By my reckoning we're around half way through this 15 week stretch. That's usually a good time for a prune and re-plant of session goals. What's thriving? What's got some deadwood in it that could be removed to let new shoots grow? Here's a photo of a corner of my garden, the primroses are out in full force and will be until late Summer. I was pretty brutal to them last summer, I divided them and replanted them twice so I was expecting very sulky primroses and yet they are more beautiful this year than I've ever seen them. I can't explain the flower:leave ratio. So to me, a pruning and tending analogy for goals is very apt. The other green things popping through are garlic - we have strange mix of planting, practical alongside pretty.
First this week is your session goals from week 1, followed by your week 7 goals (or earlier weeks as applicable). No topic as such, I think two sets of goals is probably sufficient.
Session Goals:
Contingent Cassandra
--improved self-care, especially continuing current trends toward moving more, cooking/eating more homemade food, getting sufficient sleep on a regular schedule, and doing more long-form reading (list is more or less in order of priority)
--continued progress on getting my financial (first priority) and physical house in order
--try to stay on top of teaching planning and tasks, the better to protect planned TLQ time from TRQ catch-up (and reduce the combined physical and psychological exhaustion that results from falling behind, and leads to lost/wasted time)
--get/stay in better touch with family and friends
--make continued reasonable progress on the grant-funded project (while keeping in mind that it isn’t currently actually funded, nor do I have any release time, etc., etc. to support it)
--prepare to apply for contract renewal and, if possible, promotion, next year
--continue thinking about next steps professionally, while focusing in practical terms on personal/household “infrastructure.” If I actually do something to advance professional goals, it would probably be writing about the grant-funded project and/or background reading for my own research
Daisy
Work:
1 - Get papers written - there are 3 for which data collection is just about complete, and need concentrated, sit-down, focused writing time. They will be my main priority.
2 - Ignore all politics, labour disruptions, gossip, and time-sucking whiny colleagues and FOCUS on Goal number 1...
3 - Hang out and work with good colleagues :)
Personal:
1 - Have lots of winter fun with kid - skiing every possible weekend, and other outside things.
2 - Get an exercise routine going so that it is an automatic part of every week.
Dame Eleanor Hull
1. Life Stuff: get house on market.
2. Research: turn around two sets of revisions and get back to work on book-in-progress. Also prep for a conference in May (not a paper, another sort of thing).
3. Teaching: plan and deliver interesting classes, with useful and prompt feedback to students, without getting so detailed as to overwhelm any of us.
4. Health: maintain routines for safe food, appropriate exercise including stretching, yoga classes twice a week, and sitting 3-4x/week.
5. Leisure: plan and do at least one fun or social thing per week; plan and take a trip at spring break to visit my family.
Earnest English
-Grounding: Winter is difficult, so I need to really focus on taking care of myself physically, mentally, and spiritually. Sleep is a particular challenge both because of a limited day to get things done in (so I want to stay up and do or be more) and insomnia. Meditation and yoga would be wise. Baths and active self-care (such as singing) are incredibly important. I need weekly goals on this. I also have decided that I no longer want to give anxiety free rent in my head. So I'm going to work on more mental discipline aka distraction in my head.
-Spirited's therapy and education. We've started quite brightly this year, so I just need to keep on top of this.
-Gardening: Start early seeds on time at Groundhog Day and keep on top of gardening and associated projects.
-Plan and plod work: I need to keep up on my teaching and other work. This quarter I actually have a slightly reduced load and that plus winter usually means that I spend very little time on campus, which means I have to get work done at home. This is often difficult and filled with strife, both internal and external. I need to just establish a routine and keep on top of things at home and not feel guilty about it. I also need to research and come up with a snow day plan for taking my classes online.
-Writing Project: I've gotten behind on the writing (not the research, which I'm doing spectacularly on). I do need to step up my game here, so I'd like to get to 12X by the end of our session. I'm tempted to make a goal of 15x so there's 1x a week, just because that's a much more concrete goal.
-Big Report: I promised a colleague I'd write a big report, and I need to work on it a bit each week and incorporate that into my weekly plan so it will get done without panic.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Session mantra: Plan, breathe, create
Write at least five sentences every day.
Leaven the excitement of new projects with the gratification of finishing old ones.
Monitor food intake and movement.
Good Enough Woman
1. Drink more water (to avoid kidney stones).
2. Exercise 4x per week (walking and yoga, etc.)
3. Eat more veggies and develop some more healthy (healthful?) recipes for the family.
4. Totally finish dissertation (corrections, hard binding, etc.)--this extent of this goal will depend on what kinds of corrections my examiners require.
5. Complete conference paper (for Feb)
6. Submit one article for publication.
7. Take weekend time to work when necessary, but also carve out quality time for kids: hiking, board games, helping with projects.
Heu mihi
-MS revisions such that I'll be on track to have a complete, revised manuscript by September 1. For the next fifteen weeks, then, this means revising two chapters and the intro, and drafting the last unwritten section of ch. 4.
-Write 2/4 conference papers for Summer 2017. (Ideally, I'll write 4/4, but I'm trying to be realistic.)
-Return to and maintain my running schedule
Humming42
1 Read book and review (book not yet in hand)
2 Finish two revisions and resubmit
3 Follow up on work under review as appropriate
4 Submit Circus abstract at end of January
5 Submit Glass essay
6 Write 5x/week
7 Read 5x/week
JaneB
1) self-care
2) domestic progress (my house currently shares many of the features of a packrat midden - I haven't YET peed on the piles of random stuff, but...) and in an ideal world would be orderly and clean enough to invite my parents to stay by midsummer.
3) know what the situation is with regard to the trip, and be prepared for it.
4) Have a grant application text out for 'internal review' within the University
5) have made measureable progress on one of the papers _I_ want to write for _my_ research agenda, such as it is (as opposed to those which are more obligations to others/projects) - in my increasingly daft nickname system this means progressing Picky, Twiddly or perhaps ProblemChild-1-2
Karen
Use the early part of this session to get ahead and stay on top of teaching to keep space for other TLQ stuff.
Work with co-author to get Earth paper ready for submission.
Work with research mentor to clarify longer-term research goals and steps.
More research-related reading generally.
Set in place some foundational self-care habits in the the areas of energy (sleep, movement, food) and connection (with people, with the environment).
KJHaxton
- Submit paper based on acronym report
- Write and send for feedback paper 2 (international) and paper 3 (testing)
- finish literature review for loop project and potentially review style article draft if co-authors interested
- Draft funding application on house project and decide between a grant or fellowship application (I can't do both).
- survive the last 5 rounds of chemo (every three weeks)
- walk every day, aiming for average of at least 3 km a day balanced between good weeks and bad weeks.
- work on crafty projects
Luolin
Research-
Write regularly.
Revise an article that was rejected in order to submit it to a different journal.
Submit abstract for fall conference.
Self-care-
Get more sleep.
Get back to my running schedule. (Like heu mihi! except where I live, summer is least comfortable time to run, so I'm missing out on the good running weather right now.)
Susan
Session Goals
I'm keeping my goals modest, because on of my resolutions after finishing all the work on my book on December 23 was to try to slow down.
Research/writing
1. Write Way Outside Essay -- a semi-scholarly piece on a subject far from my expertise. I'm filling in for someone who dropped out of a collection, so the timeline is short.
2. Finish notes on forum contribution
3. Write paper for May conference
4. Start playing with material for my next (short) book, which I'll call Funhouse project. I'm teaching a graduate course related to this, so . . .
Health and home:
1. I gained weight in December, because of the cold that would not die, and then Christmas. I need to be regular about exercise. I normally go to an exercise session three mornings a week, and I'm trying to add to that. I'm not fixated on the scale, but I know I feel better when I'm exercising and eating well.
2. Declutter one room of my house, making it more functional.
3. Keep on top of incoming mail so that I don't drown in it.
Life in the world:
1. Spend time regularly with friends
2. Be an engaged citizen (rally on Jan 21, call congresscritter and senators, etc.) But try not to be overwhelmed.
3. Make sure I'm enjoying life
Waffles
1. NIH grant application (I am taking a grant writing class, and we have to write a whole application by the end of the semester; for those who know NIH apps, this will be a K level application - I'm currently awaiting the results of my F).
2. Get relationship paper finished and accepted.
3. Write election paper (I am more excited about this than anything right now - we have been able to survey almost 1000 people and counting - within a specific minority group - on their feelings about the election)
4. Get a bad draft of policy paper (not excited about this one)
5. Bad draft of dissertation paper (not excited about his, but diss advisor says doing it shows "follow through").
6. Start getting rid of stuff in my house to prep for move this summer
7. Spend some time each day on things that are not work related and that make me happy (like cooking, singing to loud music, etc) - I tend to either work or avoid working - I want to do some more purposeful things in my non-working time.
Week 7 Goals
Contingent Cassandra (from week 6)
--list teaching prep & response to-dos at least through spring break (preferably the whole semester), and at least keep up
--do class reading/watching for week; 1-2 more blog posts
--walk or lift weights once (preferably both, but let's be realistic)
--make parsley pesto if time
Daisy
on break
Dame Eleanor Hull
1. House: make an actual plan for spring break (more detailed than just “deal with this later”). I’m going to try the Push approach, since Plod isn’t working.
2. Put in 8 hours writing/thinking time. Try to finish MMP-1 revisions? Or at least make progress and estimate time to completion.
3. Teaching: oodles of grading. Do try to keep up.
4. Health: exercise of some kind at least one-half hour per day; ankle rehab exercises daily; weights three times; weekend yoga if I feel like it.
5. Fun/social thing: get tix to play friend is in; do something restorative/pleasurable every day; social gathering Wednesday.
Earnest English
still plodding?
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Rehab exercises 3 times a day, seven days a week. Seriously.
Take the opportunity of being home to figure out the gut problem. (The tests indicate it is diet, not the gut itself)
Dictate in English for half an hour a day.
Type in the foreign languages for ten minutes a day.
Good Enough Woman
1) Print out chapter one and read it to find things to cut.
2) Walk 3X
3) Figure out a research plan. Do I start reading in my area more widely? Do I go deeper into the themes of my thesis? Do I read only things related to the chapter I want to publish? I'm feeing rather paralyzed by these questions.
4) Get kids' allowance back on track and get them practicing piano more regularly.
5) Tidy the study.
Heu mihi
1. Draft response
2. Read ch. 5 and look for Conf. 4 paper/title
3. Read MA thesis
4. Touch kzoo daily
5. Regular workout schedule???
Humming42
1 Read 6x
2 Research/Write 5x
3 Draft Circus abstract
4 Return Mars proofs
JaneB
1) another hour on Ferret
2) allow myself to take this week off from Grant I Wish I'd Never Started whilst I wait for feedback from two internal referees, although if there's time I should work at filling out the various forms and checking numbers
3) do a couple of hours on Problem Child Number 2
4) do some free-writing about future grant ideas, in preparation for a workshop in two weeks' time.
5) stick to the sugar-free thing, and try out some different options for snacks with satisfying texture, high portability and a "warm" taste (good Swiss milk chocolate exemplifies the "warm" eating experience. Cheese, especially a good cheddar or manchego, comes close at times, as does ice cream. Lettuce is about as anti-warm as you can get. Warm is just the best word I have for the set of sensations I seek, not an actual description...).
Karen (from week 6)
1. Don't check email until after writing - start on residency application for 10 mins at the start of each work day.
2. Go to yoga class at least once, make time to focus on breathing each day.
3. Corral managerial stuff into a designated timeslot.
4. Write very short high priority list for each work day.
KJHaxton
- Marking (it's a chemo week and I find those are well suited to tasks with prescriptive rubrics or model answers.)
- reading of draft student work and giving feedback
- adminfrustration x 3
- tackle the remains of the paper that I'm trying to get submission ready (e.g. stop fretting about it's quality and send it out for editor/reviewers opinion and stop trying to 2nd guess it!).
Susan (from week 7)
1. Write abstract finally
2. Start writing paper
3. Submit forum essay to journal for review
4. Finish clearing desk and paying bills
5. Get back to exercise: 3 mornings a week, and also walking and/or yoga on the other mornings.
6. Keep social media under control
7. Read. No more excuses.
Waffles
1. aging paper outline - improve
2. Equality paper - make outline
3. Diss paper outline
4. Qual analyses drafted
5. LHF grant idea found
Session goals:
ReplyDeleteSession mantra: Plan, breathe, create
Not so much after I fell.
Write at least five sentences every day.
Up until I broke my arm, yes, and almost back on track in the last few weeks.
Leaven the excitement of new projects with the gratification of finishing old ones. Yes.
Analysis: This session has been a lesson in fragility, and I'm not enjoying the lesson. I'm scared to walk around my house, quite literally, because I live in a multi-level house. The fear of going outside is approaching agoraphobia. Since I'm in pain while sitting quietly, the thought of falling again to incur more pain is paralyzing.
That said, I'm trying to look at the benefits. I have decimated my TBR pile; I have tested several voice applications on my phone and laptop; and, out of sheer boredom, I've renewed a commitment to the book that had lost all its luster in the past year, out of being squeezed into crevices among the administrative tasks.
Two pieces of good news helped, as well. I got the grant I had applied for, and I have a Skype interview for my boss's old job on Thursday.
Last week’s goals:
Rehab exercises 3 times a day, seven days a week. Seriously.
Some days only twice, but an improvement.
Take the opportunity of being home to figure out the gut problem. (The tests indicate it is diet, not the gut itself).
Some reading, some experimentation.
Dictate in English for half an hour a day. Yes.
Type in the foreign languages for ten minutes a day. No.
Next week's goals:
Survive interview.
Avoid the couple of foods I've identified as problems.
Verify the reality of the dates I've set for deadlines for the rest of the book.
Write the deadlines for the next three months in the calendar.
Pencil in the rest of the relevant deadlines.
I’m borrowing humming’s preference of pacing, not plodding. Pacing along as rear guard. Excelsior!
Congrats on the good news, and on the continued pacing. In your position, I think I'd be tempted to sleep for the duration (if the pain allowed me to). It sounds like you're being very productive.
DeleteIt would be nice to be able to go into stasis or hibernation when extended periods of healing are needed.
DeleteCongratulations on the grant and I hope the healing is swift.
Congratulations on the grant and the interview. Your fears seem typical, I'd say, much like fears I had of driving after a car accident. But perhaps if they linger too long, you might seek support or help? Regardless, I hope the rest is good for your healing. And I'm glad you improved on your rehab! Gold stars!
DeleteAnd I echo admiration for your productivity on TLQ. Huzzah!
This may be a slightly depressing take on things, but I suspect your primroses are basically reacting to your gardening like this "oh my goodness our survival is at risk, we are stressed, quick lets produce lots of seeds which might be able to survive in the soil whatever happens to us, and thus fulfil our Darwinian purpose of perpetuating our genes!" Wish I looked that pretty when stressed...
ReplyDeletesession goals:
1) self-care gah. Well. I HAVE given up sugar (into week 4 now). and continue to go to counselling and TRY to be kinder to myself, go to bed at sensible hours etc. etc. I don't have a cold yet - perhaps because for the first time I can remember there is no entrenched Lurgy making its way among the student body, despite it being February. So... not great.
2) domestic progress (my house currently shares many of the features of a packrat midden - I haven't YET peed on the piles of random stuff, but...) and in an ideal world would be orderly and clean enough to invite my parents to stay by midsummer.minimal. Some parts may be a little worse. This semester is really eating my time and energy... writing a second giant new first year module is proving uphill, I think the first one at least had some excitement and novelty about it for the team, this one, everyone's plodding along doing what they can with not much pizzazz or interest, me included.
3) know what the situation is with regard to the trip, and be prepared for it. I have my visa, so I guess I'm going. I'm NOT prepared. I'm trying not to think about it
4) Have a grant application text out for 'internal review' within the University YES, in fact I have three reviews back on the Grant I Wish I'd Never Started, and may even get it submitted by the end of the session...
5) have made measureable progress on one of the papers _I_ want to write for _my_ research agenda, such as it is (as opposed to those which are more obligations to others/projects) - in my increasingly daft nickname system this means progressing Picky, Twiddly or perhaps ProblemChild-1-2 not yet, but Ferret is coming together nicely and showing signs of being more agenda-relevant than it at first seemed, and I'm doing quite a lot of work in the edges of things on the simulations for ProblemChild-2 (both 1 and 2) - which will be useful.
So not much to revise.
last week's goals:
1) another hour on Ferret yes, and the word count keeps going backwards, but that's all part of the process!
2) week off from Grant I Wish I'd Never Started whilst I wait for feedback from two internal referees, although if there's time I should work at filling out the various forms and checking numbers total week off. We'll call that a yes...
3) do a couple of hours on Problem Child Number 2 more like 5 hours. Or maybe more, as we had a small crisis earlier in the week and had to redo some stuff.
4) do some free-writing about future grant ideas, in preparation for a workshop in two weeks' time.nope, got pushed out of the way by graduate students' needs
5) stick to the sugar-free thing YES, and try out some different options for snacks with satisfying texture um. Ate far too many 'corn snacks' of various kinds, and had a small bread-out over the weekend. But am still sugar free
Deletethe coming week:
...should have been quite under control, but has just gone wrong. Ironically, the person teaching the stats classes this year to cover for me is off so _I_ have to cover for _him_ (the deal is that I design them, write all the materials, set up the VLE, grade the weekly assignments and deal with all student queries, but someone else does the multiple repeats in the classroom, as insurance against my voice going etc.). Wednesday to Friday I'm going to a grant writing workshop for mid-career academics, where I will feel like a huge fraud but will also try to have some fun. BUT I haven't done any prep for it yet, and now I have all these classes to teach Monday and TUesday instead of having the time reasonably free to prep for the following week of classes and for the workshop...
Also, my visa finally came through to go to ExoticCOuntry in about four weeks' time and I am TOTALLY STRESSING ABOUT EVERYTHING (and hating on myself (and trying NOT to) for having known this trip was likely for over a year and still being just as overweight and creaky as I was when I first knew). Alternating with totally ignoring it. Neither of these is a good strategy! Anyway, this week...
goals:
1) prepare as far as possible for workshop and don't stress too much if you aren't as ready as you want to be. Someone has to be the least prepared person there, might as well be me, I'll make the others feel good. Focus on being present at the workshop, ignoring my work email apart from fixed points, and enjoy the chance to meet other mid-career people.
2) an hour on Ferret
3) keep up with ProblemChild2 as possible
4) make enquiries about flights for trip to ExoticCountry
and that's QUITE enough
Sounds like a healthy approach to the workshop. It also sounds like there are plenty of things to get out of it even if you aren't fully "prepared."
DeleteWell in that case I should have a new online handle of 'primrose torturer' - they flower like this every year!
DeleteI also like your approach to the workshop, and sometimes I feel there is a benefit in going to these things feeling receptive but without the pre-judgement that doing prep activities sometimes brings.
Hmm. Well, the fact that I didn't even check in last week says something about how things are going. I got sick (and distracted) at the beginning of the term, and though I'm now over the sickness (which was really only a cold) and almost caught up with the teaching stuff, I'm definitely feeling a bit overwhelmed. I also began an online course with some connection to the grant project after I wrote my goals, and have probably been spending more time trying to truly *do* that, without thinking as strategically as I need to about what parts of it are useful (having started a blog is useful; getting too tangled up in explaining my reactions to readings, some of are very much period pieces, with gender attitudes to match, is not. I also don't really need a "badge," or whatever reward is being offered for "full" participation, and I do need to use this as a networking opportunity -- which means it might be smart not to spend too much time pointing out the shortcomings of the readings if I want to network with the person who chose them/designed the course. And it's worth remember that, with the exception of having started the blog, which I suspect I will keep up sporadically at best, I probably don't really have all that much to gain, long-term, from participation).
ReplyDeleteThat said, let's have a look at the session goals:
--improved self-care, especially continuing current trends toward moving more, cooking/eating more homemade food, getting sufficient sleep on a regular schedule, and doing more long-form reading (list is more or less in order of priority) this remains important, and I've done very little of it
--continued progress on getting my financial (first priority) and physical house in order I've done a bit of financial work, but need to do more. The physical state of the apartment has gone downhill since the semester started.
--try to stay on top of teaching planning and tasks, the better to protect planned TLQ time from TRQ catch-up (and reduce the combined physical and psychological exhaustion that results from falling behind, and leads to lost/wasted time) even with getting sick, I'm doing slightly better than usual at this this semester. I think the nature of my class schedule and the fact that I haven't had to do any snow-related rescheduling helps.
--get/stay in better touch with family and friends doing reasonably well on this, too, though there are a couple of key people I need to contact this week, or at least soon
--make continued reasonable progress on the grant-funded project (while keeping in mind that it isn’t currently actually funded, nor do I have any release time, etc., etc. to support it) this has gotten somewhat sidetracked by my focus on the grant-project-related class. I need to rebalance
--prepare to apply for contract renewal and, if possible, promotion, next yearI've done a very little bit of this, and need to do more soon
--continue thinking about next steps professionally, while focusing in practical terms on personal/household “infrastructure.” If I actually do something to advance professional goals, it would probably be writing about the grant-funded project and/or background reading for my own research. This is where the unexpected class comes in, but, as mentioned above, I need to be more strategic/selective in my approach to that
Having done that, I think I'm going to skip over the goals for two weeks ago (which were partially fulfilled, partially not), and set some for the coming week:
Delete--movement and sleep. Really. It's time to make these two a priority. Walking, weight-lifting, or gardening at least every other day, and preferably one per day, with a rest day in there somewhere. And getting to bed on time (which, um, I'm not doing right now).
--get fully caught up with grading and prep and make a plan for at least through spring break.
--send birthday wishes to elderly relative, touch base with two friends, deal w/ stepmother re: cemetery issue, other family contact as appropriate (we're coming up on the one-year anniversary of my father's death, so it seems likely that in addition to my brother and I checking in with each other, which we've been doing semi-regularly anyway, there may be some other family contact).
--write email re: contract renewal/possible promotion
--at least begin thinking about what I really want out of grant-related class, and tailoring participation accordingly. I also need a plan for moving forward with grand-funded project itself, but that can probably wait until next week. In fact, since it may be a somewhat difficult week (see anniversary, above), I'm inclined to say that what I want to do this week is not to disappear entirely from the class. That might just mean a blog post about some of last week's reading, or even a comment or two on others' blogs.
Reads like some good progress on the session goals overall. Goals like walking and gardening sound good as well.
DeleteOther than the endless bouts of colds, ear infections, etc. at my house (which might be FINALLY coming to an end--maybe??), this semester has mostly opened up in quite a lovely way. First, I had a class not make enrollment after the semester had started, which means a reassignment to various service projects--these are kind of a pain, but vastly less time-consuming than a course. So I'm only teaching a grad class on Wednesdays, and, starting this week, the material is all stuff that I know well. What a change! Also, it turns out that the mentor who was pushing me to have my second book out to a publisher before I go up for tenure next year was under the impression that I was also going to be up for full, which I won't be. So she's now told me *not* to rush the book out, but to emphasize instead my articles and such in my tenure materials. While I'm still hoping to have the book finished as soon as possible, there's no longer a panic-inducing need to rush it out.
ReplyDeleteMy workload did increase a bit, though, when I was asked (on rather short notice--I think I'm filling in for someone) to be a respondent on a panel in March. So, whereas 2/4 conference papers is still my goal, add the Response to that, too.
Session goals:
-MS revisions such that I'll be on track to have a complete, revised manuscript by September 1. For the next fifteen weeks, then, this means revising two chapters and the intro, and drafting the last unwritten section of ch. 4.
**This is one that I can lighten up, if I want. Here's where I am, though: Intro (mostly) revised; filling in last big research gap this week, I hope. Chapter 1 revised. Unwritten section of chapter 4 roughly drafted; needs work. I'm hoping to revise chapter 4 this spring.**
-Write 2/4 conference papers for Summer 2017. (Ideally, I'll write 4/4, but I'm trying to be realistic.)
**One is fully drafted. The response is drafted, too. And I'm now thinking that I want to up this to 3/4 conference drafts, rather than 2/4, because I now think that #3 is going to be a lot easier to pull out of my existing chapter than I'd feared it would be.**
-Return to and maintain my running schedule
**This has been a mess--see colds, etc. above. However, last week I *did* run three times, and I ran again this morning, so maybe I can get back on track for the rest of the semester??**
Week 7 goals:
1. Draft response
DONE!
2. Read ch. 5 and look for Conf. 3 paper/title
DONE. The hardest part of this was thinking of a title. I'm terrible with titles. But I picked something and sent it along.
3. Read MA thesis
NOT DONE. I really need to read this thing!
4. Touch kzoo daily
SORT OF--three out of four workdays (Monday was a holiday, and I was on child duty). But the draft is done, so whatever.
5. Regular workout schedule???
YES!!!!!!!!
Week 8 goals:
1. For the love of God, read that damn MA thesis
2. Integrate affect stuff into intro
3. Outline conf. paper # 3 (Norway)
4. To-do list for synthesizing Kzoo into ch. 4
I love week 8 goal 1. I have a few things like that for the week ahead! I'm intrigued by the idea of a course not reaching enrollment - it doesn't work that way at my (UK) institution. I think I'd find it a bit disconcerting.
DeleteIn my case, it's the grad class that didn't "make" (only one student signed up!) and was cancelled. I expected service stuff but was given a research reassignment, which I appreciate. That doesn't open up so much time as heu mihi has, since I still have 2 undergrad courses, but it's a big help. I was pretty sure the class would be cancelled, so I didn't prep for it as I would have had I been sure I'd be teaching it.
DeleteI’ve been doing okay this session. I was a little scared to look at the list, but I am on track (although not with #6 - getting rid of stuff).
ReplyDeleteSession goals
1. NIH grant application (I am taking a grant writing class, and we have to write a whole application by the end of the semester; for those who know NIH apps, this will be a K level application - I'm currently awaiting the results of my F). THIS IS GOING WELL, AND ALL THE POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM MY PROF HAS BEEN SUCH A NICE BOOST THIS SEMESTER
2. Get relationship paper finished and accepted. JUST SENT FINAL DRAFT TO CO-AUTHORS
3. Write election paper (I am more excited about this than anything right now - we have been able to survey almost 1000 people and counting - within a specific minority group - on their feelings about the election) - NOT STARTED
4. Get a bad draft of policy paper (not excited about this one) - BEEN DOING READING, GETTING MORE EXCITED ABOUT IT
5. Bad draft of dissertation paper (not excited about his, but diss advisor says doing it shows "follow through”). UGH - I HAVE AN OUTLINE
6. Start getting rid of stuff in my house to prep for move this summer - HAVEN’T STARTED, REALLY HOPING TO GET AN OFFER LETTER OR SOMETHING SOON
7. Spend some time each day on things that are not work related and that make me happy (like cooking, singing to loud music, etc) - I tend to either work or avoid working - I want to do some more purposeful things in my non-working time. I’VE BEEN DOING THIS INCONSISTENTLY, BUT DEFINITELY MORE THAN LAST SEMESTER
This week
1. aging paper outline - improve: DONE
2. Equality paper - make outline: NOT DONE - but have done some reading
3. Diss paper outline: DONE
4. Qual analyses drafted: DONE
5. LHF grant idea found: DONE (bonus - the idea ties into the paper in #2, so that will be a nice twofer!)
This past week was really rough - a lot of challenging things hit all at once that really affected my confidence. What do the rest of you do when your confidence has been hit to try to get back on track (am particularly interested in what you do if it happens at 10am and you have to rally for the rest of your day and get things done that you feel unconfident about doing). Two things were particularly challenging: my diss chair got pretty mad at me early in the week and told me I made multiple stats-related mistakes on something, that I had wasted 20 mins of her time with those mistakes, and that I have made those mistakes before - so I was clearly not learning. I believed her that I had made those errors - and it wasn’t till she was gone that I actually hadn’t - but the damage was done and since then, I have just been questioning myself non-stop (particularly in the area of stats - an area in which my confidence is pretty low already) and feeling incompetent. Watching re-runs of the Great British Bake-off has actually helped tremendously. The other challenging thing is that I didn’t get the NIH fellowship I applied for. I already submitted a revised version, and it gets reviewed in the not-too-distant future - but I was really hoping I would get it on my first try. Partly I wanted this to show my diss chair I am better than she gives me credit for, and partly - it would be really nice to have funding for my work.
New goals:
1. Equality paper outline
2. Edit R03 and NAS
3. Keep working on K99 analytic plan
4. Aus presentation
5. Apply for travel award
There's something lovely about a goal that you're not feeling great about that starts to get better. I hope it continues.
DeleteI've been trying to get better at resetting my confidence - it's a shame there isn't a big red button that you can just hit and override the feeling of being a bit shaken up by events. Currently my approach is to sit and have a cup of tea quietly and listen to some music (bad weather approach), or to go out for a fair walk and stomp away the negativity. I try to rationalise situations like the one you say about your diss chair as being generally more about them being overwhelmed and overreacting than about what ever error I may have made. Doesn't always work, but sometimes it helps to remind myself that even people with more expertise than me make mistakes when they are busy.
Sorry to hear about the NIH fellowship. Probably says more about the current state of funding for these things than it does for your application. Well done on submitting a revised version - I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I once read a study about reacting to negative news that suggested that people who take a little while to feel bad actually rebound more thoroughly than those who tamp down any negative feelings and immediately focus on moving forward. In that light, either of KJH's approaches would be helpful.
DeleteYou might consider a real or mental "happiness folder," where you store appreciative letters, comments, and so on, to help restore confidence when you're back from the walk or done with the tea.
Seconding the "happiness folder".
DeleteI've also added a few bits and pieces in my work space which remind me of places/times when I feel/felt confident, and that I have a life outside of work - a little catfish made for me by my niece (a cardboard shark with a cats head cut out of leopard print paper added) with "I love you Aunty [JaneB]" where it's in my direct eyeline but not anyone in the visitor's chairs, for example, is really grounding for me).
I also like music - I have made a short list of stuff that makes me want to dance and sing along on Spotify, for playing when I actually feel like curling up under my desk and whining.
I try to change task if I have to stay at work - I do something where I DO feel capable, or which is simple and repetitive, like fixing references or labelling samples, until I calm down a bit.
If I'm feeling angry/misunderstood about something, I also like the 'write out a ranty letter then destroy it' method of purging and refocusing [dear Boss, it is entirely YOUR FAULT I did that thing, you told me to do it last week and I said at the time it was dumb but no, you insisted, and now you are trying to blame ME and called ME stupid, how dare you???]
I have got quicker at getting up again, metaphorically speaking, as I get older in academe, but it's never easy. It's OK to be human and mind!
Session Goals
ReplyDelete- Submit paper based on acronym report [in progress, got a few mental blocks about some aspects but ultimately a bit scared about submitting my first solo author paper]
- Write and send for feedback paper 2 (international) and paper 3 (testing)
[international is taking shape, testing has evolved significantly over the past few weeks with two new sets of data to include. I need to work up the courage to ask for feedback though]
- finish literature review for loop project and potentially review style article draft if co-authors interested [on hold for now, may get back to it in a couple of weeks]
- Draft funding application on house project and decide between a grant or fellowship application (I can't do both). [I'm oscillating between the two]
- survive the last 5 rounds of chemo (every three weeks) [two more to go! two more to go! then surgery. boo!]
- walk every day, aiming for average of at least 3 km a day balanced between good weeks and bad weeks. [averaging 3.7 km per day for the past month, new target - 5 km per day average]
- work on crafty projects [finished a knitted cushion, making fabric bags for an Easter event, working on a new blanket, trying to master crochet - but progress].
Analysis:
I could add about another three partial manuscripts to this list but I'm trying to create a pipeline of publications to keep me busy through the summer and into autumn so I'll stick with these as session goals. There's some longer term planning going on.
I'm really stuck on the funding application - I've got an idea about the project, some prelim data and methods, but I'm struggling to decide between fellowship (and so working alone on the research) or grant (and so having to employ researcher/take on a student). I just don't know what's better at this stage. I feel reluctant to commit to having 'employees' because health feels like a moving target. If I apply for a fellowship, its just me that is affected if I need longer off sick or another period of leave. There isn't really anyone that can pick up a project like I'm planning so it would be difficult. But if I apply for a grant, there's more that can be done, more interesting things and it would be less lonely.
It sounds like the fellowship would be the safer option. It's a pity you can't do both, though. If you did apply for the grant, could you structure work so that you could supervise a researcher from a distance, or would the work be absolutely dependent on you being well enough to be there?
DeleteKudos on the work, exercise, and crafts! It sounds like you have maintained good balance overall.
DeleteLast week
ReplyDelete- Marking (it's a chemo week and I find those are well suited to tasks with prescriptive rubrics or model answers.) - done some
- reading of draft student work and giving feedback - done
- adminfrustration x 3 - probably more than three rounds of adminfrustration
- tackle the remains of the paper that I'm trying to get submission ready (e.g. stop fretting about it's quality and send it out for editor/reviewers opinion and stop trying to 2nd guess it!). - I'm avoiding it but I don't quite know why.
I was surprised at how quickly I managed the marking I did do. I enjoyed reading the student work and giving feedback, I enjoyed the adminfrustration less. It seems never ending, and the more I do, the more there seems to be. I can't quite work out what's going on with the paper draft, I get so far and then I just put it down and ignore it for a while.
This week
- Marking (essays and/or posters, and online tasks)
- adminfrustration x 3
- writing x 3
- crafts: finish bags for Easter event
- course prep x 3 (practical exam, online tasks, lecture notes)
Pruning and tending session goals:
ReplyDelete1. Life Stuff: get house on market. Current plan is to blitz a lot of tidying/packing during my spring break in mid-March. Further discussion below.
2. Research: turn around two sets of revisions and get back to work on book-in-progress. Also prep for a conference in May (not a paper, another sort of thing). Both R&Rs are still in progress. I’ve been reading/thinking for one; haven’t touched the other; have done a little work toward the book (so I guess I have met that goal); have not started the prep but this is a good reminder to schedule it.
3. Teaching: plan and deliver interesting classes, with useful and prompt feedback to students, without getting so detailed as to overwhelm any of us. Okay so far . . . .
4. Health: maintain routines for safe food, appropriate exercise including stretching, yoga classes twice a week, and sitting 3-4x/week. I think I will focus on the food and stretching, plus regular weights and cardio, and give up the yoga classes and meditation as a definite intention.
5. Leisure: plan and do at least one fun or social thing per week; plan and take a trip at spring break to visit my family. Doing okay with the fun/social, and will keep that; spring break travel plans now delayed till May (and I should decide when we’re going and book tickets soon, so that doesn’t slip away).
How I did last week:
ReplyDeleteI came down with some upper-respiratory ailment on Friday, which meant that Friday-Monday I haven’t done much. Thursday night Sir John and I talked over the house situation and came up with a sort of plan, or at least agreement that we’ll focus on the minimum necessary to get ourselves out of this house, rather than trying to continue with my “do it right” approach. I’d rather get things properly sorted, as opposed to storing boxes of stuff we’ll just wind up getting rid of, but I think he’s probably right that there will be more energy for sorting (say, a box a week) if we’re in a house or condo that is easier to deal with than this one.
I may trying “doing it right” on my study, though, in the knowledge that if I fail, I can take the easier way out in a couple of weeks!
Sir John is convinced we’ll lose money on this house, and is willing to do so in order to move, but I’m encouraged to see, on Zillow, a couple of houses for sale on this block that are asking prices I’d be glad to get for this one.
1. House: make an actual plan for spring break (more detailed than just “deal with this later”). I’m going to try the Push approach, since Plod isn’t working. In Progress.
2. Put in 8 hours writing/thinking time. Try to finish MMP-1 revisions? Or at least make progress and estimate time to completion. NO. Oh so not. I don’t even know what happened here.
3. Teaching: oodles of grading. Do try to keep up. YES (but more oodles now).
4. Health: exercise of some kind at least one-half hour per day; ankle rehab exercises daily; weights three times; weekend yoga if I feel like it. YES (up till I got sick).
5. Fun/social thing: get tix to play friend is in; do something restorative/pleasurable every day; social gathering Wednesday. NO, YES, YES.
Goals for next week:
ReplyDelete1. House: tidy study in the way I want it to be done. Re-copy list of stuff to do to this house, and figure out what is essential.
2. Research: schedule 8 hours writing/ thinking time. Read an ILL book. Work on both MMP-1 and book.
3. Teaching: grade two sets of papers and make sure Blackboard is set to go till spring break.
4. Health: stretch and do ankle exercises every day; test two new foods; get back to cardio and weights when I feel well enough.
5. Fun/social things: get tix to play; do restorative/pleasurable things every day; send birthday greetings to four friends.
Half way? Already? Oy. One thing I've realized is that the heavy part of my week is Monday and Tuesday -- and since I've got my grad seminar on Monday, and I've assigned lots of new (to me) readings) I'm doing a lot of prep on the weekends. So it's a challenge checking in. Anyway...
ReplyDeleteSession goals:
I'm keeping my goals modest, because on of my resolutions after finishing all the work on my book on December 23 was to try to slow down.
Research/writing
1. Write Way Outside Essay -- a semi-scholarly piece on a subject far from my expertise. I'm filling in for someone who dropped out of a collection, so the timeline is short. ABSTRACT WRITTEN/PLANNING TO WRITE OVER BREAK
2. Finish notes on forum contribution DONE
3. Write paper for May conference TO DO (but it's May!)
4. Start playing with material for my next (short) book, which I'll call Funhouse project. I'm teaching a graduate course related to this, so . . . NO, but thinking...
Health and home:
1. I gained weight in December, because of the cold that would not die, and then Christmas. I need to be regular about exercise. I normally go to an exercise session three mornings a week, and I'm trying to add to that. I'm not fixated on the scale, but I know I feel better when I'm exercising and eating well. NOT SO MUCH. I've managed to be stable, but with my mother's health crises, and my bug, the exercise has not been adequate.
2. Declutter one room of my house, making it more functional. WORKING ON IT. (I began reorganizing my bedroom this weekend, and managed to get rid of some stuff, more to go; and my sister has finally arranged to pick up the table that is cluttering up what I want to be an exercise room.)
3. Keep on top of incoming mail so that I don't drown in it. CATCHING UP
Life in the world:
1. Spend time regularly with friends SORT OF? Not as much as I want.
2. Be an engaged citizen (rally on Jan 21, call congresscritter and senators, etc.) But try not to be overwhelmed. SOME
3. Make sure I'm enjoying life MOSTLY
Analysis: I've been realizing that I was knocked sideways by the fact that my mother was hospitalized in January: once again I lost control of time I have to catch up with life. I'm beginning to feel as if I have caught up, but it's been a struggle. However, I can see I'm doing reasonably well on my goals, and now that the crush is over, I should be able to make more progress. (But I'm on two admin search committees, and we have job candidates from a bunch of faculty searches, so this may be optimistic.
Goals from two weeks ago
1. Write abstract finally: DONE -- and I got good feedback, so have to revise it further
2. Start writing paper - no but I now have most of the books I need to read
3. Submit forum essay to journal for review DONE
4. Finish clearing desk and paying bills DONE. Also, this past weekend I got all my tax stuff ready for my accountant.
5. Get back to exercise: 3 mornings a week, and also walking and/or yoga on the other mornings. MEH: Done at least one walk a week, but have also started gardening: the weeds are very happy with all the rain we've had.
6. Keep social media under control: Actually, I am doing better on this.
7. Read. No more excuses. Started a new book, which is fun.
Analysis -- as I noted, the beginning of the week is hard, and last week was the one where I had all day Wednesday as a day trip to the big city, leaving hte house at 7:15 and returning at 8 PM. Keeping up with life and bills is critical, and at least now I feel as if I'm caught up, so it's not quite so dire.
Goals for this week:
1. Read one book for Way Outside project.
2. Walk at least once
3. Keep sleep normal
I head to a conference this weekend, so while I have travel time (and lots of time sitting in airports) I don't have lots of free time. And the travel time will be devoted (largely) to preparing for Monday's seminar. So just keeping it simple.
I love the way you just slid the tax prep in there. That's a huge YAY DONE, in my book!
DeleteIt seems that despite some challenges, you are really on track. And I love how you have focused this week's goals on key areas that are truly important right now.
DeleteSession Goals:
ReplyDelete1. Drink more water (to avoid kidney stones). DOING BETTER, but still need to improve.
2. Exercise 4x per week (walking and yoga, etc.). NO, but I'm getting closer.
3. Eat more veggies and develop some more healthy (healthful?) recipes for the family. NOT REALLY.
4. Totally finish dissertation (corrections, hard binding, etc.)--this extent of this goal will depend on what kinds of corrections my examiners require. DONE!
5. Complete conference paper (for Feb). DONE.
6. Submit one article for publication. STILL HOPING . . .
7. Take weekend time to work when necessary, but also carve out quality time for kids: hiking, board games, helping with projects. NO and YES. I've done pretty well with weekend family time, but I haven't been "asking for" enough time to get work done, which has made Mondays and Tuesdays a bit overwhelming.
A bit of a mixed bag, I guess. What I *have* done, however, is make and attend doctor's appointments. So although I haven't been exercising as much as I want to, I have been attending to preventative care. Today, I had a first appointment with a new primary care provider (I've been without one for years). So I'm patting myself on the back for doing these things.
Last week's goals:
1) Print out chapter one and read it to find things to cut. DONE. I did about half of the cutting. Still need to cut about 1500 words.
2) Walk 3X. DONE. Did some yoga at home, too.
3) Figure out a research plan. Do I start reading in my area more widely? Do I go deeper into the themes of my thesis? Do I read only things related to the chapter I want to publish? I'm feeing rather paralyzed by these questions. NOT DONE. But I did work on my article, so at least I'm moving forward.
4) Get kids' allowance back on track and get them practicing piano more regularly. NOT DONE. Whoops.
5) Tidy the study. NOT DONE.
Hmmm. Not such a good week. But I felt good about working on the article and some quality time with the kids, so, there's that.
This week's goals:
1) Walk 2X. Yoga at least 1X.
2) Pay bills and take care of other banking tasks.
3) Tidy study.
4) Cut more words from article.
5) Make well-child appts for kids.
Forgot to say whether or not I need to "prune" or re-plant my session goals. I think I'll leave them as is and try to do better with the things I have neglected. They still seem on target.
DeleteI'm extremely impressed by your progress on your session goals!!!
DeleteGood job taking care of yourself--that is one that often falls off my radar.
DeleteI meant to say last week about your research plan that I also find that planning difficult, since I find myself torn between what interests me and what I think I am "supposed" to be interested in doing. TBH, I have been happy as a clam researching what I want to do this past month. Maybe that will help you--what calls you?