Hi everyone!
It is our midpoint check-in week! Weekly goals first, and then session ones… Time to revisit and revise, subtract or add things, and check in with your intention for the summer session.
Garden/plant observation for the week… According to my self-imposed rules the picture I use each week has to be from the week before each post, which has been a fun challenge. This week I wanted white and pink multiflora roses because they are everywhere, and are stunning and smell beautiful especially along part of my bike route. But then we had a few days of rain, and I did not bike, and by the time I went on my photo trip they had gone past their peak and were starting to brown. I did get a few in a secluded spot, and for consolation, the wild roses have come out beautifully in shades of pink, so we have both.
That’s the prompt – do you have fleeting things you love but have to be enjoyed exactly at the right moment or they disappear? For a related challenge – find something fleeting and drop everything to enjoy it in that moment and tell us next week😊
This week's goals:
DEH
-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
JaneB
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
Julie
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!
heu
mihi
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
Susan
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!
Daisy
Finish
student chapters
Plan/book field work accommodations
Get data processing done
Finish several lingering administrative projects
SESSION GOALS – to review, report, revise ad libitum
DEH
Intention: divide and conquer!
Complete 2 conference papers and 1 Festschrift essay,
Revise 2 syllabuses for fall classes
Stay in shape
Go on 3 trips with my husband
Take care of necessary house and personal maintenance
Deal with special-issue editing tasks
Urgently finish way overdue essay
Daisy
Intention: breathe
One
new first-author paper ready to submit
One student paper ready to submit
Get reasonable start on new project
Help student finish up thesis work
Regular exercise, and some kayaking
Trip with kid
JaneB
Intention: life and work kintsugi
SELF-CARE:
regular intentional movement, making, doing small things with other people and
reading for pleasure. I want to do all these things an appropriate number of
times a week. I also want to explore a wider range of kinds of making over the
summer, and I have an aim of having a more habitual practice in all these areas
by the time we start back with students.
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT: regular chore habits, plus working on the living room
(shelf-box-sofa project), working on clothing storage/management, and working
on my finances.
TEACHING
AND ADMIN: it is summer, but...
* I need to rewrite my final year honours module to fit into a different
trimester (and fit around the honours project drama - modern students canNOT
seem to work on anything else around the few weeks before the project is due,
and I'm leaning into that because there's no point fighting it any more)
* I have a lot of minor tweaks to do to my other teaching (spread across four
modules)
* I WANT to work through the practicals from another colleagues modules - they
teach GIS mapping, and I want to be up to date on how they are teaching it so
that I can better support my students (and know what I can expect from them so
push them to deliver on it in assignments - most assignments should have a map
included, and this is one of the tools we can ask them to use).
* I'm on a "task and finish" group (i.e. co-producing a report for
Faculty) which might or might not involve a lot of work
* There will be extra work around trying to show we are taking the current
recruitment crisis seriously (so much drama and stress and other people not so
much dropping balls as yeeting them into orbit or dropping them into random
abysses), but I don't know what will be my part. I'll roll that in with getting
settled in to my new admin role
* I also want to get one of my MSc by Research students completely done (and
working on publishing her work) and the other much closer to submission than
they are now
RESEARCH:
As ever, balls in the air!
* contribute to governmental advice reports
* keep up contributions to Big Project (which is doing my head in because, too
many people and too little clarity and organisation)
* progress at least three writing projects from a list substantially
Julie
Intention: be more focused
1.
Research/writing
i) Finish 30,000 word chapter asap and get irritating editor off my back. (I
have kept to deadlines, he keeps deciding I need to add stuff.)
ii) Have a full draft of Big Article for people to read and comment on. This is
top priority.
iii) Make some progress on a grant application, but this is lowest priority.
2. Teaching & teaching-related
i) Preparation for new team-taught module next year.
ii) Sign off final corrections on a PhD.
iii) Meetings with students about final-year dissertations for next year.
3. Life admin/house
i) Finalise summer travel
ii) Get a standing desk & proper adjustable chair.
iii) New chair for reading corner in spare room.
iv) Persuade kids to declutter their rooms?
v) Clear more garage space?
4. Self-care/fun
i) Exercise: run at least 3 x week when at home, find weights and/or pilates
class
ii) Travel and meet ups with friends.
iii) Read, preferably in garden.
iv) Journal, also preferably in garden.
v) More creative stuff
Heu mihi
1.
Writing for fun: Get to a point with a (creative?) project where it will be
easy-ish to sustain going into the school year. In an ideal world, this would
mean about 40k of a messy draft, but I'm not fixing a number on it.
2. New research: Read some primary sources to find another topic for a case
study. (I have an idea for a very different kind of book that I might enjoy
working on.)
3. Existing research: Complete and submit festschrift, which includes writing
the introduction.
4. Home: Annual deep cleaning stuff (garage, windows), clean out computer
files, get patch of ceiling fixed, scrub or otherwise deal with the stupid
popcorn finish on the bathroom ceiling
5. Crafts: Finish knitting shawl, start sweater, anniversary book, new journal?
6. Italian: Make my way through a substantial part of this rather more
difficult (and very long) novel that I've started
7. Habits: Add some actual sitting, maintain exercise
8. TLQ: Check in on Mondays at least 75% of the time!
Susan
Intention: welcome new adventures
Otherwise, given that I really don't know what retirement will be, I'm keeping
these VERY general.
Teaching and admin:
1. Finish my time as graduate chair without leaving too many unfinished tasks
Research:
2. I am expecting to spend much of the summer dealing with copyedits of Big
collaboration (a collection of 30 essays on my historical period I am
coediting). We have been told that we'll start getting copyedits in early June.
3. Keep up with research on Rest of My Life project, especially preparing for
the keynote I'm giving at a major conference in November
Hello. Fleeting things of summer - specific fruits at their peak local season. Especially with the weather this year, delicate and delicious berries and drupes have to be grabbed when seen! (I upset my stomach by eating too many fresh strawberries on a hot day, but it was worth it). Also occasional perfect weather moments around dawn, with a cool breeze and a translucent bone-china blossom-blushed sky.
ReplyDeleteLAST WEEK:
Was a break. it was OK - I took a while to recover from the previous week's really hot weather and messed up sleep, had a couple of productive and relaxing days, then went into a state of stressed-out waiting mode because of returning to work and the forecast being very hot for a day when I might (might only) need to be on campus. Sigh! Did a lot of reading and messing around incompetently with paint though which was fun, and it was nice to let my sleep cycle settle into its preference for staying up late and napping a lot.
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!) no intentional movement reaching 20 minutes. Just didn't happen. oops! Making every day including the card, two games of online D&D, and a lot of reading
* resting during the day in hot weather with my feet up wasn't THAT hot, but I had a lot of nice naps anyway!
* 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. Made a nice looking menu, mostly did things that weren't on the menu, but I did some things so that was fun
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 100% of chores no, sigh.
* set up my diary for the new academic year yes, I always find this enjoyable. Especially choosing the stickers for the covers!
* small items as above
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* one email check. ONE. yes
RESEARCH:
* referee one journal article yes - and I hadn't read the email properly, it was a 3000 word short piece, so that was easier than expected! Also an ingenious piece of work.
THE COMING WEEK:
Officially off on Monday but I probably should join a call about a workshop thing on campus which I'm low-key involved with organising, and I have a 6 hour window for a service visit for the hot water boiler so have to empty out the (very full) airing cupboard and make the bedroom look respectable and then Wait Around. And prepare to be back at work for the rest of the month, with a forecast of hot enough to be miserable weather later in the week, and two days taken up mostly with an on campus workshop which I'm not feeling engaged with/in accord with. I'm not enthused about this, if you hadn't guessed!.
SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 2 x making, 2 x small things with people, reading every day
* resting during the day in hot weather with my feet up
* do a couple of things from the "tasting menu"
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores
* spend half an hour or so reseaching the living room project
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* go through a week of email & finish things off - also check unread emails from June
* plan out July, aiming to get through all the T1 teaching block items, and actually block out time to do it. Do one block
* an hour on tedious task
* find something valuable or relevant during the workshop I have to attend that I can use next year.
RESEARCH:
* finish the first tranch of modelling for the project I've been working on; make some test figures; draft a new section of text if time
* do some prep work for a meeting in a couple of weeks' time.
* check over my projects list.
AND SESSION GOALS:
DeleteIntention: life and work kintsugi - I still like this intention. It's not easy though!
SELF-CARE:
regular intentional movement, making, doing small things with other people and reading for pleasure. I want to do all these things an appropriate number of times a week. I also want to explore a wider range of kinds of making over the summer, and I have an aim of having a more habitual practice in all these areas by the time we start back with students. - a good goal, keep.
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT: regular chore habits, plus working on the living room (shelf-box-sofa project), working on clothing storage/management, and working on my finances. Very little actual yet progress but I feel readier to tackle these now, and they are still possible; keep
TEACHING AND ADMIN: it is summer, but...
* I need to rewrite my final year honours module to fit into a different trimester (and fit around the honours project drama - modern students canNOT seem to work on anything else around the few weeks before the project is due, and I'm leaning into that because there's no point fighting it any more) - relevant goal, may not happen within the session but should happen before we start teaching again mid-September
* I have a lot of minor tweaks to do to my other teaching (spread across four modules) necessary, and I've done a small amount- keep
* I WANT to work through the practicals from another colleagues modules - they teach GIS mapping, and I want to be up to date on how they are teaching it so that I can better support my students (and know what I can expect from them so push them to deliver on it in assignments - most assignments should have a map included, and this is one of the tools we can ask them to use). may not happen, but keeping it on the list for now
* I'm on a "task and finish" group (i.e. co-producing a report for Faculty) which might or might not involve a lot of work I seem to have adopted a piece of the work which is tedious but suits my talents, and am making progress in 1-2 hours a week, so for now that's OK - and has to be kept
* There will be extra work around trying to show we are taking the current recruitment crisis seriously (so much drama and stress and other people not so much dropping balls as yeeting them into orbit or dropping them into random abysses), but I don't know what will be my part. I'll roll that in with getting settled in to my new admin role so far I'm mostly just attending meetings and nodding along and correcting people's grammar and spelling in documents. long may that continue. We are in the Deep Poop for next year on recruitment...
* I also want to get one of my MSc by Research students completely done (and working on publishing her work) and the other much closer to submission than they are now first one submitted, second one is making progress again and seems happier. keep!
RESEARCH:
As ever, balls in the air!
* contribute to governmental advice reports slow progress for now; keep
* keep up contributions to Big Project (which is doing my head in because, too many people and too little clarity and organisation) also doing my head in because the lead of the workpackage I'm in, who determines when the researchers are available to support my part of the work, promised to schedule a meeting to plan that in July "within a week" in early June then departed on holiday for nearly a month. Le big sigh! keep
* progress at least three writing projects from a list substantially I've felt quite scattered and pulled in different directions, but progress is being made when I calm down and look carefully!
Glad you had at least two days that were relaxing. And sounds like you're making a lot of incremental progress across a lot of goals, which can be harder to achieve than a lot of progress on just one thing.
DeleteWay to go on so many of the goals making progress!
DeleteLots of commiseration and empathy on all the recruitment drama and worries for next year, we're seeing a lot of that here too, and as new head it is making my brain hurt. Lots of meetings with people who are trying to help but also lots of going in circles...
Glad you had some relaxing days in the actual week off, hope there are more coming!
Fleeting things to enjoy definitely include all the seasonal food! My absolute favourite is fiddlehead season, it is about 2 weeks long in early May and for those two weeks I usually buy a bucket of them every day on my way home. This year I missed most of it with travel but managed 2 batches before they disappeared… All the berries too, in raspberry season I frequently eat a container of them on my car ride home (and not the little grocery store containers!). This weekend the local roadhouse had lobster rolls as a weekend-only special, I made sure to stop by and get one each day!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely summer light in the morning, it has a different glow about it and only lasts for a minute at a time… Also sunsets of course…
Any spontaneous invitation to do something unplanned and random, I try to say yes to as many of those as possible, and to put out invitations (low pressure, no stress or planning) to people when I do stuff they may enjoy.
Petrichor from rain on a hot, dry day… That only lasts for minutes, so I almost always stop and go to the nearest door or window to enjoy the scent.
Last week’s goals
Finish student chapters DONE
Plan/book field work accommodations PARTLY
Get data processing done NOPE
Finish several lingering administrative projects MOSTLY
In the “also” category: organized some labs and cleaned a lot of workspace, many meetings, emergency cover for some stuff going on, took a day off mid-week for national holiday, took most of weekend off. And the last big “last” for kid, actual graduation… Big week, lots of feelings…
Session goals
Intention: breathe keeping this one, I like it and it is actually helping me to think about what I do and choose to work on
One new first-author paper ready to submit - keep, zero progress so probably no chance, but keep anyway
One student paper ready to submit - keep, some progress, good chance
Get reasonable start on new project - keep, decent progress thanks to summer students doing background stuff and organizing things so we have something to work with
Help student finish up thesis work - keep, some progress, not entirely up to me
Regular exercise, and some kayaking - keep, great progress, and fun
Trip with kid - keep, no plans yet but hopeful
ADD NEW GOAL to do promotion dossier for full
Petrichor is such an amazing smell. Congratulations on the graduation and yes to big feelings. My now-adult kid is currently in Prague with friends, so quite a lot of big feelings here.
DeletePrompt: definitely summer fruit (berries, cherries) and other seasonal stuff like asparagus and fresh peas (podding peas is the ultimate soothing task!). Early mornings/late evenings when the heat of the day has yet to kick in or has faded. Amazing views of the south of France from the train window last week, and sunset over the river in the Spanish town I was staying in. The chance to have proper gazpacho for lunch one day.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Be as productive as possible in libraries and archives. - MOSTLY (IT system was down in one library, which held me up, and it was HOT. But I got stuff done.)
2. Enjoy workshop and catching up with people. - YES
3. Enjoy time away in pretty places as much as heat allows! - YES, especially the workshop place (bit of a breeze, better air con).
Also: reviewed a book proposal, checked my article against the style guide and realised I had missed some things, so Dame Eleanor is quite right about authors!
It was a long week and while the worst of the heatwave was over, it was still unbelievably hot in France. Every train I caught was delayed, one by two and a half hours, there was air con in the archive but it was feeble. But there was nice food, cloudless blue skies and oleander and bougainvillea in flower everywhere, as well as beautiful medieval buildings in the workshop town. So still a good week.
My own editors caught a terrible lot of formatting issues in my almost-done W-essay, despite my efforts (to be fair, the problem is a publisher's house style that is a bit off any system I use more frequently). The author I most shake my head over is one who persisted in using Roman numerals for footnotes despite an explicit request to use Arabic! This is when I think people just don't know their way around MS-Word. I'm glad you had such a good trip--it sounds lovely, with good views, interesting people, and productivity!
DeleteGlad you had a good trip, it sounds beautiful!
DeleteEnjoy the berries!
Session goals:
ReplyDeleteIntention: be more focused
1. Research/writing
i) Finish 30,000 word chapter asap and get irritating editor off my back. (I have kept to deadlines, he keeps deciding I need to add stuff.) - DONE (need to check translation and claim for payment!)
ii) Have a full draft of Big Article for people to read and comment on. This is top priority. - IN SLOW PROGRESS, STILL PRIORITY
iii) Make some progress on a grant application, but this is lowest priority. - POSTPONING TO FUTURE SESSION
2. Teaching & teaching-related
i) Preparation for new team-taught module next year. - ONGOING
ii) Sign off final corrections on a PhD. - DONE
iii) Meetings with students about final-year dissertations for next year. - N/A (system has changed to save workload)
3. Life admin/house
i) Finalise summer travel - MOSTLY DONE
ii) Get a standing desk & proper adjustable chair. - KEEP
iii) New chair for reading corner in spare room. - IN PROGRESS
iv) Persuade kids to declutter their rooms? - MAYBE
v) Clear more garage space? - MAYBE
4. Self-care/fun
i) Exercise: run at least 3 x week when at home, find weights and/or pilates class - KEEP
ii) Travel and meet ups with friends. - KEEP (one meet-up already happened)
iii) Read, preferably in garden. - KEEP
iv) Journal, also preferably in garden. - KEEP
v) More creative stuff - KEEP (bought a cross stitch for summer travel)
Definitely keeping the intention and most of the goals. I don't have enough headspace for the grant, especially as I have to add revising a review piece I wrote which has come back with readers' comments. And I really want to have a draft of Big Article by the end of the summer if not the session, though I am currently feeling quite stuck with it.
A big article and a revision for another are great goals, the grant can wait. Glad that goals are going along well, lots of progress!
DeleteAnd finally for this week:
ReplyDelete1. Sort out photos and notes from this trip.
2. Work on Big Article
3. Prep for teaching meeting on Friday.
4. Submit review of proposal.
5. Submit final version of article.
6. Catch up on email.
7. Claim expenses for trip.
8. House/life admin: get son a haircut, find us both things to wear for cousin's wedding in two weeks, SIL's birthday, catch up on laundry, bills etc.
9. Self-care/fun: get back to running, journal, read, watch the Tour de France (although I now have to watch on a pay-to-view channel where the coverage and the commentary just aren't the same), dinner party with friends on Friday.
I haven't watched any of the Tour yet, though it sounds like yesterday's stage was a good one. I hope to get to watch some of it on French TV next week!
DeleteThe fleeting things for me are probably flowers, like the few spring days when our back windows look onto a sea of pink while the magnolia is in bloom, the peonies a bit later, and now various prairie flowers. Also sunsets and, on occasion, sunrise--thanks to Morgana, I saw the sun rise on the solstice, before I went back to bed.
ReplyDeleteLast week how I did:
-at least two hours on M-work: YES
-finish revisions to W-essay: ALMOST: need to make a few final adjustments today, then send it off!
-plod grimly on with editing which will be around my neck till end of time: PLODDING, not doing enough in part b/c it feels so slow and discouraging--it would of course be quicker if I just did it instead of moaning about it!
-book flights: YES!
-return some stuff: YES
-swim x2, weights x2, bike x2 (means getting up early): YES, actually biked x3, though weights only x1.
-attend fireworks on the 3rd; consider parade on the 4th: NO, fireworks cancelled due to rain, but our neighbors put on quite the display on the 4th, which we could see from our front door; it was too hot for the parade.
ALSO: more cleaning of bookshelves ('destruction of habitat' says Reina), booked a couple of routine medical appointments.
This week's goals:
- finish off and send W-essay
- try to finish editing, or at least enough to dump it on co-editor
- 2 hours M-work
- trip prep, packing, etc
- write letters or e-mail various people
Yay for flight booking especially!
DeleteMagnolias are definitely one of the most fleeting trees here, similar to peonies - they look great for exactly 2 days and then they are done, but in those two days they outshine most other things!
Midterm review of session goals:
ReplyDeleteIntention: divide and conquer! GREAT intention, very helpful, keep!
Complete 2 conference papers and 1 Festschrift essay: KEEP (one paper down, progress on the others)
Revise 2 syllabuses for fall classes: KEEP, though minimal work done so far (not none!)
Stay in shape: KEEP, doing well!
Go on 3 trips with my husband: KEEP, one down so far
Take care of necessary house and personal maintenance: KEEP, working on it
Deal with special-issue editing tasks: have to KEEP, though Great Cat how I wish I could yeet this one into outer space, to borrow a phrase!
Urgently finish way overdue essay: YES! It will go away today until proof stage (Fingers crossed, maybe I shouldn't say this)
Hope the overdue essay went away as planned! And that you gave it a proper send-off with something bubbly...
DeleteGreat progress on lots of session goals there!
I have a recurring dream that I'm at the beach for our annual week away, only it's somehow already Thursday and I haven't even been down to the beach yet. The rest of the dream is usually me trying to get to the beach (sometimes succeeding), and regretting that I didn't spend the whole week enjoying myself. (I love the beach!)
ReplyDeleteIt's not much of a stretch to see this is a metaphor for my life, and one that is especially applicable in the summer.
I am--still, at age 50--SO EXCITED for summer break, and then I spend so much of it working on my lists and goals that I start to worry that I'm missing it.
Everything is fleeting, not just summer. I'm trying to let go of some things so that I can actually appreciate what's around me.
Last week:
1. Write a more realistic 4000 words - YES
2. Read grad student's third exam document - YES; it has problems; I anticipate (more) resistance from this student
3. Read and add to Festschfrift intro - YES
4. Do some house projects (as yet undetermined) - YES, sort of! I scanned some stuff and uploaded it as a "book" on Lulu to send to my high school best friend. And I sorted through my desk and bathroom drawers, clearing out old junk.
5. Clear out some of the give-away pile in the basement - YES, a little. No one wants bubble wrap, child-sized hangers, or a 1/4-sized violin shoulder rest.
6. Sit some number of times - YES, but I can't tell you right now just how many.
This week:
1. Stick with the 4000-words-per-week goal.
2. Enjoy a fun beach day, even though it involves lots of driving!
3. DO NOT STRESS over getting to the airport on time next Tuesday.
4. Catch up on journal work (process a revision, find a second reviewer).
5. Review an article.
Mid-term check-in:
Delete1. Writing for fun: Get to a point with a (creative?) project where it will be easy-ish to sustain going into the school year. In an ideal world, this would mean about 40k of a messy draft, but I'm not fixing a number on it. - I'm currently at about 27k words, so yes, I'm getting there! Keep this goal!
2. New research: Read some primary sources to find another topic for a case study. (I have an idea for a very different kind of book that I might enjoy working on.) - I have not started this. Maybe I will read *one* primary source this summer.
3. Existing research: Complete and submit festschrift, which includes writing the introduction. - Waiting on two contributors....
4. Home: Annual deep cleaning stuff (garage, windows), clean out computer files, get patch of ceiling fixed, scrub or otherwise deal with the stupid popcorn finish on the bathroom ceiling - I have done none of these things. But I still plan to.
5. Crafts: Finish knitting shawl, start sweater, anniversary book, new journal? - Nearly done with the shawl!
6. Italian: Make my way through a substantial part of this rather more difficult (and very long) novel that I've started - at about p. 200, so yes.
7. Habits: Add some actual sitting, maintain exercise - Working on it
8. TLQ: Check in on Mondays at least 75% of the time! - So far so good! I've only missed one, I think (when I checked in on a Tuesday).
I don't feel like we should be halfway through. I have too much that I want to do! And we're doing a lot of traveling, which will make things complicated. Argh! The tension between relaxation and productivity!
You had an excellent week and are making good progress on session goals! The traveling is the sort of thing that you'll remember; cleaning may produce enjoyable results but isn't in itself fun or memorable.
DeleteGreat week! Way to go with the steady writing, that is a huge win and is adding up very nicely...
DeleteTravel does make things complicated, but the change of scene and the fun and adventure parts are worth it for sure.
Also, official TLQ recommendation - you need a beach trip!
Delete