As I type, my building has been taken over with preparations for the institutional end of year function. At home, we've started the advent calendar, I'm inflicting the Michael Buble Christmas CD during car trips, and outdoor swimming is possible without freezing.
That means the end of the year is in sight - so for this week's topic I'm shifting to silliness and asking if you have a favourite runaway metaphor for the downhill slope till the end of the year, and for some, till the end of semester. Sledding? Rollercoasters? Slippery dip?
allan wilson
(from 3 weeks ago, nature intervening!)
1. Reduce second helpings at dinner which have nothing to do with the fact that I am hungry.
2. Use appropriate coping strategies, not eating. Eg, walking, or resting.
3. Have a go at finishing FS.
2. Use appropriate coping strategies, not eating. Eg, walking, or resting.
3. Have a go at finishing FS.
Contingent Cassandra
--find some way to move a bit between conferences (short walks, calisthenics, etc.)
--get as close to a full night's sleep as possible each night (the key to this is coming home directly after the last conference, even if I still have things to do)
--fit in additional family/friend contact as possible
--make the rest of the parsley into pesto
--set up meeting for grant project
--finish novel I began; get back on track with Bible reading
Daisy
1) Hills Paper, AGAIN!
2) Cold Paper, complete data section
Dame Eleanor Hull
1. Self-care: sit 5x, 2 yoga classes, basic stretching 4x, weights 3x, cardio or walking 5x, keep up good work on food/tracking.
2. Teaching: write final exams.
3. Research: finish R&R, send e-mails.
4. House/Life: restore study furniture, 2 hrs basement, pay bills.
Earnest English
Mental Health: Stretch, plan, make key phone calls on Wednesday
Gardening: fall clean up as promised, get garlic in the ground, put beds to sleep
Writing: work in the morning; read
Health: sleep, rest, relax, take supplements, eat well, make sure to bring and eat lunch.
Cooking: Thanksgiving!
Planning: Keep checking in on my goals
Spirited!: Connect and be here now.
Work: grade 5 projects per day, preferably in the morning on days not going to work
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Make remaining three doctors’ appointments
Spend half-hour per day on the 2017 planner (this has goal setting and journaling rolled into it)
Declutter the work space half-hour x 3
Write SOMETHING for fifteen minutes x 7
Good Enough Woman (2 weeks ago)
1) Get some grading done so that the week after T-Giving isn't a nightmare (presentation grades plus one set of essays *at least*).
2) Review chapter one to plan basic cuts for conversion into an article.
3) Exercise 3x.
4) Move like water with in-laws.
5) Make Christmas lists.
Humming42
1 finish the TRQ revision
2 30 minutes recherce 6x
3 30 minutes reading 7x
4 start drafting book review 1
JaneB
1) referee second paper
2) spend an hour on the Annual Report for Old Admin Job (about 35 pages of bureaucratise. There are bits that can be cannabalised, but it takes energy)
3) grading
4) finish writing last week of the new statistics teaching
5) declutter house a little more
6) spend a couple of hours on Christmas stuff (wrapping parcels to mail, cards)
7) eat well, exercise, sleep a lot, put self first
8) write every day to end of NaNoWriMo
9) plan out December travel, conference talk writing etc.
And for a later date:
10) make eye care appointment (don't think opticians like being coughed at from close quarters)
11) work through another revise and resubmit (we have until mid-December)
12) write one section and edit all sections of a grant, so it can go off to internal referees
13) draft my bits of the second Problem Child part one paper
14) comment in detail on last of the close to submission manuscripts
Karen
1. Write x 2 - 25 minutes as a start.
2. Move - try a new yoga class (Thursday night or Sunday)
3. Make the Christmas presents list
4. Decide and write down where I need preparation for next year to be before going on leave. Then plan backwards and consider delegation.
KJHaxton
1. mark distance learning course assignments
2. create sample work for distance learning course assignments
3. mark 1st year information retrieval exercises
4. respond to distance learning student emails
5. hand crafted items
6. get out for a walk every day, building up to 3 miles by end of week.
Susan
1. Finish proofs. Have draft of index before I check in next Monday.
2. Get healthy. (Yes, it's just a cold. Right now I feel like death warmed over.)
3. Sleep. Start exercising slowly
4. Start reading
Waffles
Work on NIH revision
I'm all about the descent into darkness at this time of year. It's a northern hemisphere thing but the progression to the darker days (and more restful days of the Christmas break) and the knowledge that the light returns is pretty good. Sounds grim when I write it out but thinking more about the opportunities that longer nights bring - cozy evenings by the fire, mulled drinks on the stove, tasty food, and festive sparkles. And that swelling feeling that comes after the shortest day where you realise that the days are lengthening bit by bit but that you've had a good rest.
ReplyDelete1. mark distance learning course assignments - done
2. create sample work for distance learning course assignments - in progress
3. mark 1st year information retrieval exercises - in progress
4. respond to distance learning student emails - not done
5. hand crafted items - hats are done
6. get out for a walk every day, building up to 3 miles by end of week. - in progress, got to 1.5 miles which isn't too bad.
Next week:
1. get out for a walk every day building to 3 miles
2. mark 1st year info ret and 3rd year infographics
3. produce some problem sheets and answers for students
4. tackle literature reviews
5. type in data from house project.
6. make christmas cards
7. work on cookery book
There can be a lot of comfort in seasonal cycles, at least for those of us who are used to them. I grew up in one of the temperate zones in the U.S., and had a high school friend who chose a university in a more tropical climate. He transferred after a year because he missed seasons.
DeleteA lot of Christian churches, including my own, have begun having "Longest Night" services on Dec. 21, for those for whom the holiday season isn't entirely bright. That is, of course, an appropriation of pagan timing, but the date on which Christmas falls already comes into that category (and of course is very northern hemisphere-centric).
Descent into darkness is exactly what I'm experiencing now, literally in that the sun starts to dim at 4pm and has set before 4:30. I also have the emotional response of burrowing into warmth and firelight, almost a primeval need for reassurance.
DeleteI think my take is more grim than yours!
Topic: I very much like the descent into darkness symbolism as well, with the added idea of ridding one of unnecessary things and paring down to the basics--warmth, sustenance, company--then building up to the new beginnings, carefully grafting worthy things to the spare form. I enjoy planning for the new year, and the changes I hope to work into it.
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals:
Make remaining three doctors’ appointments. Two out of three; waiting for insurance approval on the third, so at least I did my part!
Spend half-hour per day on the 2017 planner (this has goal setting and journaling rolled into it). Yes, probably more like an hour a day.
Declutter the work space half-hour x 3. Only a couple of desultory tries.
Write SOMETHING for fifteen minutes x 7. Six times which is much better than nothing.
Analysis:
I was able to force myself onto the phone to make the doctors’ appointments, partly by taking something to work on at a low level while listening to the Musak on hold. I fell down entirely on the decluttering, but spent twice as much time with the planner, which is a different kind of decluttering, so I don’t feel totally guilty. This planner is quite invasive, in a good way, in having an honest look at what one will invest time and effort in doing, without lip service or platitudes. It is hard work, but feels very helpful in making all the smaller goals fit into a few overarching ones.
I was able to write everyday, which was a habit I lost sometime in the summer, and desperately want to return to doing. What I wrote wasn’t very interesting or insightful, but right now I want the habit more than publishable prose.
Next week’s goals:
Finish first quarter planning.
Declutter my electronic files ½ hour x 4.
Declutter the paper piles on my desk ½ hour x 4.
Write twenty minutes x 7.
Walk 20 minutes x 5.
Stand at the desk 2 hours x 5.
The "Slow Professors" might like this link: http://khakhalin.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-slow-professor-book-review.html
ReplyDeleteI came to it via https://xykademiqz.com/
Thanks for the link, Dame Eleanor. I agree with him on some points, such as wishing there were more points of guidance, and am interested in his take on the neuroscience.
DeleteI want the snail pin so bad! (we could have one for us with the snail crawling across our graph...)
DeleteYes, I want the snail pin, too!
DeleteMy high school's motto was "festina lente," with the snail as a mascot, so I still own a few snail-adorned things. Will have to check out the review.
DeleteCC, I love "festina lente." It was my Medieval Latin professor's favorite aphorism.
DeleteAnd here's an essay at the Chron about the movement:
Deletehttp://www.chronicle.com/article/Helping-Professors-Find-Time/238569
The end of the year is wierd. It's at once hard slog uphill and hysterical rush of blurry lights and excitement in the dark.
ReplyDeleteQuick check in as aargh, basically, everything is crap and stressful (but my cold/whatever FINALLY ended on Wednesday. I woke up and, ping, it had finally gone. Maybe because the weather changed?).
last week goals:
1) referee second paper yes!
2) spend an hour on the Annual Report for Old Admin Job (about 35 pages of bureaucratise. There are bits that can be cannabalised, but it takes energy) nope
3) grading finished that batch, nearly half way through another batch, more to come, all stressful and TRQ now I suppose
4) finish writing last week of the new statistics teaching yes! Including the online test etc.
5) declutter house a little more not really - moved stuff a bit
6) spend a couple of hours on Christmas stuff (wrapping parcels to mail, cards) finished the online shopping. This is also urgent now
7) eat well, exercise, sleep a lot, put self first nope. But also didn't put any effort into pretending to be happy about some really bad news around colleagues - being positive around students, but sick of colleagues expecting us all to just sit here and take it. Why SHOULD we do everything the centre says, even when we think it's dumb? Got told off for wasting energy in a meeting, but heck, DOING what we're told ISN'T WORKING or they wouldn't be CUTTING OUR STAFFING LEVELS despite us doing everything we were told and being promised we'd be spared any cuts. And when asked for assurances that at least that was all the bad news for the academic year, were told "cuts may be revised upwards" meaning more losses possible. I have no wish to pretend that I believe that cooperating is the only choice. It may be the choice we MAKE, but we should MAKE it, not just pretend it's all there is
8) write every day to end of NaNoWriMo YES
9) plan out December travel, conference talk writing etc. travel booked, talk not written
coming week
AARGH.
it's going to be tough.
A lot of this stuff is probably really TRQ but heck it can all go in one list.
1) referee third paper
2) spend an hour on the Annual Report for Old Admin Job (about 35 pages of bureaucratise. There are bits that can be cannabalised, but it takes energy)
3) make a list and make sure grading is done in order of urgency
4) spend a couple of hours on Christmas stuff (wrapping parcels to mail, cards - at least overseas stuff)
5) leave work early one day to mail parcels, and go into town to replace the box of chocs I accidentally ate whilst marking/brooding this weekend and have a fancy hot chocolate at the fancy coffee place (even if I have to take grading there with me)
6) eat well, exercise, sleep a lot, put self first
7) write conference talk
8) make calls, write emails about stuff for ME.
(I wrote a lovely comment and then my computer decided to restart)
DeleteAnyway, I think the decision on when to yell and scream about the stupid decisions of faceless bureaucrats who have no idea what you do is always difficult. But there are times when it's important to say, "Attention must be paid." Good luck with the week ahead!
Indeed. The knee-jerk instinct to protest can waste a lot of energy, but so can the hunker-down make the best of it one (though perhaps of a different kind). And it takes energy (and, I suspect, a certain kind of vision/institutional savvy) not only to figure out when protest is warranted/wise/feasible, but also to figure out when and how to make that protest (from overtly via official channels to quietly via just not doing things that make no sense and waste time and energy better spent elsewhere).
DeleteDifficult decisions, indeed. I have too often let loose my volatile self in the past, to my detriment. Now I revert to a very slow, not very smart, Southern Belle, whom I call "Shabby Belle." I do things I'm told, but oh so inefficiently.
DeleteMy mother had a black belt in passive-aggressive, and I blush to admit I often enjoy channeling her.
How I did:
ReplyDelete1. Self-care: sit 5x, NO (once?); 2 yoga classes, NO; basic stretching 4x, YES; weights 3x, NO, 1x; cardio or walking 5x, NO, 3x and ankle is acting up again; keep up good work on food/tracking, YES.
2. Teaching: write final exams. YES
3. Research: finish R&R, send e-mails. NO, NO.
4. House/Life: restore study furniture, 2 hrs basement, pay bills. NO, NO, YES.
Excuses, excuses:
I'm not sure I even have the imagination to come up with excuses. Mostly I just didn't get to things. I keep stirring the organization of the R&R, and I think the first section now works but the second part is a mess. I've been waking up in the middle of the night and not going back to sleep for an hour or more, which means I get a late, slow start in the mornings and skip yoga classes that I would go to if I'd got some writing done first.
And now all the grading hits, so this week is mainly TRQ, really. But in a week the grading will be over and maybe, maybe, I can finish that blasted R&R.
1. Self-care: sit 5x, 2 yoga classes, basic stretching 4x, weights 3x, cardio or walking 5x, keep up good work on food/tracking.
2. Teaching: TRQ grading.
3. Research: finish R&R, send e-mails.
4. House/Life: contact handyman, 2 hrs basement, 2 hrs sorting/filing/tossing paper.
It sounds like you might be in the wrestling stage with the R&R, and it's eating into other things, but presumably also percolating along below the surface. Hope that's the case, and that the breakthrough comes soon -- maybe, indeed, after the final grading push creates an enforced break.
DeleteI think CC is onto something with the R&R. Can it simmer while you exercise or rearrange the house? I have had some revelations with paint brush or scrub brush in hand, to my complete surprise.
DeleteTo my amazement, it looked okay this morning (I thought I'd probably ruined it by moving stuff around on Saturday). While the organization may not be perfect, it does "flow," as students are wont to say. Now for a conclusion, and then I can get rid of the damned thing.
DeleteTopic: One of the songs that I carried with me through college is Shawn Colvin’s “Steady On” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh6otlLFj8g), and that became a quiet anthem for me. My technophile husband occasionally watches vlogs and youtube videos with hardware and software experts, where I came across the hardware known as solid state drive. So the idea of being steady on became more consistent, persistent, and longstanding when it became solid state drive, the unending push to get it all done. Then I have a bunch of songs I listen to every day until the year ends: “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” “The Closing of the Year,” and David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s version of “Little Drummer Boy.”
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1 finish the TRQ revision: yes but two days late (thank you, migraine)
2 30 minutes recherce 6x: 5x, not bad
3 30 minutes reading 7x: 5x
4 start drafting book review 1: tiny bit
This week:
1 Bolstered by the group, I will call the pharmacy in the next town over to get the difficult-to-find prescription I’ve ignored for weeks
2 30 minutes recherce 6x
3 30 minutes reading 6x
4 full draft of book review
I really do intend to finish the book manuscript before the year ends, but need to get through the end of the semester first.
"Steady on" is a good anthem this time of year. Migraines are of the devil, so I hope the new prescription works well for you.
DeleteTopic: mine is the light at the end of the tunnel, which may signal entry into a wider, lighter space, or may turn out to be an oncoming train, or may just be a light shaft someone built toward, but not quite at, the end of the tunnel. I've spent several weeks conferencing with students 4 or 5 days a week, which is much more time than I usually spend on campus, and tightly scheduled, and is of course difficult for an introvert (but definitely the best way to keep my middle-aged brain both focused and moving forward on commenting on drafts, and is also a pretty efficient way to accomplish the task, since I can ask the student questions, and comment where they most need it).
ReplyDeleteI've now got a final week with a more ordinary schedule (3 days on campus, shorter hours there, more unscheduled time) and a somewhat less heavy commenting load (one batch of draft group project for my online class; in-class comments for the hybrid ones). That makes me feel comparatively free and relaxed, but I know from experience that it will probably take me all the available time to grade the final papers and complete all the odds and ends of grading, calculating, etc., and get the grades in a few days before Christmas. And I need to do some Christmas preparation (mostly family gifts, also some extra choir rehearsals and services). So the trick is to find a reasonable balance between taking a bit of a break when I can, probably early on (because I will be more efficient for resting, and the work will eventually expand to fill the space available), doing necessary planning for Christmas (so that I at least have supplies ready for last-minute projects), and forging ahead with the grading (because the sooner I do, the sooner it's done). So basically it's trying to find a familiar balance as I approach a break, or even a shift in gears: recognizing that there is never as much time as there seems to be, and trying to make plans to make good use of increased or more flexible time without getting overambitious.
Goals for last week:
Delete--find some way to move a bit between conferences (short walks, calisthenics, etc.)
--get as close to a full night's sleep as possible each night (the key to this is coming home directly after the last conference, even if I still have things to do)
--fit in additional family/friend contact as possible
--make the rest of the parsley into pesto
--set up meeting for grant project
--finish novel I began; get back on track with Bible reading
Accomplished: all except for finishing the novel and resuming the Bible-reading. In fact, I got a bit overeager with the calisthenics, to the point where one knee was complaining a bit over the weekend, but that seems to have subsided, and it's also working better, so the effort to move more, or at least emerge from conference period a bit less stiff, is a success. Last week definitely shows the advantage of very modest goals; I think this is the first time I've met all but one of the ones I set for the week.
Goals for the coming week:
--keep moving (weights, walks, maybe back to the garden depending on weather)
--keep sleeping regularly
--plan/begin buying holiday gifts, cards (including contact long-lost friend's daughter to make sure I have a correct postal address for friend)
--do some financial stock-taking (in preparation for more work on budgets & paperwork over break)
--make a batch of soup and/or oatmeal if time (this might have to wait until next week)
Since I don't teach, I'm not really beholden to the academic calendar (for better or worse) - so looking ahead - it looks just like it does when I look back!
ReplyDeleteGrant application is in (as of one hour ago!) - so time to regroup and figure out my new goals.
Last week's goals:
Work on NIH revision - DONE!
This week's goals:
1. Review abstract submissions for 2017 conference
2. Start revisions on rejected paper :(
3. Make outline for paper based on diss
4. Review and edit med student's paper
Topic. Hmmm. Right now I'd think of it as the last slog when you climb a mountain. You know you'll make it, but it hurts! This is undoubtedly shaped by the fact that I've been sick now for over a week, and operating at about 50% capacity. So...
ReplyDeleteLast weeks goals:
1. Finish proofs. Have draft of index before I check in next Monday. NO. Have finished proofs, need to enter changes onto them in color coded fashion. Have barely begun the index, as this weekend - designated for it -- was spent taking naps. Fortunately, my contract says I actually have three weeks for hte index, and I'm taking the extra week.
2. Get healthy. (Yes, it's just a cold. Right now I feel like death warmed over.) NO. The press of meetings at the end of the semester is a real challenge. (Today I went from 9 to 3:30 with a total of 15 unscheduled minutes.)
3. Sleep. Start exercising slowly SLEEP - yes. Exercise - NO
4. Start reading NO. Did I mention I haven't been well?
Yes, well, whine whine whine. I've been feeling sorry for myself, and in that awkward state where I'm not sick enough to cancel all my meetings, but not healthy enough to do my normal work. This is the last week of the semester, so . . .
Goals for this week:
1. Submit revised proofs by tomorrow night.
2. Get index drafted over the weekend
3. Submit proposal for cool spring conference
4. Write response to personnel review
5. Don't get too far behind on grading.
I hope you get time to rest so that you can recover and get well. Or else get truly sick enough to skip meetings? The former is probably preferable. :)
DeleteI'm with Cassandra above - the light at the end of the tunnel feels mostly like the oncoming train :)
ReplyDeleteI can tell by by goals, which happen to be the same as last week, mostly because progress was incremental at best...
1) Hills Paper, AGAIN!
2) Cold Paper, complete data section
This is my exam week, with lots of student review time, and exams to mark by the end of the week. But, the reward will be if I get all my marking done and grades submitted I can go away for a week of lab work with nothing hanging over me, and a completely clear consience! Just a few more days!
My metaphor is related to Susan's, but it involves "the false summit." I keep thinking, "Oh, there's the summit!" And then I reach it and see over the other side to find there is more climbing ahead.
ReplyDeletePrevious Goals:
My last posted goals are old. Lets just say I've mostly done TRQ with a dash of TLQ family time. I'm disappointed that I haven't been working on the chapter-to-article work or on viva preparation. How in the hell did I write I PhD thesis? I think it broke something in my brain.
I have also made all necessary travel plans (I think) for attending the viva (I'll be traveling from California to the UK). Fortunately, the exam has been scheduled for the week of January that is between my family vacation and my first week of classes. Added bonus: A Jane Austen exhibit is going up at the British Library the week I'm there.
This week (not much of it left):
1) Be efficient with TRQ (grading) to make room for TLQ.
2) Do some viva prep (I think I'll be having a mock viva via Skype in a couple of weeks).
3) Make Christmas gift lists, do some shopping
4) Help daughter make pillows for her friends
5) Put velcro on son's roller backpack and lunchbox to keep said lunchbox from flopping off to the side of said backpack.
I think I've thrown in the towel on exercise for now.
I know those false summits. They are so demoralizing. But great on the travel plans!
Delete