Welcome back, all! How was your first week? I hope there was satisfaction, for even the smallest things. A dear friend reminds me in times of stress that the only thing you *really* need to do today is breathe. It’s a helpful reminder when I heap too many tasks on too many plates. So take a moment and take a deep, satisfying breath.
Reading through the posts, I got to thinking about what methods we use to manage all of these tasks. I was really excited waiting for my Get to Work Book (http://www.gettoworkbook.com/) at the start of the year, and had even purchased stickers and markers to make the most of my gorgeous planner. It’s on the desk in my office, and I seldom use it, feeling a sad resignation that all of my planning and organizing takes place in digital spaces. But I still had not put any plan in place to organize work on the book manuscript. I looked back at my previous use of Trello (https://trello.com/) and Wunderlist (https://www.wunderlist.com/) and didn’t feel warmly toward either of them.
So I channeled my MOOC compulsion (I don’t want to count how many online courses I’ve signed up for) and did a quick Highbrow (http://gohighbrow.com/) class on productivity. This led me to Asana (https://app.asana.com/), where I am having a good run, even though it’s actually designed for group projects. The best thing about Asana is that it syncs with my Google calendar, where I generally dump all deadlines.
I’m very interested to hear how you all manage your tasks, especially when it comes to integrating research & writing with Other Life Tasks. Usual reporting format welcome: goals for last week, new goals, and discussion.
Last week:
allan wilson
1. finish draft and send back to MR
2. begin revisions on CR
3. resubmit W
4. sort out data for SS.
Contingent Cassandra
1. Finish grading (TRQ but necessary/almost all-consuming at present)
2. Attend day-long workshop related to grant
3. Set TLQ goals for summer (yes, I'm including this one so I can check it off; it is Thursday, after all)
Daisy
1) Write up methods for this project while fresh
2) Write outlines for analytical projects to send to labs and collaborators
3) Take my grad student out for dinner and make sure she's not stressing out over her project
4) Buy new running shoes and sports bras to help with longer term goals!
dameeleanorhull
complete presentation for Kalamazoo (International Congress on Medieval Studies), drive there, have a good time, don't buy too many books.
Earnest English
1. Maintain good eating, decent sleep, me time, and babying of injury.
2. Moderate emotions and try to keep up with decent grading clip. I have a big stack of things to respond to and a small stack of detailed grading to do this week. On Tuesday, another stack of detailed grading will come in (rolling deadline). I just have to get through it. I should probably break this down into more reasonable daily goals.
3. Tomato, celery, and other seeds MUST get started this week!
4. 3x on Secondary Field Project.
5. Work a bit on Sabbatical application.
6. Come up with date for Service Thingie in June?
7. Keep up with Spirited's Therapy.
8. Leave a message on music teacher's voicemail about intentions?
9. Call doctor and see if I can get a mammogram appt without a doctor's appt.
Elizabeth Allen Mitchell
Finish culling DH’s clothing and packing winter clothes 1 hour x 3
Cull pleasure reading books and pack the “must-keeps” 1 hour x 2
Diminish clutter at work--½ hour x 5 days
Work on class assignments 1.5 hours x 5
Pierpont article--outline ½ hour x 5
Prudence book--footnotes ½ hour x 5
Walk ½ hour x 5
Good Enough Woman
1) Grade a lot and do not procrastinate on this.
2) Finalize details for son's b-day party (which will be on Sunday).
3) Help daughter make colonial dress for her history project (and try not to freak out about this project).
3) Do PhD stuff (writing for intro, reading) for at least two hours Friday afternoon.
heu mihi
1) Finish reading AA
2) Read one article on MP
3) Go to Kalamazoo and have a fabulous time! (Despite my paper's 8:30-am-on-Sunday time slot.)
humming42
1 Grade all the things!
2 Write conference call for papers
3 Finish typing RBP notes from Big History Book
4 Read 50 pages for Mars
5 Read 50 pages from library book for Mercury
6 Organize articles in Bookmarks for RBP
Jane B
1) 500 words on Special Issue paper which needs a nickname
2) 3 gym visits
3) 3 decluttering 15 minutes
4) meet with PDF about plans for the simulations
Karen
-find, read and note-take one article for landscape paper and one article for SoTL project.
- Start by trying time goals rather than word goals for writing. 60 minutes writing across the week - see where it fits.
-3 x exercise activities over the week.
KJHaxton
- finish planning and run two outreach events.
Anything else will be a bonus!
Matilda
1) Read materials for Section 2 of Chapter 2.
2) Re-read the book I must review and write the outline of my review.
3) Write 15 minutes a day.
4) Have less snacks at night - no sweet snacks at least.
Susan
1. Book orders for the fall
2. Finish minor revisions of paper for volume
3. Start working on footnotes.
4. Read a non-work book.
5. Finish container plantings for garden.
Waffles
1. Figure out measures
2. Feedback on R03
3. Figure out funding issues
4. unclutter house!
5. keep running every day!
I've experimented with Evernote, Trello, others... some survive as systems for specialised purposes (Evernote sychronsises shopping lists for the family, for example) but I also tend to fall back onto a combination of calendar, mental and paper things-to-do lists.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
Lost a fair bit of time to new administrative, including part of my research day to moving to the highly symbolic new office. So not much TLQ progress this week.
-find, read and note-take one article for landscape paper and one article for SoTL project.
No
- Start by trying time goals rather than word goals for writing. 60 minutes writing across the week - see where it fits.
No
-3 x exercise activities over the week.
once
Next week:
Trying to close a few admin loops, but also need to clear marking and seriously move on online unit content development, so I'll stick to small goals that are incremental steps up from keep breathing.
- find,read and note-take one SoTL paper
- 2 x exercise
- set defined tasks and pre-agreed computer shutdown times for evenings.
Evernote goes with shopping lists! I didn't know that way. It sounds useful.
DeleteI hope the move to new office gives you opportunities to create good spaces for yourself...real and grounded as well as symbolic. Occupying new spaces (even temporarily, like a hotel room or rental car) can make us mindful of how we sit or stand, need more or less space around us, more or less light.
DeleteI'm also reminded of how changing your space can require resetting the rhythms of the day.
Hello, everyone,
ReplyDeleteTopic:
Thank you for reminding me of the importance of a good, deep breath. I will remember it!
What I usually do for tackle my multiple tasks is just use my diary, my journal, post-its put next to my pc, some memos on the white side of an used paper on the desk, and my memory. Important things are written down in my diary, post-its, and some other notepads, even on my hands (childish, but it works!). I have no organised way of handling tasks. Rather, I think using these various ways helps my brain to remember things and also organise to do these things, by writing and reading again and again. So, the important things are written again and again, finally well inscribed in my brain, on the other hand, not so important things are just scribbled down on some paper, and when I see it later, sometimes I think ‘ok, I don’t really have to do it’, then I forget it.
Last goals:
1) Read materials for Section 2 of Chapter 2. - Only a part of a book.
2) Re-read the book I must review and write the outline of my review. - Yes, but just roughly.
3) Write 15 minutes a day. - No, only for two days.
4) Have less snacks at night - no sweet snacks at least. - Yes, I did have snacks, but no sweets at night. HOWEVER, I had unusually more sweets in daytime. I had two tea-parties with students this week, and each time they brought fairly good amount of sweets and snacks, which I was not able to decline…
Next goals:
1) Read materials for Section 2 of Chapter 2, and make a plan of revision.
2) Re-read the book for the review and revise the outline.
3) Writing exercise 1 of Goodson’s revised book.
4) 5 minute short exercise three times a day.
I need to re-think my way of planning. I am busy, like everyone, and I have to think what I can do during each particular week. Last week was busier, so I was not able to do what I wanted most. Week 2 will be easier week than Week1, so I have planned a little more for Week 2. Also, I have just got a revised version of Patricia Goodson’s Becoming an Academic Writer, so I am going to try some exercises of it. Have anybody tried it?
Can I ask how you had two tea parties in one week? I've never had one at work, and now I really really want one!
DeleteIn addition to feeling left out of Eurovision this weekend, this American has no idea what a tea party is like! But I imagine it's delightful.
DeleteI appreciate the idea of having a number of different techniques to get everything into your brain...I am self-critical about being disorganized in my organization, but maybe there is a method in that madness after all.
I hope you'll share some insights on Goodson's book going forward.
Well, it was just simple. I don't drink but I wanted my students to know each other, and I wanted to know them better - they are very very shy- so I offered tea-parties for especially quiet students of my classes. Somehow they know I love sweets (it is true, but they don't know I try to avoid sweets)and brought cakes and chocolates ;)
DeleteThe women's group at work has taken to having tea-parties once a semester - frankly it's the best bit of the whole thing! We meet either in someone's house or in a meeting room on campus, we each bring some kind of light nibble (sweet or savory - I often make cheese straws, others bring nuts or crackers and spread, and there is always cake and biscuits), then brew some tea, and each have a cup of tea and a plate of mixed nibbly things and just sit around and chat for an hour. It's very nice!
DeleteManaging Tasks
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I listened to David Allen's Getting Things Done. He talked about the importance of writing every task down so that it frees up the brain to ponder and be creative rather than be in the stress-inducing state of trying to remember things. For a while I was really good about keeping a project list (a project is defined as anything that takes more than one step to get off one's list) with next tasks on it. But I also found that it was easy to not keep my project/to-do list (in a table in Word) updated and reverted to keeping tasks listed on my computer's Sticky Notes. I still do that and have a main to-do list of all sorts of work and non-work tasks on. I love updating it by putting XXX next to each task. I also go ahead and do list some multiple tasks for projects there. I basically do my GTD on one sticky note that is always up on my computer. I really should put my actual TLQ goals on that sticky note, but so far I haven't. TLQ with its public accountability is also a main way I keep track of things, which is why when TLQ has a break, I end up boring my blog readers with doing TLQ there!
On another note entirely, I got the Slow Professor and wonder if anyone would like to have a discussion of it either here or I could host it on Absurdist Paradise (my blog) or elsewhere. I think it's very helpful about pinpointing some of the challenges that we have in keeping TLQ in mind and it also proposes some attitudinal and actual changes (inspired by Slow Food) to help us keep TLQ in mind. Please let me know if you're interested in discussing the book!
Last Week's Goals
1. Maintain good eating, decent sleep, me time, and babying of injury. OK, but not so great on sleep.
2. Moderate emotions and try to keep up with decent grading clip. I have a big stack of things to respond to and a small stack of detailed grading to do this week. On Tuesday, another stack of detailed grading will come in (rolling deadline). I just have to get through it. I should probably break this down into more reasonable daily goals. THIS WEEK I DISCOVERED I HAVE SO LITTLE TIME TO GET GRADING DONE DURING THE WEEK. OVERWHELMED.
3. Tomato, celery, and other seeds MUST get started this week! DONE.
4. 3x on Secondary Field Project. UH NO
5. Work a bit on Sabbatical application. NO
6. Come up with date for Service Thingie in June? NO
7. Keep up with Spirited's Therapy. YES
8. Leave a message on music teacher's voicemail about intentions? NO
9. Call doctor and see if I can get a mammogram appt without a doctor's appt. NO, BUT ACHE FINALLY WENT AWAY SO DO I NEED TO DO THIS ANYMORE?
Analysis
Oh dear lord. It was an insane week. We now have a wonderful at-home project that has really kept my brain off of Secondary Field Project. I think between the at-home project and the insane rev-up of the quarter at this point really means it's going to be difficult to work until late June. Being realistic about what I can accomplish would be a great TLQ gift to myself here. Strangely, I found myself compelled to ILL books about my Primary Field Project that I haven't touched in a while. Odd.
I really resonate with the idea that not writing down tasks takes up mental energy that could be expended on more important things!
DeleteI am not familiar with Slow Professor but am excited to check it out!
DeleteI read the Slow Professor story in Inside Higher Ed and it definitely piqued my interest. I'd enjoy doing a reading group type thing if you're headed that way.
DeleteAn intriguing GTD thing that I think came via Amstr in a previous TLQ group was this classification for tasks:
DeleteMassive relief
Supremely satisfying
Nurturing care
Highly helpful
Basic decency
Delight
Fit for Battle
On the periphery
I tried this for a few weeks but really need my stuff grouped in categories as you do below.
This Week's Goals
ReplyDeleteNote: I find having the longer list to be overwhelming so I'm going back to my other way of organizing this stuff by category:
1. Health: try not to eat ice cream and snack every night; eat good food regularly; get sleep; baby injury; be good to self. Moderate emotions at work because overwhelm will stress me out and make my health terrible.
2. Scholarship: can I still get 3x done this week? I'm going to try and then re-evaluate this goal next week. Sabbatical application? Should I just give up on that until Summer, which would throw back everything but might be the most reasonable thing to do in light of everything? Again, I'll re-evaluate these goals next week.
3. Farmstead project: must take good care of new animals (ducklings and chicks: ohmigod -- SO CUTE!) and start three new seeds. Keep watering outside (when needed -- it's snowing today!). Keep watering seedlings in basement. (This whole category has revved up because it's spring and there's no way around it. Focusing on this makes it hard to focus on SFP. Honestly, this is more important in terms of family goals.)
4. Family: keep up on Spirited's therapy. Call Piano teacher and leave message on her VM about summer plans. Spend some time with family. Make clear boundaries about grading so I can get grading done without being a total bitch to family out of stress.
5. Work planning: So much grading. I have to keep on a good clip and follow my own plans. (Worked Sat and Sun morning - so far so good.) Must get Service 1 distribution going this week. Must get Service 2 scheduled this week.
Have a great week everyone! For those of you who are on summer break: take a moment this week to remember that you are on break! You could still be teaching!
And please let me know if anyone's interested in reading The Slow Professor. I can tell this book is the kind that will be greatly helped by discussing it with y'all.
I'm still grading, so not checking in yet (just procrastinating by reading others' check-ins; yes, it's that point in the semester when grading is *verrrry* slow because I'm so sick of it), but wanted to say yes, I'd be very much interested in a discussion of _The Slow Professor_. I read one mention of it a few weeks ago, and was intrigued, and undine has a recent post up on it and an article by Laura Vanderkam: http://notofgeneralinterest.blogspot.com/2016/05/productivity-post-time-is-on-your-side.html . I'm definitely thinking of buying the book (after I get the grading done; I guess there's more than one kind of "slow professor").
DeleteI too would like to discuss the slow professor - I have a copy and have read about 4 pages of it (slowly, because work, and also because New Yarn), but already want to talk about it, so this will be great!
DeleteCount me in on The Slow Professor. I've read several articles, and it really resonated.
DeleteI'm mostly super old school with my lists - I have an excel spreadsheet with my large tasks broken into smaller ones with timelines. Each day, I make a separate to do list in either my notebook or on a post it pad.
ReplyDeleteProgress last week:
1. Figure out measures -DONE, but now more to do
2. Feedback on R03 - DONE
3. Figure out funding issues - DONE
4. unclutter house! - PARTIALLY DONE (need to do bedroom and closets)
5. keep running every day! - DONE
Goals for this week:
1. Outline steps and timeline for F32 application
2. Finish draft of relat manuscript
3. Fix references in specific aims
4. Touch base with colleague about social support and other papers/analyses
5. Update LOR for summer institute
6. Finish other sections of summer institute application
7. Review interview questions
8. Work on measures
One thing I really struggle with, that severely affects my productivity, is how I emotionally respond to critical feedback and setbacks. My postdoc mentor gave me some critical feedback this week, and I kind of fell apart (inside, she doesn't know) and felt like an abject failure. That's extreme, I know - and my reaction is largely due to these stupid post-defense blues. But, even if I were sturdier, I'd still not feel great. How do others keep on truckin' and keep feeling like competent, skilled people despite setbacks or critiques? How do you maintain your inner sense that you are good at what you do?
I'm not sure I really have an answer, but I think it's normal to need to take some time to work through our emotional responses to criticism, even genuinely constructive criticism. In fact, the first step of the process is often, I suspect, figuring out if the criticism *is* constructive, or not, or mixed, how much it comes from the critic's particular perspective, whether it's useful to us and/or our particular situation, etc., etc. Or maybe that's just my own, perhaps overly-defensive, approach.
DeleteIf this is a relatively-new mentor/mentee relationship (you're just starting the postdoc, right?), there's also the business of forming a new working relationship, getting to know the other person's style and how it intersects with yours, etc. That sort of professional transition can be surprisingly energy-consuming.
I think time and experience do help a bit, perhaps in part because one's sense of competence and skill expands to include things like not only being able to anticipate that transition periods will be difficult, but also remembering that things are very likely to feel better in a year or two (admittedly an easier lesson to learn if professional appointments last more than a year or two). One also, I think, begins to see just keeping on even when things don't feel like they're going so well to be a skill/competence in itself.
Or maybe that's just how I survive.
I'm glad you brought this up...such an important conversation to have about criticism and critique. I agree with CC in that the first time I got a very critical review/rejection for a conference submission, I found that once I had worked through my hurt about it, there was very valid advice for me. But there are also a lot of Bad Academics and Bad Reviewers out there who use their role as reviewers to make themselves feel superior...by making authors feel worthless. Don't let anyone throw an imposter syndrome cloak on your shoulders.
DeleteI still have plenty of work to do on the criticism thing. Allowing myself to actually feel sad/bad, to sit with the feelings for a while, rather than immediately jumping to 'beat myself up' thinking (e.g. I did bad work/I'm a bad person) or 'snap out of it' thinking (e.g. other people handle this better/I'm being silly), has speeded up the processing a lot, surprisingly. I try to set the criticism aside, by making notes about the meeting if it was verbal, or by putting the email or letter in a folder, then be nice to myself for the rest of the day as I can, whether that's doing a soothing and productive task like filing or an early night or a coffee from the coffee shop. Then the next morning I face it again and look for the 'meat' - what can I actually learn? Is there anything real in there?
DeleteIt gets easiER, but it hasn't gotten easy yet. It's definitely one of the not-fun parts of academe!
I have a very different feeling about academic critiques. My first career was as a performing artist, where the ultimate learning tool was the "Masterclass". Usually you had one every week within your own studio, and many with fancy external famous people... The pattern was you do your thing, and then get a public lesson, where every nuance and detail of your performance would be dissected in front of all your peers, and sometimes with the famous people, in front of a paying audience... And in most cases, recorded, so you could go over it repeatedly in lessons again, and the library of the conservatory could keep it in the archives. It was both exhillirating and terrifying! Did this between ages 15 and 23 all the time... You were expected to learn from this, and nothing acedemics could offer has ever been that difficult or required that much "must-not-cry-on-stage-in-front-of-100-people" fortitude. This was in addition to the studio lessons where your teacher pretty much deconstructed all your work once a week. So while I don't enjoy the difficult reviews (hello hideous paper!) or the grant rejections or any of that, I see it as a step in the learning process, and thank my lucky starts that now my "failures" and "feedback" is relatively private and not likely to be recorded for archival purposes :) I still moan about them of course!
DeleteThanks, everyone! Daisy - I was a theater major in undergrad - critiques were a big part of our training as well. Doesn't make it easier for me today. However, I have developed ways of moving past my feelings when I get critical comments on papers from reviewers, mentors, etc. so that I don't get stuck (playing "Shake it off" by Taylor Swift really loudly helps!).
DeleteThis particular critique is harder because it is by my postdoc mentor, who I adore and who I want to please, and I've made a category of error that is really dumb and careless. I just got some more feedback about it, and I feel like crap. I've worked very hard to ensure that my response to feedback is adult and positive, but inside all I want to do is go hide in bed with a pint of ice cream and cry. It'll be fine, and I will work hard to do better - it's just a little rough right now.
I can't see any reason not to spend a little time in bed with ice cream . . .
DeleteWhat GEW said :) A little recovery time is absolutely necessary!
DeleteThe effectiveness of "Shake it off" increases proportionally to the amount of crazy dancing you do while blasting it...
An experienced and thoughtful mentor understands that we all make 'dumb' mistakes sometimes, and it is all part of the learning curve. You can guarantee that they too will have made similar mistakes at times. At some point, they may even describe some of their own screw-ups to you, to give you confidence that you are not unusual in this. We are not perfect people!
Deleteallan wilson
Topic: During the semester, I keep a spiral notebook with me at all times, and I use it for lists and notes related to teaching and service. I also put my to-do lists in it. For my PhD work, I always have a moleskin notebook going. In it, I put notes and to-do lists. I bought a Passion Planner at the beginning of this year, but I haven't used it much. This summer will be intense though, and I think I might try to use it.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1) Grade a lot and do not procrastinate on this.--YES. I think I'm on track.
2) Finalize details for son's b-day party (which will be on Sunday).--YES. Had the crazy party, and we all survived.
3) Help daughter make colonial dress for her history project (and try not to freak out about this project).--STARTED, but just barely. Bought and washed fabric.
4) Do PhD stuff (writing for intro, reading) for at least two hours Friday afternoon.--NO. I was grading. But I read for about 30 minutes today.
Analysis: It's a busy time with kid birthdays and the end of the semester for me, and it's getting towards the end of the school year for the kids (which means lots of school events, projects, etc.). Gotta get through finals and then it will be PhD work most of the time.
This Week:
1) Finish grading in-hand papers by Monday afternoon (or night).
2) Grade Tuesday finals on Tuesday (okay to leave 5-6 research papers for Wednesday morning if necessary).
3) Grade Wednesday finals and any other stray things on Wednesday.
4) Tidy school office on Thursday morning.
5) Finish all grading by Friday at noon.
6) Help daughter sew dress. Be patient while I do this. Accept imperfections and help her to do the same. (Breakdown: Pin and cut on Monday night, sew the body on Tuesday, sew the sleeves on Thursday, add the eyelet on the weekend when daughter is home from camping).
Addendum: If husband and kids decide to go camping this coming weekend, I will prioritize sewing with daughter on Thursday afternoon and evening, pushing grading completion to Saturday.
DeleteYay for all the yesses in a busy and productive week, and a second hurray for the end of the semester. Getting reading done for PhD stuff is so important, because that 30 minutes a day puts you in the space and the mindset of the writing too.
DeleteBusy and productive - roll on summer! Hopefully the reading will spark the 'back boiler' of the brain into action, so that you are getting back into the PhD headspace despite all the 'noise'
DeleteI've tried multiple methods of keeping track of stuff and projects. My preferred method has migrated to being completely low-tech, and flexible. For tasks I keep a sheet of paper next to my computer. At the beginning of a week (or sometimes a two-week stretch) I write down all the things I need to or want to do. Then I colour code them for urgency level or importance, and simply cross them out when done. I'm not allowed to start a new sheet till the old one is done, except to transfer non-urgent projects from one to the next when it becomes a complete mess. It works really well for me because it is immediately visible, non-time intensive, and satisfying to cross things off. On-line was too out-of-sight for me, and I hate making messes in note-books. I keep project work in a notebook (for each project) with an accompanying spreadsheet for sample-based information.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) Write up methods for this project while fresh DONE
2) Write outlines for analytical projects to send to labs and collaborators DONE
3) Take my grad student out for dinner and make sure she's not stressing out over her project DONE
4) Buy new running shoes and sports bras to help with longer term goals! NOT DONE
I didn't get to do any shopping while away, too many fun social things to do instead, so a very good trade. Lab work was great, and inspired me to pick up a few old datasets again, lots to see there now that I know more about them.
This week's goals:
It is a crazy week, with lots of TRQ activities (a search committee) and a workshop presentation for which I have to do a videoconference talk. Haven't done that in ages, and the presentation has to be finished by tomorrow. So, all TRQ all the time for tomday and tomorrow.
This week's goals:
1) TRQ presentation
2) Work on hideous paper to send to ex-supervisor before I go to the field in three weeks.
3) Make all cat-sitting, medical, and travel bookings for rest of summer
4)Do left-over accounting
Lo-tech solutions for the win!
DeleteI have a video-type presentation coming up too, via Skype though... should be interesting... not done that before, any tips??
Yup. I have a Skype thingy this week too, and find it utterly terrifying.
DeleteWhat a delightful thing when you can say lab work was great. Glad you had a good, inspiring week.
Tip for video - turn your little window that shows yourself OFF! Otherwise your brain is drawn to it and you look really odd staring at a corner of the screen. And you get distracted too... Just pretend your audience is behind the camera and talk to them as normal, it is kind of fun when you get into it.
DeleteThank you Daisy! I was thinking about how to remember to look at the camera and not the image on my screen so I make digital "eye contact" with the folks on the other side.
DeleteI used wunderlist for a while last year and I quite liked it. I haven't tried the others so might test drive one this summer. I liked being able to break tasks down in to sequences of smaller bits so I could get all that stuff out my head.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
- finish planning and run two outreach events.
Anything else will be a bonus!
Yes, done. Around 90 kids over 2 days. The weekend was a bit of a write-off afterwards!
This week:
- walk to or from work twice
- edit acronym report
- marking
I'm spending a lot of time on trains this week so I need to download the stuff onto my computer for 'train work time'. Sometimes I think I'd be 10 times more productive if I took a 5 hour train journey once a week!
A train journey on a nice modern not too crowded train with a table seat and no companions can be very productive!
DeleteWunderlist is cleanly designed and adaptable--definitely a fan.
DeleteI have lived mostly in US cities that embrace "car culture" and seldom have access to trains, buses, subways, or others means of transport where someone else drives so I can read and write. Enjoy!
Amtrak has a writers' retreat - you can apply to spend a certain amount of time just traveling the US while writing. It sounds pretty cool.
Deletetopic:
ReplyDeleteI start many systems, and love to try new things (especially if they involve New Stationary!), but find they tend to fall apart under pressure, or when I get bored. My current system has lasted over a year, largely because of its simplicity.
I make occasional electronic files, usually three times a year - I like the ability to move stuff around a lot without typos, and to colour code. Basically I have a calendar for the year on one page of a spreadsheet, onto which I roughly plan my travel (and cattery bookings!). Then I have a page for each semester with the teaching weeks and their various obligations, mapped out for each module with my bits highlighted (this is started when the next year's timetable arrives for checking in June, and continues to evolve until the last class is done, THANK YOU Northern Uni timetabling system (grrr)), and here I try to identify which will be my "day off" each week (I officially work 80% of full time). I also have a word document called 'never-ending list' into which I brain-dump stuff whenever I feel like I am losing the plot. Basically I remake the same list a lot with minor progress... it's soothing, anyway. And I use my blog for goal-setting and reviewing (probably to the annoyance of my readers).
The heart of the day-week-month level of organisation is a small paper diary - small, because larger notebooks, even A5s, do tend to add to the weight of my bag and get left places, especially if I have a run of sulking back days or am travelling. Fortunately I can write small if I try, and use abbreviations. At the moment I have a moleskine, with a week of days on one side of a double-page spread and a fine-ruled page on the other. Into this I put the broad shapes of the days - meetings, classes etc. - time, topic, venue. I do this in pencil as far ahead as possible, then ink each week in as I get closer to knowing what is actually happening (but still end up with crossings out etc.). I like the relatively small space as it helps me avoid over-booking myself, which I can do short term but not long term (as in, more than a few days). The details of days - e.g. if I have many appointments with individual students etc. - are put together on postits or file-record-cards. When I need to see a lot of students in my office, for conferences or advising or whatever, I create my office hours in Doodle Poll, and send them the link - it's really effective for me, I just put the block into the diary and list the names on a postit or card from the Doodlepoll on the morning of the day, when I'm at my desk.
For planning stuff which doesn't actually have a set time, e.g. if I know that in week 7 I need to email Bob about a meeting, and in week 8 I need to remember to set the assignment for the Ice Cream Module, I write those things in the strip above the days where the diary has the month and the week number. I use a postit on the lined side of the diary to keep a list of stuff for the next few weeks (e.g. my Year of New Year's items from my blog), or things that are buzzing around in my head, everything from the next paper I want to work on to something I need to add to the grocery list. I add postits as needed, and as I cross stuff off I rewrite the postits to keep the number small and because rewriting lists is a useful way to finish off a day or start on a reluctant morning.
DeleteOn the lined page, I write this week's TLQ goals in the top left, and as the week goes on, I write a 'done' list, again fairly short-hand, starting on the right hand side then up from the bottom of the left if needed. Below the TLQ goals there's a space for my real life writing group sticker (if I get it) and a note of its next goal (which is usually my TLQ writing goal too). Between the diary page and the done list, the book makes a good record of where my time is going, in the broad picture. My diary is paired with another small Moleskine notebook where I keep notes from meetings, training events etc. - I know some people write these in their diaries, but I get bothered by the notes being on the wrong date or the prospect of running out of note pages. Another reason for using the small diary and notebook is that together they weight no more and probably less than an A5 diary, and as mentioned above, that can be an issue.
So - blog, diary, postits. Disposable to do lists which are frequently re-written and a more permanent 'done' list. I've never found a technology method which was anything like as accessible and transportable and quick to use as paper.
A long explanation for a Luddite-ish system!
last week's goals:
Delete1) 500 words on Special Issue paper which needs a nickname done
2) 3 gym visits two
3) 3 decluttering 15 minutes one
4) meet with PDF about plans for the simulations nope
the coming week:
I dunno. I feel throughly mardy and discombobulated this week. Friday was a bad day, just because it really emphasised how many unknowns there are at the moment and how stressful it is to try & plan for September without knowing so many, many things - since the new curriculum involves taking students on a residential trip the week they start, all sorts of administrative concerns have to be addressed, from gender balance for dorm assignment and dietary requirements, to how we'll accomodate disabilities we don't even know about. But the paperwork for all these things is usually handled by the office staff... who are being 'relocated' into a 'faculty hub' and we don't know if they'll be allowed to help with these tasks, how the data will be collected this year, etc. etc. Not to mention we haven't visited the site yet - but are supposed to take 200 students there and keep them busy. SIGH!! So I've been really stressed and sad this weekend about that. Plus, the father of a dear friend from school has been dying this weekend (major op Thursday, complications, passed Monday morning), and whilst it's nice to be able to be in touch and that on social media, it's also hard to know and not be able to do, and he was a good 10 years younger than my Dad, so, all the usual selfish worries and emotions get stirred. And I'm just sad about the world at the moment, so many hard things and worrying things and climate change data and people being cruel to each other and to animals and students panicking and worrying about their futures and worrying about MY job and eating my feelings. :-( Oh, and hayfever, and wanting to scratch my eyeballs, and having to wear contact lenses so, itch itch itch (and hayfever meds + anti anxiety meds = JaneB zombie for 23.5 hours of the day, and right now I can't do without the latter so can only take the former when I can stay in and do nothing which isn't when I actually need them).
Therefore I will just keep the same
goals:
1) 500 words on Special Issue paper which needs a nickname
2) 3 gym visits
3) 3 decluttering 15 minutes
4) meet with PDF about plans for the simulations
Joys of summer, eh?
Thanks for your details on the planning systems. There are some similar things in the bullet journal movement, which is nicely adaptable to one's own versions. I'm reminded again of the pleasures of low-tech paper versions of things, including the pleasure of crossing things off.
DeleteThe cruelty of people lately is staggeringly awful. Can we find ways to set it aside and enjoy the pleasures of life (like kittens, yarn, tea parties, and trains)?
I can't imagine trying to plan that student trip under those circumstances. You have my great sympathy.
DeleteMonday already? Is this 1204 or 1469? I can't keep track.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
complete presentation for Kalamazoo: Done
drive there: Done, and back again
have a good time: Done
don't buy too many books: acquired 7. One I meant to get, one I've been seeking for some time, one that made me say "Why . . . ?" this morning (though I remembered what I was thinking, so probably okay).
This week: I'd better say 2 hours gardening, stock up on cat food, and make a list, because those are already done. %-)
Here's the easy-to-copy summation:
Healthy Schedule
Translation, Revision, Administrivia daily for 3-4 days
House/Life Stuff on 4 days
Talk to Sir John about when to go full-bore on readying the house for sale.
And here's the discussion: I think my overarching goal has to do with the shape of my days, which has to do with optimizing sleep and productivity. Thus, my healthy schedule means "go to bed early, go to the gym first thing, keep office hours of 9 or 10 to 1, plus an hour or two of reading later in the day, W-F, and do House/Life Stuff in the afternoons." During working hours, I want each day to contain a chunk of translation, a chunk of Revision, and a chunk of Stupid Administrivia. Okay, I don't actually want the last, but it has to be done, so let's get it over with.
I spent this morning's work time on making a list (on paper), and getting cat food. Then the cleaner came, and I hate the vacuum almost as much as the cats do, so I went outside and dealt with the garden instead. And then I was tired.
Tomorrow I have to go to campus to meet with my writing group and a grad student. Since I don't want to spend all day there, I may not get anything else done, though I'll see if there's a chance to do some writing.
So W-F are my good shots at "regular" working days this week. I might manage a couple of hours on Saturday morning but, as with Tuesday, we'll have to see how it goes. This feels like Not Enough, but it's what's available, and actually sticking to this plan will get infinitely more work done than wasting the time agonizing about how it isn't enough.
Calendars: I have to have paper, mainly because it limits what I schedule. Like JaneB, I need to see when the day is full. Lists: also paper, though sometimes I find myself journaling about Too Many Things To Do, and then I'll recopy Things onto the paper list so they'll all be in one place. If I just sit down to make a list, sometimes my mind goes blank, but facing the anxiety on the page can produce a whackload of Things That Must Be Done.
Your days seem very well-rounded...I think an understanding that there are many roles and lives to live can be the best place to start when thinking about how to construct the days and weeks ahead. Setting aside the time to get over with it when it comes to the undesirable tasks is something I should adopt.
Delete(get over with it = get it over with)
DeleteI’m a bit late to post, since I had a couple of things I needed to finish today. Busy day this Monday!
ReplyDeleteThanks for comments and thoughts on planners/planning/methods. My takeaway is that we approach different projects with different styles and methods, so the variety of planning tools can be purposeful (not extravagant or crazy as I had originally judged myself).
Last week:
1 Grade all the things!: Almost done.
2 Write conference call for papers: Yes
3 Finish typing RBP notes from Big History Book: Yes
4 Read 50 pages for Mars: Yes (hard to put that book down!)
5 Read 50 pages from library book for Mercury: Yes
6 Organize articles in Bookmarks for RBP: No, but a priority for the coming week
I’m happy to have a good, productive week and balance the grading with research. I still haven’t washed the kitchen floor or dropped off the recycling, but it will all get done eventually.
Week ahead:
1 Organize articles in Bookmarks for RBP
2 Type notes for Awesome Russian Author for RBP
3 Read another 50 pages for Mars
4 Open and read through existing RPB outlines (light touch, not too scary)
A short list, but at least it’s a start.
Congrats on a productive week! And it sure is nice to have an unputdownable book on one's must-do reading list!
DeleteThis week's topic led me to think of another: Bibliographic systems, especially databases. Have we discussed this before? I can't remember. My notes are in in the dark archives of my moleskins, and I'm thinking I need to get with the program (Endnotes, Note Bene, or something). I'm wondering what others do . . .
So I didn't do what I set out to do--read short book + 1 article, although I did return short book to the library yesterday, so I guess I'm done with it for now. And I had a great time at the conference.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've decided that it makes sense for me to pause in my participation here until I'm back from my research trip and family vacation--about June 11 or 12. So I'll be back then. In the meantime: Good luck to everyone!
Bon voyage!
DeleteHave a great trip!
DeleteMay your travels be full of wonder and delight!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm working my way closer to actually checking in on over the weekend. I'll get there yet.
ReplyDeleteTopic: I've been using various electronic to-do-list keepers for about two decades(!) now, since I bought a Palm Pilot to help me keep up with all the details involved with teaching 5 courses at 3 different institutions (I only did that for one semester, and I'm still not sure exactly how I survived, especially since other parts of my life were in chaos at the same time). I'm still using a piece of software originally written for the Palm OS -- Bonsai, which is a combination outliner/to-do list keeper. It can be adapted to GTD principles, but I can't claim I have ever done that, though I do generally believe in writing things down to keep them from occupying active space in my brain. I especially value the ability to create a to-do that, thanks to filters, I won't see until sometime in the future, when it's time to do it (or at least figure out when I'll do it). At the moment, I'm running Bonsai on my PC (laptop) and on a flash drive; at the very least, I need to find a way to sync with my (Android) phone. Eventually, I probably need to find something with the features I find essential that works on both Windows and Android (because, while I'd like to be reminded on/by the phone, I need a full-size screen to do major planning), and consider what other features I might find useful (e.g. a better way to handle/switch between the individual details of a particular project and a more general reminder to make progress on that project). But I'm dependent enough on the to-do program as an external brain that the idea of changing makes me a bit nervous. It takes a while to trust that the tucked-away reminders really will reappear at the planned time, and that I won't accidentally filter out something essential. That's especially true at busy times of the year/stressful times of my life, when my ability to hold to-dos in my brain significantly diminishes.
Last week's goals:
Delete1. Finish grading (TRQ but necessary/almost all-consuming at present)
2. Attend day-long workshop related to grant
3. Set TLQ goals for summer (yes, I'm including this one so I can check it off; it is Thursday, after all)
Achieved:
1. yes (somewhat later than planned, but yes)
2. yes (useful)
3. yes
Analysis: well, there's something to be said for setting achievable/partly TRQ goals when the week is already 3/4 over.
Goals for this week:
1. Do detailed planning (group and individual) for grant project; hold meeting; follow up
2. At least begin more detailed planning of whole summer
3. Some exercise/movement (weights, walk, or gardening) each day
4. Take at least one day off, and plan for both regular and longer break(s)
5. Follow up/communicate w/ various friends and family
6. Make some small steps toward decreasing household chaos
I often add something to the list (that is already done) just so I can cross it off. So satisfying.
DeleteDarn, I had so hoped that I would be checking in on time this session. Of course, I have excuses--from a staff member who needed to be transported to the hospital via ambulance, and the pressure from the landlord to have everything clean and shiny by yesterday, to an impromptu celebration upon getting my final tenure approval.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I am late and repentant. How do I stay on track, and what do I use to keep track? I’ve worked through several to-do list sorts of applications. The one that worked the best for me is Any.do ( www.any.do) because it allows me to set reminders that bug me until I finally make the call, write the email, whatever it may be. It has a premium version that allows one to share tasks and set subtasks, which is very satisfying when one can boost things off on a partner or child.
However, i am still very tied to paper, and like to write three things a day on post-it notes that stare balefully at me until I do what they say. I do have a masterlist that is daunting but, as Earnest English says, frees my brain from having to remember all the niggling details. Thank you all for your great suggestions, and things I will have to try out.
Last week’s goals:
Finish culling DH’s clothing and packing winter clothes 1 hour x 3. Only 2 hours of culling and packing winter clothes.
Cull pleasure reading books and pack the “must-keeps” 1 hour x 2. Yes, actually 3 hours. Packing books is hard work!
Diminish clutter at work--½ hour x 5 days. I had a marathon session last Friday and spent a total of 6 hours recycling, shredding and filing.
Work on class assignments 1.5 hours x 5. No
Pierpont article--outline ½ hour x 5. Only three times in the week.
Prudence book--footnotes ½ hour x 5. Four out of five.
Walk ½ hour x 5. Not at all.
Analysis:
Success in getting the winter clothes sorted, some given away and the remainder packed, DH took it in his head that he knew better than I what he wears on a regular basis--pshaw! He also has a small point, that things that have a home can wait until things that do not have a home and are littering the basement, the garage, and the attic, have been packed. I have found the class for work has a lot of exercises and quizzes, but none of it pedagogically engaging or worthwhile. I will have to force myself to jump through the flaming hoop at some point, however. I did work on the Pierpont article and the Prudence book to varying degrees of success, but I am finding that packing leaves me sore and tired. Numbers 1 and 2 sons have done yeoman’s work getting things organized and packed, which may save my back yet. My soreness, added to new orthotics, has made walking painful, but I do hope to return to it soon.
Next week’s goals:
Begin packing the dishes--1 hour x 4.
Continue attacking clutter at work--½ hour x 5
Catch up on course--2 hours x 5. Must do this!!
Pierpont article--outline ½ hour x 5.
Prudence book--footnotes ½ hour x 5.
Walk--½ hour x 2.
Congratulations on your tenure approval! That is fantastic. Even though I've never met you, I never doubted it for a minute. But still, I'm sure it feels great. And I'm impressed with all you accomplished this week, timely check-in or no.
DeleteGood luck with the ongoing packing. Some walks sound like a good way to get out the kinks.
Thank you, GEW! Getting final approval is a relief, indeed. I appreciate your confidence, too. :)
DeleteI've started walking again this week--it does help with the knotty back.
Hurrah on tenure! Celebrate that wholeheartedly.
DeleteI hope the week offers a good balance between intellectual and physical work for you, with plenty of rest too.
Wonderful news! Conguratulations!
DeleteCongratulations!! SO pleased for you, especially after all the bull of the last year or so!
DeleteThank you all! And yes, JaneB, I have a savage satisfaction in that.
DeleteAlmost too late, since I got sick on Sunday night, and am still not really well. (Nothing serious, but for three days a high fever, and now a low grade one, and NO APPETITE. And this last is the sign that I am NOT WELL.) I'm easing into work. So:
ReplyDeletePlanning methods: I'm terrible. I try systems, but I just keep most things in my head. I have a few major things at once, and those just keep going. I keep thinking there are better ways to do this but never adopt them. But I'm fascinated by the various methods people use...
Last weeks goals:
1. Book orders for the fall NO
2. Finish minor revisions of paper for volume YES
3. Start working on footnotes. NO
4. Read a non-work book. NO, but started
5. Finish container plantings for garden YES
Well, there were meetings, and more meetings. I ILL'd a bunch of books for my fall course. In other news, I got the readers reports for my book ms, so I can get into reviews.
For this week, I'm going to have very limited goals:
1. Finish book orders
2. Write response to readers reports
3. Begin revisions on Chap 1.
I hope you are feeling better! And that you didn't have to do meetings and more meetings when feeling poorly. Looking forward to a lighter, brighter week.
Delete"NO APPETITE. And this last is the sign that I am NOT WELL." Oh, you're The Scot! Or Basement Cat.
Delete:-) =^..^=
Sorry to hear you're ill, Susan, and hope you're better soon!
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