Week 4 Review

Happy almost end of October! I’m looking forward to Day of the Dead and Halloween activities this week, but also gearing up for Academic Writing Month. Are others planning to participate in AcWriMo or NaNoWriMo? If so, it would be interesting to see whether goals are related to time, word count, or project-oriented. I’d like for it to be exciting, not vexing, to think about writing every day. Looking forward to a good week ahead.

Allan Wilson: 1) exercise 4x, 2) redo the last analysis for my FS paper, 3) recheck comments from a colleague critique for FS, 4) eat healthily, with increased protein and vegetables and less carbs, 4 days this week.

Amstr: 1) re-read my article and highlight where changes should go; 2) skim what I read of diss this summer and finish chapter I was on; 3) exercise 3x; 4) work on job app (3x20min); 5) declutter (3x20min).

Contingent Cassandra: (1) try to get back into exercise (walking/weights routine): at least twice on each; (2) cook the rest of the soup ingredients; (3) return to work on garden; (4) some financial work (if this doesn't happen this week, it needs to take higher priority the week after).

Daisy: Traveling this week.

Der Modell Wissenschaftler: 1) Finish paper 1/Chapter 2 and turn in to coauthors. 2) Figure out if we are moving overseas in 6 weeks. 3) Get my planning together to see if it will be realistic to graduate this semester.

Earnest English: 1. Live through it. 2. Take super care of self this week, including getting foods that will keep me from eating really bad food. Sleep. Get the best sleep I can. 3. 3 30-minute sessions with Beloved Field. 4. Turn in assessment plan and get student papers graded.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell: No goals posted.

Good Enough Woman: No goals posted.

Humming42: No goals posted.

Ivy: 1) continue to try to be zen about the papers. I have a bunch more analyses to do. 2) Keep working on Discussion for Paper 2 - unlikely to happen with sample processing. 3) Processing samples - has to happen so priority!

JaneB: 1) talk to one person about something other than work/work crises for a few minutes every day. 2) 1 x 45 minutes on Crunchier. 3) pull out journal formatting and submission instructions for the target journal for Easy Win paper.

KJHaxton: (1) Start on CPD thing 2 and workout what must be done for CPD thing 3 (my theory is that there is so much overlap in this kind of thing, one might as well do many at the same time). (2) write exam questions for 3rd year module and finalise the content of the other 5 lecture hours for that course. (3) eat properly, remember to drink enough, finish blanket - generally do something not work but that feels productive everyday.

Matilda: 1) Plan for the paper I am supposed to submit in coming May. 2) Revise my book plan with its research theme.  3) Write at least 15 minutes. Exercise 10 minutes every day. Two no midnight snacks day.

Susan: 1. Finish reports -- one on admin role in national organization, a promotion review and a ms. review. 2. Three more sections of the chapter. 3. Three walks and fairly abstemious eating for a few days while I recalibrate my metabolism from the excess of the last three days

Week 4 ahead (and hungry for it)

Super lite question for this week, and maybe it’s a sign that I’m just hungry at the moment...but I find that when I prepare my space for a solid block of writing, I’m usually looking for something to drink and/or a snack. So I thought this could be a good opportunity to tap the collective wisdom for ideas for fulfilling beverages and healthy snacks.

Allan Wilson: No check in.

Amstr: 1) re-read my article and highlight where changes should go (due 10/31, so it will become TRQ soon); 2) skim what I read of diss this summer and finish chapter I was on; 3) exercise 3x and track eating; 4) work on 1 job app (3x20min).

Contingent Cassandra: 1) continued work on self-care, especially exercise (walking & weights) & cooking (large batches to both eat & freeze); (2) continue work on garden; (3) do some financial work.

Daisy: any work at all on Paper 2 will be a win.

Der Modell Wissenschaftler: No check in.

Earnest English: 1) exercise once this week. 2) take care of self re: food and panic and rushing around. 3) sessions with Beloved Field, including sending work out to that call due this week. 4) get next step done with gardening projects.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell: 1) Another 1000 on the article. 2) FInish the statement on research for the dossier. Must force myself! 3) continued self care--walks, creative activities, time to daydream, in addition to the yoga and meditation.

Good Enough Woman: 1) Set up a proper system for goal setting and progress tracking. 2) Walk 3x with dog.

3) Review construction quotes for bathroom renovation, take next steps. 4) Read 25 pages of theoretical context source. 5) Review feedback from PhD supervisor about Chapter 3 of PhD thesis.

Humming42: 1) keep a daily log. 2) write three days this week. 3) meet my standing commitments, including a weekend visit with an old friend.

Ivy: 1) Try not to stress about Papers 1a and 1b.  2) First draft of Discussion for Paper 2. 3) Head out to field sites. Check out plants, start collecting samples for analysis. 4) Start processing samples from FNQ trip a month ago. Again any move here is a win. 5) Do something fun!

JaneB: 1) infrastructure. Sort out scan for cat, make decisions about money things and garden things. 15 minutes of chores a night. 2) 3 x 45 minutes on Crunchier, send to co-authors. 3) application for university grant thing. 4) turn the computer off by 10pm each evening [because SLEEP is going to be important...].

KJHaxton: (1) polish and submit CPD thing, (2) finish 1st year teaching and make serious headway into 3rd year teaching, (3) do some non-work things: finish knitted blanket, make hair appointment, do something creative each day that isn't work.

Matilda: 1) exercise once this week. 2) take care of self re: food and panic and rushing around. 3) sessions with Beloved Field, including sending work out to that call due this week. 4) get next step done with gardening projects.

Susan: 1. two more writing sections. 2. promotion review and ms. review while traveling. 3. (Possibly) order door and lights for new porch. 4. Eat well, get at least one walk in. (My conference is in a foodie city, so I will eat well. It won't be low calorie, though.)

Wrapping up Week 2

Greetings all! I hope you all had a productive, fruitful, happy week. I am finally beginning to find my footing again, and hope I can sustain this more positive rhythm.

Something that comes up often in writing group posts is what I might lump together under the heading of “other people’s stuff”--whether it’s a partner or parent in need, a childcare issue, an administrative bump, or a coauthor/colleague issue, these aren’t the thing to which we can choose to say yes or no. Rather, they are tasks we cannot refuse. So the question, then, is what strategies can we employ to reframe our own agendas in light of new plates being tossed at us that we have to add to those already spinning?

Week 2 goals:

Allan Wilson: 1) exercise 4x, 2) redo an analysis for my FS paper, 3) recheck comments from a colleague critique for FS, and 4)consult with coauthor.

Amstr: Goals for the week: 1) re-read article and make final changes; 2) read 2 chapters of Diss to Book; 3) re-read 2 diss chapters; 4) exercise 4x; 5) 1 syllabus and 1 letter for jobs.

Contingent Cassandra: (1) continue cooking (and eating, and sleeping); add some exercise; (2) continue work on garden; (3)do some work on financial matters.

Daisy: 1) Get revisions on paper 1 sent off. 2) Get paper 2 complete. 3) Get grant application ready for review.

Der Modell Wissenschaftler: no check in

Earnest English: 1) Be as calm as possible. 2) Make sure to eat, especially at work, and take care of self, taking time out when needed. Meditation or writing sessions at work would be excellent. 3) Do at least 3 half hour sessions of work on Beloved Field. 4) Prep without panic and without not sleeping. 5) Exercise at least twice. 6) Get in a couple homeschooling sessions. 7) Get work done in timely non-panicking manner. 8) Gardening projects. 9) Show my family that I can be with them when I'm with them. 10) Read for conference presentation.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell: 1) Yoga/meditation. 2) 1500 words on the article. 3) 1/2 hour a day on the dossier.

Good Enough Woman: 1) 25 more pages of theory-related material. 2) Make one appointment (probably dermatologist). 3) Walk 3x with the dog.

Humming42: 1) Write 15 minutes a day. 2) Exercise at least three times a week. 3) At least three times a week, meditate, do yoga, or do art project.

Ivy: 1) complete tidying up comments from co-authors. Get Methods and Results sections into a reasonable state. 2) do additional stats for postdoc advisor on large-lab-paper-lead-by-former-lab-member. 3) determine species for this summer's fieldwork and check out sites. 4) sell car! A friend is buying to for a nominal amount, just have to complete paperwork.

JaneB: 1) domestic infrastructure: chase up garden quotes, finance appointment, vaccinate cat, fetch repeat prescription. Spend 15 minutes a day on chores or other domestic items. 2) prep teaching materials up to next Wednesday and confirm arrangements for overnight field visit. 3) finish first draft of admin report and send to other colleagues for their input. 4) Do three lots of 30-45 minutes on Crunchier, then send it back to co-authors.

KJHaxton: (1) Draft of CPD thing, wrangle peripheral paperwork into good shape. Send to someone to read. (2) Finish 1st year teaching prep. (3) Spend the first 40 mins of each day quietly doing something on this list or similar.

Matilda: 1) Write up the big grant application. 2) Exercises, no midnight snacks, French. - thinking about my poor teeth, which are in poor condition, I must avoid sweets and eat regularly. 

Susan: On research trip.

Week 1 Done, October 5

Hello all! I hope you had a productive and enjoyable week. Last week’s goals are listed below. Please let us know how your week was, and what your plans & goals are for the coming week. Since we are early on in planning both a big block of time and short incremental plans as well, I’d be interested to hear about different ways of keeping track of time spent, deadlines, calendars, to do lists and such. Particular software/apps, wall calendars, writing by hand…what works best for you?

Week 1 goals:

Allan Wilson: 1.to set a schedule, creating a doable plan for Pirate, 2.to check a vital Pirate analysis, 3. Decide on the form of three graphs for the paper, 4. Exercise at least four times, 5. Go to the dentist.

Amstr:  1) read 2 articles for article revision; 2) read 2 chapters of Dissertation to Book; 3) re-read dissertation intro; 4) exercise 4x.

Contingent Cassandra: 1) focus on the cooking/eating and sleeping part of wellness, and 2) do a bit of work on the garden plot.

Daisy: send paper revisions to supervisor.

Der Modell Wissenschaftler: 1) Send a revised analysis and discussion of article #1 to co-authors by Friday at 5 PM, 2) Stick to food plan and calendared workouts, 3) Schedule deadlines and send an update to my committee on Friday

Earnest English: 1) Prep for Monday, 2) Exercise once between now and Sat, 3) Do at least one more homeschooling session between now and Sat., 4) Take care of self re: food, etc., 5) Do 1/2 hr at least two days between now and Sat., 6) Order composter.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell: 1) Meditation and yoga daily, 2) Block out sacrosanct times for writing, and 3) sketch a preliminary schedule for the semester.

Good Enough Woman: 1) Read at least 25 pages of text related to theory, 2) Make one appointment, 3) Walk three times with the dog.

Ivy: 1) enjoy the public holiday on Monday! 2) tidy up comments from co-authors, 3) do additional stats for postdoc advisor on large-lab-paper-lead-by-former-lab-member, 4) determine species for this summer's fieldwork and check out sites

JaneB: 1) to set some sensible research goals for the semester, 2) to work for 45 minutes each of four days on a) research writing b) teaching prep and c) administrative report (due this week), 3) to keep a log of what I actually do, and 4) to spend at least 15 minutes on SOMETHING productive and unrelated to work each evening

KJHaxton: 1) make a start on CPD activity 1. 2) get all my project and research students up and running as they start back.3) sort out my calendar to allow a day per week working from home.

Matilda: 1) Read the important article I have left unread. 2) Re-read first two chapters of the important book. 3) Exercises, no midnight snacks, reviewing my French, 3 days.  4) 15 minute-writing, 5 days.

Susan: On research trip