(This post is quite long and pondering, and
even somewhat existential, and I won’t be offended if you just skip it and go
straight to check in.)
On Friday, I went to a yoga class, probably
the first I’ve gone to in at least a year. I’ve been doing a bit of yoga at
home, but now that I’m finished with the semester and don’t have a PhD thesis
to write, I can go to a class. As much as I like my (sporadic) home practice,
classes are good because they push me, and I learn new things.
Yesterday, after a brief vinyasa flow, we
worked on balance in a starfish pose. The teacher encouraged us to find a focal
point for our gaze. I’ve heard that advice many times, but yesterday was the
first time I remember the teacher putting a name to the practice of that focused
gaze: drishti. According to Yoga
Basics,
A drishti (view or gaze) is a specific focal point that is employed
during meditation or while holding a yoga posture. The ancient yogis discovered
that where our gaze is directed our attention naturally follows, and that the
quality of our gazing is directly reflected in the quality of our mental
thoughts. When the gaze is fixed on a single point the mind is diminished from
being stimulated by all other external objects. And when the gaze is fixed on a
single point within the body, our awareness draws inwards and the mind remains
undisturbed by external stimuli. Thus, the use of a drishti allows the mind to
focus and move into a deep state of concentration. And the constant application
of drishti develops ekagraha, single-pointed focus, an essential yogic
technique used to still the mind.
Of course, when
thinking about drishti, I couldn’t help but think of our TLQ group, along with
some other things that have been on my mind lately. As I noted in my
introduction last week, my mother, who is an artist and active member of the
community, had a sudden attack of transverse myelitis. This means that she went
from being perfectly healthy to being partially paralyzed. The good news is
that she is improving, but she is still using a walker and a wheelchair to get
around.
As cliché as it
sounds, this event has made me think about how quickly things can change, and
how I need to “live for the moment” and all that. But what does that mean? Like
heu mihi (and I’m paraphrasing here), I often fear I won’t make the most of
things when I should/could.
During these sessions,
we’ve often asked ourselves, “At the end of these 14 weeks, when I sit down
with a cup of tea or glass of wine, what will I feel good to have
accomplished?” My “what if” thoughts have taken a bit more of dramatic turn
because of my mom, and I’m left thinking about what really matters. As a
result, I’ve been trying to think about what is most important to me this
session. And because of those thoughts, I was especially interested when
Contingent Cassandra set just one session goal: to move more. That is her drishti. I have been trying to figure out my drishti for this session—how I can
focus my gaze so that I can be a more balanced starfish.
Do any of you feel
like you have a drishti for this session?
As usual, you can use the typical check-in format:
- topic (unless you want to skip it)
- check-in with last week's goals
- analysis (what worked, what didn't)
- and next week's goals.
Here is more on drishti: http://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/the-eye-of-the-beholder
P.S. Earnest English,
if you’re out there, I think I can safely speak for the group and say we are thinking about you.
Contingent Cassandra
--tie up loose ends from the semester
as much as possible
--work in the garden at least once
Dame Eleanor Hull
*First six weeks: primary goal is
packing up my house and doing necessary maintenance to sell it. I'm trying to
put in 1-2 hours a day on research and teaching tasks.
*Five weeks in UK: in addition to
teaching responsibilities, which involve field trips as well as classroom work
and grading, visit two places of personal significance, and ramp up the
research considerably, since I will be living a few minutes' walk from a major
research library that calms and inspires me.
*Final three weeks: take a week off
from all work, then prep for the fall semester, mop up whatever tasks need
mopping. With any luck, unpack in new place.
*Product goals: sell house, move;
review all sections of translation that I have yet to review; get two R&Rs
out the door (probably a good UK task); read, take notes, and move my book project
forward; finalize syllabus for UK teaching; plan for fall classes.
GEW
1) Set session goals and make some
decisions about academic writing for the near future.
2) Get grades submitted by Wednesday at
noon! (This is really TLQ, but it has a huge impact on the week, so I'm putting
it here.)
3) Swim at least once.
4) Order b-day presents for daughter,
help her with invitations.
5) Find/plan some good healthy recipes
for summer.
6) Go to dermatologist. Do not cancel
appointment!
7) Take a van load of books to donate
to the library (this might get pushed to next week, but I'll go ahead an put it
here.)
8) Help daughter remember to practice
for next weekend's piano recital.
heu mihi
1) Get to the halfway point in chapter
3 revisions (p. 22)
2) Finish reading RK; take notes on it
3) Read an article related to ch. 3
4) Pick up library books and prioritize
them
5) Finish draft of research portion of
tenure statement
humming42
1 write 5x
2 read 5x
3 write Pop revision
4 sketch on preliminary outline for
workshop
Karen
1. Mark like a machine over the
weekend.
2. Put in abstract for end of year
discipline conference.
KJHaxton
1. Recover from surgery (it was last
week) and finish up the current rounds of treatment. Negotiate return to work.
2. Submit an abstract for, create a
poster for (assuming abstract accepted) and attend conference at end of summer
3. Finish some knitting projects
4. Start and finish a printing project
JaneB
1) get as much of my own grading
finished as possible
2) have a Nagging Schedule for all the
paperwork related to grading which depends on other people doing their grading
(have I ever mentioned how much I hate team teaching?)
3) make sure all my advisees have made
appointments for 1:1 meetings, and have as many of those meetings as possible.
4) run ProblemChild analyses (try &
finish step 6 before end of weekend)
5) move a noticeable amount of stuff
every day around the house (could be a load of laundry done, a carrier bag of
recycling removed, a chair's worth of clutter organised and put into a box,
anything like that)
6) eat no refined sugar (starting
tomorrow. There was a cookie incident today. SIGH).
7) go to bed before midnight.
Matilda
1) Finish the outline of Chapter 2.
2) Write first draft of Chapter 2.
3) Finish reading a book.
4) Make a plan of the holiday coming
soon.
Susan
Well, there really isn't much time this
week, but I'll begin the deck clearing (maybe clear out some emails while I'm
away from home). Otherwise, it's just relaxing.
Waffles
1. Full draft of trans paper
2. Get aging R&R close to done
3. Make headway on relat R&R
4. Make progress on lit search for
scoping review
5. Read a few more gender articles and
add to intro
In the last yoga class I went to we were invited to focus our gaze out beyond the walls, through to the horizon and beyond - I do like the idea of not getting caught up in the close up details. If I was to nominate a focus for this session, it would be something like nurturing my sense of myself as a researcher.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Mark like a machine over the weekend. Did okay.
2. Put in abstract for end of year discipline conference. Partially drafted, will finish tomorrow.
This week: Marking to keep ploughing through, but also approaching deadline on grass paper. So really thinking about how to transition in a focused way between things will be key.
1. 1 hour on grass paper each working day, even if in cumulative smaller chunks.
2. Go to the gym once.
My yoga teachers have usually discussed a specific focus point, but I can how an more extended gaze could be helpful, especially with things like the transition you are facing. I hope you're able to effectively shift gears.
DeleteAnd I hope the marking is going well!
Goodness, I have missed this group the past few weeks! And then I go and miss the first week. Gah!
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks to JaneB and GEW for hosting this summer session of TLQ. Next, I will introduce myself and set session goals on last’s week’s post, so that our hosts don’t have to go searching for them at midpoint and end of the session. Third, I’m going to jump into the topic and set next week’s goals.
The idea of drishti is immensely appealing to me. I have developed a clearer vision of that focus in the past few years. After swinging in a nearly manic/depressive way between imposter syndrome and glee at being a misfit, depending on whether I wanted to fit in with my department or academic cohort, I am centering more toward the misfit, although I have not left behind the occasional attack of imposter syndrome. My focus is to be who I am, and to let the freak flag fly (the younger among you please feel free to ask for the citation on that phrase).
To that end, I am honing in on research I want to do. There are late medieval/early modern era texts, authors, and printers I believe have far more insights to offer, but have received little attention. I cannot resist underdogs, and I have a few that I want to bring into public view.
Next week’s goals:
Review and revise book plan for the month of June.
Finish the sabbatical research on what libraries have which texts.
Walk a half-hour a day.
Write five sentences daily.
Edit one page of Prudence commentary daily.
I hope everyone has a good summer session. Float like mist, everyone.
I'm glad you are embracing the "misfit" identity (or at least trying to do so). It sounds like the one that will be most productive, anyway, right? It fosters creative and intellectual activity whereas the imposter syndrome can be downright paralyzing.
DeleteThinking of being a "misfit" makes me think of the Rudolph Christmas special and the elf who want to be a dentist. :)
I've been reading too much junk fiction, as my first misread led to me wondering what dark elves had to do with yoga... Do I have a focus? I do struggle with focus, partly because this job is SO full of ways to not focus, partly because of who I am (I am increasingly sure that if I was at school now I'd be identified as mildly dyslexic and ADHD/ADD - the more I read about the latter, the more completely "me" the descriptions are, right down to the association with anxiety disorders and filing system preferences... I have always been a fidgeter and "sit still and listen" is definitely asking me to do two hard things at once unless the listen is really, really interesting). Aaaand I lost focus again. Um, so, my focus is about relaxation, refreshment, and reclaiming my identity as a competent, kind, professional academic, whatever outside messages I am getting. Treating myself as I want others to treat me. Turning the positive, encouraging compassion I find for students on myself. Refilling the resevoirs. All that stuff. Which... sounds like one thing in my head, but I don't seem to be able to say it as a phrase. I guess purely and simply my dark elf drishti is me? Which sounds entirely non-yogic and wrong but... need to think about how to say this better!
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) get as much of my own grading finished as possible done
2) have a Nagging Schedule for all the paperwork related to grading which depends on other people doing their grading (have I ever mentioned how much I hate team teaching?) gah! Incoming is the worst offender GAH!!!
3) make sure all my advisees have made appointments for 1:1 meetings, and have as many of those meetings as possible. still chasing some, but they ARE adults...
4) run ProblemChild analyses (try & finish step 6 before end of weekend) there was a big mistake in the stuff former PDF did, but I am just calling them all "our" mistakes cos it's mostly luck I have only made small ones lately (except here where I can be honst and pat myself on the back for NOT going blame-y but focusing on fixing it). We had to restart stage 5, and former PDF was away, and I am now in the office on a Bank Holiday Monday to set up stage 6 on teaching room computers. But it could be worse...
5) move a noticeable amount of stuff every day around the house (could be a load of laundry done, a carrier bag of recycling removed, a chair's worth of clutter organised and put into a box, anything like that) one day
6) eat no refined sugar (starting tomorrow. There was a cookie incident today. SIGH).most days. I found a stash of good dark chocolate I'd forgotten about, but that HAS been the only sugar, and only a square at a time, so not too bad
7) go to bed before midnight. maybe three days? and not sure how to count days when I get in from work and go to sleep immediately after feeding the cat and get in 1-2 sleep cycles, then get up and work a few hours, then go back to bed in the wee hours for another 2-3 cycles. Hot and Humid Weather Sleeping Patterns... :-(
next week:
Marks HAVE to be in (and everything is now OUT of my immediate control on this), and I HAVE to get organised about 'stuff' (accepted that this week I would be "lazier" and scattier than normal because of having been on a trip and been right at the edge of too stressed for a couple of weeks, there's always a ping-back, but have to not let that become the whole of June...).
next week's goals:
Delete1) marking stuff (putting it on here even though it HAS to happen because it needs to come high on the priority list each day)
2) ProblemChildPart2 (simulations need to be finished this week, and ideally the draft of paper 1 written...)
3) Plans for stuff that's coming up very fast need to be sorted - SillyIdea and Regional Seminar (which I'm hosting) both need a chunk of time spending on them
4) GrantINeverShouldHaveAgreedTo and TravelGrant both need serious writing attention this week.
5) Personal Habits - picking up, sleeping, sugar-avoiding, pausing between snacks not just keeping going, moving - need attention, but kindly.
And PickyPaper really, really WANTS attention, so if I get bored/stuck on any of the above that would be better than procrastination or junk reading.
I think it is completely okay to have oneself as the focus, JaneB. I am also dyslexic and ADD, but wasn't diagnosed (as a sidebar to his diagnosis) until my eldest son was 14.
DeleteWe are socialized not to care for ourselves first, but I always remind myself it is like the oxygen on the airplane. You cannot be the compassionate professor you want to be without taking care of yourself.
I'm glad you have been reading junk fiction, and I love the idea of you being your own Dark Elf Drishti. I wonder how best to maintain that focus. Maybe you can create a particular elf image (like an avatar?) that you can call up in your imagination when you need a balancing gaze/focus.
DeleteI hope things with Problem Child have been going smoothly this week.
I love drishtis. They're almost magical: in a balance pose, I always feel (when I've got one) like my gaze becomes an extra limb holding me up. And this week's topic has got me interested in thinking about how this might apply to my life in a larger, more metaphorical sense, so thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy immediate, material focus is Finishing The Book. This week was *really* good--I worked 3-4 hours a day on my ch. 3 revisions (which is remarkable, for me), and got through all of the chapter except the conclusion, which needs to be rewritten (but will be like 2 pages long). And it felt like I was actually doing good work, too. Time will tell, but still, I know it's better than it was!
However, I don't want to make that my official drishti, because that seems kind of...too literal, or something. Instead, maybe I can try to make Appreciation my drishti. As GEW mentioned in the prompt, I worry about not enjoying my fun time; likewise, I want to continue enjoying (or at least appreciating) the time that I have for work--because honestly, this week, I was cruising and it was *fun*. It won't always be fun, of course, but at least it can be appreciated, right? And I struggle sometimes with control issues (esp. around money and mess; I've gotten better about money, at least), and that tends to make it hard for me to appreciate what could be enjoyable and/or relaxing times.
So I'll give that a shot.
Goals:
Last week's goals:
1) Get to the halfway point in chapter 3 revisions (p. 22)
DONE, and then some!
2) Finish reading RK; take notes on it
Finished reading it; used in chapter; have not taken notes.
3) Read an article related to ch. 3
Read like 3 of them.
4) Pick up library books and prioritize them
DONE.
5) Finish draft of research portion of tenure statement
DONE (draftily), plus most of the Service section, too.
This week:
1) Spend 4 hours on ACLA, with the goal of an outline and a sense of direction for the paper.
2) Power through all (??) of the ch. 3 research stuff.
3) Service and Teaching portions of tenure statement.
4) To-do list for ch. 5 revisions.
5) Oh, and deal with the Incomplete student.
I too find drishtis very helpful in yoga (of course, I still fell out of my starfish pose, but that's why they call it "practice," right?). I hope your "appreciation" practice goes well.
DeleteAnd congrats on such a great week for the book last week. I hope this week's work on chapter three is smooth and productive.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteTopic:
Oh, focus. This topic get me to consider…The immediate one is writing a book, or like heu mihi, I should say finishing the book. And sometimes I try to focus on how I can be a researcher/mother. There is no ‘correct’ answer, so focusing on how I can be/ what I am, itself may be important.
Goals for this week:
1) Finish the outline of Chapter 2.
Started but not yet finished.
2) Write first draft of Chapter 2.
Started but not yet finished.
3) Finish reading a book.
Not yet.
4) Make a plan of the holiday coming soon.
Done
Analysis:
I took too much time for fun, meeting friends with my children and making a plan for holidays. My TLQ goals need to be more practically organised! My family are happy with the holiday plan, so I am happy in this sense, but partly I regret I should have spent more time on my work. Anyway, I will concentrate on my writing next week, and I have a meeting on it, anyway.
Goals for next week:
1) Finish the outline of Chapter 2, again.
2) Start writing/revising old draft first draft of Chapter 2, again.
3) Meeting with my mentor on Chapter 1, with good preparation.
4) Exercise for 5 minutes every day.
Have a great week, everyone!
Well, at least you got started on some things last week, even if you didn't finish them. I hope that gave you some momentum for this week. And I hope you enjoyed the fun things without too much guilt! That's all part of the researcher/mother balance.
DeleteAnd maybe you can be like JaneB and create a kind of imagined "self" that you can you to help you focus and balance. She imagined a dark elf, but you could have a different kind of "avatar."
I hope writing and exercising are both going well this week.
Thank you for your encouraging comments, GEW!
DeleteAt least I enjoyed the fun planned for this week. Imagined 'self' would be an interesting idea. Mmm I am thinking what I can call her...
Topic: This makes me want to give yoga a try (probably at home; I'm not much of a "class" person, and needing to get out of the house and interact with people considerably reduces the changes I will do something, though I realize there are also real benefits in doing it right. On the upside, the one big window in my apartment has a really nice long view, with a built-in focal point). So maybe I'll put in-home experimentation with yoga on the list of activities that I'd like to try sometime after this summer (the other is getting back on a bike; but since I have access to a swimming pool only in June, July, and August, and that's good gentle exercise, I'm going to stick with that and walking and weight-lifting and gardening for the summer).
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess I *have* named my drishti in setting a single goal of getting moving, though maybe I might extend that goal a bit by saying that it has a metaphorical as well as a physical dimension: I want to get moving physically because I think that's probably the first step toward getting moving metaphorically (and physically in other ways: moving stuff around within my present living space in order to make room for activities I'd like to resume and from temporary storage to something a bit less temporary in order to ease budget pressures and make that stuff more accessible; eventually moving house altogether to somewhere where the living and storage functions wouldn't be separated, either in this area or maybe, eventually, post-retirement, somewhere else).
CC, for home yoga practice, I really like Jason Crandall's "Morning, Noon, and Night" video. It's good for a beginner, and sessions are only 20 minutes, so totally doable. Great for balance and flexibility. Jason is a great teacher. The morning and night sessions are my favorites.
DeleteThank you! I'll check it out.
DeleteGoals for last week:
ReplyDelete--tie up loose ends from the semester as much as possible
--work in the garden at least once
Accomplished: both
Analysis: well, it helps to set modest goals, especially for the week after the semester ends. And now I'm in the week before the summer term begins, when it's also a good idea to set most goals. So,
Goals for next week:
--continue work in garden (2-3x, depending on weather; how far I get toward meeting the standard I need to for the post-June 1 inspection; and how far I get with class prep)
--get updated pool pass
--swim *or* lift weights 1x
I hope you've been able to get to the pool! I haven't done that yet this week even though I had hoped to. I really do love to swim even though I always feel a shock as a I transition from warm and dry to wet and cold. It's an uncomfortable 20-30 seconds, but worth it. And my pool is pretty comfortable.
DeleteI hope you are ready for the garden inspection. I still think a community-garden-intrigue/murder mystery would be awesome.
This wasn’t my most productive week thus far. I feel like I had several days when I just could not focus. I’m not sure if this is still related to politics - or is a form of psychological resistance to work. I did get reviews back on two papers at about the same time - and I know I am feeling a bit less competent in reaction to those (both R&Rs, but still - rough at the same time). My mentor meditates many mornings before she works - and I may try something like that. Beginning mid-next week, I will be working largely from home until I move to NYC - so I need to get back to doing focused work in the face of being someplace with so many distractions. I also need to figure out a way to get some human contact and support during that period - as all of my friends are from work. I have a couple social things planned, a vacation, and two conference trips - so that will help. Working from home will also give me the flexibility to clean and start paring down my belongings, which I need to do (I did some of that this weekend).
ReplyDeleteGoals last week:
1. Full draft of trans paper - DONE and almost ready to submit tomorrow
2. Get aging R&R close to done - GETTING THERE, farmed out a piece to grad student on the paper since I wasn’t clear what their contributions were to the project, I think that is good.
3. Make headway on relat R&R - GETTING THERE
4. Make progress on lit search for scoping review - Waiting on the librarian to get back to me
5. Read a few more gender articles and add to intro - DID NOT DO
Goals for this week:
1. Submit trans paper
2. Get relat R&R done
3. Read articles for gender paper
4. Start on marriage paper? If not, figure out next project
Well, you seem to have made headway last week even if you didn't get as far as you'd hoped to. I hope that you're successfully making the adjustment to working at home. I find that sometimes I muse *have* to go to a coffee shop or else I find myself doing some totally unnecessary house work. Cleaning grout, for example, is a great form of procrastination. I can imagine that sometimes when you're home, you'll be tempted to work on organizing/purging/packing when your goals are more research/writing related.
DeleteI hope you've been able to focus better this week! Politics are definitely distracting.
Preface: I have been thinking a lot about academic writing and what my goals should be. A couple of days ago, I thought a session goal would be to submit an article by the end of the session, and I even spent a couple of hours on Friday reading the first chapter of Wendy Belcher's book. But thinking about drishti led me to a different idea...
ReplyDeleteTopic: For a long time, I guess my PhD was my drishti--no room for anything metaphorical, that was just it. But now that it's done (and now that I got my first post-thesis article rejection), I've been evaluating. And I realize that my drishti for this summer is "improvement." I just thought of that word this morning, so I might revise (or improve) it, but that's where I'm starting. The word has some negative connotations for me (e.g., "continuous quality improvement" for accreditation, and Jane Austen's satire of those who do home "improvements"), but it really does seem the right thing for now.
I have a lot of goals this session related to house, health, family, writing, etc., but the consistent thread among them all is that I want to make improvements. I want to improve my eating and exercise. We are making improvements to the house. I want to improve my writing. And I want to improve my focus on the kids (and my husband and mother and family in general). All this comes on the heels of a year spent focused on the thesis. And while I do have some specific (or product) goals, I think it's time to focus on process for a little while, and since I have the luxury to do that, I will.
Belated Session Goals (I'll also post these back in last week's comments):
1) Do all things necessary to get kids set up in their own rooms (rooms that will be good sanctuaries for them for the rest of their time at home). This will involve MUCH moving and purging (and building of a backyard "office/library/studio/witch hut").
2) Eat the rainbow and help my family do the same.
3) Move more and build family practices for kids to do the same.
4) Read daily (and somewhat widely) within sci-fi and also academia (esp. c18 Brit lit and any scholars with good writing styles). Finish reading Dune.
5) Write at least five days per week, whether free-writing, formal academic writing, notes about texts I plan to teach, poetry, fiction, or journaling--all with the goal of exploring my interests/subjects areas while also improving my writing style (which was criticized [rather mildly, but still] by one my article reviewers). I think parentheses were probably part of my problem.
6) Since we aren't traveling as much, take advantage of local attractions and activities.
7) Spend more time on family to improve relationships, future memories, and bonds. (The relationships are good, but they definitely played second-fiddle to the PhD for the past year.)
This week's goals:
1) Read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
2) Write for 15 minutes at least 5x
3) Read at least one academic chapter or article (and likely finish current sci-fi novel).
4) Visit mom for a couple of hours.
5) Do all necessary practical and psychological preparations for daughter's b-day party, which is to be a sleepover at a hotel on Saturday night. It will be me and six twelve-year olds. Send good thoughts.
6) Swim or yoga 2x.
Forgot to do check-in!
Delete1) Set session goals and make some decisions about academic writing for the near future. DONE.
2) Get grades submitted by Wednesday at noon! (This is really TLQ, but it has a huge impact on the week, so I'm putting it here.). DONE.
3) Swim at least once. DONE. AND YOGA.
4) Order b-day presents for daughter, help her with invitations. DONE.
5) Find/plan some good healthy recipes for summer. NOT DONE.
6) Go to dermatologist. Do not cancel appointment! DONE.
7) Take a van load of books to donate to the library (this might get pushed to next week, but I'll go ahead an put it here.) NOT DONE.
8) Help daughter remember to practice for next weekend's piano recital. SORT OF, but she did great.
Good luck with goal 5! At least it's going to be easier than if you had 12 six year olds to corral...
DeleteHow's your mom doing?
DeleteYes, six 12-years-old are easier even if only because they are better swimmers and I'll be less scared about them drowning in the pool (still feeling the weight of care for other people's kiddos!).
DeleteDEH, thanks for asking. She is making great improvements. She is getting around her house with a walker quite well, which is a great improvement, considering a month ago her right hand and right leg didn't work at all. I don't know if she'll have a full recovery, but she's been able to go to my kids' events and to some of her art events by using the walker or a wheelchair. These things are good!
Those are really great improvements. I hope she will feel better and better.
DeleteI love the idea of a drishti for the session. I also love -- and do fairly well -- the balance poses in yoga. (There are backbends I can't do, and handstands are a disaster.) As someone who has multiple responsibilities, I think my drishti is being productive but not frantic. To take time.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals were modest -- as I noted "Well, there really isn't much time this week, but I'll begin the deck clearing (maybe clear out some emails while I'm away from home). Otherwise, it's just relaxing." I'm not sure why I thought driving my mother for 5 hours, plus a weekend with 3 1/2 Y.O. twins was relaxing, but anyway, It was a good trip, and it's done. I managed to knock off about 75 emails, so that's a start on the decluttering, and today I brought a pile of books back to the library and to my office.
Goals for next week (lots of picky admin, and my goal is to get it all DONE this week so it's not hanging over me.)
1. Finish assessment report
2. Request all reimbursements
3. Make three phone calls (dentist, house#1, house #2.
4. Library list of books
5. Book orders (these are late, so TRQ, but need doing)
6. go through bills, funding requests, etc., and either do something or get rid of them.
7. Read violence paper, start thinking about it
8. Walk, read for pleasure/not work
Maybe the productive-not-frantic drishti can be an image of yourself doing your favorite balance pose.
DeleteI hope you're getting the tick-tocky details out of the way this week and that you find time for pleasure reading and walking.
Late this week due to a holiday weekend, insomnia, and a complex day on Tuesday. Hello!
ReplyDeleteMy week's goals appeared under my session goals, last week. Here’s how I did with them.
House:
*Pack and re-organize in basement so as to move some upstairs stuff down there out of the way. YES
*Spread more mulch in the garden. SOME (more to come)
*Finish making my study show-able; continue guest room packing; start on either kitchen or living room. IT’S COMPLICATED. I’ve kept packing, but I think I’m “spiralling,” working on multiple things in little bits and still not getting any one thing completely done.
*Take at least one carload of stuff to charity shop. YES.
Work:
*Review one chunk of translation. NO
*Write 1000 words (notes, questions). NO
*Prep summer Blackboard site enough to open it to students. NO.
It was not a good week for work, because it was a bad week for insomnia; thus I either wasn’t up or wasn’t alert early in the morning, my best work time, partly because it’s before other stuff comes up. But I did get a lot done in the garden and the house, so that’s good.
The topic is timely, as I feel that I ought to Pick One Thing and concentrate, and yet I really can’t: although we need to do a lot of House Stuff right now, work also has demands that I can’t completely ignore. It’s interesting, and useful, to see that a lot of you are picking abstractions like “Appreciation,” “Productivity,” “Improvement.” Unlike many academics, I’m not very good with abstraction. So I think I’m going to adopt Cassandra’s drishti—“Move”—as my own. It covers moving house, keeping up with exercise (essential for health), and (more abstractly) moving on the work stuff on which I need to make at least some progress in this first part of summer.
This week’s goals:
House:
*Keep packing.
*Keep on with garden, including more mulch-spreading.
*Meet with real estate agent.
Work:
*Review one chunk of translation.
*Write 1000 words (notes, questions).
*Prep summer Blackboard site enough to open it to students.
*Take care of some other teaching admin stuff.
I'm sorry that I pasted in the wrong goals! I did that for one other person at first and then fixed it. I should have been paying better attention.
DeleteAnyway, the fact that you got basement work done and that you made it to the charity shop seem like great accomplishments to me (esp. since I will drive around for months with donations bags in my trunk before actually making it to Goodwill).
I tried to think of a more concrete kind of drishti, but like you, there are several concrete things that need my attention. But for me it's timely to be less "product" focused even though I do hope to see "measurable results" (as awful and accreditation-like as that sounds).
I hope you're able to sleep better this week, DEH. And I hope you have a good meeting with the real estate agent.