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Saturday 12 March 2016

Week 10 - Mid-session checking in on goals



Hello everyone!
Since this is sort of close to halfway (probably closer to the end!) through our session, I think it is time to check in on our overall goals. I find that by this time of the term I’ve usually completely forgot about some of the non-everyday type things I’ve wanted to do, so a reminder is helpful.

Check in below on your weekly goals (listed first), and then your session goals and think about how things can be adjusted or improved or just reorganized to make the best of the rest of the session. If you came in after the first few weeks just add your overall session goals to your comment and discuss. If you have been gone for a few weeks just jump right back in!


For discussion, 2 questions: 
Do your weekly goals move you forward towards the overall session goals?
What do you think would be the one thing you could do to help you get closer to the most important session goals you set?

THIS WEEK:

allan Wilson (from 9)
1. Exercise with more mental commitment, 4x
2. Fix guitar
3. Begin map making process
4. Letter - and send off MS

Contingent Cassandra
1. Exercise when possible
2. Keep to a routine that maximizes possibility for decent sleep (knowing I'm almost certain to lose some for various reasons in the weeks to come)
3. Contribute what I can to the grant proposal for the group project (not an official TLQ goal for the semester, but definitely TLQ-ish in the ways described above)
4. Try to catch up on grading (TRQ, but necessary, and in some ways scratches the "need to be doing something useful" itch)
5. Realize that none of the above may in fact be possible, and regroup/delay/apologize/delegate as/if/when necessary.

Daisy
1) Conference talk and paper outline
2) Send off samples
3) All research accounting before end of week
4) Do something fun with friends

Danne
-Have a little library tour and get new books
-Do something for the thesis every day
-Work on fiction daily

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
1) Clean kitchen so that we can ask the landlord to fix the stove.
2) Declutter the area around my writing chair so I can find things with less stress.
3) Keep up the 15 minutes of footnote revision a day.
4) I have minor surgery on Friday--be kind to myself.
5) Move like water, float like mist.

Earnest English
1.Toe in Secondary Project pool or in sabbatical drafting.
2.Health: Hullo, stupid! Make a doctor's appointment already. It's not rocket science -- you pick up the phone and dial a number you've looked up on the internet a zillion times and you ask to make an appointment. Capisce? Otherwise, take good care of self. Packed week ahead.
3. Leave a message with the piano teacher. Have a good Thursday with Spirited.
4. I have no expectations.
5. So much work and so much grading and how will it all get done? The slow steady plod. Don't look up; don't look around. Just keep going. Smile occasionally. Give self little gifts. Move like water, determined tortoise.

Good Enough Woman
1) write 1000 words of the intro
2) read 50 pages of primary source material
3) read one chapter or article
4) do yoga 2 or 3 times to help with developing neck problems
5) help daughter publish her magazine (i.e., take her to copy shop)
6) stay on top of grading so that it doesn't become too TRQish and disrupt TLQ efforts

heu mihi
1) Give my talk (a goal that it's almost impossible not to meet)
2) Finish up S
3) Read a chapter or so of CS
4) Do at least two 15-minute free-writing sessions on the R&R
5) R&R to-do list for spring break

Humming42
1 Write essay for interested/interesting journal that extended submission deadline
2 Reorganize writing schedule for book manuscript (I am behind on the original schedule)
3 Reply to important contact and begin data collection

JaneB
1) try to stop being in a funk - February is over, days are getting longer, and things really aren't that bad...
2) get all up to date on grading for statistics classes (about 100 students, 5 weekly tests to sort out, all sorts of lates and problems with the VLE autograding that need manually checking and that) - it's not REALLY TLQ, but getting it all done will be very satisfying, it's a good task to do when feeling fed up, and it will clear the decks for a focus on my own research around Easter. Or on New Admin Job, depending.
3) one hour on Picky Paper, three on DrVisit paper 1
4) sleep, fruit and veg, being nice to foot (which is slightly better but not happy overall stupid foot)
5) being kind and patient with dissertation students. actually, thinking about it, I spent a HUGE amount of last week being positive and enthused and kind and patient with students who were busy having minor crises over trivia or insisting it was toitally unreasonable to expect them to know stuff covered in class the previous week because it was a week ago. That... may even be enough to explain the unexpected tired/greyness, coupled with very changable weather - both are emotionally draining. Because I am a wimp, but still...


KJ Haxton
1. Keep on with the acronym report, need to remove around 1500 words to make way for what I wrote last week.
2. Keep marking
3. Tidy the house...there are plans afoot to paint walls so I want to tidy.

Susan
1. Start work on short paper
2. Do one chapter of footnotes
3. Read one journal.
4. Exercise 4 times
5. Finish clearing dining room table.

OVERALL GOALS:
allan wilson
1) spend two hours on average each work day writing
2) work on a novel I want to start writing once a week
3) exercise at least three times a week

Contingent Cassandra
--Do whatever I can to support my family members (father, brother, stepmother, nieces and nephews, and sister-in law) during my father's dying process, while also taking care of myself, and keeping up with my basic professional and other commitments.
--Take care of myself, including working exercise and regular sleep into my schedule whenever circumstances allow (and perhaps sometimes when it seems like they don't), and keeping the pantry/freezer stocked with healthy and easy-to-prepare food (for myself and any family members who may end up crashing at my place).
--making continued progress on the most vital TLQ financial/household tasks (taxes et al. and boxes still sums this area up pretty well).

Daisy
1) The three papers in revision right now have to go away, and go away forever...'nuff said...
2) Write the first two papers on new field area.
3) Read more papers - will break this down each week.
4) Get exercise back into my schedule - I'm signed up for a very long race in May to help with inspiration.
5) Ski lessons

Earnest English
1. Research: In general, I'd like to have gotten my research world back in order. Specifically, by the end of March, I'd like to have gotten my sabbatical application ready. (Ooh, it makes me nervous just to write that.) Send out unpublished Olive Tree branches. And by the end I'd better have long since addressed galleys of Forsythia, which are currently staring reproachfully at me.
2. Health: I'd like to work on getting some movement, centering (meditating, coloring, whatever), and relaxation into my life on a regular joyous (hopefully) basis. This has to be broken up into steps. And vegetables are to be sought out, even if under a blanket of cheese. Salads at Panera are worth the cost (though maybe not the perils of the snowy drive). I also want to maintain a sense of purposeness and centeredness instead of getting so stressed or anxious quite so often. This is all of a piece (peace!) to me. Must move like water more often. It's all good.
3. Reading: I want to read more books. I want to also stop beating myself up about this. I think this means I need to blog the absurdity out of my system. Sometimes one needs to be humiliated out of one's idiocies. I have a blog for this purpose; I need to use it.
4. Family: There are loads of things I want in here so I know that I have to be careful here because that means there's the possibility of making all this into sticks to beat myself with. I want to prepare more meals than I did in Fall. I want to keep up on gardening, when that comes back up. I want to spend more time working with Absurdist Spirited Son on his education, etc. I want to get a babysitter occasionally.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
I want to make substantial progress on my critical edition. It has been hanging around for more than a decade, and I just have the commentary and footnotes to finish.
I want to finish a short story for submission at the end of April.
I want to get in better shape, once I’m cleared for exercise. I need to resume walking, and may have to hit the recumbent bike in the gym as well.

Good Enough Woman
1) Write a solid draft of the introduction for thesis
2) Revise Chapter 1 (I'll call it Spy)
3) Revise Chapter 2 (I'll call it Magic)
4) Revise Chapter 3 (I'll call it Authority)
5) Submit at least one article for publication (probably one based on Spy)
6) Maintain exercise (5x per week of at least 20-40 minutes)
7) Eat more veggies
8) At least two special activities with kids per month (outdoor adventures, craft projects, etc.)

heu mihi
1) Finish drafting ch. 3
2) Write/prepare a talk that I'm giving on March 8
3) Write Kalamazoo paper (for mid-May)
4) Get research for ch. 6 underway

JaneB
1) plan my conference-going for the year, including abstract submission dates, topics etc.
2) either find and renew my lost and expired passport or just apply for a new one from scratch
3) set up and launch a web page for the project I nickname Gallimaufry
4) make some substantial progress on the paper nicknamed Picky Paper and on either Ferret or Fancy (which are from team projects so not entirely under my control)
5) take small steps every week to make my domestic environment and self-care more of a priority

Karen
1. Submit co-authored paper (let's call it Earth)
2. Revisit older conference paper (call it Body) and have a complete draft of an expanded paper for journal submission.
3. Find an exercise routine that works for me
4. Be prepared for major research fieldwork in late March-early April.

KJHaxton
1. Write scary paper 2 and scary paper 1
2. Develop research tools for Loop and Kermit
3. 25 hand crafted items.

Kris
I want to revise, commit to, and work my research plan for the year (tight plan) and the following two years (looser plan), and to put that plan first in my decisions to say 'yes' or 'no' to 'opportunities' that arise.

Matilda
1) Write chapter 2 of my planned book.
2) Revise chapter 1 of my book.
3) Write two short articles.
4) Live a healthier life.

scottishwriter
1) Only check emails at my desk, never before work and maybe twice at weekends
2) Yoga and exercise every week
3) Apply for several grants to buy me out for research leave
4) Say no to all conference / talk invitations
5) Finish two articles that have been nearly finished for ages
6) Finish translation of book for children (fun!)

Susan
1. Finish book ms. (I have maybe 2 days of work before I can send it to a press.)
2. Work on Conference Paper revision, due probably some time in April.
3. Keep up with regular exercise, and add in at least one walking morning a week.
4. Stop checking email on Sunday.
5. Strive to keep up with 7 hours sleep nightly


53 comments:


  1. Great topic--an important reminder of what I meant to do this semester!

    First, to report a bit on my session goals:

    1) Finish drafting ch. 3
    Ch. 3 is well underway, but I had to pause about five weeks ago to start working on my talk. Fortunately, the talk turned out to be on the material in ch. 3, so it helped me to move my thinking forward and organize my ideas, although I haven't yet incorporated the structure of the talk into ch. 3. I hope to get back into this in a week or two, and should have a substantial (if not 100% complete) draft of the chapter done by the end of the semester.

    2) Write/prepare a talk that I'm giving on March 8
    It's March 12, so I did this! Yay!

    3) Write Kalamazoo paper (for mid-May)
    A little worried about this one, as I haven't even gone back to the primary text yet. But it'll get done because it has to. The good news is that I'm part of a roundtable, which means that I only need about 6 pages of text (but, of course, it has to be thought-through and researched text).

    4) Get research for ch. 6 underway
    Not even started. I am currently reading the text that ch. 6 might be about, for class, so at least that'll be...a start.

    The (good) problem is that, right at the start of the semester, I got an R&R decision on an article. So that got added to the term goals list. I think that I'm making good progress on the revisions, and hope that this week--Spring Break--will get me close to done (I have more to read, which takes time, but I'll do what I can!).

    Some reflections: It would help, I think, to do an overall semester map by week, where I break down projects into milestones and then use those to structure my weekly goals. It's too easy to start flying by the seat of one's pants, as it were, and lose sight of what needs to happen by when in order for everything to get done. Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to get done so far this winter/spring.

    Last week's goals:
    ) Give my talk (a goal that it's almost impossible not to meet) - DONE
    2) Finish up S - DONE
    3) Read a chapter or so of CS - NOT DONE--I don't think that I need to read this right now
    4) Do at least two 15-minute free-writing sessions on the R&R - Only did 1, but I did a lot of other related things instead of the second session
    5) R&R to-do list for spring break - DONE

    Next week's goals (ambitious, because it's break):
    1) Do ALL of the R&R to-do list items except the ones that involve substantial new reading
    2) Revise draft on the computer (I'm doing preliminary revisions by hand)
    3) Read 2 articles related to the R&R
    4) Read 80% of seminar/ch. 6 book

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes, things like R&R happen and have to bump other things in the rotation. I do think, though, that you should count the related things you did for #4. Free-writing is useful, but so are related things. :)

      I hope your break is going fruitfully--it is ours as well, so I can fit some writing into my days.

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  2. Jumping into this week's goals first:
    1) Conference talk and paper outline NOT DONE, but IN PROGRESS
    2) Send off samples DONE
    3) All research accounting before end of week DONE
    4) Do something fun with friends DONE

    I'm doing well on some session goals and terribly on others...
    1) The three papers in revision right now have to go away, and go away forever...'nuff said...
    VERY GOOD - one big one went last week (might come back with more revisions, but whatever...), just sent off the other big one (Hell YES I got Sharpies!), and I have a good plan of how to get rid of the third with minimal drama.

    2) Write the first two papers on new field area.
    One is in progress and data collection for the second is ongoing...

    3) Read more papers - will break this down each week.
    FAILED miserably - but will catch up a little this week because I'm part of a committee doing a "Best Paper" award so I have to read and judge 20 of them...

    4) Get exercise back into my schedule - I'm signed up for a very long race in May to help with inspiration.
    FAILED completely... I've been running twice a week max, and it has been pathetic. I'm going to have a really rough April trying to catch up!

    5) Ski lessons DONE and it was totally fun, and kid is all fired up about it too. We went a good number of times, even with the unusually warm winter. We went down the "big hill" last week as a reward for her practicing really well on the bunny hill! it was terrifying but great fun! Even managed an adult ski day with a friend and it was great.

    My weekly goals definitely need a bit more focus if I want to make progress on everything for the rest of the session.

    This week all I have are urgent goals. I am going to a fabulous conference next week and need to get my talk perfect. It is on completely new work, I've never presented any of it, and it needs to be brilliant. I have a wonderful co-author who is also doing a different talk so we have to do a lot of talking this week to make sure the two talks work well together, and that we impress the gathering. It is in a different country, and a really great group of people we don't normally get to interact with. I think I'm the most junior person there so I'm suitably nervous :) AND it has a totally amazing 5-day field trip too :) SO excited about that!

    SO, the goals are:
    1) Get talk perfected with great images and photographs
    2) Write talk and paper skeleton together so I have something that co-author and I can work on while we are together
    3) Mark everything for all classes so I can go away with clear consience
    4) Do the 7-minute work-out thingy EVERY DAY, at least FIVE TIMES. The best way to do that will be to just repeat it in one go, but if I have to do it separately it will still work. This will be a good jump-start to the new and revamped exercise goals!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congrats on sending off the paper and getting your Sharpies! And good luck with the upcoming, ambitious week. 7-minute workout 5 times, per day? I'm eager to hear how that goes!

      Delete
    2. Yay on getting Sharpies! Isn't it great when a reward is enticing enough to keep one on task?

      You're really keeping up with the session goals pretty well, but I hear you about keeping the weekly goals and the session goals aligned.

      All the best with the conference talk prep!

      Delete
  3. Last week's goals:

    1. Exercise when possible
    2. Keep to a routine that maximizes possibility for decent sleep (knowing I'm almost certain to lose some for various reasons in the weeks to come)
    3. Contribute what I can to the grant proposal for the group project (not an official TLQ goal for the semester, but definitely TLQ-ish in the ways described above)
    4. Try to catch up on grading (TRQ, but necessary, and in some ways scratches the "need to be doing something useful" itch)
    5. Realize that none of the above may in fact be possible, and regroup/delay/apologize/delegate as/if/when necessary.

    Achieved: well, I didn't do too badly on #2,and am determined to do at least a bit of #3 before I go to bed tonight (in time to try to keep to #2 despite time change), but mostly I'm operating on #5. Dad died early in the week, very peacefully, a few hours after I got a chance to visit and say goodbye to him, and we managed to get through the funeral and burial and family lunch afterward with only minor eruptions of hard-on-others approaches to grieving from my stepmother (or anyone else).

    In short, it went about as well as it could have, but it still, understandably, took up a great deal of energy and attention if not precisely a great deal of time. And, thanks to both the estrangement of the last few decades and the fact that I've known, in a very concrete way, that parents *do* die since I was in elementary school, I find myself facing a perhaps more unpredictable-than-usual journey through grief (not that grief is ever predictable, or anyone's experience of it exactly the same; I'm just realizing that my experience is different from that of many people who're offering sympathy, and accounts of their own experience, and am saying less or more about that depending on how close we are, how much they seem to need their own experience validated as part of the exchange, etc. etc.)

    So far, I seem to be doing fairly well (give or take the fact that I've done almost no grading -- but that, frankly, is pretty normal when I try to grade during a break after an exhausting first half of the semester). But that may change. I'm also not quite sure how my brother is doing, though we did get a chance to spend some time together the afternoon of Dad's death, and will have some time again tomorrow.

    So next week brings reentry into school, combined with some special events at church (which I can skip if I choose, but don't really want to). I *am* skipping the conference that I originally planned to attend next weekend, which gives me a bit of slack in the week, which I think I'm going to need.

    So, goals for next week:
    1. Keep eating and sleeping as well/regularly as possible
    2. Support/stay in contact w/ my brother
    3. Contribute to group project grant proposal (due at end of week, so TRQ; overall project, though not in my original goals, is definitely TLQ)
    4. Plan/replan rest of semester and catch up on grading as much as possible
    5. Try to fit in at least some exercise (this may have to wait until later in the week, but even a little would be good).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So it's both a good and a bad time to rethink session goals (I'll start now, and may do a bit more thinking/rethinking later in the week).

      Session goals:
      1. Do whatever I can to support my family members (father, brother, stepmother, nieces and nephews, and sister-in law) during my father's dying process, while also taking care of myself, and keeping up with my basic professional and other commitments.
      2. Take care of myself, including working exercise and regular sleep into my schedule whenever circumstances allow (and perhaps sometimes when it seems like they don't), and keeping the pantry/freezer stocked with healthy and easy-to-prepare food (for myself and any family members who may end up crashing at my place).
      3. making continued progress on the most vital TLQ financial/household tasks (taxes et al. and boxes still sums this area up pretty well).

      Assessment so far:

      1. I think I've been doing pretty well, but will need to be careful not to let the taking-care-of-self-and-others slip as we get back to something approaching normal (at least for a time; there's still a mid-April memorial service to come), and as I scramble to catch up with grading (which is doable; I just need to not get derailed, while still keeping up with support for family members, replying to sympathy messages from friends with whom I'm usually in touch only sporadically -- which are most welcome, just potentially distracting -- etc.)

      2. Doing pretty well on this, but exercise really needs attention.

      3. Haven't done a lot on this, but am inclined to let it slide if need be (except for the most urgent tax/financial things).

      And I have spent some time on, and need to spend some more time on, the group project that cropped up after I wrote my goals for the session.

      Looking at this, I think one of the main things I need to prioritize is fitting in exercise: at the end of the day until I become more (re)accustomed to it, and then at the beginning of the day. Most of the other things will take care of themselves one way or another.

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    2. Sending good thoughts for you at this difficult time, hang in there and take care of yourself and family.

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    3. Sending prayers and sympathy your way. I'm glad you had a chance to visit and say goodbye, and that the end was peaceful. And of course grief is always idiosyncratic; my observation is that the more complicated the relationships, the more unpredictable the grief. And it always feels odd that the world doesn't stop when these things happen.

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    4. What the others said - it sounds like things panned out well for your Dad in the circumstances, and I'm glad you were able to spend time with him. Sending thoughts and prayers, and good vibes for some easy marking and plenty of chances to be kind to yourself in the coming weeks

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    5. Your post strikes me with how much things can change within a single week. My best wishes for you, CC, and the rest of your family.

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    6. My thoughts are with you and your brother at this time, CC. I share GEW's being struck with how quickly things can change--in an hour, in a breath.

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    7. As for your goals, I'd suggest being kind to yourself above all. Like Susan, I have been amazed at how quickly the world wants us to move on from a loss, when my mourning refused to follow a schedule.

      There will be teaching and grading and other TRQ things, but I've found that grief pummeled me at unexpected times and in unexpected ways (and still does), so kindness to oneself is key.

      Delete
    8. Thank you all. It does seem that things have changed very quickly (after changing very quickly in another way in early January). I was struck yesterday, as I was making my way through what was fortunately a relatively light day of teaching (since I was originally supposed to be away at a conference, I simply made myself available in the classroom for optional consultation, and graded when students didn't need me), that we'd been at the funeral and burial a week before.

      Fortunately, colleagues (and friends, and people at church, and people here) have been wonderfully supportive, and that helps a great deal, as, I'm sure, will time, and an oddly renewed sense of purpose that comes with being reminded that life is finite.

      Delete
  4. Last Week's Goals

    1. Toe in Secondary Project pool or in sabbatical drafting. Updated to 3x: 3X DONE!
    2.Health: Hullo, stupid! Make a doctor's appointment already. It's not rocket science -- you pick up the phone and dial a number you've looked up on the internet a zillion times and you ask to make an appointment. Capisce? Otherwise, take good care of self. Packed week ahead. WENT TO DOCTOR.
    3. Leave a message with the piano teacher. Have a good Thursday with Spirited. DIDN'T CALL. THURSDAY GOOD.
    4. I have no expectations.
    5. So much work and so much grading and how will it all get done? The slow steady plod. Don't look up; don't look around. Just keep going. Smile occasionally. Give self little gifts. Move like water, determined tortoise. NOT KEEPING UP WITH GRADING TERRIBLY WELL.

    Analysis

    So I finally went to the doctor and found out that what I thought was a resurgence of a problem I had a couple years ago was actually something much more acute and serious, in that it needs treatment including my taking it easy. (HA! At this time in the quarter?) This simultaneously makes me feel like I'm not the weakling I thought it was (no wonder it hurts, no wonder everything sucks) and an idiot (why didn't I take care of this earlier?). Beyond that, it's been one of those weeks where, by the end of the day Friday, I was raging pissed at several people in my department and was delighted I wouldn't see anyone for a couple days. (There are some seriously disturbing things going on, and I'm not the only one who thinks so, but I'm also concerned that my being in pain a fair amount of the time colors my whole outlook. I know, for example, that the current problem is not insurmountable, but it feels like it is, and I'm mad because it puts one more item on my list!) Now that I've been able to wallow in self-pity a bit, I'd like to wear a sign that says: "Wounded. Can't deal with your shit right now."

    In good news, however, I have managed to work on Secondary Project 3x. Not the 3x I'd imagined, but still! And I'm reading and musing a bit. Woohooo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reflecting on session goals?

      Session Goals
      1. Research: In general, I'd like to have gotten my research world back in order. Specifically, by the end of March, I'd like to have gotten my sabbatical application ready. (Ooh, it makes me nervous just to write that.) Send out unpublished Olive Tree branches. And by the end I'd better have long since addressed galleys of Forsythia, which are currently staring reproachfully at me.
      2. Health: I'd like to work on getting some movement, centering (meditating, coloring, whatever), and relaxation into my life on a regular joyous (hopefully) basis. This has to be broken up into steps. And vegetables are to be sought out, even if under a blanket of cheese. Salads at Panera are worth the cost (though maybe not the perils of the snowy drive). I also want to maintain a sense of purposeness and centeredness instead of getting so stressed or anxious quite so often. This is all of a piece (peace!) to me. Must move like water more often. It's all good.
      3. Reading: I want to read more books. I want to also stop beating myself up about this. I think this means I need to blog the absurdity out of my system. Sometimes one needs to be humiliated out of one's idiocies. I have a blog for this purpose; I need to use it.
      4. Family: There are loads of things I want in here so I know that I have to be careful here because that means there's the possibility of making all this into sticks to beat myself with. I want to prepare more meals than I did in Fall. I want to keep up on gardening, when that comes back up. I want to spend more time working with Absurdist Spirited Son on his education, etc. I want to get a babysitter occasionally.

      So Far

      1. I have gotten back into my research. I have not finished my sabbatical application (I'm very bitter that Important Service and Dreamy Sabbatical conflict. I don't know what I'm going to do about this). I have addressed Forsythia's galleys (both sets), and I've sent out all Olive Tree Branches. So I'm actually doing well here.
      2. Health: While I've been eating more salads and taking supplements and all that, it's hard to think I'm being successful in taking care of my health at this point realizing I have not taken adequate care of this current problem. The core of this is: it's not a virtue to work so hard one ignores one's health problems. (Get that, EE?)
      3. Reading: I am reading more.
      4. Family. I cook a bit, but not much. I'm not keeping up with gardening so far (but the possibility only really started this week). I do hang out with Spirited Son as much as I can. Part of this is not allowing Spirited Son Day to get encroached on with other things. I've been better about that recently.

      So many things are going well, but health. . .I've got to work on that.

      Delete

    2. Next Week

      1. Research: Keep up the 3x. Do what you can. Don't drive yourself nuts.
      2. Health: I really am just going to have to baby myself more. No matter what sign I want to wear, the truth is that I have to be vigilant about taking care of myself this week because no one else (at work) will. Late in the week, I must go get an x-ray. I must take good care of myself and that means rest. That also means not driving myself crazy and potentially absenting myself or disengaging with the bullshit. I must put on hold or hand off anything I can.
      3. Family: I think the best thing I can do for the family this week is to take care of myself and try to be as loving as I can. Try to leave work at work. I'm bad at that when the shit starts to rise.
      4. Gardening: I'd really like to start peas and salad greens this week. I'm not in great physical shape for that and feel gimpy and weak, but maybe I can get these done. Absurdist Husband said he'd help. (He's surprised and worried that I ignored something that turned out to be more serious than we thought.)
      5. Grading without Freaking Out: I will try to grade without freaking out. It's not easy. And I need to give myself breaks this week.

      Have a great week everyone! I'd like to try to move like water, but you can see I'm pretty much sucking at it -- I'll be content to make it through the week without roaring at anyone.

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    3. EE, I'm glad you made and kept your doctor's appointment. I'm also glad you got some answers, but I'm sorry that it's more serious than you thought it was. I hope proper treatment and self-care can set you on the proper recovery path.

      And good luck with moving like water in spite of the crap at work.

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    4. EE, good job on seeing the doctor, despite the news. I try to tell myself at times like this that it is better that I know, and that beating myself up for not getting the knowledge sooner is useless.

      Work can be so invasive of the rest of our lives, and it makes healing and self-care that much more difficult. DH and I have a rule that no work talk can occur after a halfway point on our drive home. Maybe that would help--you can vent and curse until a certain intersection, and then let it go.

      Move like water.

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    5. Sounds like progress to me, too (and I'm terrible about going to the doctor -- need to get that in my own goals soon). Information is probably good in the long run, though it can definitely be a setback in the short run (and yes, that's one of the reasons I'm terrible about going to the doctor -- more things to think about and prioritize! eek!)

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    6. EAM, I love the idea of venting and cursing only until a certain intersection and then letting it go. I've actually been listening a lot to Diane Keaton's Then Again, which I just finished, which is far more serious than work and helps to put it all into perspective. But of course it's over now. I think I'm going to decide what intersection I have to stop thinking about work at! That's super-helpful! Thank you!

      And thanks for the support GEW and CC! It is hard to get to the doctor, but so fundamental to self-care and TLQ! I must stop resisting it so much! Glad to hear others struggle with this too!

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  5. Last week:
    1. Keep on with the acronym report, need to remove around 1500 words to make way for what I wrote last week.

    - I wrote more, longhand, but more words.

    2. Keep marking

    - I marked, spent a lot of time writing cohort feedback.

    3. Tidy the house...there are plans afoot to paint walls so I want to tidy.

    - I tidied a bit then helped paint a hallway.

    Session:
    KJHaxton
    1. Write scary paper 2 and scary paper 1
    - Scary 2 is done (and soon to be published), scary 1 is on hold as I must work on acronym report.

    2. Develop research tools for Loop and Kermit

    Kermit research tool is developed and deployed, and a bigger version is in the pipeline. I've submitted an abstract for a conference presentation on one aspect of Kermit.

    3. 25 hand crafted items.

    Yes, I've knitted 3 hats (one of which fits its intended recipient, the third needs pulled back and reshaped). I've knitted a few random squares and bought the wool for a cardigan. I've made a birthday card and if cakes count, I've just baked a big fruit cake. I've ordered new sewing supplies but haven't quite gotten around to making the planned items (something to do with my normal workspace being covered in other stuff).

    Actually that isn't bad progress for me this semester all things considered.

    And this week:

    - more work on acronym. Probably type in the longhand comments, tidy up a bit and hopefully send to helpful person.
    - tidy up, sort things out, both at home and at work. It's the last week of teaching before Easter so I want to tidy up.
    - outreach activity to plan and run on Tuesday. I'm a bit stuck because (a) the student group is larger than expected, (b) I have to do more sessions than expected - 5 instead of 4, and (c) I've got no student helpers so am on my own.

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    1. KJ, I hope the outreach session went well yesterday--it's hard to do that with no student helpers!

      You're doing well on the session goals, as well as the weekly ones--longhand words count, as do cakes, which are certainly hand crafted!

      I am in full spring cleaning mode at work and at home. There is something about a change of seasons that awakens that urge in me.

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    2. Really impressive progress on session goals!

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  6. Thanks for the session check-in...being midterm and spring break both for me, this is a great time to look at where I am and where I’m heading. Although I haven’t kept my session goals top of find, I’m glad to see that weekly goals are indeed moving toward session goals. It’s good to have an opportunity to note that struggles with #4--saying no to writing projects--interferes with #1. I decided against the interesting journal article because I really don’t want to invest in a frantic rush of research and writing when I *should* be pacing out pieces of the manuscript.

    Session goals:
    1 Make consistent progress on manuscript revision (setting and meeting weekly goals): not nearly enough
    2 Write and submit short contracted biography piece: Done
    3 Write two thoughtful and well-researched conference presentations: In progress
    4 Make sound decisions about other writing projects (learning how to say no to myself): Still up in the air about this. Still taking on more than I should.

    Last week
    1 Write essay for interested/interesting journal that extended submission deadline: I discovered I had not done enough research to really write this piece now. I am good with that.
    2 Reorganize writing schedule for book manuscript (I am behind on the original schedule): In progress. A little panicky.
    3 Reply to important contact and begin data collection: Yes I replied but no I haven’t started data collection.

    Week ahead
    1 Data collection for paper #1
    2 Finish and submit abandoned book review
    3 Read through current manuscript draft
    4 Read/look for sources for paper #2

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    1. Humming, I always have trouble pacing myself, and need to be more realistic about how long things take. I also suffer from ADD, and the new project is always more interesting than the old one!

      You're still making progress on the session goals, so yay on that, especially not following the interesting article that would end up stressing you out.

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    2. Knowing that project too will someday find its place helped me let go of this particular opportunity. Trying to figure out how longs take is always vexing...especially when setting new deadlines for ones I failed to meet in the past!

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  7. This week's goals:
    1) write 1000 words of the intro--SORT OF! I pasted in some previously written words, and I wrote some new words. All together it was about 1200. I felt good about the direction I established, so I'm calling it a win (of course, I might change my mind in a few days and decide it's crap, but right now I think it's the right direction). Thanks, Susan for your comments on intros last week. They helped me push forward.
    2) read 50 pages of primary source material: NO.
    3) read one chapter or article. YES. About 3.
    4) do yoga 2 or 3 times to help with developing neck problems. NOT AT ALL.
    5) help daughter publish her magazine (i.e., take her to copy shop). YES! We got the copies today before going to see Zootopia. She'll collate and staple tomorrow, and she can put them at the local bookshop on Tuesday. Feeling good about helping her see this project through to the end. Almost there.
    6) stay on top of grading so that it doesn't become too TRQish and disrupt TLQ efforts. SORT OF. Graded a ton last Wednesday and felt so productive. Then blew it off on Friday for TLQ and during the weekend for kids. So now I'm in the weeds again.

    Session Goals:
    1) Write a solid draft of the introduction for thesis: How many weeks do I have left? This has been a bear, but, as I said above, I think I'm going in the right direction now.

    2) Revise Chapter 1 (I'll call it Spy): I have reviewed the draft and done some hand-written editing. I'll need to get moving to make some real changes. I have a good sense (I think) of what I need to do.

    3) Revise Chapter 2 (I'll call it Magic): Same as #2.

    4) Revise Chapter 3 (I'll call it Authority): This might have to wait until summer. I think I need to focus on the intro and chapters 1 and 2.

    5) Submit at least one article for publication (probably one based on Spy): HA! No. I have not done this. I really want to do it, but it's so difficult to take time away from the thesis, itself.

    6) Maintain exercise (5x per week of at least 20-40 minutes): NOT AT ALL. I've realized I can really only balance three things at once. There are four main things: family, teaching/service work, exercise, PhD. I can usually keep three going at one time, but not four. Exercise has been the thing I've dropped.

    7) Eat more veggies. YES. Sporadically, but I was better at the beginning of the session.

    8) At least two special activities with kids per month (outdoor adventures, craft projects, etc.). YES, I've had good quality time with the kids. Maybe should do more stuff outside.

    As I move forward, I think I need to focus on the intro and chapters 1 and 2, and I need to accept that exercise will be spotting over the next two months. I'd wanted to get the article submission out with the hope I'd get feedback before I submit the thesis in the fall, but that window is closing. At this point, I think I should focus on the thesis intro and chapters. After I get chapters 1 and 2 in shape, I'll pick one to prepare for submission.

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    1. Your point 6 on session goals is intriguing to me, GEW. I can't juggle more than a handful of things, so I tend to cycle through things. The house will turn into a disaster area, then I'll drop exercise to clean up the house, and so on. I need to contemplate how many things I can juggle. I fear it is much like how many things I could really juggle, like the performer--close to none!

      My two cents (and worth that or less) would be to concentrate on the chapters, then pull one out for submission. World enough and time, sure, the feedback would have been great, but at this point, it's not as important.

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    2. Thanks, EAM, for the two cents. They are helpful and affirming.

      And, yes, I think about a year ago, I realized that I could really only do three of my four things at a time. That's why I *loved* sabbatical. I got to really focus on the three things that I love the most. I do love teaching (and service *can* be rewarding), but having time for family, time for swimming laps on warm days, and LOTS of time for reading and writing? That's heavenly.

      So, now, there has been no swimming and very little dog walking. In fact, teaching and service are really such a BIG thing that they compromise every other thing. Without them, I was really able to do all of the other things well and without stress. Ah, the good ole' days.

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    3. I, too, have the only-being-able-to-juggle-so-much problem (and I don't have a family, or service as an official part of my job, though I tend to add a good deal of service-like activities, at both school and church, voluntarily. Whatever sort of introvert I am, I'm the sort that values periodic group activity/interaction that is useful).

      Theoretically, it seems that exercise could become a habit, like brushing one's teeth or taking a shower, that one doesn't have to consciously prioritize (though I've certainly let the shower slip when I was working a lot at home), but I think academic work schedules make that harder: because a sabbatical, or a month or two off in the summer, involves a whole different schedule, the exercise habit that fits into that schedule disappears with the schedule. Frustrating.

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    4. I'm relieved to hear that others find it hard to juggle lots of things and that exercise, no matter how much one would like that to become a habit that doesn't require thought, is one of those things that has to be juggled. The times I've been dedicated to exercise, it's been because it was a huge focus in my life. Now that I'm juggling work and family, I just can't make that mental space and focus for exercise. Not good, because exercise is so vital, but gardening counts as exercise too, right? (I did read that many women especially don't pay attention to the exercise we get from housework and other daily activities. That's not me, because I suck at housework and don't do it regularly, but maybe you all can all feel a bit better about our level of exercise if we include that?)

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  8. Last week’s goals:
    1) Clean kitchen so that we can ask the landlord to fix the stove. Started, but last Monday DH got the flu, which put anything beyond basic sanitation on hold.

    2) Declutter the area around my writing chair so I can find things with less stress. A fair amount of success here--I recycled a lot, organized a lot, and now have to file a lot (not my favorite task).

    3) Keep up the 15 minutes of footnote revision a day. Mostly, after I stopped wailing about losing my longhand notes (see below).

    4) I have minor surgery on Friday--be kind to myself. Oh, man, minor is relative! I have seven stitches in my arm, with twice as many dissolvable ones underneath, and was sent out the door with nothing for the pain. Really?? The throbbing pain, added to the DH’s inability to wear his sleep apnea device has meant about two to three hours of sleep a night for the past week. I am ready to wrestle tigers, I’m so cranky.

    5) Move like water, float like mist. Umm, see above. To be honest, I have been reasonably good about letting things at work slide off, but at home, not so much. I’ve taken good care of DH, but somewhat grumpily.

    Session goals:
    I want to make substantial progress on my critical edition. It has been hanging around for more than a decade, and I just have the commentary and footnotes to finish. I have worked on this edition in fits and starts. The good news is that I enjoy reframing the notes into narrative; the bad news is that I have lost the first ten pages of footnotes that I did longhand at a “bricks-and-mortar” writing session.

    I want to finish a short story for submission at the end of April. Sadly, I ended up dropping this goal, as I need to edit DH’s article for submission for his tenure bid. I hope to return to it this summer.

    I want to get in better shape, once I’m cleared for exercise. I need to resume walking, and may have to hit the recumbent bike in the gym as well. I have resumed walking, but have not gotten to the gym yet. My son is talking about returning to the gym when it gets a little warmer, since he hates to deal with his coat, hat, gloves and boots there. I plan to force myself to go with him.

    Next week’s goals:
    Stop crying about the lost revisions and do them again.
    File the important detritus that surfaced from the nimbus of clutter surrounding my writing chair.
    Continue planning--it begins to bear fruit. I have been merrily planning my sabbatical (which has to wait until 2018, but the application can go in this fall, so why not?). It does have the down side that in my ADD way, I’m far more taken with the new “shiny,” than the ones at hand.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, sabbatical. So happy for you that it's in your future. It's wonderful kind of anticipation.

      I hope the pain from your surgery is subsiding.

      I am SO SORRY you lost all of those notes. Rewriting to replace lost work is THE WORST. But you are right. You must press on with putting on the grown-up pants and doing it again. Maybe a nice reward afterwards would be good?

      Finally, I love that you have a "writing chair." (Did I say that last week? Well, I do love it.) Is the chair at a desk?

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    2. Thanks for the sympathy, GEW. I like the idea of a reward, too.

      I used to have a desk (and a room for an office) in my house, but my son needed it when he came here to continue his schooling. My writing chair is a big, ugly, old recliner in the living room. I write by hand or on my laptop, in my own world, even though the tv is blaring four feet from my head, and the males of the house are yelling at the game.

      I'm extremely lucky to be able to shut all that out, but I do dream of a real space. Oh, and I plan to go away for the sabbatical!

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    3. I, too, am impressed by your concentration. I really need quiet to write (okay, I need substantial quiet to live. There's a reason I don't have a family -- not that I couldn't have managed one, but it would have been difficult, and other things -- including my good temper at times -- would have gone by the wayside).

      Hope the pain from the stitches has subsided. Sleep deprivation is not good for anyone.

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  9. topic: ugh. Well, I never expected to get much done in February, what with the statistics teaching, but of COURSE I got a cold along with that, and got VERY little done!

    Also I am not very good at goal-setting.

    My aims for the session were to:
    1) plan my conference-going for the year, including abstract submission dates, topics etc. not really. A job for... soon. I DID submit one conference abstract, but that's probably the ONE conference I'm definitely NOT going to (most pricey, most inconvenient in regards to other duties, largest, least attractive city...)
    2) either find and renew my lost and expired passport or just apply for a new one from scratch still putting this off
    3) set up and launch a web page for the project I nickname Gallimaufry nope! But the person who was going to help with this changed jobs, so has been moving between countries, finding a place to live, and their significant other also relocated so they could go from long distance to living together, which is great for them, but means most of their life is still in boxes and they have reasonably been very very busy
    4) make some substantial progress on the paper nicknamed Picky Paper and on either Ferret or Fancy (which are from team projects so not entirely under my control) I am making SOME progress on Picky Paper
    5) take small steps every week to make my domestic environment and self-care more of a priority well, each week I recommit to not backslide entirely... :-(

    So not doing that well overall. However, I HAVE made progress on other TLQ stuff, for example written and submitted a book review, done a major revision of a new collaborative paper where I am not the lead author, umm, maybe some other things? And statistics, cold, rubbish at goal-setting.

    goals from last week:
    1) try to stop being in a funk some progress here! Partly time helps. But also this week is one of those rejuvenating ones... no undergrad classes in my diary just one on ones to discuss projects, I have a visiting grad student working with my simulation strategy so HAVE to think about research at least a couple of times a day, I have a project meeting at the end of the week, I achieved something (the major revision of the collaborative paper) last week that felt like progress. Just very very tired still, and overly anxious, but not in the grey-damp-cloud-doldrums

    2) get all up to date on grading for statistics classes DONE, yay
    3) one hour on Picky Paper, three on DrVisit paper 1 yes! In fact three became six became DONE
    4) sleep, fruit and veg, being nice to foot (which is slightly better but not happy overall stupid foot) mixed, not that good really, although foot is back to normal levels of displeasure yay
    5) being kind and patient with dissertation students. a bit mixed. Mostly yes

    goals for what's left of this week
    1) another hour on Picky Paper and two hours on DrVisit Paper 2
    2) prepare for meeting about Problem Child on Friday
    3) at least make a rough list of possible conferences
    4) look in one pile for the passport. Just one. I can do that...
    5) bed before midnight, 5 fruit & veg a day, little steps...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Despite your feeling that you didn't get that much done, JaneB, it was more that you worked on things you had not set goals for--what I call at worst productive procrastination and at best doing well!

      I applaud you breaking next week's goal 4 into a small piece--I have to do that with my filing. If I didn't, I'd run the risk of the Collier brothers.

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    2. Well done on last week's goals, and I hope you are, indeed, feeling better.

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  10. Last week:
    -Have a little library tour and get new books
    Did this.
    -Do something for the thesis every day
    Not quite. Three days maybe?
    -Work on fiction daily
    Twice only.

    I'm not having an easy time. I have to make some big life decisions and they make daily tasks seem trivial. So I neglect them. Building up more regularity would be good but I know how hard I find it in such situations.

    This week's goals:
    -Touch thesis daily
    -Write daily

    Session goals:
    -Pass the probation review
    I passed last month.
    -Produce a draft for 1st chapter of thesis
    This is NOT going to happen! What was I thinking?
    -Make creative writing more of a habit
    More of a habit, yes. It isn't a daily habit at this point though.

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    1. Good luck with big life decisions. It is hard to balance them with just ordinary things. I'm always struck how hard little things can be when I am worrying about other things.

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    2. Danne, I will echo Susan--good luck with the decisions. Those are very hard, and the focus on them makes everything else recede to the background.

      Would it help to write about them as part of your creative writing? I do that, either as a dream situation or as a rant about the difficulty of it all.

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    3. Thank you both for your encouragements. That is a good suggestion Elizabeth. I do write about them in my journal and discuss them with people I trust. It helps a little, but it's still hard.

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    4. Thank you both for your encouragements. That is a good suggestion Elizabeth. I do write about them in my journal and discuss them with people I trust. It helps a little, but it's still hard.

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  11. Good to have a mid-session check in. I think my weekly goals have done a pretty good job of keeping me on track, but life has been more complicated than I expected. Also, I seem to have (internally) another session goal, which is getting control of my work spaces so that I'm not drowning in paper. I'm not sure what would move me forward: I'm aware that there has been lots of stress in the last 8 months or so, and I'm trying to unwind the spring a bit.

    Starting with last week:
    1. Start work on short paper NO
    2. Do one chapter of footnotes NO
    3. Read one journal. NO
    4. Exercise 4 times YES
    5. Finish clearing dining room table YES. AND I even made progress on my desk at home and the office. There has been lots of recycling!

    I think I'm unwinding after working so hard for so long. So I've just been letting it happen. Next week is spring break, and then I'll get back into a work mode.

    Session Goals:

    1. Finish book ms. (I have maybe 2 days of work before I can send it to a press.)
    DONE. And I've even managed a little glitch when the press I initially sent it to suggested terms that I won't accept.
    2. Work on Conference Paper revision, due probably some time in April.
    Not started, but next week is vacation, and I think it's manageable.
    3. Keep up with regular exercise, and add in at least one walking morning a week.
    Have been good on exercise, but not the walking.
    4. Stop checking email on Sunday.
    Not so much, but I've tried not to obsess on it. It's hard because I'm on the computer preparing my Monday class, so it happens.
    5. Strive to keep up with 7 hours sleep nightly
    I've done pretty well on this, and I can really tell when I fall short. (After the time change this week, I was really sleepy, so I took a nap after breakfast, and now I feel human.)

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    1. Susan, I think unwinding the spring is probably the most important goal for this entire session, quite honestly. Other than that, decluttering may help--I know it does help me when I am stressed, not only to be doing something, but clearing my space helps clear my head.

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    2. Yes, though decluttering feels like a neverending process!

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    3. Too true, Susan. I'm appalled by the amount of paper that makes its way into our house.

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    4. I, too, like the unwinding the spring metaphor (and the idea of decluttering as part of that; environments do matter, and I need to do more on mine).

      I'm also tremendously impressed that you got the book done in the middle of everything else, personal and work, that's been going on in your life the past few semesters. That certainly deserves to be followed by some unwinding/self-care time.

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    5. Also an "amen" to the difficulty of staying off email. For me it's been the need to check personal email that has pulled me back onto the internet more frequently than I'd like, but if I didn't have the advantage(?) of most of my crisis communications taking place over personal email, I'm sure I'd be pulled back into work email as well (I'm managing not to sign into that account on Sundays -- but, once again, I'm mostly dealing with students there).

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  12. Hi all,
    sorry for the late check in.
    Last week's goals:
    1. Exercise with more mental commitment, 4x -YES, helped by family members who kept me on track by encouraging me to walk with them when I was off it!
    2. Fix guitar -nope
    3. Begin map making process -only vaguely
    4. Letter - and send off MS -YES.
    It was a mixed bag, but a very intense week workwise so I am really pleased to have achieved two goals. As far as session goals go, I have definitely increased the amount of time I am writing, even though it isn't at the 2 hours a day yet, and I have increased my exercise, doing it regularly most days now. So that is a bit of a breakthrough. The book I want to write, not so much. So, at this point I am ok with where things are at.
    I realise this time period is much more intense than I anticipated, and my energy for creative pursuits has dropped low.

    I will be away until mid-next week, so my fortnightly goals are:
    1) resubmit whk paper
    2)do a bit of the mapping stuff
    3) take my daughter out once on her own
    4) do a bit of relaxing and refocusing my brain. Rest, chocolate, and contacting an old friend.
    awilson

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    Replies
    1. Achieving two goals is a half-full glass to my mind, not a half-empty one, especially a goal as big as sending off the MS--congratulations!

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    2. Exercise, rest, and chocolate sound like wonderful ways to de-stress and rehabilitate. And I hope you have a lovely time with your daughter.

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