* resting during the day in hot weather with my feet up - the inflammation and swelling that comes with hot weather gives me a lot of joint pain and definitely contributed to last summer's plantar fasciitis flare, and I want to Be Sensible this year. Also horizontal rests do a better job of resetting my irritation levels! yes, a bonus of working from home! And enjoyed listening to a few months' backlog of the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast whilst I did it!
* write a small list for the following week - which I have taken as Annual Leave, and whilst I want to do a lot of rest/chore things I'd like to do a couple of more finishable, not-just-more-of-the-usual things sort of. There are at least three pieces of paper with items on it on my desk. But today is the first cooler day and last night was probably the hottest and most humid of the lot, so it's not surprising I haven't finished the list - the brain squirrels resist lists
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
Delete* 75% of chores not quite
* make the most of the decluttering session (which is rescheduled to the coming Friday) and if not do one thing off the small items list rescheduled - the forecast was nearly 40 degrees
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* last exam board for this session this week and associated paperwork done. But now there are resit problems. WHY are supposedly very smart PhD havers so bad at following policies and thinking through consequences related to teaching? It's hard not to see it as active, intentional plate-dropping
* one hour on Icky Admin Task yes! stage one done!
* checking in with other research masters student yes
* one block on teaching for next year no
RESEARCH:
* submit small group paper if time (will take 2-3 hours because, ick, submission portals) no
* continue to help student with changes on rejected paper yes, going OK
* discuss progress and run a couple more sets of modelling (park writing til July) yes, ahead of schedule now
* complete first draft of revisions for the group paper (I submitted a revised version in April - It's come back quite quickly with a much more positive and useful set of comments, thankfully) - it needs to go to the rest of the team at the end of this week. yes!
* referee two journal articles (I'm an idiot, only meant to accept one...) I only actually did one. It was 'OT and there was assessment drama and another post-doc I collaborative with got major revisions on an article with a mean-spirited review so needed a bit of encouragement and advice. And it was HOT
COMING WEEK:
is an actual week off.
SELF-CARE:
* 4x20 intentional movement, 3 x making (including birthday card for nibling), 2 x small things with people, reading every day (a lot if I want to!)
* resting during the day in hot weather with my feet up
* write a "tasting menu" of both small chores and small fun things, and aim to do a couple every day - more is nice but the goal for this week is REST in all its flavours, and a couple of those things a day is enough for that.
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 100% of chores
* set up my diary for the new academic year
* small items as above
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* one email check. ONE.
RESEARCH:
* referee one journal article
Oh, and I want to make a solid start on the financial organising I planned to do this summer
DeleteLove the idea of a 'tasting menu' of tasks--I do that, but somehow having that name for it makes it sound both more intentional and far more appetizing. (I'll see myself out.)
DeleteI also love the tasting menu. Good luck with resting and fun things.
DeleteLove that tasting menu idea, not major commitment, but fun choices! Hope your week off is excellent!
DeleteI'd just counted up the number of days before my first faculty meeting a few hours before this post went up! There's still an entire calendar month and two trips before then, which seems like it could be a lot . . . but the number of working days feels perilously low. Maybe it's fortunate that the pleasant June weather is now overtaken by the dog days of July, when it's better to be inside in A/C, and the library is much more attractive than the outdoors.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
-back to gym: swim x2-3, weights x2, cardio x3: swam 3x 1 mile (yay), weights once, cardio once.
-finish the editing tasks and make the issue the press's problem: NO, still working on this one (I swear no contributor even looked at the style sheet, or knows their way around MSWord)
-4 x half-hour on research: 2.5 hours on new stuff PLUS 4 hours on revisions to the Overdue Essay, which landed in my lap shortly after I posted last week
-more defracking of habitat: YES (not a lot, but any is good!)
-book the dang August trip: HALF (place to stay done, now we need flights)
-get EU visas for July trip: UNNECESSARY! this requirement doesn't go into effect until later this year.
-avoid thrashing: MOSTLY (feeling a little thrashy this morning, sad to say)
ALSO: tried on bras (is there anyone for whom this is not a traumatic experience??) and bought two I may return; wrote a memo to my chair about Special Distinguished Stuff Wot I Done last year; read for and attended book group (liked the book! read the second in the series!); did yoga on the deck a couple of times; had dinner with one set of friends; went to an art museum then to dinner with another set.
New goals:
-at least two hours on M-work
-finish revisions to W-essay
-plod grimly on with editing which will be around my neck till end of time
-book flights
-return some stuff
-swim x2, weights x2, bike x2 (means getting up early)
-attend fireworks on the 3rd; consider parade on the 4th
Good luck with editing. I got an article back for final style checks this week, which I was grumpy about, because I thought I had followed house style. But now I will take pity on the editors and take another look, in case I am being a smug author who hasn't realised all her dates are in the wrong format or something similar.
DeleteI heard an item on the radio recently claiming most women are in the wrong size bra without realising it, and that most of us don't put them on properly. Apparently there is a correct way to position your breast inside the cup, but I can't remember what it is. I actually find buying underwear less traumatic than most other things - I am not a shape it is easy to find clothes for.
I hate buying bras! But definitely need them. Frustrating!
DeleteAnd good luck with the editing - I find those last little details worse than almost any other phase of paper writing...
I'm putting off counting Days Left to next week - we don't start back until September but there is Clearing and a whole slew of exam boards and working groups and and and. Ugh!
Good luck with the editing, it will go away eventually...
DeleteYay for yoga on the deck and fun with friends!
Good luck with the editing, because attention to all the little things THAT ARE IMPORTANT I KNOW is also hard! And with you on buying bras -- I went to a specialty bra shop once and they adjusted my breasts in the cups, and told me I should do that!
DeleteChecking in from a train between Paris and Montpellier. I am very hot and sticky. Paris is no longer in the grip of the terrible heatwave, but this afternoon was still very hot and neither of the libraries I was in today has air con. Urrgh. It only gets hotter the further south I go, so hoping for air con elsewhere. I am on route to a workshop in my second academic home and one of my favourite places, via libraries and archives.
ReplyDeleteAnother great prompt - I am similarly caught between a daughter making the most of a long summer and the freedom of being officially an adult, and the growing feeling of the summer being eroded. The best solution is to block out time for the stuff that matters (writing) and postpone as much teaching prep and other stuff to September.
Last week:
1. Plan for next week's trip to archives. - YES
2. Finish the primary sources I was working through, maybe look at another set if time. - YES, NO TIME
3. Read ILL books, take notes, add bits to Big Article. - YES
4. Get back to a student who emailed ages ago. - YES
5. House/life admin: get daughter safely off on trip, plan for being away next week, book a bunch of train tickets, if possible book a bulky rubbish collection for later in the month. - YES (and collection happened this week, so bonus)
6. Self-care/fun: run x 3 unless heat is too awful, journal, read, above all, remember to pause! - YES (just about managed to pause)
A lot of yes, but mostly stuff that had to happen.
This week:
1. Be as productive as possible in libraries and archives.
2. Enjoy workshop and catching up with people.
3. Enjoy time away in pretty places as much as heat allows!
I hope your travel goes smoothly, that you find some A/C, that you are marvelously productive, and that you have a wonderful time at the workshop and admiring the scenery!
DeleteIf you can';t find aircon I hope you find some of those old European buildings designed for hot days with cool stone interiors, and that there is delicious food and an evening breeze!
DeleteBlocking out the things that matter is so important, otherwise other stuff just expands like gas and fills all the available space...
DeleteHang in there with the strange parenting ups and downs in this weird phase! The combination of letting them go and taking care of them is constant whiplash!
This is a very good prompt! I wish I knew the answer. Well, one answer, I guess, is to be more present with each day, rather than incessantly planning for the next one. And part 2 of that approach, at least for me, is to step away from the computer. Lazy summer days = lounging with a novel or just being outside, so I'm trying to make some room for both of those things.
ReplyDeleteLast week was not wildly productive, but THAT'S OKAY.
1. Write 3500-4000 words - no, more like 2000
2. Find reviewer 2 for new submission - yes, but actually did this on Monday of this week
3. Process other journal submission - yes, no reviewers yet
4. Read grad student's exam doc - yes, it's problematic, she's unwilling to change it, I am frustrated
5. Read two essays for festschrift; check formatting consistency - No, but I did them on Monday of this week
6. *Only* read Italian and Legenda Aurea on days that I'm home! - Yes
So basically, I accomplished some stuff, but actually on Monday of this week instead of last week!
I also failed to post here on Monday, as was my goal. Well, I think that I can miss 2.7 Mondays and still make my 80% goal!
This week (not including the stuff I did yesterday):
1. Write a more realistic 4000 words
2. Read grad student's third exam document
3. Read and add to Festschfrift intro
4. Do some house projects (as yet undetermined)
5. Clear out some of the give-away pile in the basement
6. Sit some number of times
C's get degrees! Sorry about the frustrating grad student. And I think given last week's very summer-appropriate activities, it's fine to extend the "work week" to Monday morning--so long as you then accept that this week will also be a short week. Or, heck, count the Monday work in both weeks! It is progress, after all.
DeleteProgress is progress! And oh how I empathise with having to deal with the frustrating grad student...
DeleteGreat reminder about being present.... If we are off we need to be off with purpose and enjoybit instead of worrying about the next thing. And if working, work with purpose and not putter aimlessly...
DeleteGood luck with the writing and grad student, and with getting some nice outside time!
Interesting week… The “lasts” keep piling up, some of them more emotional than others, I suspect a few will sneak up on me. Biking is still fun, and I’ve managed a few decent strength sessions too. Working on building habits, I’m going to need some good ones over the next few months!
ReplyDeleteI suspect the only way I will think of the rest of the summer as having any time at all in it is to regularly schedule something new/fun/unexpected. I also think I have to schedule/plan/book an actual vacation trip with kid in August when she’s not working, it is our last chance before university starts… It definitely helps to take some things a bit easier (like leaving work “early” or taking the time to have coffee/walks with colleagues before work or during actual lunches…
Last week’s goals
REMEMBER the small actions! ONGOING EFFORT!
Get some teacher gifts DONE
Comments and edits for student chapters ONGOING
Do a lot of data processing for joint project ONGOING
Enjoy/appreciate all the “lasts” this week and next DONE… HAPPY/SAD
Bike to work 3 times DONE
This week’s goals
Finish student chapters
Plan/book field work accommodations
Get data processing done
Finish several lingering administrative projects
Yes! Schedule the fun things, especially the trip. And definitely do coffee & so on with colleagues if you have nice colleagues!
DeleteLasts are the doorway to firsts. Doesn't make them less bittersweet!
DeleteWorking in a slightly less pressured way in the summer is definitely something to value whenever we can.
Good luck planning a trip with daughter - I would definitely recommend doing this! Hope you can find a time that works.
DeleteAn interesting prompt for me as a (as of today) retired person! I think I'm caught between the two ends. At moments I think, my time is my own! I don't have to do anything! I have no responsibilities! And then I think, I have to write this lecture I'm giving in November, and do all the work for it, and I'm panicked about time. Summer is long, summer is short.
ReplyDeleteHow I did last week:
1. Keep unpacking YES
2. Contact handyman about attaching stuff to wall YES, done, I can unpack books
3. Have a fun reunion with friends from last year
4. Keep up with admin stuff - YES
5. Try to get back into formal exercise that isn't unpacking stuff - NO
6. Get back to cooking (that involves putting stuff away enough that I can use the cooktop - the nice thing about induction cooktops is that they do provide extra counter space when not in use. ) NOT REALLY
I'm tired and overwhelmed. There is so much to do, and it creates a bit of a disorganized work pattern: I start doing X, then realize I need to do Y. I start doing Y, and see that there's Z to deal with. I have started unpacking books, I have one more suitcase of clothes to unpack, and most of the kitchen and dining room. In retrospect, I did a pretty good job at thinning out the book collection, but I still think, why did I keep this? But the kitchen will take a long time to sort out, and I just have to slowly do things.
I did, on Monday, go watch more Little League baseball, in a game that my nephew's team won. So that was fun. And I just had coffee with a friend who lives nearby, at a local bakery that is VERY good.
On Saturday I fly off to my other home for the summer, so it's weird. Unpack/pack.
Goals for this week (at noon on Wednesday):
1. Unpack more books
2. Do some of the dining room boxes to create space there
3. Pack for summer/ early fall in research country
4. Set up TV
5. Help my successor in my admin role if necessary, but try not to be too involved
6. Send another draft bylaw revision from the easy committee that will not die to the people who need to look at it.
7.. Get on plane!
Congratulations on retirement and safe travels! The boxes will get unpacked eventually, it just takes time.
DeleteSome old member of this group (maybe KJHaxton?) referred to the start-X-move-to-Y pattern as 'spiraling,' and it actually can be quite effective -- it just doesn't look like it! Sometimes it's easier to thin things out after a move, when you're less stressed and able to think about the new life. I hope your travel goes smoothly!
DeleteCongratulations on the official retirement! Even though one knows it is coming I'm sure there is a huge adjustment. But, as you say above, the interesting work continues and there is always something new to work on.
DeleteHope all the travels go smoothly and you get settled for research and fun stuff quickly!