OK, that title is a bit facetious, but I
was struck in week 1 when JaneB talked about paper chains as a playful way of
keeping track of things, and Good Enough Woman talked about relaxing on a
weekend away. Then this past week, Allan Wilson noted about one task down, “That
was fun even.” When academics talk
about work, we often don’t sound as if we’re having fun. I’m not sure whether that’s because academics
don’t have fun (most of us carry around a lot of shoulds and oughts, and
consequent feelings of guilt and/or failure), because we put in TLQ research
things that feel more urgent than playing, or because we don't have to put the things we find fun on lists. But I’m fairly
certain none of us would have begun the work we do if it wasn’t satisfying and
enjoyable in some way: something we knew we could
do and do well, yes, but also something that was, for want of a better word,
fun. And I suspect most of us continue
in that work for the same reason. So my
question for this week is where do we find joy/pleasure/satisfaction/fun (pick your word of choice) in our
everyday work lives? And how can we integrate
that into our goals so that TLQ as well as TRQ includes enjoyment as well as
obligation?
Goals from last week:
Contingent Cassandra
--Continue exercising (add weights); try to keep to regular sleep
schedule
--Cook/freeze a pot or two of soup
--Figure out exactly what I need to do when for DH class; create 2
more exercises; begin work on demonstration items/exhibits and assignments.
--Submit proposal for talk on DH class if it's not too late.
--Finish dismembering tree & remove from apt.; other
apt/garden work as possible.
--At least some work on finances.
Susan
1. Undertake quick review of secondary literature, just to get a
sense of what's there.
2. Review primary source notes for new chapter
3. Read two plays for new chapter
4. Finish reading articles for article prize competition
5. Walk or other exercise 5 days
6. Continue 5 minutes daily on either clutter or garden
7. Tax stuff - file foreign taxes, get started on local ones
Matilda
1) Week 3- 1 of Belcher's book. I will take 3 weeks for Chapter 3.
2) Review one important book.
3) Start to write the review article.
4) To exercise for 5 minutes everyday.
5) 3 no-snack-days this week.
Earnest English
-write often and get something onto the computer
-1 hour at least on scholarship
-get ahead on teaching matters
-eat/make good food, especially dinner
-do Artist's Date on Wednesday
-maintain limits about my time
-work on unpacking boxes
-yoga/meditation at least once this week!
Humming42
1. get it all done.
2. finish and submit end of month article.
3. submit creative piece. A short list, because of get it all
done, but these things are basically at TRQ now, except for #3. Will do what we
can!
Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
1) Write 100 words at least 3 times during the week.
2) pack and prepare car for conference that begins Friday
3) prepare my moderator script for Saturday, by writing the bio
for one speaker on Monday, another on Tuesday, another on Wednesday, and the
last on Thursday
4) Monday, call to schedule one doctor’s appointment; Tuesday,
call for another one; and on Wednesday, call for a third.
Daisy
1) Send paper A (easy goal for positive reinforcement)
2) Draft B
Amstr
1) re-organize weekly schedule to reflect real constraints
2) 3 hours of work on cutting and pasting
3) 1/2 hour on TOC revision/brainstorming
4) 1 hour on comp research or book proposal
5) exercise 4x
Good Enough Woman
1)Track water, exercise, and spending.
2) Help daughter with presentation.
3) 5 hours on Chapter 2 and/or conference paper
4) Figure out how to best celebrate hubby on his b-day
Allan Wilson
1. Walk up hills four times this week.
2. Think about the project (ie the questions behind the
spreadsheets).
JaneB (Did not check in, goals from Week 2)
1) aquire or print out a calendar page and some coloured stickers,
post them where I can see and use them to record my chain efforts
2) 5 minutes every day of house related stuff
3) 5 minutes every day of some kind of exercise
4) 2 lots of 30 minutes on Crunchier
Kjhaxton (Did not check in, goals from Week 2)
(1) get the fabric cut for the 40 bags I have to make and buy the
thread.
(2) make some progress on transcribing the paper.
(3) get back into the habit of writing each day.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteTopics:
This is an inspirational question. Well, I do history so my joy (I like this word. To me, it sounds to show pure feeling.) of researching stems from finding some link, some explanation of fragmental facts.
I have read an article on the reason of researching history in which the author says that if nobody research the person in the past, the document, the event or whatever, the proof of the person's, the document's or the event's existence will be unnoticed forever. Historians try to find and understand evidence of the past people's living and they can talk to us through the work of historians. This is not a common answer to the question of the necessity of the study of history (for example, why do your university need a history department?), but I like this way of thinking. I try to listen the whispering of the past.
Last goals:
1) Week 3- 1 of Belcher's book. I will take 3 weeks for Chapter 3.- Anyway, I have started.
2) Review one important book. - Only started, long way to go.
3) Start to write the review article. - I have typed some ideas on the structure of the article.
4) To exercise for 5 minutes everyday. - Done 5 days. Not bad.
5) 3 no-snack-days this week. - Only 1 day, but I think I ate less than last week.
My Professor sent back his comments on my progress report sent last week. His encouraging comments cheered me up, but I know I need to send a concrete writing next time, not a vague report saying 'I did this and this'...
Next goals:
1) Week 3-2 of Belcher's book.
2) Review one important book. Try again.
3) Write the introductory part of the review article.
4) Exercise for 5 minutes everyday.
5) Have healty snacks, avoid unhealthy ones.
Have a happy week, everyone!
As a historian, I know what you mean about making the links, and remembering the forgotten.
DeleteGood luck with reviewing the book. Review articles are so hard!
Congratulations on encouraging comments on your work!
DeleteThank you for your comments, Susan and AcademicAmstr! The book is so challenging, but it certainly is an important one to my work.
DeleteI'm not sure where the last two weeks went! There was a lot of grading, I was away for a couple of days, and then some fairly unpleasant work related tasks to get done, house was in chaos owing to new carpet being laid in half the rooms...and then finishing the paperwork for a new degree programme. Based on the last item there, I'd say that hitting submit brings a great deal of satisfaction, however temporary (because things come back for revisions!). And things that bring some satisfaction are always worthy of doing a happy dance around the office (with the lights off and the door shut of course!).
ReplyDeleteSo goals from week 2.
I did some of (1), got the thread but haven't started cutting the fabric because of household carpet chaos. I've not made any progress on transcribing the paper but have made a bit of progress on writing daily. Surprisingly writing short blog comments seems to be useful for writing daily. Small start but still a start.
This coming week:
(1) Get the fabric cut because I need to buy more I think.
(2) transcribe the paper
(3) continue the progress of writing daily, perhaps with some blog posts rather than just comments (to be fair though, a lot of the TRQ tasks are pretty writing intensive and writing programme regulations seems to suck the creativity from anyone's fingers).
Another great example of how TRQ trumps TLQ. And that's an interesting link about the kinds of writing we do. Maybe blog comments and blog posts are different. I write emails almost daily (ugh), but that doesn't help my research related writing. And yes, writing memos, reports, etc. seems oddly disconnected from the research I want to write up. So I look forward to hearing how that works.
DeleteHappy dance! Lovely!
DeleteI find I get a lot of joy out of the writing parts of my goals. I'm so happy to be able to say all day "I wrote" and know that there are interesting tidbits, granted written in 30-minute increments, in my notebook. I also really enjoy my Morning Pages, which I've been doing pretty so dedicatedly, I don't even write them as my weekly goals. The things I typically find easy because they are habitual I don't write here because I no longer thing of them as optional or things I have to force myself to do because I wrote them here and am accountable. (Not that I always do what I set out to do, as is clear from this week's check-in.)
ReplyDeleteHere's an important thing that happened this week. I decided to get serious about my writing and write daily or near daily. I know this conflicts with what I said last week or the week before about not pressuring myself with promises of daily-ness, but I got really jazzed about "getting serious," which I'm doing with the help of Lisa Rivero's 50-day blog series. I don't know. It just suddenly seemed necessary for me to make this commitment. Also, thinking about what i needed to do for the whole project and then thinking about what this meant on a daily and weekly basis has really helped. Plus, on some days I really enjoy it, though my writing project is also so emotionally taxing at times that it affects my whole mood. I have to watch that.
-write often and get something onto the computer: DONE!
-1 hour at least on scholarship: nope
-get ahead on teaching matters: yes, I did this. and it felt great to be able to pack up for the day and know I was fully prepped. I couldn't do that on Friday because I'm teaching something new next week, but still.
-eat/make good food, especially dinner: I made a fair number of dinners, really pushing myself to do it and even clean up after
-do Artist's Date on Wednesday: no, Absurdist Partner was feeling sickly, so I didn't feel like I could leave early for an Artist Date
-maintain limits about my time: yes, I'm doing that
-work on unpacking boxes: I unpacked some boxes, but really have bogged down on that in recent days. I think today and tomorrow I better work on that
-yoga/meditation at least once this week: epic fail, BUT I did do one yoga movement that sort of grounds me and I remembered in specific moments how well this grounds me and used it. I also put Yoga Journal where I can see it so I'll be more inspired. I know it's good for me, but the prime time for me to do yoga is after Absurdist Child goes to bed -- and oftentimes that's just not what i need to do for my own sanity -- or at least not what it feels like I should do. It would probably be great. But I also need to watch silly shows and be able to browse the internet too.
Next Week's Goals
-keep up the great Get Serious work with daily writing and weekly typing!
-grade a little each day (papers coming in Tuesday!)
-1 hour on scholarship: soon I'll have to do 2 or 3 hours to catch up
-get travel for upcoming conference all scheduled and done
-make food
-Artist Date on Wednesday???
-try to get out of the house each day unless it's actively snowing
-unpack boxes
-meditate/do yoga
Happy February!
You confirm one of my guesses, which was that some things we care about we don't write down because we just do them. And if writing is a source of joy, then writing daily should help build joy into your days. . . I like that.
DeleteI started a modified version of morning pages kind of on a whim because I missed that practice, and have made it a daily habit since 2012. I can barely believe that I have made that such a consistent habit, and something I don't even think about. Definitely joy.
DeleteThe biologist E.O.Wilson said "good science is mostly play disguised as work". Playfulness, having fun, taking things lightly and adventurously, are to me the hallmark of good work in the classroom and in research and writing - not that these things aren't SERIOUS and IMPORTANT - play is hugely important, biologically normal, training for survival - but that play creates the right sort of mood for taking risks, being open to new opportunities and novel ideas, and making the human feel safe, alert, focused and relaxed.
ReplyDelete'Fun' is what the REF, the Management Strategies, the continual assessing and measuring of quality and impact and all the team teaching and documenting of every move takes out of work. Having to explain yourself, being treated as untrustworthy, continual criticism, lack of resources getting in the way of flow, interruptions and demands and ringing phones and pinging emails... these are NOT fun!
So yes, brilliant question, important reminder, and something to think about seriously - how to create that imaginative, cooperative, open space, the feeling of a good game of "an' s'pose we're princesses... an' this chair is a spaceship... an' we're going to Mars... an'...", within an office environment with bureaucrats.
The modern world seems to set 'childlike' together with 'childish' as completely in opposition to 'adult' and in some ways as the enemy of 'adult'. Bureaucrats especially seem determined to make things Serious and Not Fun. In fact, I can see in writing this a key reason why I'm feeling 'anti' writing and 'pro' classroom teaching and lab work at the moment - writing feels like it's out of my control. WORK writing, that is - NaNoWriMo and occasional morning pages (which I want to bring back, for sure) and freewriting show me repeatedly that writing outside of forms and publications is one of the most fun things I can do, for me. Publication writing used to be more fun, and I'm not sure quite when that stopped...
Goals: didn't hit any of 'em, grading, programme design stuff, life happened. Keep the same ones this week.
So true...there should be (might be?) some adage about not letting the bureaucracy drag us down. I try to pretend like it's inconsequential so I don't get overly invested in other people's paperwork.
DeleteThis talk of morning pages reminded me of a sort of Seinfeld chain I've got going for those. The site 750words.com has boxes for the month across the top of the page, and every day you write, you get an X in the box. The goal is to hit every day in the month.
DeleteI hear you about the way the demands of work - and I would not flourish with the RAE/REF framework. And teaching is great because we get to share our subject, which we think is fun and interesting, and some of our students agree, which is also fun.
DeleteResearch and writing are a great pleasure, and I seem to struggle always to make time for it. Maybe if I could figure this out, I could have the relationship with writing I want. The negative self-talk of not getting it done is all harm and no help, so I should resolve to quiet all the coulds and shoulds.
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals
1. get it all done: well, we never do quite get it all done, right?
2. finish and submit end of month article: no, but it’s also a conference paper due to respondent 2 February
3. submit creative piece: no, even though it will take about five minutes to get it done.
This week
1. Finish the conference paper and submit
2. Submit creative piece
3. Write every day
Your thought that the coulds and shoulds get in the way of the joy of writing connects with JaneB's comment about how all the accountability and measurement has got in the way of her pleasure in writing.
DeleteJoy: I study literature, and I love figuring out the puzzle of a piece of lit AND the puzzle of putting the pieces of an essay together. I love the moment an idea hits. I love writing first drafts, before I realize how much work they need. And I love the feeling of getting unstuck. (Typically, I have to talk out loud through the stuck-ness, even if the person I’m talking to has no actual response. My computer-science PhD husband fills this role a lot.) And I have to say, seeing my name in print in a published volume is pretty spectacular. I love that my scholarship might help people think about a piece of literature in new ways.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) re-organize weekly schedule to reflect real constraints--yes
2) 3 hours of work on cutting and pasting--only a half hour, but not nothing
3) 1/2 hour on TOC revision/brainstorming--some thought but nothing written
4) 1 hour on comp research or book proposal--yes, reading about book proposals
5) exercise 4x--yes
I definitely made a last ditch effort today to make my list look semi-successful. I’ve been struggling with overwhelm (and I started reading the book Overwhelm: Work, Love, and Play when No One has the Time by Brigid Schulte; it’s fascinating!), so I spent some time this week doing nothing and catching up on sleep. Today I got so much accomplished and got into a flow state, which hasn’t happened in a while. I’ve decided that I *can* do everything I set out to do this term, but I need to approach it calmly not in a panic. So I’m hoping to do a bit more this week and be a little more zen about it.
New goals:
1) 3-6 hours of work on D2B (some intro work; some polishing proposal chapter)
2) 1 hour on book proposal (reading/drafting/TOC)
3) exercise 5x
4) eat well (figure out a couple small, specific steps toward this)
I talk to myself too! And when I figure something out, I do a little happy dance! And sleep really helps in dealing with stress. Good luck on the week ahead in staying zen.
DeleteAllan Wilson- last weeks goals:
ReplyDelete1. Walk up hills four times this week. I'M NOT SURE, BIZARRELY. I lost track of the whats are wheres. But I am walking more, and it makes me happy when I do it. Although, funnily, enough, at the moment the walking I do isn't especially thinking type walking, mostly because it is with another person as opposed to the lovely long morning alone walk that I used to do. Which has made me think- because I like thinking a lot when I walk. I am now wondering whether to reintroduce the morning walk also. Hmm.
This week hasn't been especially joyous, although I have felt less burnt out, which is good. Mainly because I have been dealing to administrivia and management type stuff that I need to do, to make things happen; but when I get to the end of the day, it doesn't feel satisfying. I love it when I get time to think and write, or to look at my data. That makes me feel joyous. So, my new goals for this week is- write every day for one hour, and exercise every day.
allan Wilson.
2. Think about the project (ie the questions behind the spreadsheets).
Oh- completely forgot about goal 2! No, I did not think about the project. This has to be a repeat goal for this week! aw
DeleteI walk sometimes on my own, sometimes with a friend and her dog. I like the companionship of talking while walking. When I walk on my own, I listen to podcasts...
DeleteI like walking, too. It helps me to feel fresh.
DeleteI walk up a big hill at least once a week, and when I've mentioned to other parents at my kids' school, they look sympathetic when I say I'm going alone, or sometimes offer to go with me or connect me with groups of walkers. But walking alone is the whole point, for me! For the thinking, and because I have long legs and walk fast, and I get frustrated having to slow down for people.
DeleteI hope you get some good thinking (and walking) done this week!
I often talk about "playing" in the archives -- there's this amazing sense of discovery when you are reading documents and finding new things. I like that because I connect it to things I already know, and also because I like giving voice to people who have been dead for a long time. And while writing is hard, there's a sense of amazing accomplishment when I figure out a connection, or how something fits. The cats don't know what to make of it when I shout "Yes!" or do a happy dance randomly. I also really enjoy teaching, and sharing my sense of excitement with students. I even like some committee work, for the shared sense of purpose it can provide. The fly in the ointment in all this is deadlines, and schedules, so that you are not just working on your own timetable, but to others. And that's where all the lists and shoulds etc come in. It's relatively easy this year when I'm on sabbatical, so free of most of that, but I hope that I can remember when I come back from leave why I think I've got a great gig.
ReplyDeleteLast weeks goals:
1. Undertake quick review of secondary literature, just to get a sense of what's there. DONE
2. Review primary source notes for new chapter DONE
3. Read two plays for new chapter Started, but not done. But I now have the two plays
4. Finish reading articles for article prize competition: Done, but I have to go back to one
5. Walk or other exercise 5 days: 6 days. This was a great success, and I can see my pace getting faster, my endurance increasing.
6. Continue 5 minutes daily on either clutter or garden: Done -- more progress on the garden, and I've managed to reduce more clutter, and more importantly, deal with mail as it comes in so it doesn't create new piles of scary stuff.
7. Tax stuff - file foreign taxes, get started on local ones: Done
All in all, a good week -- I see where the chapter is going (I've got an outline) and know what I need to do. I think it will be OK, and I will finish on schedule at the end of the month.
Goals next week:
1. Read two plays
2. Start the writing
3 Re-read one essay for prize competition, review essay for journal
4. Keep up on the slow de-clutter/garden plan
5. Walk 5 days
Wow! You got a lot accomplished this week! That deserves a happy dance in itself.
DeleteIt sounds like your sabbatical is already a success when it reconnects you to what you love about your job.
I SO want to read all of these posts right now and talk about joy, but it's 11:00pm, and I just finished reviewing curriculum proposals, most of which are significantly flawed, and I do not feel joyful. I will come back to read posts, and comment on the topic. But for now I will just post my check-in since I don't want to delay it any longer.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:Good Enough Woman
1)Track water, exercise, and spending.--Kind of.
2) Help daughter with presentation.--Yes. And I only made her cry a few times.
3) 5 hours on Chapter 2 and/or conference paper--Not sure it was quite five.
4) Figure out how to best celebrate hubby on his b-day. No, I really failed at this.
This week:
1) Help daughter get to the finish line with her presentation.
2) Draft central piece of the conference paper that I present on 2/13.
3) Track daily water, exercise, spending.
4) Do at least 7 minute of exercise (even if just stretching) every day.
I forgot to report that during my work time on Chapter 2, I wrote nearly 1000 words of the chapter on one day (in about 90 minutes), and wrote nearly 1000 words in quotes and notes on another (in about 45 minutes). I felt good about those 1000 words of the chapter!
ReplyDeleteYay for words, and for feeling good about writing. That's DEFINITELY fun!
DeleteCongratulations! And especially for only making the girl cry a little. Mine cried at school drop off today. I'm sure it's building character somehow.
DeleteHope the week goes well!
That's good writing, given the limited time.
DeleteLast week (and this, to be truthful) was pretty much a wash, so I'm recopying my last week's goals here, for the convenience of the mods. Will report in on any 2-week progress on them when the next post goes up.
ReplyDeleteGoals:
--Continue exercising (add weights); try to keep to regular sleep schedule
--Cook/freeze a pot or two of soup
--Figure out exactly what I need to do when for DH class; create 2 more exercises; begin work on demonstration items/exhibits and assignments.
--Submit proposal for talk on DH class if it's not too late.
--Finish dismembering tree & remove from apt.; other apt/garden work as possible.
--At least some work on finances.