Week 9 Check-In: productivity habits

Hello everyone, hope you've all had a productive week with some good self-care and fun fitting in as well, and that everyone's crises are settling down.  Last week we mostly talked about what happens to TLQ when the Big Stuff of life comes along, so for this week, let's follow Cassandra's suggestion and talk about where we're up to and how we're going to adjust things for the rest of the summer.  Amstr pointed us to this article on productivity, which listed seven ways to improve the amount you get done in the time you have, which gave these seven points

1. Use active verbs in your to-do list

2. Say no to multitasking 

3. Paint your workspace green 

4. Add leisure time to your calendar5. Don’t plan a big project — plan a series of small tasks
6. Overestimate the time you need
7. Begin first, correct later

 

We have 6 weeks to go in this group, which is enough time to achieve things, but probably also short enough to give most of us a "not enough time!" twitchy feeling, so it's probably a good point to both review our goals for the summer (especially given last week's topic) and to think about whether we want to try any new productivity habits - something from the list, some kind of self-care, having a dedicated writing time etc. - in the remaining time, or if you have an effective productivity habit to share with the rest of us! 

Suggested check-in structure:
1) summer goal review
2) topic
3) last week's goals: reporting progress
4) analysis of last week and planning for next week

5) next week's goals

The rest of this post is summer goals (in summer colours so I hope you can read them) then last week's goals (in black).


SUMMER GOALS

allan wilson maintain exercising every week, preferably four times. that's the goal that skips most easily for me. submit three papers.

Amstr:  1) develop a strong writing habit, 2) start submitting to agents, 3) learn (again) to eat well, 4) finish job apps, 5) get prepped for freelancing to start in the fall.
 
Contingent Cassandra: make substantial progress on getting household & financial matters in better order, maintain and improve self-care: exercise (especially taking advantage of the pool while it's open), sleep, and good meals. maintain better connections/reconnect with friends and family.

 Daisy:
ALL research, ALL the time!!! And READING. designate one day or afternoon each week to deal with all other stuff - admin, teaching, programme development etc. and try to keep it contained.  I have at least 6 weeks of field work to do, so my summer weeks at home are fairly restricted anyway, I really want to make the most of the time I'm around.
1) Get rid of last 2 lingering thesis papers - either submit them or pull plugs on them (L1 and L2)
2) Write up almost finished new area project and submit (N1)
3) Write up preliminary report for huge project (H1)
4) Design and start next phase of huge project (H2)
5) Design student part of huge project (H3)
On the personal and reading front I'm going to designate a few habit-forming plans for the summer.
1) Read one new research paper every day
2) Do one fun adventure or new activity with child every weekend I'm home
3) Run or do something active every day
4) Cut most sugar and processed junk out of eating plans


Elizabeth:1) to move forward on the dissertation, which needs an updated literature review, and a rewritten introduction and first chapter, 2) to walk more, and 3) to eat better food mindfully.

GEW: 
1) Do work necessary for NEH Summer Institute that will be held in July (related to sabbatical project)
2) Draft introduction to PhD thesis (by July 1)
3) Revise two chapters of thesis (also by July 1)
4) Prepare article for journal submission (by August 28th)
5) Exercise (walks with dog, visits to fancy athletic club)

humming42 (amended week 4): Two book proposals and one article based on the third book topic (Em, Ala and Fem), and pay attention to falling-down-house
 
iwantzcatbocl: On a book deadline that I must finish it by June 30—I’ve blown through several deadlines for this project over the past year, so it is time for me to finally wrap it up. After that, I have two long languishing articles that need revision that I would like to complete for the end of August. I have a little bit of fieldwork to complete later this month. I also I have a mini-goal of actually planning each day (making a list in my special notebook), which always makes me feel like I have more time, but somehow I don’t do it! Would like to exercise daily (realistically—five days a week). Also would like to meditate for ten minutes a day

 JaneB:  Do All The Things!!! Progress goals of: one grant application (to make my head of department shut up, not in actual expectation of success), one paper's worth of progress with writing (might not be all on one paper), redesign of both Difficult Team Taught Second Year modules - and all of these things to be underpinned by a habit goal of reading research, working on figures or writing for a minimum of 1 hour a day, every "normal day", with the internet OFF.   Self-care: to be in a better position for the new academic year which involves domestic decluttering, better sleep, eating and exercise patterns, plenty of 'mental health strategies' to hand, and something of a five year plan/exit plan so I have more of an anchor against the surges of AllTheRhetoricAndCrapola...

karenh: Key goals for the research/writing side are: for Project One (curatorial) to be prepared for the exhibition and a separate publication; Project Two is to get one of my old conference papers revised for submission as an article. On the self-care side, regular exercise and more reasonable bedtimes.

kjhaxton: 1. papers: gem stone paper, acronym paper
2. projects: ethics and research tool for scary project
3. planning: to work on papers and projects for 1 hour per day (week days), to spend 1/2 day a week getting next year's teaching in order, to restrict email to two 1/2 hour periods per week day.
4. personal: paint several rooms in the house, make curtains for dining room, print various pictures for competitions and our walls.

Let'sDoThis: My writing goals for this summer including finishing the article by June 8th (totally achievable) and finishing both books before my fall term begins (ummm ... maybe less achievable). Enjoy every minute with my long-awaited wee baby, and trying to get the house in order once and for all.
 
Matilda:1) to write two chapters of the book. 2) to write for 15 minutes everyday. 3) to exercise for 5 minutes everyday. 4) to eat better, less sweets.

Mercy:
1) get back to LC paper and submit it!
2) write a complete draft of HA paper for my real-life writing group, revise based on their comments, and submit also
3) wrap up teaching-related stuff asap (last class this coming Thursday) and be done with teaching until next semester
4) fit in premininary field work project

Susan: 
1. The book. I am completing a book ms. I have a draft of all the chapters, which are now almost fully revised at least a first time, for flow and repetition and overall argument. My goal is to send a ms. to a publisher for review by the end of the summer.
2. Other project: for my administrative role, I'm editing a collection of essays, and I have to get the proposal for that written, send invitations, and get in touch with the press.
3. House: I'm slowly decluttering and redecorating. I've got a plan for new furniture and a new seating arrangement in my living room, and I want to begin work on that.
4. Self care: one of the goals of the sabbatical was to get into good sleep and exercise patterns. I am now mostly getting 7 hours of sleep a night (my goal) and eating well. But my exercise life is erratic, and I always seem to have other things to do if a friend who is in town occasionally isn't around. So it's exercise that needs to be the new goal.
5. In the middle of the summer I have a 3 1/2 week trip to the UK, which is partly work (I must check footnotes) but also fun. I need to plan at least one week of real vacation. I've got a bunch of possibilities that I need to work out, including family visits to lovely places, visits to cities I've never visited, and time at the beach.

LAST WEEK'S GOALS

allan wilson (from week 7)1. drink lots of water (I loved this one - I think I feel better)
2. finish conference talk post colleague critique
3. enjoy my life
4. do wildly overdue ethics app- added because of my comments below!!

Amstr
1) exercise 4x
2) plan food
3) examine job possibilities and feeeelings about them
4) work out help from other people to have writing time during the day
5) plan a writing retreat and plan anniversary weekend

Contingent Cassandra
1) Set phone-carrier switch in motion; check on other financial/household projects in progress; tackle other small financial/household matters as possible in between student communications & grading
2) Get at least a bit of exercise most days (walking, mulch-moving, and/or swimming; try to step this up a bit)
3) tough base w/ at least one family member (and maybe a couple of others; once I get the phone working, I intend to use my niece/nephews for texting practice, since one of the purposes of switching to a smart phone is being able to communicate with them in their native idiom, whatever it is this week)
5) work on tying up odds and ends of communications w/ members of my department, plans for the fall semester, etc., well enough to allow me to go incommunicado for a week or so after grades are in.
6) work on getting class DH site ready to go public/be presented if time (but if not, don't worry; this *will* become TRQ-er by late August, and I will find time to do it).

Daisy
1) Field report
2) Revise Discussion and Methods for neglected paper that has been languishing on back-burner
3) Reading project
4) Run outside 4 times this week

Elizabeth (from week 7) 1) Back to the dissertation. Three days for an hour a day.
2) Take care of myself, both physically, and by allowing myself to mourn. I have the first two of four doctors’ appointments in the month of July this Wednesday.

GEW
1) Walk to and from institute location whenever it's safe enough to do so (i.e., not dark).
2) Write for at least 30 minutes per day on chapter draft.
3) Say no to socializing if I really don't want to do it.
4) Be a good listener during the training. Don't raise hands to make too many comments or questions.
5) Each evening, write lists of "intentions" for the following day so that I'm not just spinning wheels during any open times.
6) Enjoy and be grateful for this week of time during which I get to work on things that interest me. 

humming42 (two week goals set week 7) 1) continue work on Upcoming Article
2) write book review
3) write proposal
4) finish revise & resubmit
5) submit old article to new journal (if coauthor agrees)

iwantzcatbocl (from week 7)
1. Serious book progress. Deadline is July 15. I don’t feel like breaking it down more than this at the moment.
2. Seems the only thing I can really do is to promise to go to Favorite Café daily and keep working.
3. Keep up exercise.
4. Sublet apartment?

JaneB
1. get the poster finished and the talk cancelled for cancelled conference.
2. go back to the gym twice and Bugge Spray the 'you should do more!' voice firmly when it tries to make you do more than you plan - regularity is more important than the overall amount of exercise this week.
3. survive the various parties and trainings and being in the offices. Do not lean too heavily on chocolate or succumb to too many fatty-but-delicious university catering snacks, and follow GEWs example and don't talk too much!
4. look at Smart Paper and rough out the results section; don't fret about whether it needs more info yet.
5. write a blog post for Shared Professional Blog about the very very late paper that finally came out (25 years after the samples were collected...)
6. Bed before midnight without electronics!

Karenh (goals from week 7)
1) Knock off 2 tasks from P1 admin list
2) 30 min writing x3
3) read/note 2x article for P2; order in book that looks directly on topic
4)reinstate bedtime alarm, 4 x physic exercises.

kjhaxton (goals from week 7)
(a) Scary project: start re-analysing data for maybe conference presentation and read new literature on project.
(b) Gemstone Paper: play around with data and start planning the figures
(c) continue list making and cross off some small items from the various lists. 

Let's Do This (goals from week 7) 1. Finish the article that I wanted to finish last week. Email it before I leave town for the holiday weekend. This gives me three days, ACK!.
2.Do the dreaded bills.
3. Fix the captioning and the video summaries on the two videos that have been uploaded thus far. This will ease me into finishing, uploading, and captioning the remaining videos next week, so I can get started on that article before my parents arrive on the 10th.
4. Pack for the weekend trip. Something I love to put on the list because then I can cross it off later!
5. Enjoy extra time with my daughter, who has a break from the gym this week. 
 
Matilda (goals from week 7)
1) To revise Chapter 1 on the articles I have read recently.
2) To exercise for 3 minutes at least three times a day.
3) To have good sleep, and do not think that I should have worked instead. Sleep is important. 

Mercy
a. Read 1 more MA thesis for final grade
b. Read 5 HA-related articles
c. Freewrite about the article for 15 mins/day
d. Do some form of excercise each day (taking kids to park will count, too)
e. Start gratitude journal 

Susan 
1. Finish proposal for publisher
2. ILL stuff
3. Finish bibliography work.
4. Exercise or work in garden four days