Week 8: Meaningful things

As the world continues to turn in strange and unpredictable ways, we press on. I’m struck by how many of us are moving offices or moving homes, or considering the possibilities of such.

When I visited the university I ended up attending as an undergraduate, one of the people I spent time with on my visit told me to be sure I brought something from home that would be an anchor for me. He assured me I would know what the right object was when the time came to move. While I remember that so well, I cannot recall what my anchoring object was. But I can tell you about a handful of other objects that I have carried with me from one office to the next, one home to the next, and put on my desk or in a place where it could function as a kind of touchstone.

Do you have a touchstone, talisman, or anchoring object that is the first thing you unpack? Something you make sure you carry with you and have easy access to? If not, what might work well for you?

Here are last week’s goals. Looking forward to a steady, solid week ahead.

Allan Wilson

1. Exercise every day- slightly longer walks

2. Limit chocolate to three days

3. Work on revisions for CR for at least 4 hours

4. Work on ppw for at least 2 hours.

Contingent Cassandra

1. Finish preparing for summer term class (begins next Monday, so TRQ at this point)

2. Finish computer update (including adding memory to backup computer, just in case the update takes longer than planned; I'm cutting it a bit close at this point)

3. Try to take at least a day off (maybe 2?)

4. Get moving at least a bit (a walk? a swim?)

5. Reading and chaos-reduction as time allows.

6. make progress on connecting with family and friends

7. begin planning real break for after summer term (these two are probably connected, and may not actually happen until next week, but at least I'll have the reminder).

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Do All The Things that have to happen before I leave for the airport.

2. Get myself to my destination.

3. Meet with translation team; work based on decisions made in our discussions.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Finish packing the house

Pack for the conference

Try to relax and enjoy the conference

Good Enough Woman

1) Be present with family at the cabin. Enjoy the river and the mountains!

2) Move like water while spending time with my dad. He is lovely, but sometimes I feel very "on" and it's hard to get quiet time, and it's hard for me not to have quiet time.

3) Read two articles or chapters.

4) Read 50 pages of primary source material.

5) Start making a bibliography from citations in the footnotes: Put in 20 sources.

heu mihi

1) Write 2500 words? Possibly too ambitious.

2) Significant progress on revisions due 7/1

3) Review article for journal

4) Read three things

humming42

1 Begin revision on Chapter 1 of RBP

2 Read peer articles from Mercury journal

3 Map out approach to space for Mercury

4 Read parts 6-8 for Mars

5 Read through Mars conference presentation

6 Set dates for fieldwork

7 Attend faculty writing retreat

JaneB

1) restore good habits following travel - mindful eating, bed times, exercise at least a couple of times

2) Make measurable progress with Problem Child

3) Do at least 500 words of writing on Special Issue Paper

4) Take at least 2 slots of half an hour to organise notes from Gallimaufrey meeting that I just attended, to free-write about some of the ideas that came up there, and to process materials

5) write a blog post for Gallimaufrey site about the workshop

KJHaxton

1. survive yet more meetings

2. prepare for and run two outreach activities

3. leave office in tidy state despite outreach activities

4. submit draft application for consideration

5. submit paperwork for new degree programme

6. plan blanket for new wool and start it [I have rainbow yarn, http://www.thehomemakery.co.uk/dusky-rainbow-yarn-pack-stylecraft-special-dk because I need some easy knitting. I can't follow patterns at the moment because I'm too tired. So nice easy colour block blanket]

7. review summer students' work and get other 3 summer students started (and sort out their payment)

Matilda

1) Set the time to write, and keep it.

2) Continue to work on Chapter 2. Revise the revision plan.

3) Writing exercise 5 of Goodson’s revised book.

4) 5 minute short exercise more than three times a day.

6) No snacks at night, just tea or coffee, instead. Or healthy snack.

Susan

1. Finish revisions to conclusion

2. Go through ILL books to get footnotes checked and finished, so I can start returning ILL books.

3. (Really TRQ, but. . .) Pack up office to prepare for office move next week

4. Do car rentals

5. Do more pleasure reading

6. Get through some more piles of junk

7. Walk 2x along with 3x morning class

Waffles

1. Finish drafting research strategy

2. Finish support analyses

3. Send off components of grant to various and sundry people for feedback

4. Analyses for religion paper

5. Try to get back to relations paper

Week 7: getting some distance

I've been conferencing (or rather workshopping - smaller and more talking with rather than talking at than a typical conference) this week, so not around in the comments here, but I've carried on thinking about the questions posed last week.  One thing I did notice was how much easier it was to think about those questions with some distance from all the day-to-day noise, from people, from place, from context - and so I wonder if anyone has tips on how to get that sort of perspective, of distance, on issues when there isn't a handy workshop in another country that needs attending?  Is it possible?  

 We've talked before about trying to bottle all the Good Stuff of conferencing, the enthusiasm, the sense of possibility and excitement, and I'm sure we've talked about the Bad Stuff (Career Envy, Mentor Envy, relapses into Imposter Syndrome, Exhaustion, Job Not Stopping Whilst We Conference etc.), but this week I'd like to talk about this one specific aspect, the distance from the hurly-burly without taking a complete break from work which sometimes opens up new perspectives on problems that seem intractable, and is particularly useful for helping to recalibrate priorities.  or is that something other people don't experience?

Allan Wilson

1. Exercise every day
2. Redo methods, and tweak significance, so I can finally resubmit Whk
3. 2 hours on revisions CR
4. 2 hours on ppw
5. 2 hours on ms for MR

Contingent Cassandra (from week 5)

1. Keep moving; add at least walking and swimming to gardening (at least one most days), maybe weight-lifting

2. Initiate or follow up on friend/family connections/reconnections (need to do more of this)

3. Continue computer work (get backup computer ready to serve as main computer; organize main computer & gather supplies/info in prep for upgrades)

4. Do initial planning/organizing for summer class (will be TRQ, but isn't yet; I want to allow time for both computer upgrade and taking some time off before start of summer term)

5. Long-form reading, chaos-reduction, and/or minor repairs as time allows

Daisy: still doing fieldwork!

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Keep 9-1 office hours MWThF
3. Restore/maintain working sleep schedule.
4. Make progress on Revision #1.
5. 2 or more hours' worth of Administrivia, mainly personal or involving travel plans.
6. Another round of weeding nasty invasive species that spread via roots.
7. Two hours basement sorting.
8. 30-60 minutes a day of translation work.
9. Return more books.

Earnest English

Try to remember who you are at a deep level even when the shit starts rising high. Take supplements. Do fortifying things.
Farmstead: I'm starting to see that the farmstead stuff is integral to my health, fortifying. Keep it up.
Family: Be mellow as much as possible. The work is almost over and then there'll be summer.
Work planning: I haven't even figured out what days I'll be at work this week because this is one of those odd weeks. I'm just not getting it together. I'm so tired after grading and doing committee work over the weekend. I didn't finish but I just can't do anymore, and there's some time in the morning. Must do something else!!!

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Plan the rest of the Pierpont article--schedule and outline
Plan the Prudence book--revise outline and schedule
½ hour walking x 7
½ hour WWII novella x 7

Good Enough Woman

1) Thesis first. Finish intro draft. Tidy up chaps one and two. Let go of getting chapter three redrafted?
2) Plan clearly for a few things related to family so I can do a little bit and be present, but then don't go beyond those plans, and don't feel guilty. It's okay if kids are bored or playing video games while I work this week, right? Next week they'll be hiking and fishing and the mountains.
3) Pack for trip, but don't over prepare.
4) Open bank account for the kids.
5) Pay bills.

Heu mihi

1) Write 2000 words
2) Read at least 3 things relevant to current chapter
3) Think up, write, and send in conference proposal (!!)
4) Get through son's birthday circus intact

Humming42

1 Read parts 3-4 for Mars
2 Type notes from Mars book
3 Begin revision on Chapter 1 of RBP
4 Read peer articles from Mercury journal
5 Map out approach to space for Mercury
6 Celebrate birthday (instead of ignoring it)

Jane B

1) enjoy the workshop without wearng myself out, and if that means spending evenings in my hostel room staring at the ceiling instead of sociably eating out, that is what I will do.
2) try not to eat All The Things - eat one of the tasty things slowly and with enjoyment, ignore the rest.
3) work on staying in the moment and ignoring anything that might be happening elsewhere or in my email.

karen

1. Breath. Move like water.
2. Hold the space for people that need it. Include myself in the people that get that extension of kindness and patience.
3. Read one thing that isn't to do with an imminent deadline.
4. 5 minutes of freewriting x 4

KJHaxton (from week 5)

Meetings

Marking

Matilda

1) Set the time to write, and keep it.
2) Continue to work on Chapter 2. Revise the revision plan.
3) Writing exercise 4 of Goodson’s revised book.
5) 5 minute short exercise three times a day.
6) No snacks at night, just a good cup of milk, tea or coffee, instead.

Susan

1. Finish Intro, start conclusion
2. Read for fun
3. Walk at least twice in addition to 3x class.
4. Make progress on the garden
5. Start clearing stuff for travel over July, and get ready for sister's visit. (My sister is very orderly, so I'm trying to get through the junk piles before she comes!)
6. Make last arrangements (car rentals) for July trip.

Waffles

1. Analyses for support paper
2. Research strategy
3. Edits to other pieces of F32

Week 6: Needs and Wants

I try to do some freewriting journaling every morning. I find that as I am in the process of throwing all of the crap onto the page, I end up writing about how I need to do this and need to do that. When I became aware of this, I began to stop my writing and ask myself if I really needed to do all of these things and the kind of desperate urgency I created around all of these things: washing the dishes, calling my mother, replying to an email from a student...these are typically TLQ things that I was treating like TRQ. And bringing that on myself.

I have now added a new element to this freewriting practice. When the initial flush of writing begins to slow, I begin a section with “I want.” I have learned so much from this. Apparently the thing I want most frequently is peace. And I work through that: if I don’t feel peaceful, why not? What is amiss in my life? Can I fix it? Can I ignore it? Am I making too much out of it? Can I do a “need” item and then feel some peace for not holding it over my own head?

This week, let’s talk about the things we think we need to do urgently, as well as the things we might want but have not yet acknowledged. Are there ways to push back on all the “need to do” items? Are there ways to fulfill aspects of the “want”? What would happen if you carried your want around with you, mindfully? What can you do now/today/this week to get what you want?

Happy week ahead!

Contingent Cassandra

1. Keep moving; add at least walking and swimming to gardening (at least one most days), maybe weight-lifting

2. Initiate or follow up on friend/family connections/reconnections (need to do more of this)

3. Continue computer work (get backup computer ready to serve as main computer; organize main computer & gather supplies/info in prep for upgrades)

4. Do initial planning/organizing for summer class (will be TRQ, but isn't yet; I want to allow time for both computer upgrade and taking some time off before start of summer term)

5. Long-form reading, chaos-reduction, and/or minor repairs as time allows

Daisy: doing fieldwork!

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Talk to Sir John about selling (or not) the house.

2. Keep 9-1 office hours MWThF (M will have to be a bit short)

3. Maintain working sleep schedule.

4. Make progress on Revision #1.

5. 2 or more hours' worth of Administrivia, mainly personal.

6. Another round of weeding nasty invasive species that spread via roots.

7. Four hours basement sorting.

8. 30-60 minutes a day of translation work.

9. Return some books.

Earnest English

• Health: take supplements, get through it, try not to eat ten tons of ice cream but five tons is probably okay
• Farmstead: try not to let everything fall to Husband. Water seeds, take care of chicks and ducklings in the morning.
• Family: Therapy -- I'm trying. I am.
• Work Planning: I have so much work that I can't look at the whole thing at once or I'll turn to stone. But if I look at little reflections of it, I can scurry and figure how to get that done. I just have to breathe through it, move like water (have I mentioned that my shoulders are now so tense they hurt?), plod plod plod.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

½ hour on Pierpont x 5

½ hour on Prudence x 5

½ hour walking x 5

½ hour WWII novella x 5

Good Enough Woman

1) Do ALL THE THINGS and be present while doing them. Make a detailed schedule today (Sunday) that includes errands, shopping lists, phone calls to make, and events. On Monday, order cupcakes and make any reservations needed for Friday.

2) Finish editing Chapter Two even if this means staying up late (or skipping TV with my husband) in order to do so.

3) Make plans to focus entirely on work the following week. Decide whether or not to stay home or leave for a few days. Make reservations if I decide to leave.

4) Print and review "intent to submit" documents. (EEP!)

5) Make to-do list and packing list for upcoming three-week family trip.

Humming42

1 Read 50 pages of Moon Circling book

2 Read 50 page of new RPB book

3 Read 100 pages of Mercury book

4 Read parts 3-4 for Mars

5 write to new RPB editor

Jane B

1) work effectively with PDF and Problem Child's Visitor to make some real progress

2) paperwork - for travel the week after next (passport arrived, thought I had no money because of freeze on all our normal travel pots, collaborator offered to pay for me, mad last minute booking panic, not sure if it's a good or bad thing, but _IF_ I can get the approvals signed off I'm travelling to a workshop...), and for LikesMaths (both supervisory records that don't match Rules perfectly due to them being on fieldwork, Incoming & other committee members being busy etc., and for their sample problem)

3) 500 words plus a diagram for Special Issue Paper

4) get all admin paperwork distributed

5) draft report and plan for Away Day (which is TLQ NOW but will be TRQ the week after my trip, and I might have a post-travel slump)

6) do at least two Nice To Me things every day (bed before midnight, gym visit, cook something healthy, eat only good snacks, read a chunk of fiction, do some handicrafts, do some decluttering, that sort of thing) and keep a note in done list.

karen

1. Exercise x2

2. Take notes out of one of the SoTL papers I found

3. Make a daily to do list that is realistic and focused

KJHaxton

Meetings

Marking

Susan

1. Finish Chap 4 and 5, and start introduction

2. Go back to reading for fun

3. Get some kind of order in the back yard.

4. Walk 3 x in addition to 3x class.

Waffles

1. Work on relat paper

2. Work on research strategy for F32

3. Do new analyses for Science paper

4. Try to get draft of remaining pieces of F32 done.