Week 7: Mid-Session Check up/ Check in

We are half way through our 14 week session, and it is always useful to look back at our original goals, see how we are doing, what needs to be added, deleted, or modified.  This is a reality check. I can tell by the drop-off in postings that several of us are sick, stressed, overwhelmed, or dealing with life that sometimes suddenly becomes too complicated. We all often aspire to do more than we can manage, and one of the things this group has helped me do is realize when I'm being unrealistic, when the context has changed enough.  So, to help you re-calibrate your expectations of yourself, pasted below are your initial session goals, followed by the goals you set last week.  (Or the week before, as is my case because I didn't manage to check in last week!)  If you want to drop a goal, or modify it, say so!

Session Goals:

Allan wilson

1) to be fitter and stronger physically than I am now, by doing exercise consistently - I find this has enormous benefits for my mental wellbeing, and energy levels

2) to be calm, especially as Christmas draws closer. Not sure yet what my strategies will be here.

3) to resubmit two papers that I have previously completed with the help of this group - both are complete mss, but need reformatting after recent rejections

4)to work on drafts of three other papers, so each has a complete manuscript form

Contingent Cassandra

Self-care:

--increase exercise (walking, weight-lifting, gardening) enough to increase the amount I can do

--make/eat more homemade food

--get enough/more regular sleep (in particular, try to establish/maintain a regular bedtime/bedtime routine)

--do more long-form reading (keep up w/church Bible-reading project, + some additional professional & recreational reading)

Household/financial:

--accomplish enough in the garden plot to meet the standard of “active gardening” and to move as much gardening paraphernalia as possible to the plot itself (make fence out of rolls of wire currently occupying part of my living space; assemble storage box ditto & fill will tools ditto)

--make progress on putting up shelves (including temporary assembly of ones that will eventually be painted/permanently installed)

--get financial paperwork in shape for mortgage applications

--gather data for a budget

--research 2nd home/investment property/storage solution

Professional:

--Follow up on grant project (attend conference, prepare reports, look into addtl funding, maybe write a bit)

--Continue to think about research/writing priorities

Personal:

--do what I can to keep up/reestablish contact with friends and family, without getting too tied up in whether/how people (especially those in difficult/complicated situations) respnd.

--scan at least an album’s worth of family pictures; move pictures to new, archival album (which will be a birthday/Christmas present for my brother)

Daisy

write three new papers and finish the hideous revise and resubmit from the last session! The three new ones are for projects that are now slowly maturing and producing things worth writing about.

Dame Eleanor Hull

Goals, though: I want to have sent out two R&R projects and done some serious reading/note-taking to provide some theoretical underpinnings for my book-in-progress. (The state of the book is that I've basically done all the writing involving the primary text---or all I can do for now---and now I need to work on theoretical and historical background, with some literary comparisons.) I also need to do some translation-revising (we've achieved a complete rough draft, which is a big milestone). I need to keep up with teaching, which is less challenging than usual (low enrollments = smaller classes). Usually things I consider basic (exercise, food providing) aren't too tricky, but my teaching schedule and recent discovery of some food intolerances means that over the next few months, both of these need more attention than they used to. Finally, there's the house-related sorting/tossing/giving away/storing that I don't really want to do but really need to do. We will both be much happier in a newer, lower-maintenance place, and the only way out is through.

Earnest English

Gardening/herbalism: don’t forget about the garden, but do some fall planting, winter gardening or whatever/planning or herbalism learning weekly

Writing: five hours/sessions per week (reading counts!); 6x

Health: sleep!!! (in bed by 11 or earlier on worknights), supplements, good food

Mental health: journal, meditate or yoga and RELAX, listen to audio books during commute; planning instead of panic; create and communicate boundaries

Cooking: one nice meal a week (plan over weekend)

Weekly and birthday/holiday planning: Keep on top of holidays and other events with planning on weekends

Spirited!: keep checked in to his education: at least check notebook every weekend and check in with him; even better? ask daily

Work: be an intentional, slow professor who plods through work

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell

Session mantra: Live purposefully and deliberately

Continue my habit of writing every day.

Finish the neverending commentary for the Prudence book.

Move more--use the brand-new variable desk, walk more, get out of the chair more.

Good Enough Woman

1. Health-Exercise more regularly. 3x a week with walking, swimming, and yoga in the mix. More veggies for the whole family.

2. Home--Get bills, and passwords, and Powerschool, etc. under control. Help kids with various things that are important to them.

3. Research--Submit conference proposal by October deadline. Submit one article. Read 1-2 articles/chapters each week (to stay fresh and ready for the viva).

4. Finish the Slow Professor, and choose various principles and practices for weekly goals (from time-to-time).

5. Family and Friends--various weekly goals as I try to be intentional about doing things for family and friends that will really help them or make them happy.

Humming 42

1 Submit book manuscript

2 Submit two late book reviews

3 Finish and submit Ungloomy article

4 Finish and submit Venus article

5 Read a novel

6 Get grading done in a timely manner

7 Set and maintain a schedule to manage household responsibilities

8 Consider possibility for writing every day

Jane B

1) survive and deliver my classes acceptably, if possible without needing sick leave from teaching

2) Have full drafts of two (closely related) papers from the project I call Problem Child. This requires actual data generation (from simulations) as well as writing

3) Be up to date with refereeing, reviewing etc. (current queue is 2 papers, one book) and minor writing (one 2000 word chapter for an encyclopedia thing, conference talk)

4) look after myself - eat reasonably, spend enough time in bed (sleep is erratic and sometimes elusive, but I can at least rest my eyes and feet for the right amount of time), exercise gently, be kind to myself

5) probably this should be my number 1 - act deliberately. Act with purpose and intent, NOT reactively, and as if I am a person who matters as much if not more than all the things around me. this is the best way I can currently codify in a few words the ideas that have percolated up from continuing to think about the 'Slow Professor' principles, and ideas we talked about in the summer like 'move like water'... I talk a lot in previous iterations about balance, but it strikes me that that metaphor is troubling as it implies an inately precarious situation, something like walking across a narrow beam, high up, whilst carrying many objects. I want a metaphor which makes me feel intrinsically grounded, gives me more feeling of control and agency than of continually just avoiding the brink of disaster, and which helps me do wood-and-forest thinking, switching smoothly between the immediate and the longer term (which reaction, fire-fighting, wobbling on a beam, really doesn't favour).

Karen

1. Explore writing rhythms till I get something I can hold

2. Write one conference paper

3. Review co-authored conference paper and knock it through to a complete article draft

3. Get ethics approval up for 2017 SOTL project

4. Find energy that doesn't rely on chocolate (so sleep, mindful eating, movement)

5. Work with co-teachers on 2017 curriculum development to the point where there's defined plans and time allocations for being ready for semester 1.

KJHaxton (Katy)

Goals for the session

1. incorporate regular writing/editing sessions for several projects interspersed with writing fits (1500 words in a couple of hours).

2. Make progress with two research projects: scary and house, mainly by revising and using the research tools on cohorts.

3. Submit one paper and get another one 'nearly there'

4. Make stuff!

5. Be more present in this group - I swing by to check in and keep track but I want to find more time to comment.

Susan:

1.  I have a paper to finish for a conference with pre-circulated papers.  It's due this week, and it will be done.

2.  I have a long overdue book review that needs to get done

3.  I have footnotes to check.  Once I've finished  the book review, I want to do as much of this as possible.

4.  I have a paper I wrote a year ago for a conference/essay collection, but the essay collection has not found a home, so I'd like to publish it.  It needs a bit of polishing, so if there's time, I'd like to do that.

5.  Return to reading fiction: I keep thinking this will happen, and I'm hoping that as my mind gets free of the book, I will do this.

6.  Sleep: I work best when I get about 7 hours of sleep a night.  One of my feline alarm clocks does not like this, but I'd really like to get to bed early enough so this can work

7.  Exercise: I go to an exercise class three days a week; I'd like to add walking twice a week.  That depends on the sleep.

8.  Friends and family: I need to stay connected to people, just hanging out and talking.  

Waffles:

1. Approximately 5 grant applications for project #1 (actual number will depend on my fellowship app currently under review). Most due in November.

2. Intersections paper

3. Discrepant paper

4. Stress Model paper (this may wait as it's complex)

5. Aging paper

6. CS paper

7. Stigma paper

8. 2 grant apps for project #2

Goals from last week

allan wilson

1. Eat healthy foods 85% of the time. 
2. Finish revisions to FS and send off. 
3. Draft rough revision for WHK paper. 
4. Abstract for conference

Contingent Cassandra

--Get as close to caught up on grading as possible (the better to concentrate on workshop/conference)

--Finish reading for next weekend's workshop

--Finish travel arrangements for week after's conference (get train ticket & sign dept. paperwork once it's ready) 

--Catch up/take care of some business with stepsister

--Follow up on grant-related financial task

--At least cover parsley & greens(harvest & make pesto if time) 

--Try to enjoy weekend workshop (which will be my first night away from home in almost a year. I'm not a huge traveler, so the lack of travel hasn't been a hardship, but I do look forward to the shift in perspective that getting away can bring)

Daisy (from 2 weeks ago)

(Flood/life recovery). So, I'll be back in about 2 weeks when the giant grant application is finished, visiting grad students have gone home, two more conferences (on my weekends) are done, and I can sit in my office and not want to cry...

Dame Eleanor Hull:

1. Self care: sit 4x, yoga 4x, basic stretching 3x, gym 3x for weights only, walk 10-15 minutes 5x provided the ankle's doing well enough. Go to bed by 10:30 7x.
2. R&R #2: 4 hours. Finish paper?
3. House/personal: do one of those financial things, 1 hour basement sorting, 1 hour filing, 1 hour garden, organize estimates on gutter cleaning, survive window-measuring visit. Maybe try again on having a single day devoted to house and personal stuff.
4. Teaching: plan the rest of the term for undergrads; do fast turn-around on grads' research proposals.
5. Plan something fun.
6. Take care of TRQ so it doesn't distract me from TLQ.

Earnest English

Mental Health: Planning, stretching, mental discipline for inner freedom, meditation when needed, breathe. Try not to invest a lot of energy in hating hateful people.
Gardening: 1 hour of gardening this weekend (clean up? plant garlic?)
Writing: 3 sessions of writing/revising; respond to others’ work; read for project; send off to deadline!
Health: sleep, rest, relax, take supplements, eat well, make sure to bring and eat lunch.
Cooking: one meal this week 
Planning: Figure out Halloween; grade day by day to prevent weekend-stealing
Spirited!: therapy and connect when I get home. 

Move like water, grade like tortoise, everyone!

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Health
Eat things that won’t make me sick, even while at the conference. 
Continue physical therapy exercises x 10
Yoga x 3
Writing
Write one story. 
Prudence x 3 
Pierpont x 3 

Move like water, float like mist, everyone!

Good Enough Woman (from 3 weeks ago)

Health: Exercise 3x. Make at least one overdue unpleasant doctor's appt. for myself. Making an appointment is SO hard. :( 
Home: Follow up about that dentist bill.
Research: Read one thing. Review submission requirements for article.
Family: Complete ~80% of Halloween party shopping and prep, including costume stuff. Order costume stuff for son. Get son started on Code Academy.

Humming42

1 write 4x
2 read 5x
3 online course 3x

JaneB

This week I'm going to try and referee a paper, eat sensible food in the evening (I've been getting in, shattered, eating a couple of pieces of toast or some crackers, feeding the cat, and either going to bed or sitting around surfing the 'net until I fall asleep. At least I should heat up a tin of soup...)

Karen (held over from three weeks ago)

This week (including another road trip): Theme - Attend to Now
1. Clean up bedtime transitions - electronics curfew, choose one intentional activity (sewing/knitting/music practice/yoga) for each night.
2. Read and note 2 x articles.
3. Use sit/stand desk transitions to cue stretching.

KJ Haxton (Katy)

This week (probably my last week 'in work' for the academic year)
1. get lecture notes to the people covering my late semester teaching
2. update my 'who is covering what' and ask for more helpers
3. tidy up home office area and work out what needs bringing home from work
4. try to deal with the appointments and paperwork and everything else being sick seems to create.

Susan (from two weeks ago)

1. Write two paper abstracts -- one based on the paper I gave last week, one for a conference in March. 
2. Make plane reservations for next conference
3. Grade papers
4. Go through MS and check all citations to printed books in period; do printed primary sources if possible.
5. Do small admin task for department so it's DONE.

Waffles

1. NSF grant (get full draft done)
2. RSA abstract
3. religion paper - work on edits

Week 6: Carrying It With You

Hi TLQ-ers! I'm sitting here at the airport, waiting for a delayed flight (and fighting off a bout of imposter syndrome) as I head for another state to install an exhibition - which is coming with me as my baggage. I'm thinking about the cross-over between real and metaphorical baggage, and that is prompting me to think about what we carry with us. In my case, I feeling bolstered by all the good wishes I know come along with these works. 

So what do you carry with you? Is it a material object, words of advice or wisdom, memories and feelings? What have you chosen to bring? Is there anything you want to consign to lost luggage?

allan wilson
1. Eat healthy foods 85% of the time.
2. Continue drafting bird paper - write up some results (with at least one graph) and contact lab guy.
3. Finish revisions to FS and send off.
4. Draft rough revision for WHK paper

Contingent Cassandra
--more work in garden: get things as close to ready for 11/15 inspection deadline as possible, including making at least one more bed and doing last sowing of winter greens.--get enough and as regular as possible sleep; continue to move sleep schedule earlier as possible --harvest parsley & make pesto--work food bought/harvested this week into meals--do grant project follow-up (emails; final budget distribution) --catch up with grading in preparation for upcoming trips--make progress on reading for professional meeting--finish travel arrangements: train ticket, one more hotel reservation, department paperwork--follow up with brother; catch up with stepsister and one friend--at least some Bible reading (probably will end up catching up after trip)--take one walk, even a short one, if possible. 

Daisy
Placeholder for back in 2 weeks after grant/grad students/conference/home stress clear.
Good luck and we hope you get some opportunities to at least put your ankle up and eat chocolate!

Dame Eleanor Hull
1. Self care: sit 4x, yoga 4x, basic stretching 3x, gym 3x for weights only.
2. R&R #2: 3 hours; make own list; collect/order books.
3. Translation-related thing: do it.
4. House/personal: do one of those financial things, 1 hour basement sorting, 1 hour filing, organize estimates on gutter cleaning.
5. Teaching: plan the rest of the term (possible change to one class).
6. Take care of TRQ so it doesn't distract me from TLQ.

Earnest English
Mental Health: Planning, stretching, mental discipline for inner freedom, meditation when needed, breathe. Try not to invest a lot of energy in hating hateful people.
Gardening: Clean up for party as much as I can???
Writing: 3 sessions of writing/revising; respond to others’ work; read for project
Health: sleep, rest, relax, take supplements, eat well, make sure to bring and eat lunch.
Cooking: one meal this week 
Planning: Spirited’s party: many tasks, including kitchen and bathroom cleaning; arrangements; stuff still to purchase; people to get in touch with
Spirited!: therapy and connect when I get home. 

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell (held over from last week)
Health
Call three doctors for appointments. 
Continue physical therapy exercises x 10
Improve eating habits, avoiding bad things x 5
Walk x 7 
Yoga x 1

Writing
Write one story. 
Prudence x 5 
Pierpont x 5 

Breathe, move like water, look for joy, and keep tilting!

Good Enough Woman (held over from last week)
Health: Exercise 3x. Make at least one overdue unpleasant doctor's appt. for myself. Making an appointment is SO hard. :( 
Home: Follow up about that dentist bill.
Research: Read one thing. Review submission requirements for article.
Family: Complete ~80% of Halloween party shopping and prep, including costume stuff. Order costume stuff for son. Get son started on Code Academy.

humming42

1 finish and submit Last Remaining if invited to do so
2 finish reading book 2 for review (I have some time to spend in non-places like waiting rooms this week)
3 finish chapter 5 references for Revised Book Project
4 be mindful about eating

JaneB
Bowing out of goals for the moment. Still looking for small moments of joy.

KJHaxton

1. find and read through paperwork for meeting (yay! trip to London!)
2. finish off plans for transferring my face-to-face teaching onto colleagues before 'sick' leave
3. continue prep for classes
4. make arrangements for outreach event for Hallow'een and in November

Karen *held over from two weeks ago)

This week (including another road trip): Theme - Attend to Now
1. Clean up bedtime transitions - electronics curfew, choose one intentional activity (sewing/knitting/music practice/yoga) for each night.
2. Read and note 2 x articles.
3. Use sit/stand desk transitions to cue stretching.

Susan
1. Write two paper abstracts -- one based on the paper I gave last week, one for a conference in March. 
2. Make plane reservations for next conference
3. Grade papers
4. Go through MS and check all citations to printed books in period; do printed primary sources if possible.
5. Do small admin task for department so it's DONE.

Waffles
1. Figure out moderated-mediation or mediated-moderation for NSF model
2. Work on darned intersectionality paper*
3. work on religion analyses

Week 5: Finding Joy

Apologies for late posting -- I'm at a conference and I wasn't organized enough to write this in advance!   I'd also like to apologize on behalf of my fellow residents of the USA, for inflicting this painful "ongoing train wreck" (CC's term) of an election on the rest of the world.  It was obvious last week that I was not the only one obsessed and anxious, and that will be true for the next 3+ weeks.

It's easy to think about the challenges we face, in finding a rhythm, dealing with the idiocies of politicians or administrators who think we don't work hard enough, managing work with difficult colleagues.   But in all this, I think it's important to keep connected to things that give us joy.  They may be, on a weekly basis, small moments -- a simulation that works, a good conversation, a terrific class discussion.  So I thought it would be good to collect at least one thing from each of us that has given us joy in the last week.

Goals from last week:
Contingent Cassandra
--establish bedtime routine (shower; reading; bed by 9:00/9:30 most nights)
--continue work in garden
--cook dinner at home at least 2-3x
--catch up on Bible reading
--start reading for end-of-Oct. professional workshop/seminar
--grant project follow up (email, budget distribution)
--catch up with brother; contact at least one other friend or family member to catch up 

Daisy
1) Introduction, Literature review and previous work section for Paper 1
2) Data organization for Paper 1
3) Conference talk, and fully written out discussion for the topic to put into paper later 
(Susan would add, continue recovering from flood.)

Dame Eleanor Hull: 
1. Self care: gym 4x, walk 3x, sit 4x, yoga 2x, 5-10 minutes of basic stretching 5x. 
2. R&R #2: 4 hours (print reviewer comments, make own list of Things To Do, collect or ILL necessary books, start working from list).
3. Do the translation-related thing.
4. Finances: ½ hour to do the simple thing. Figure out what I need in the way of circumstances to do the other one (which is still pretty simple; I’m just blocked for some reason).
5. House Stuff: devote one day simply to house/personal stuff. 
6. Take care of TRQ, so it doesn’t distract me from TLQ.

Earnest English
This Week’s Theme: Grounded and Principled

Mental Health: Planning prevents panic. Breathe, stretch, meditate, drink calm tea, take baths. Be here now/no free rent in my head.
Gardening: 2 hours of gardening/clean-up; look into ordering garlic
Writing: 4 sessions of writing/revision 
Health: sleep, rest, relax, take supplements, eat well. 
Cooking: one meal this week 
Planning: Do bills, work on Spirited’s party; make most unpleasant phone call on Thursday.
Spirited!: therapy and connect when I get home.

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
Health
Continue physical therapy exercises x 14 
Improve eating habits, avoiding bad things x 10 
Walk x 7 
Yoga x 2
Writing
Outline vignettes 
Prudence x 5 
Pierpont x 5 

Good Enough Woman
Health: Exercise 3x. Make at least one overdue unpleasant doctor's appt. for myself. Making an appointment is SO hard. :( 
Home: Follow up about that dentist bill.
Research: Read one thing. Review submission requirements for article.
Family: Complete ~80% of Halloween party shopping and prep, including costume stuff. Order costume stuff for son. Get son started on Code Academy.

Humming42
So for this week, I just want to do a good job with Last Remaining Project and not pressure myself to do anything more. 

JaneB
1) get enough sleep, eat 5 fruit/veg a day, take Echinacea for cold
2) at least make a list of all the research stuff and deadlines and the like, so I can send emails with realistic "I can deliver for... date x" type contents
3) act deliberately, take a breath when I task transition, be kind to myself and think the best of people (especially people being drama-llamas about their own colds and teaching loads)

Karen
This week (including another road trip): Theme - Attend to Now
1. Clean up bedtime transitions - electronics curfew, choose one intentional activity (sewing/knitting/music practice/yoga) for each night.
2. Read and note 2 x articles.
3. Use sit/stand desk transitions to cue stretching.

KJ Haxton
This week:
1. finish talk for seminar, give talk
2. find and read through paperwork for meeting
3. prepare and deliver 3 hours of lectures
4. continue prep and planning 

Susan
1. Print out and read papers
2. Walk/ other exercise 2 x.
3. Read for pleasure on my trip home from conference.

Waffles
1. Re-analyses for religion paper
2. Work on NSF grant
3. Work on intersections paper
4. Stupid analytic plan*