By my count (correct me if I'm wrong, JaneB), we're nearly at the end of the road: this week is the last for which we set goals in this session, and the next post will be a check-in for the whole session as well as the final week. For many of us, the new semester is actively looming, and consuming an increasing proportion of our time and energy (witness the fact that I'm getting this up on Saturday morning because I spent all yesterday in meetings, then came home with a vague feeling that there was something else I was supposed to do, but no memory of what, and no energy to look it up).
But for many of us it is still summer, and there's still some brief, precious free(er) time available, perhaps enough time to accomplish one more summer-session goal, or perhaps just enough time to make some plans for integrating a particular goal into the busier (for many of us) or at least differently-structured (for those heading into sabbatical or similarly-focused periods) months to come.
So, the question/topic for this week, should you choose to address it, is:
What one part (goal or related subgoal) of your summer goals do you want to focus on this week, with the aim of finishing up, or building up some momentum, or at least figuring out how you will (better) integrate progress on this goal into your routine for the coming months?
If you need a reminder of your summer goals, they're listed here, and reprised (and possibly revised) here.
We'll follow our usual format for check-ins:
1. comment on the week's topic, when there is one
2. report your progress against last week's goals
3. analysis (optional): analyse what happened, what went well, what came
up to derail things, note what you learnt/want to change, ask any
questions of the rest of the group if you want some tips or suggestions
4. planning (optional): something about the coming week: what the
priorities are, what issues are going to present challenges, what the
framework for your goal-setting is
5. goals for the next week (or multi-week period until your next check-in)
Last week's goals:
allan wilson
1. Build up exercising again - 3 shortish walks
2. Finish the next draft of that CR paper, and discuss it with my senior colleague to get ideas on how to wrap it up
3. Print out a final book draft I have been helping edit for someone, so that is done and finished.
Amstr
1) exercise 2+x, eat well
2) pick one thing to make progress on each
day (decluttering, WGWL project, reading, misc email/handing off stuff
to other people, packing for camping)
3) make a plan for retreat weekend
Contingent Cassandra
1) continue work toward a sleeping/exercising/eating schedule that will
work (and support health and sanity) during the semester.
2) additional progress toward financial/household tasks as possible in between the semester-prep tasks.
Daisy (still in the field?)
Elizabeth
(from Week 13)
Read for an hour three times for the literature review.
Schedule surgery.
One positive thought/thought of gratitude every morning.
GEW
1) 4-5 hours of editing/writing
2) 2 hours reading
3) Make some reservations for conference if I'm truly going to go.
4) Hikes, walks, swimming, and fun with my dad and my kids. Last hurrah before "summer" is over.
humming42
1. draft abstract for spring convention
2. finish syllabi for Fall courses
3. make significant progress on other book proposal
iwantzcatbocl
(from week 10)
1. Exercise daily.
2. Make list of things to do.
3. Don’t dawdle with household chores.
JaneB
1) bitty academic writing tasks: by Monday I would like to have finished
the draft of the talk well enough to send it to PDF and done the first
big data reanalysis and reorganisation of 'stuff' for Repeater, also to
send to her. I have a small task to do from meeting number 2, and
should send some emails regarding meeting number 1 this week. I'd also
like to do SOMETHING to that grant form and those abstracts, and need to
arrange at least one teaching prep meeting and draft a document related
to teaching prep. Oh, and the software course starts on Monday so I'd
better finish the book!
2) make visible progress on one area - either
the top or the bottom of the stairs, as I see them every time I go up
or down so it would be another boost.
3) holiday prep - planning a
few things to do (and what to take - not to pack too much!), making sure
I have the info I need (the part of the country I'm visiting has poor
mobile coverage so I may not be able to just check the internet... and
planning is a big part of the fun, right?) - and getting to the gym one
more time.
Karenh1. Finalise and submit P1 tangent small grant application
2. Submit abstract for P1 co-authored spinoff paper
kjhaxton
(a) finish scary presentation and hopefully submit ethics.
(b) stop sulking over gemstone paper (unlikely, I reckon I've got a good bit left in me
(c) conference Wed PM - Friday so think about researchy stuff while listening to researchy stuff.
Let's Do This
No goals set
Matilda
(from week 13; probably busy with presentation right now)
1) Write up Chapter 1.
2) Start to prepare for my presentation on 22th August
Mercya. read 3 more articles for HA
b. incorporate article notes from summer reading into HA draft
c. read 2 MA theses (they keep coming!)
d. daily lunch/evening walk
e. go to bed on time, get up on time
Susan
1. Get going on Chapter 3.
2. Get back to prospectus
3. Keep exercising
4. Wield the Eraser to avoid being overly annoyed by my colleagues.
Topic of the week is excellent - this is my last full week before heading off on holiday for two weeks (which starts mid-week thus splitting 2 weeks). My summer goals:
ReplyDeletekjhaxton:
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.
I think I need to work on point 3 this week - the habit setting. Yes going on holiday then the arrival of semester will disrupt it all but I might try one of JaneB's Seinfeld chains until I go away. I've pretty much done point 2 and as much as I can of point 4. I'm still stalling over paper writing which I think relates to not getting 3 sorted.
This week then, major push on not being so reactionary to email and setting good writing habits.
Last week
(a) finish scary presentation and hopefully submit ethics. - DONE :) And presentation presented at conference!
(b) stop sulking over gemstone paper (unlikely, I reckon I've got a good bit left in me) I was correct!
c) conference Wed PM - Friday so think about researchy stuff while listening to researchy stuff. - DONE! Conference was fantastic, lots of ideas and suggestions from some great workshops on how to get researchy stuff done. Seriously want to capitalise on motivation post-conference
This week
a) put all teaching for new semester in electronic calendar and start blocking research time out as if it were scheduled time. Remember to add in distance learning module development time.
b) carry out literature survey to support researchy ideas
c) write gemstone paper, whether it requires beer, wine or coffee (or guilt free chocolate), just finish the damn draft!
I also plan to finish marking resit assessment, restrict admin to 1 hour per day and ignore email before 3pm. I suspect that means that I'll be using my new 'do not disturb sign' quite a lot.
I cannot wait to go on holiday!
I also cannot wait to go on holiday!
DeleteI am jealous that you have your timetable so can put it into your calendars - we still have no reliable TIMETABLE, as in, don't know when we're teaching, never mind where. I am not thinking about it, because when I do, it feels like I am bathing in tiny spiders...
That sounds like an excellent plan (and it sounds like you've made some good progress).
DeleteI do think working on routines, even for a week (especially a week that isn't too frantic, though trying to finish a paper and prepare for vacation may not make this one exactly fit that description) can be a useful exercise. While a week probably isn't long enough to fully form a habit/routine, it's long enough to form a memory of having successfully (or more or less successfully) stuck to that habit/routine for a stretch of days.
Yes, this is our second to last check in! We had volunteers to take over, I think - Elizabeth and Good Enough Woman - but is that still feasible after the summer you've had? Any other offers?? Suggestions for the next iteration? I assume we mostly want another iteration...?
ReplyDeletegoals for the remains of last week:
1) bitty academic writing tasks: I have finished the draft of the talk and sent it to PDF on Friday. I've also JUST finished the first big data reanalysis and reorganisation of 'stuff' for Repeater, and sent to her. I'm increasingly fed up with this paper, the study is badly designed and inadequate and I don't think that's my fault entirely but it must be in part, plus it's not a priority for me but we've committed enough time to it it makes sense to finish it up and get it accepted - it was driven by WierdBugMan, the whole thing, and since he declared he was just not going to work with me any more on papers from Project F back in the Spring, I am even MORE annoyed about it altogether. SULK. I have not touched the tasks from meetings 1 & 2 (isn't that often the way?), or the other things, but I have finished the stats book I was working through
2) make visible progress on one area - either the top or the bottom of the stairs, as I see them every time I go up or down so it would be another boost.NOPE. But I cooked some healthy, low fat, tasty snacks to keep in the fridge for easy grabbing, and nowhere is messier than it was last week, so...
3) holiday prep - nope. But I spent a happy couple of hours looking at garden seating for my yard... - and getting to the gym one more time nope. Ankle. Inertia. Chocolate.
analysis: Friday I went to the office again, and it wasn't nearly as energising or productive as Tuesday or Wednesday... because I spent a good 4 hours of it talking to people. Nice people, colleagues, about interesting and work-relevant stuff, but still, ugh, the ties of obligation and the way they can mess up your clarity of thought (and I don't have THAT much anyway, between allergies and being mildly depressed and at least medium-stressed and anxious!), and my brain was squirrel-in-a-cage-ing, so I slept badly... And Saturday ended up being a do-nothing day, and I stayed up late, and I ate too much (nice but unhealthy/not gut friendly) food, and today I only got going about 4pm, which is a semester-weekend-pattern I really, really hoped to break during my 'study leave' but clearly haven't.
This coming week is going to be quite people-rich and therefore potentially unproductive. I have three full (9-5) days at a course on some software, a 'floating meeting' (as in, my Head of Dept has called a meeting which I need to attend but not confirmed time or day properly yet, just identified some options), and I have a list of things to do for the new semester which can't wait until after my hols... which leads to
the topic:
The one thing I would like to get done this week (well, by a week from Tuesday) is to have a full rough draft of the grant application I started, because it's the thing most likely to get lost in the hurly-burly of the new academic year, and if it "only" needs editing it has much more chance of getting attention!
goals for next week:
1) a full rough draft of the grant application
2) bitty academic writing and stuff that is becoming TRQ:
a) incorporate PDFs comments into conference talk and comment on HER talk
b) small task from meeting 2
c) emails about meeting 1
d) decide what the abstract for December will be about and rough it out (due 2-3 days after I get back),
e) arrange and if possible have 1-2 teaching prep meetings
f) draft a document related to teaching prep.
3) be a not-too-awful student on the software course!
4) look up some holiday things of interest. Go to the gym twice. Go to bed before midnight.
The grant application sounds like a good choice for a final push -- having something important "parked on the downslope" as you go away seems like a good way to set yourself up for productivity (and finishing said important project) when you return.
DeleteIt also sounds like you've identified the conditions that lead to the getting-started-at-4 p.m.-on-Saturday scenario (though whether you can change them is another question. I'd ask whether you can make Friday the day you don't go in to campus, and/or Saturday a planned day off, but between no timetable (I know you start later than we do, but WTF? And what do your colleagues who need to work out things like part-time childcare do? I'd be feeling spidery, too, and my schedule is actually pretty flexible) and a head who feels free to schedule (or not schedule) "floating meetings," it sounds like that sort of planning might be difficult.
And yes, I'd be up for another iteration (but would probably not be the most reliable host during the school year -- witness my completely blanking the job this Friday).
I would happy to host a Fall incarnation if needed.
DeleteI'm happy to co-host a Fall/Spring incarnation - taking turns seems to be a nice way to distribute the load.
DeleteKarenh
I am still willing to co-host for fall.
DeleteI am intrigued at the moment by people's processes in writing abstracts for conferences- by that I mean in relation to co-authors. I had an interesting experience recently where a collaborator sent off an abstract (with only the two of us on it) for a project on which I am the PI without my seeing it, and with herself as first author. I only found out because someone I knew had seen the draft programme I ended up having to email the conference organiser, rewrite the abstract, and remind my collaborator that I wanted to see all abstracts before they were submitted - but then I wondered whether perhaps other academics are less micromanaging than me! In this instance, I am glad I took the actions I did as I really don't believe that she followed an ethical process, but it did make me wonder about the different expectations in different fields, and of different PIs
Deleteaw.
Topic: Well, the question/topic is probably as much a reminder to myself as anything else. While I'm tempted to focus on exercise/sleep routines, I know that I really need to give more attention to household/financial matters (both making some progress this week and working them into the months to come). I'm tempted to say "I'll do at least a bit of work on one or the other, or the ones that are intertwined, each day," but I also know that, with the possible exception of exercise, the "do a bit each day" approach doesn't really work all that well for me (especially when it means I start each day planing to chip away a bit at each of a half-dozen goals, which doesn't work very well for someone who, like me, gets sucked into tasks easily, and finds transitions from task to task difficult.). One task that really needs attention *might* lend itself to that approach (but probably doesn't, at least not for me, in the small space in which I'm living), and another probably doesn't (but could perhaps be broken down into smaller tasks with clearer endpoints, which might help). So I'm going to both try to make some progress, and to think about how I can best fit such activities into the coming busier weeks/months (when the chip-away approach really won't work). So I'll try to incorporate that into this week's goals.
ReplyDeleteLast week's (half-week's) goals:
1) continue work toward a sleeping/exercising/eating schedule that will work (and support health and sanity) during the semester.
2) additional progress toward financial/household tasks as possible in between the semester-prep tasks.
1) some progress. I'm getting pretty good at going to bed at a new, earlier, bedtime, but not so good at getting up at the corresponding earlier rising time (apparently I'm quite capable of sleeping, or at least sleeping-plus-daydreaming, for more than 8 hours -- and no, I'm not sleep-deprived, or depressed. But I can function just fine on 7.5-8 hours of sleep, so I need to get there, which probably means setting the sound alarm in addition to the light one. I love waking *without* the sound alarm, but apparently it's the sound alarm that gets me out of bed, and moving, rather than falling back asleep/into a reverie, so the sound alarm it will be, until and unless I can do that without it.) Not a lot of progress on exercise (beyond some fairly strenuous gardening -- moving around 5-gallon water jugs and 50-lb. sacks of various soil amendments).
2) some progress, but mostly on medium- rather than long-term TLQ projects.
So, goals for the coming week:
1) (the one thing): make progress on both the major mixed household/financial task and the major purely-financial task, *and* make plans to incorporate regular (but not necessarily daily) progress on each into my fall schedule.
2) continue work on getting into a sleep routine (set the alarm and *get up* at the appointed time each morning) and getting regular exercise (especially walking and swimming while the swimming option is still available)
Sometimes I feel you are me, esp. here: "with the possible exception of exercise, the "do a bit each day" approach doesn't really work all that well for me (especially when it means I start each day planing to chip away a bit at each of a half-dozen goals, which doesn't work very well for someone who, like me, gets sucked into tasks easily, and finds transitions from task to task difficult)" --> I haven't quite decided, though, if it's better for me to abolish the "little bit each day approach" b/c it doesn't seem to fit me, or to double-down and try harder, b/c it does seem to be such a sensible approach. So I'll be curious to see if you manage to fit the one possible task that could benefit from the "little bit" approach into your fall schedule, in little bits
DeleteMe too! This article spoke to me: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/08/19/432582341/to-learn-more-this-high-schooler-left-the-classroom
DeleteThis self-taught high school student (only for a semester, took same assessments as classmates) found that getting deep into a subject for a long period of time was the most efficient for learning.
Topic: One thing: to get some work done on Proposal Fem. I have a good group of abstracts and think this could be a solid edited collection, but nothing will happen until I finish the proposal and put it i the waiting hands of the editor. Everything else I have planned for and worked on this summer, if not yet finished, has moved to TRQ.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to figure out how to move from planning to doing. I can set big goals, reasonable goals, five minute goals, but I seem to not have that simple spark to get things done.
Last week:
1. draft abstract for spring convention: thought about it
2. finish syllabi for Fall courses: no
3. make significant progress on other book proposal: no
I did have a three-day headache that is just now fading. That was a difficult obstacle to overcome. But since I seem to now suffer with chronic headaches, I need to find a strategy for dealing with them.
Week ahead:
That other book proposal I didn’t work on last week is my TLQ for this week. It looks to be a busy week ahead.
Planning to doing is always a tricky step for me, too. And headaches don't help. I hope you do find a way to cope with, if not cure, them.
DeleteHaving just been in a meeting in which I think i'm volunteered for at least two working groups, I think focus in TLQ, and cutting out some open loops/unfinished projects is getting more necessary. What I've found from joining the TLQ group and pushing research tasks up the priority list is that there are only so many major things I can have going on at once before it hits ball dropping territory - not just in available time but also available headspace. So I'm going to park P2 until my summer, and keep motoring with P1, which has some inbuilt deadlines rapidly advancing.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Finalise and submit P1 tangent small grant application.
Pretty much there - just adding responses to feedback and gathering support letters, and filling in all the background uni paperwork. I don't know if this will even get the funding to get off the ground and I'm already buried under the forms...
2. Submit abstract for P1 co-authored spinoff paper - abstract finalised, just need to send email
Next week: Have a fair bit of marking and teaching on this week, so will keep goals minimal/self-care centred
1. P1 paperwork done, grant submitted.
2. P1 abstract sent
3. Get back to setting bedtime alarm clock, 4 x physio exercises.
This week was a good one on the
"there are only so many major things I can have going on at once before it hits ball dropping territory - not just in available time but also available headspace." This sounds familiar to me. One *can* make room for progress on one or perhaps two TLQ projects during TRQ-ish times, but, at least for me, there's definitely a limit (and some progress on one or two projects is better than no real progress on any of them. Or at least so I tell myself.)
DeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteBack from field work, and I can say without a doubt that it was the best summer I've had, ever :) All the field stuff worked as well as possible, the people were great, and I'll be working on the science from this summer for years. There's so much to do!
I think I had goals for the field season, and I think they were to do some data work, reading and take good field notes. I think it is a half done, half done, definitely done list :)
The ONE THING I need to focus on is the collection of lingering thesis papers - with luck (see below) I might have revisions to do soon :)
This week's goals:
1) Big pile of data reduction
2) Field report
In the ongoing saga of ex-supervisor and the poor hostage papers she's had for literally between 1 and 2 years... She's now feeling guilty enough that I get regular updates by email on why she has not finished them yet. The last one was that her back deck fell off the house and she had to help the contractor rip it off... I'm kind of intrigued what will be next? I know, I'm snarky, but I'd be a lot more sympathetic if it hadn't been years... Oh well, will cross fingers!
Good luck to everyone for the last stretch of this group!
Wow! Sounds like almost entirely good news (or at least semi-good news in the case of the ex-supervisor/hostage papers saga. I find myself wondering whether the contractor *wanted* her help -- most contractors I can think of would not want the customer diving into the middle of such a messy and potentially dangerous project). But successful field work, and connections with good people, and years' worth of research material (presumably not susceptible to hostage-taking) -- all good.
DeleteYay for best summer ever! All the exclamation points!
DeleteCongrats on the great summer and fab field work. Did your ex-supervisor say anything about releasing the hostages anytime soon?
DeleteBased on years of experience, I translated "helping" the contractor as staring over his shoulder and micromanaging him all the way :)
DeleteI have one hostage on temporary parole for a visit but it has to go back - kind of a medical release for an examination. The other two are still stuck... I also have a promise for Thursday... Will believe it when I see it. But it beats not hearing anything, so I'm cautiously optimistic :)
My new stuff will be hostage proof for the forseeable future :)
Definitely best summer ever!
Best summer ever sounds wonderfull!
DeleteGood on you Daisy. I love hearing about other people's successes in the group! allan w
DeleteWell, as I look back at my session goals, I see that, if nothing else, I'm optimistic! There is a lot I didn't get done, but I am feeling good about the chapter draft I'm trying to finish. I don't think I can totally finish it this week, but I hope to finish it next week. And it shouldn't take much work to get it ready to also submit as an article. Finishing that draft will be my main focus this week (and next).
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) 4-5 hours of editing/writing--> More like 2.5 because I had to go back and collect a few more notes for a section.
2) 2 hours reading--Yes.
3) Make some reservations for conference if I'm truly going to go.--Booked the hotel. --> Still decided whether or not to attend (hotel can be cancelled).
4) Hikes, walks, swimming, and fun with my dad and my kids. Last hurrah before "summer" is over. --> YES!
This week:
1) Finish drafting chapter so that it's ready for editing next week.
2) walk 3x, yoga or swimming 2x
Summers end at different times, which don't always match exactly with the group's schedule. If the chapter gets done next week, and turned into an article soon after, I'd call that a win (and pretty good timing, since there's some reason to hope that feedback on the article version might come back around winter break, which might -- or, I suppose, might not -- be good timing).
Deletesorry for the late check-in, people. I was trying to "catch up" with myself the first days of this week, which is a clear indication that last week wasn't as productive as I'd wanted it to be
ReplyDelete1. Topic: yes, ONE thing is probably all I can feasibly do until classes start again next week. The One Thing will be HA paper--it's still nowhere near finishing--but I am getting close to reading and note-taking the articles I'd identified as useful earlier this summer. So the One Thing, specifically for this week, is to finish up the reading. The One Thing going forward will be to build in writing time into each workday, and use that time to work on HA paper ONLY.
2. Last week's accomplishments:
a. read 3 more articles for HA --> yes, by now
b. incorporate article notes from summer reading into HA draft--> NO!
c. read 2 MA theses --> yes, but still need to write reports
d. daily lunch/evening walk --> most days
e. go to bed on time, get up on time --> really, really trying
3. Analysis
The main issue is that I plan more than I can feasibly do--the kids are home all day, and I work at a coffee shop for a few hours each day, so that's not a lot of time; yet I plan as if I'm spending whole days at the office.
4. Planning (for the rest of this week): I'll focus on just the One Thing for HA paper, in what otherwise is a pretty busy week.
5. Goals:
One Thing: wrap up reading for HA paper
Moderation Goal: limit email to 2 times 30 mins/day
Healthy Habit Goal: go to bed on time, get up on time, walk daily, get outside
Progress/momentum is a good thing, and sometimes the one thing we *can* accomplish.
DeleteGetting a realistic sense of what one can do in the time available, given present circumstances, also strikes me as a very valuable thing. At least for me (no kids, but coping longterm with a 4/4/usually summer teaching as well all-writing-intensive load), getting a realistic sense of what I could do, and figuring out how to meet at least the basic requirements necessary to keep my job given those realities, has been key to maintaining sanity. There are still things I very much want to do that I don't manage to fit in, and I still feel more than occasional frustration about that, but I beat myself up a lot less, and that saves time (as well as wear and tear on my psyche).
allan Wilson (rather belatedly after a week of back to back talks travelling):
ReplyDeleteIts interesting looking back at my goals. Surprisingly, I did better than I thought, though kind of by accident. I submitted one paper, but not the one I was expecting.- I was a middle author on the one that was submitted. However, all good. The one I was hoping to submit lingers on!
A second has been sent out to a panel of reviewers prior to submission, and I am revising at the moment, with the hope of submitting in the next week. So, almost two paper submissions out of a three that were hoped for.
For the final push this week- just try and get through the revisions for paper 2, so it is ready for submission.
My other goal- to keep exercising.
Looking forward to the final check in next week- a huge thank you especially to janeb and contingent cassandra for running the group this time. I am keen to continue. When I look back, it seems remarkable that I survived some periods when I could barely keep it together, and actually even have a tangible outcome. I am actually hoping to have a more measured and productive time from now until Christmas. And for us, summer is coming, which I think is a Good thing for me.