It
has occurred to me over the past weeks that the people in
this group have a lot of experience and have all developed great tools for
survival. I am not very much a system
person, but I’ve certainly adapted ideas people have mentioned. And it occurred to me that we might just
take a moment and discuss what’s the one thing that has helped each of us
maintain some engagement with TLQ. It
may be a productivity tool or tip, or a daily habit, or some kind of self-knowledge. What is it that keeps you going, especially
when things are difficult? What advice would you share?
(And reminder of format -
comment on topic
last week's goals
next week's goals)
Last week’s goals:
Daisy:
Paper B, complete the new draft.
Keep up the running habit I have started again.
Humming42 (for next week - away this week)
1 Make progress on proposal #1
2 Draft proposal #2
3 Look for content for conference paper
JaneB
3 days of 5 minuteses (I'm letting myself off for the long
weekend!), make some rough notes towards a plan/list, and reaquaint myself with
the paper 'Repeater' (which is about repeating analyses under different
conditions, and is rather minor, but I hope useful and I seem to recall rather
close to being ready to go back out to my co-authors following the first round
of revisions...)
Susan
1. Finish the chapter
2. Begin paper for invited workshop
3. Work on grant proposal
4. Do major gardening task
5. Keep up with paper in house. (This is perpetual, but I feel so
good about NOT having a large pile of paper in the kitchen that I want to keep
it that way!)
6. Some exercise daily.
Allan Wilson
get paper CR rewritten and back to my co-author, again with
enjoyment. And stay up to date with my RQ work. (I am still avoiding finishing
paper FS, but I am going to leave that this week- I don't think I can cope with
the stress of it yet, so I am going for another slightly simpler piece of work
first).
Contingent Cassandra
1) Continue work on self-care, especially exercise (also sleep
& eating well).
2) Keep on top of grading, especially for DH class, and being
reflecting on/publicizing preliminary results of student projects.
3) Conference prep (registration, readings, travel, general
logistics/planning to make the most of two upcoming combined
conference/research trips).
4) (Possible SAG, with caveats above) make incremental progress on
household/financial projects (these really should be tackleable through SAGs,
but in practice seem to be subject to all the issues above -- mostly, once I
start, I don't stop, and something else, often something a bit more TRQ-ish,
doesn't get done when it needs to).
kjhaxton
1) finish up the marking and stray bits of paperwork from early
semester tasks
2) plan the two articles that I will write
3) plan publication/presentation around small aspect of current
teaching so that I can put an evaluation plan in place to get a good paper
4) make figures for the paper
Amstr
1) exercise 4x
2) 2 hours on job apps
3) 4 30-min writing sessions (more is better)
4) menu planning/grocery shopping
Matilda
1) Week 6-1 of Belcher's book.
2) Continue to read the important book. It is worth doing so.
3) Write the first section of the article.
4) Do 3 minutes exercise twice in the morning, twice in the
afternoon.
5) Be tolerant of snacks, but try to have healthier ones.
Elizabeth Ann Mitchell (from Week 7)
1) Write 100 words a day
2) Space planning for home office. The current
arrangement is not working
3) Personal time. I do not protect down time for
myself either at work or at home
Good Enough Woman (from Week 8)
1) Read two articles and one primary source novella
2) evaluate
structures of chapters one and two
3) Send follow-up email to supervisor about
timelines
4) Exercise 3x
5) help son with Minecraft account problems (I've
been promising to do this for a while) and prep daughter for next presentation
6) play son's homemade game with him
Earnest English:
One thing that has helped each of us maintain some engagement with TLQ. The first thing that comes to mind is a recent epiphany. I used to think I had to have the perfect circumstances--quiet room, large block of time--to get anything substantive done. I realized those were excuses to procrastinate, and two projects that moved from TLQ to TRQ made me pause and recognize it. One example is my presentation, which is tomorrow, broadcast to a few dozen people nationwide and recorded for perpetuity. I was frozen for weeks every time I tried to work on it, fearing the exposure and fighting impostor syndrome. Yesterday, I wrote the whole forty-five minute presentation in three hours. It’s spring break, with all the campus buildings locked up for the weekend. I couldn’t go to my office to work, so I wrote in the middle of the chaos that is my home, with college basketball emanating from the other room, and interruptions from the pets. But, it worked. It got done. The takeaway: Question all “reasons” to see if they are truly excuses.
ReplyDeleteGoals from week 7: 1) Write 100 words a day. No, but at the end of the week, I wrote over 700 words in a sitting. Yesterday, I wrote over two thousand words in one sitting. I think I should think and plan each day, but not necessarily write each day.
2) Space planning for home office. The current arrangement is not working. Our younger son has moved back in with us, so I “lost” my office. I realize that I can work under less ideal circumstances than I thought, so I am not worried about the home office any longer.
3) Personal time. I do not protect down time for myself either at work or at home. I am not yet where I want to be with my personal time at work, but I have forced myself to stop eating lunch at my desk. I work better when I have a break from the office, even if I just go to another building for a while. I still need to work on my personal time at home, but I did manage to fit in some reading and knitting.
Goals for the next week:
1) Don’t flub the presentation.
2) Write at least 500 words on the new article, which I wish I could name in some clever way, but don’t seem to have the brainpower to do so at the moment.
Good luck on the presentation! I've learned that at least sometimes when I procrastinate like that, there is lots of thinking going on - which is presumably how you wrote the whole thing in three hours. But also, bravo for figuring out you can work in less than perfect conditions - that's really important.
DeleteCan we rephrase Goal #1 for you? Rock the presentation! Or do presentably.
DeleteCongrats on getting your presentation done and words written. It's amazing what we can get done when we need to, isn't it? I loved Joan Bolker's Write Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day because it gave me permission to make small progress in small chunks. I had very small children when I was studying for exams and writing the dissertation, and even non-ideal work conditions were workable.
I hope you enjoyed the reading and knitting! I haven't touched my knitting in a while, but I've been reading some great books (I just finished Dear Committee Members: light and hilarious. I can imagine it being more painful and even more funny if I had written lots of LOCs, as the main character calls them. Now I'm blazing through Gilead for my book group on Wed, even though it's a book I want to savor.)
Thank you, Amstr, for the rephrasing, and Susan for the good wishes. I have to go prepare, doing the sound checks and the like, in a few minutes.
DeleteI very much appreciate the support, and will respond more when my brain returns. :)
Well, the presentation is done and recorded. We had all kinds of technical difficulty with the presentation software, so no one heard the person who was supposed to introduce me! I just got a note on my screen to start, and I didn't know whether everyone else had heard her, or what was going on.
DeleteIt will be a funny story soon, but it really rattled me, so my first few minutes were awful. I eventually found my stride, and finished well, I think. :)
Sorry the technology wasn't perfect -- that's such an annoyance!
DeleteThat's a bummer that you had a rough start, but wonderful that you recovered! That's what counts!
DeleteTopic: Two things for me are simplifying and scheduling. It really helps me to have my "three must-do items" for the day, or at least be clear about what my priorities are for the week. Squeezing small "must do" items like scheduling an appointment helps me prioritize them before it's too late.
ReplyDeleteIf I want to do a certain number of writing sessions, it helps me to at least schedule a time frame for it (e.g., sometime Tuesday before lunch, can often be enough).
I also need to do a mid-week check in on my calendar. I tend to schedule the week on Sunday, and then by Wednesday I've stopped looking at it.
Last week:
1) exercise 4x--I forget if it was 3 or 4. I was very sore (in a good way) either way.
2) 2 hours on job apps--made a little progress on getting letters of rec
3) 4 30-min writing sessions (more is better)--yes
4) menu planning/grocery shopping--yes
Last week was full, but I got a lot accomplished. I'm proofreading my sister-in-law's paranormal romance novel, so that ate into my time. It's fun, but a lot of work.
This week:
1) exercise 4x
2) 1 hour on job apps
3) menu plan/grocery shop
4) write 6x30 min.
Oh--probably the biggest help is my Check In document. I keep a Google doc that has my goals for the week (TRQ and TLQ). I list all the items in blue text, and as I complete them, I change the text to black, or I add black "days of the week" letters by the item. I stole the idea from my husband's work. Every week he has to turn in a doc of what he did last week and what he's planning to do in the coming week. (They call it "snippets" which is probably computer programmer-ese for something.) When I'm feeling discouraged about what I haven't done, I can scroll down (I keep the newest week on top) to see all that I've accomplished. I can also note when I've been avoiding something for weeks on end.
DeleteYou did really well last week. And I'm fascinated by your check-in document. I realize I'm not really that organized, as I don't use these systems consistently. It's like a calendar: for years I didn't write down calendar appointments because I remembered them, and then I had to because there were so many. Now, I think I have to write down other things to keep track of, and thus figure out a new system.
DeleteI think the check-in document is such a good idea! I get overwhelmed, and forget everything I was so sure I would remember.
DeleteI also like that it functions as praise for things done--I really need that.
Best mental tool: something borrowed from running marathons "it always feels good when you are done" - so no matter how unpleasant a task feels like beforehand or even during the task, it is always great to be done.
ReplyDeleteBest social tool: writing buddies, real or virtual (same as running ones - you never blow off a 6am run if someone is waiting for you...)
Best actual tools: Weekly to-do list with colour codes, both for keeping track and gratification of getting to cross off things (I like the physical paper nature); leechblock to shut off the stupid internet; and pomodoro timers to force activities when motivation is non-existent.
Last week's goals:
Paper B, complete the new draft. - HALF DONE - I have a really comprehensive outline and a few complete sections, still struggling with a couple of large parts.
Keep up the running habit I have started - DONE, less well than I hoped, but better than nothing.
This week's goals:
Paper B, complete the new draft and revise figures.
Revise Figures for A (again!)
Keep running
I like your tools! And I'm glad your making progress with the running and paper(s). Hope you have a great week!
DeleteI love remembering that it always feels good when it's done!
DeleteI love your tools, too. The accountability to writing buddies is often enough to make me drag myself to the desk to work.
DeletePomodoro is great, because I can tell myself, "it's only a few minutes, surely I can do that!"
I think the most useful thing I've learned is to make sure a tool works for me. For instance, I know I don't do big things when I have short blocks of time (a former colleague talked about reading a book for 15 minutes, and I totally didn't get it), but I've learned that I can, for instance, get rid of some old emails. So the time doesn't disappear into games of solitaire. I not very systematic in my work habits, but that has, so far, worked for me.
ReplyDeleteGoals for last week:
1. Finish the chapter - DONE
2. Begin paper for invited workshop - YES, but not as much as I hoped
3. Work on grant proposal - a little
4. Do major gardening task - DONE
5. Keep up with paper in house. (This is perpetual, but I feel so good about NOT having a large pile of paper in the kitchen that I want to keep it that way!) - Well, mostly. I have to do five minutes tonight to catch up with some oddments.
6. Some exercise daily: Yes, until yesterday.
Alas, I have the cruel cold of March, so when I'm not coughing, I sound a bit like Lauren Bacall. Yesterday was a complete zone-out day - I read the Sunday NY Times, took four naps, and talked to some people on the phone - but it was 88 (F) outside, and I was in a fleece jacket with a wooly blanket on my legs. Today is a bit better - I"ve done low level stuff all day - but still no energy. Hoping that tomorrow is a new day and I get back to work!
In addition to the cold, this week involves a long drive to take my mother to a dr appointment, so I lose Friday. And I have houseguests Wednesday so . . . I'm trying to be realistic.
Goals for this week:
1. Block out remainder of paper, which includes sections from various existing projects
2. Finish book review
3. Do additional garden clean up work
4. Exercise 4 times
5. Do task on grant proposal
So sorry to hear you're under the weather (especially when the weather is so beautiful). I hope you heal up quickly.
DeleteCongratulations on finishing your chapter!
Ah, I'm still coughing from that blasted cold. I sounded like a 5-pack a day smoker for more than a week, but I'm slowly entering the Lauren Bacall range.
DeleteGood for you getting so much done despite the cold!
I also make lists of things to do in small bits of time, so I always have something at hand. I am getting better at doing little pieces of things, but I don't consider myself accomplished at it.
one thing/topic: I'm not very good at "one thing thinking", I prefer to think of myself as having a productivity tool kit (which is imagined mostly as a pilgrim's scrip rather than anything orderly and mechanical) which I continually revisit and pull different bits out of depending on the particular challenge of the moment. Tools I've used to get me through Crunchier, and which I seem to be recommending to students a lot at the moment:
ReplyDelete1) an axiom: "done today is better than perfect someday"
2) a planning strategy: cutting up the elephant (list small, concrete things that contribute to the project and do one each work session, however hungover or recalcitrant or brain-fogged you are) - this gets rolled up with 'parking on a downhill slope' to help restarting - I keep a list of small to dos in bright red and a fancy font on the first page of any document I'm working on, often jotting stuff down there when I'm in writing flow (e.g. "find another ref for topic y, check the date so-and-so said such-and-such, redraw figure 3 to show razor shells as well as cockles, add numbers from Bloggs' paper to table 7") so I won't forget it. Doing one of those is a great way to restart or make progress on a not-keen day.
3) record-keeping: I finding keeping 'things wot I done' lists much more encouraging than 'to do' lists, although I have plenty of the latter - keeping the former with the latter, and reading over it regularly, helps me restock my belief that I can get the task done, even if slowly. Plus writing down something rather than crossing something off feels good.
4) physical objects: two tie here, stickers (rewards) and file cards (for many, many lists of different kinds. They survive much better in a bag/pocket/as a bookmark than slips of paper and stand out more in a messy context).
5) an editing tool: reverse outlining
6) a getting started tool: negative freewriting. Freewriting is all trendy, as is positive thinking and all that jazz, but I am not always a positive person. Starting work where I AM rather than trying to get in the right frame of mind is really useful - the way to write is to write, not to wait for the right conditions for writing, right? - and starting a difficult session with 10-15 minutes (timer set) of free-writing beginning with the phrase: "I can't do [this] because..." or "I hate [this] because" or "The problem with [this] is..." or "I don't want to do [this] because..." is currently really helping - for me, being able to articulate the problem is often the critical step in seeing a possible solution, plus starting writing of any kind gets the words flowing... even if they are mostly very rude words, they're still words on a page.
The negative free-writing is a great idea. And I think we all have a toolbox... I like yours.
DeleteNegative free-writing! I have tried 6-minute-free-writing at the start of the day for a month and my 'free-writing' always starts with 'I must do this and this'. I will try your negative free-writing!
Deletegoals: 1) 3 days of 5 minuteses (I'm letting myself off for the long weekend!) 2) make some rough notes towards a plan/list, and 3) reaquaint myself with the paper 'Repeater'
ReplyDeleteachieved: 1) one or two. Sigh. 2) I made a pretty table. I put in the dates of some conferences. It made me want to nap. For a month or two. 3) Did. And have worked out roughly what still needs to be done and begun doing it. It's much easier than Crunchier (so far...), which is a bonus! Just needs doing...
goals for this week (what's left of it): I have meetings to attend and on Saturday YUCK YUCK YUCK I am helping out at an 'applicant day' (when we sell ourselves with our happy smiles on gah I hate these events). Yeah, a) I'm supposed to be out of these on Occ Health advice and b) we don't do them when on study leave. But the university scheduled one when 3/4 of our staff are away on student study-abroad weeks, and it's really popular for some reason, so there was a three line whip and I am a mug. Anyway. Not much week really, allowing for recovery from family weekend (which was fine and lovely and I'm so emotionally tired from nothing I slept most of this afternoon...)
1) rekindle 5 minuteses from Wednesday 2) do two work sessions of 30 minutes or so on Repeater 3) do some freewriting about funding application ideas/plans/whatever (1x15 minute minimum).
Good luck. I hope you know you have a halo on the applicant day!
ReplyDeleteAllan Wilson
ReplyDeleteget paper CR rewritten and back to my co-author, again with enjoyment. NO
And stay up to date with my RQ work. BARELY- which is why nothing on paper CR.
By Sunday night I was absolutely fuming about a co-author who was way behind on a RQ paper, and hadn't sent through the materials for some work this week. Anyway, I did some of it myself so we could at least get our process started this week. The week was just one long intense series of RQ stuff, and all I could do was step to the next task in front of me.
Got over that drama, and now just hard out working on another pile of tasks. Hence, the late check-in. Sorry! I am still barely breathing.
Advice: I make a list of immediate tasks, and move through them step by step. When I am flat out, once I have my list, I only look at the next thing, and nothing further. (When I am more relaxed and have more time, I think, and I move between projects much more easily according to what I wish to work on).All of you will know however that I also procrastinate wildly when something feels "too hard".
Looking at things positively also helps- when I was fuming on sunday, I ended up calming down (about the ruination of my weekend) by saying to myself, three days only, and this thing will be done. I can do three days, and then I will never have to revisit this thing again. (Also, I will never work with this person again! Ha. I was really mad). It will be done. I can do three days to finish it.
It helped to identify the boundaries of the task and see the end was actually in sight
I like both your focus on the next immediate task and your clarity about how long you'll have to work on a not-so-favorite item! I do hope you get some breathing room soon.
DeleteLate, quick check-in (can't think of any advice at the moment; will go back and read others' later):
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) Continue work on self-care, especially exercise (also sleep & eating well).
2) Keep on top of grading, especially for DH class, and being reflecting on/publicizing preliminary results of student projects.
3) Conference prep (registration, readings, travel, general logistics/planning to make the most of two upcoming combined conference/research trips).
4) (Possible SAG, with caveats above) make incremental progress on household/financial projects (these really should be tackleable through SAGs, but in practice seem to be subject to all the issues above -- mostly, once I start, I don't stop, and something else, often something a bit more TRQ-ish, doesn't get done when it needs to).
Accomplished: (1) pretty good on exercise (conference city and conference/hotel location were conducive to a nice amount of walking), also reasonably good on eating and sleep (a bit less so on this last); (2) progress, bu no means on top of the grading; did publicize some DH class results; (3) successfully accomplished one trip; pretty much ready to leave for another tomorrow; (4) no.
Goals for this week: (1) continue self/care (walking, eating well, sleep); (2)(TRQ) get midterm grades for 200-level class in and begin catching up on delayed grading for 300-level ones; (3) do reading & other necessary prep for 2nd trip/conference.
More TRQ-ish than ideal (though 3 as well as 1 supports some TLQ goals), but if I can manage that much, I will be pleased.
It sounds like you've made some good progress this week. Impressive, especially in a week with two trips!
DeleteHello. I am late again.
ReplyDeleteTopics:
For me, I like the pomodoro way of working. I set the timer and start, stop after 25 minutes and do something different for 5 minutes, and then start again. For the 5 minutes, I walk around, or drink a coffee or do some light exercise. I like it in that I can realise clearly how long I have worked for that day. The problem is, the result is much less than I expected for the number of pomodoro chunks I worked that day...
Last goals:
1) Week 6-1 of Belcher's book. - I have worked on the structure as instructed. To be continued.
2) Continue to read the important book. It is worth doing so. - I have been reading the book. It is tough but I know the importance.
3) Write the first section of the article. - Half done. It needs revision, of course.
4) Do 3 minutes exercise twice in the morning, twice in the afternoon. - I use 5 minutes resting time between pomodoro chunks. Good.
5) Be tolerant of snacks, but try to have healthier ones. - I ate A LOT this evening. Tommorrow is another day, anyway.
Next goals:
1) Week 6-2 of Belcher's book.
2) Continue to read the important book.
3) Prepare for the classes.
4) Do short exercises between pomodoro chunks.
5) If I want to have snacks, ok, but have healthier ones.
Have a happy week, everyone!