Week 12: reflecting on past glories

“It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.” - Thomas Fuller

There comes a point in every semester, or every process of finite length and variable enjoyment,  when it looks like the end will simply never arrive, that we'll be stuck in this moment, and that we'll never accomplish our goals. I find that it's often in the weeks between the half-way point and the end being so near you can almost reach out and grab it. The hour before the dawn.  Around these parts, I think it was last week. I could almost feel the tiredness in emails from colleagues, and it was more obvious in emails from students. I suspect everyone has their own version of this as schedules dictate.

I find it helps to remember that we get there in the end. Somehow projects move forward, papers get written, the seemingly unsurmountable pile of grading turns into submitted grade, and houses are reclaimed as homes once more. I also find it helps to remember that we do have successes. So, inspired by a comment in week 10, I invite you this week to share your successes that were, in part, due to this group. And was there something specific that you did to push the project through the final barriers to completion?

Contingent Cassandra (from week 11)0. Rest and renewal; sleep.
1. movement: try to work some in, despite weather
2. cooking (clean out/reorganize fridge; make/freeze some oatmeal, soups, etc.)
3. work on finances (esp. taxes)
4. list prep/grading to-dos through end of semester
5. do conference proposal and plan other grant-project work (which probably needs a new name, because it's not at all clear there will be any more money involved -- pedagogy project? curriculum project?)
6. figure out what to do about pedagogy/curriculum project-related class

Daisy1: Work on ONE paper each day, at least three for the week.2: Runs3: Contract report4: One figure for each paper

Dame Eleanor Hull1. House: gather tax documents and sort/file/toss/shred/pack (as appropriate) papers in the guest room.2. Research: 4 x 2 hours on the MMP R&R.3. Teaching: stay caught up.4. Health: continue regular gym workouts 3x/week, stretch every day, eat safely, go to bed early,5. Fun/social: active restoration daily. 

Earnest EnglishHopefully still hanging in there ;)

Elizabeth Anne MitchellDeal with electrician.Meeting with boss--survival is key.PT and home exercises.Continue to preserve time for transcription and scholarly thought.Incorporate research notes from last year’s trip.Plan next steps for top three to four projects to determine viability.Spend one hour per day unfruitful time clearing email or filing paper files.

Good Enough Woman1) exercise 3x2) do taxes3) get x-ray4) spend 2-3 hours editing article on Friday5) read two things (one for research, one for new course development*)6) stay on top of grading so that it doesn't become TRQ7) take daughter and her friend on their much anticipated outing

Heu mihi1. Integrate affect stuff into intro2. Read Berks abstract and make a to-do list/bibliography/outline?3. Work on ch. 4: do the easy parts, then reread once to flag problems and work spots4. Get on top of admin stuff (clear to-do list)

Humming421 Read 5x2 Write 5x3 submit book review4 follow up on conference-related things

JaneB (from week 11)1) 1 hour on Ferret
2) 1 hour on typing up notes from the workshop thing
3) drink more fluids and focus on eating fruit and vegetable rich meals (I've been away, it messes with diet, ALWAYS, and I do find it hard to reset...).

KJHaxton1. Just do the bloody marking already 2. Adminfrustration (last push to get it out the way)3. 2 x sessions working on some kind of research, preferably the nearly submittable paper but if I get distracted by data analysis I'm good with that.

Susan1. Spend Friday in office doing organizing, administrivia, and maybe even finally hang the pictures I haven't hung all year.2. Do something nice on Saturday3. Finish grading (ideally before Saturday?)4. Read for way outside5 . Get back to one of the three half finished novels on my nightstand.

Waffles1. Go to art museum free day2. See a movie in the theater3. K99 next iteration (we have something due for class every week, so…)4. Finish and submit aging paper (due friday)5. Do some analyses of qual data with dedoose (for conference call this week)6. clean the darned house!

Week 11: Pacing, thrashing, movement

Movement of one sort or another has become a theme of this iteration of TLQ: getting exercise, doing one's rehab exercises, pacing oneself (replacing plodding like tortoise, apparently). I've been struggling with thrashing, in the sense that I picked up from my computer scientist husband: "activity that makes little or no progress, usually because memory or other resources have become exhausted or too limited to perform needed operations."  One way of dealing with thrashing is to do something, anything: not the best thing, or the highest priority, just something. It can be the easiest or the most appealing task, or it can be ten minutes on one thing and then doing another. 

Another way is to pursue the metaphor, "memory or other resources have become exhausted or too limited," and try to identify the resources that need to be replenished. Active restoration is a useful notion I've acquired from this group (is that Earnest English again?); the paradox is that active restoration can feel passive. I've spent a lot of time reading science fiction this week, C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner series. The hero is a translator-diplomat, fragile compared to the "aliens" he lives with (humans are the aliens, in this world), and he has to be very careful about what he eats because many of the foods his hosts eat will poison him. Regular participants here will see why I identify strongly with him! I've realized that I also enjoy the fantasy of the hero's having staff who handle all the packing and unpacking and setting up of a tranquil, welcoming home wherever he travels. I think I need to do some identifying with that staff, now: though I wish I could just focus on Work, with all the Life Stuff taken care of by someone else, some days I will need to be my own secretary/ housekeeper /servant. If all the fun reading helps me put that into practice, the passive reading will lead to more productive activity.

Even if it doesn't, it was fun.

How are you doing with exercise, pacing, moving?

Contingent Cassandra
0. Rest and renewal; sleep.
1. movement: try to work some in, despite weather
2. cooking (clean out/reorganize fridge; make/freeze some oatmeal, soups, etc.)
3. work on finances (esp. taxes)
4. list prep/grading to-dos through end of semester
5. do conference proposal and plan other grant-project work (which probably needs a new name, because it's not at all clear there will be any more money involved -- pedagogy project? curriculum project?)
6. figure out what to do about pedagogy/curriculum project-related class

Daisy
1. Every paper every day continued
2. Three runs
3. Report for contract work (not due yet, but don't want it to become a TRQ crisis)
4. Keep up with new time-tracking software, I'm really enjoying this one (toggl if anyone is interested)

Dame Eleanor Hull
1. House: Clutter-busting binge, and talk to our real estate agent; get him to tell us what else must be done and what doesn’t matter because buyers would likely re-do anyway.
2. Research: one hour a day, just to stay in touch with projects.
3. Teaching: grade 9 essays that students revised. Put up post-break assignments.
4. Health: Continue regular gym workouts 3x/week, stretch every day, eat safely and try one new food.*
5. Fun/social: take time for fun reading and other relaxation; if regular Wednesday night thing resumes, bake for it.**
6. Other: renew passport.

Earnest English
With us in spirit and useful mantras!

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
1. Take a slow transition back to work on Wednesday.
2. Keep up with PT and exercises.
3. Preserve at least one hour a day for transcription and scholarly thought.
4. Staff evaluations, which are quickly approaching TRQ.

Good Enough Woman
1. Do taxes. boo, hiss
2. Take care of things daughter needs in order to be Selene, Goddess of the Moon at her school's Open House this week. Do other volunteer-related things for the open house in a timely manner. Drop off the silent auction thing on Monday afternoon or Wednesday morning.
3. Cut 500 words from article.
4. Read one thing.
5. Request the family's permission to work late two nights this week so that I can stay caught up (sort of) with grading.
6. Make x-ray appt or get x-ray.
7. Make well-child appt.
8. Exercise 3x.

Heu mihi
1. Read most of the book for next week's seminar
2. Read chapter 4 and flag problem parts
3. Make an effort to notice and, if possible, stop cycles of anxiety and mental busy-ness.

Humming42
1. Read 6x
2. Write 7x
3. Finish book review
4. Finish other pressing review
5. Submit R&R
6. Find ways to savor time off every day

JaneB
1) 1 hour on Ferret
2) 1 hour on typing up notes from the workshop thing
3) drink more fluids and focus on eating fruit and vegetable rich meals (I've been away, it messes with diet, ALWAYS, and I do find it hard to reset...).

KJHaxton
1. marking x 5 (let's clear the decks so I can spend time spiralising various parts of the research salad)
2. adminfrustration/teaching prep x 3 (prep Friday's lecture for colleague to give, prep exam stuff. Tackle admin associated with the task where I broke the VLE, had to remake the assignment manually by exporting and uploading the student work and which will mean manually collating grades and feedback. For this week I just need to respond to student queries about the peer assessment.).
3. tidying and clearing up: just keep things tidy, get all the research project paper filed into the nice folders I bought. Prepare for next week.

Susan
1. Keep reading for Way Outside
2. Finish admin task
3. Finish grading
4. Walk once
5. Do something nice each day of the weekend.

Waffles
1. Aging paper - near final draft (this has been a crazy project - we have basically 2 weeks to pull together a manuscript in an area none of us are expert in)
2. Gender paper (do *some* work on this)
3. LHF grant (pull together new idea and share with mentor)
4. K99 next iteration
5. Read for E's paper and work on intro

Week 10: Spring Along Sing Along

I apologise for the title, and for getting this up a little later than I'd like. Things take a little longer at the moment and the weather has been nice enough to spend time outside getting the garden into shape rather than lurking in front of the computer. The birds are getting really loud in the mornings here and as always the garden's resident birds provide a very pleasant soundtrack to garden to. That, and a couple of comments last week about using music to hit the reset button or change the mood, made me wonder about soundtracks for our working lives. Each exam season I select an album or two as 'marking music', and these have spanned an eclectic mix from Amy Winehouse to Peatbog Faeries. When I mark, I put those on. The first draft of my MA dissertation was done to Paloma Faith (and there's still bits I read and hear Picking up the Pieces in my head). Yesterday in a restaurant a song came on and I was transported back to revising for my final exams at uni - I usually put it on when I took a break. So what musical tricks do you find work for you? Do your 'work in progress' tasks have specific theme tunes or is silence the key to productivity? 


Contingent Cassandra:
1. Movement (whatever I can manage, but some), and continued regular sleep. 
2. Get grading that needs to be done by end of spring break done by the end of this week, so I don't have to grade over spring break. 
3. List prep and grading to-dos through end of semester. 
4. Email elderly relative's granddaughter for phone #; send him card in the meantime. 
5. Send 2 emails re: renewal/promotion
6. Draft conference proposal related to grant-funded project
7. Continue contemplating what I want to do about grant-related class (maybe a little light commenting on others' blogs so I don't entirely disappear)

Daisy:
1) Try the every paper every day thing so that each of the three papers has something to show by the end of the week.
2) Run 3 times
3) Finish non-urgent but nagging admin stuff

DEH:
1. House: do something. Anything.
2. Research: work in slots scheduled for research (5 days, this week).
3. Teaching: catch up with grading so I don't have much to do over spring break.
4. Health: get back to regular gym workouts 3x/week, stretch every day.
5. Fun/social: do something restorative/pleasurable every day; schedule something besides the play.

Earnest English:
On TLQ sabbatical :)

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell: 
Three PT appointments and all the exercises in between.
Dental appointment.
Transcribe Latin and French once a day at a minimum of half an hour each day.
Read through the notes from the last research trip, and add to commentary.
Work with book structure three days for a minimum of half an hour each day.

Good Enough Woman: 
1) Bills and banking, updating credit card, etc..
2) Well child appts for kids.
3) Schedule (or get) knee x-ray.
4) Tidy study.
5) Cut 300 words from article.
6) Create research/reading plan. 

Heu mihi:
1. Work on ch. 4: do the easy parts, then reread once to flag problems and work spots (I can do this on the plane)
2. Read grad student’s intro (10 pp.)
3. Work on first 3 pp. of Norway draft
4. Clarify post-break assignments; update Moodle

Humming42:1 Read 5x
2 Research/Write 5x
3 Return Mars proofs (I have not been able to access them)
4 Draft book review

JaneB:
1) 1 hour on Ferret
2) 1 hour on typing up notes from the workshop thing
3) drink more fluids and focus on eating fruit and vegetable rich meals (I've been away, it messes with diet, ALWAYS, and I do find it hard to reset...).

Karen:

KJHaxton:adminfrustration x 3
writing x 3 [get the paper ready for submission]
crafts - bags for Easter must be finished
marking x 3

Luolin?

Susan: 
1. Read book for Way Outside 
2. Draft outline of paper
3. Walk two times
4. Read for pleasure

        
Waffles:
1. Aging paper methods and tables
2. Gender paper intro and results 
3. LHF grant - reading and thinking
4. K99 analytic plan - finish
5. watch some tutes on using dedoose

Week 9: small tricks, quick fix

What do you do when it's really a bad day? Say you've had almost no sleep, or you're out of tea, or you spill coffee on your last clean outfit (or all of the above). How do you fix it? Do you fix it, or do you say, "Frack it, I'm going back to bed"?

Earlier in the week, I tried a quick fix: I took all the paper that had piled up on my second desk, the one directly in line of sight from my computer desk, and put it in a box on the floor. I still need to do something with that paper, but I feel calmer looking at a clear space rather than at the accumulation of stuff.

Today, though, after a very bad night, I opted out. I might have managed to power through some simple task . . . but then again, there is something to be said for being sure that I'm not screwing up some simple task by virtue of being too tired to realize that I've just put the whites in with the colors or posted 320's assignment to 225's web page. At least I won't have to undo errors tomorrow, though the task list hasn't diminished today.

Last week’s goals:

Contingent Cassandra:
1. 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).
2. Get fully caught up with grading and prep and make a plan for at least through spring break.
3. Send birthday wishes to elderly relative, touch base with two friends, deal w/ stepmother re: cemetery issue, other family contact as appropriate.
4.Write email re: contract renewal/possible promotion
5. At least begin thinking about what I really want out of grant-related class, and tailoring participation accordingly.

Daisy?

DEH:
1. 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.

Earnest English?

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell:
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.

Good Enough Woman:
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.

Heu mihi:
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

Humming42?

JaneB:
1) prepare as far as possible for workshop and don't stress too much . . . . 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

Karen?

KJHaxton:
- 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)

Luolin?

Susan:
1. Read one book for Way Outside project.
2. Walk at least once
3. Keep sleep normal
       
Waffles:
1. Equality paper outline
2. Edit R03 and NAS
3. Keep working on K99 analytic plan
4. Aus presentation
5. Apply for travel award