From where I'm writing, it's a little less scenic
and exotic than KJHaxton's Scottish adventures. But I'll also take my cue for
this week’s prompt from my surroundings. I've got trays of vegetable and fruit
seeds slowly germinating, trying to get ahead ready for planting when we're
past the risk of frosts. I'm trying to make sure they have enough heat, light
and water to successfully grow.
So what are the conditions in which you can feel
you can grow? Within the limits of often difficult institutional conditions, can
we nurture that growth.
Amstr
-plan exercise and eating and do
it!
-no screens 3 nights (let's be realistic)
-1 hour coffee shop writing 5 days
-finalize YB
-redraft PO
-finish drafting KLB handouts
Contingent Cassandra
-Lift weights at least 2x, walk at least 1x
-Try to keep bedtime consistent
-Prepare and deliver presentation on pedagogy project
-Decide what to do about other pedagogy project (handoff? grant applications this year but no work ‘til summer ’18?)
-Begin planning Spring ’18 lit class (figure out what I need to do by when; begin planning readings and perhaps doing some background reading)
Dame Eleanor Hull
1) Self: daily exercise, yoga (2x, preferably), enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.
2) Research: 5 hours, focusing on product.
3) Teaching: finish setting up assignments for undergrads.
4) House/Life: finish packing the guest room, do some other useful house thing.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Recalibrate the outline for the book.
Write my part of the survey article.
Spend at least five hours on the grant.
Organize, toss or scan one file drawer.
Continue to expand project file with one folder per project.
Walk more than 45 minutes a day.
Go to bone scan appointment.
Good Enough Woman
1) Research options/activities for middle school writing club, which starts next Monday (quite nervous about this).
2) Try to move like water with TRQ and family, especially with weekend guests, and also with helping daughter make matching T-shirts for an upcoming activity with friends. This will be a special challenge when it comes to the iron-on transfers.
3) Write 200 words of fiction.
4) Go to bed by 11:00 and focus on rest.
5) Pay bills.
heu mihi
1. Reread/revise ch. 3.
2. Enter revisions to intro & print so husband can read it.
3. Get one week ahead on reading for all classes.
4. Meditate four times.
5. Enjoy the outdoors for at least a few minutes every day; look out the window sometimes.
humming42
1 Write grant proposal
2 Work on manuscript every. single. day.
3 Breathe, be kind to myself, be mindful of creating distracting little projects
JaneB
1) self-care – sleep, fruit and vegetables (as well as chocolate if necessary; sound basics will help), being the rock or the water as the situation requires, not getting sucked into too much negative talk
2) get ProblemChildPaper3 completely written on the writing day
3) get those two figures done for SpecialIssue paper (TRQ, but coming here for crossing off purposes).
karen (held over)
1. Finish the reorganisation of the home filing system into something I can use.
2. Sow remaining early start veg.
3. Break down curriculum project tasks for the week and set up at least 5 meetings.
4. 30 min research projects work each work day.
5. Do either music or movement each day, 5 minutes min.
KJHaxton (held over, missing presumed having a wonderful holiday)
1. Be on holiday
2. Come up with topic for week 2 here.
Matilda (held over)
1. Finish revision of Chapter 1.
2. Finish writing up of the first part of Chapter 2.
3. Do 5 minute exercise every morning.
4. Have more vegetable, less bread.
5. Write my journal every day.
6. Practice writing. - Read a lot, write a lot, look up good dictionaries. Do you have any other practical tips to improve writing?
Waffles (held over, hope you are recovering)
Recovering from the move, goals to follow!
-no screens 3 nights (let's be realistic)
-1 hour coffee shop writing 5 days
-finalize YB
-redraft PO
-finish drafting KLB handouts
Contingent Cassandra
-Lift weights at least 2x, walk at least 1x
-Try to keep bedtime consistent
-Prepare and deliver presentation on pedagogy project
-Decide what to do about other pedagogy project (handoff? grant applications this year but no work ‘til summer ’18?)
-Begin planning Spring ’18 lit class (figure out what I need to do by when; begin planning readings and perhaps doing some background reading)
Dame Eleanor Hull
1) Self: daily exercise, yoga (2x, preferably), enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.
2) Research: 5 hours, focusing on product.
3) Teaching: finish setting up assignments for undergrads.
4) House/Life: finish packing the guest room, do some other useful house thing.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Recalibrate the outline for the book.
Write my part of the survey article.
Spend at least five hours on the grant.
Organize, toss or scan one file drawer.
Continue to expand project file with one folder per project.
Walk more than 45 minutes a day.
Go to bone scan appointment.
Good Enough Woman
1) Research options/activities for middle school writing club, which starts next Monday (quite nervous about this).
2) Try to move like water with TRQ and family, especially with weekend guests, and also with helping daughter make matching T-shirts for an upcoming activity with friends. This will be a special challenge when it comes to the iron-on transfers.
3) Write 200 words of fiction.
4) Go to bed by 11:00 and focus on rest.
5) Pay bills.
heu mihi
1. Reread/revise ch. 3.
2. Enter revisions to intro & print so husband can read it.
3. Get one week ahead on reading for all classes.
4. Meditate four times.
5. Enjoy the outdoors for at least a few minutes every day; look out the window sometimes.
humming42
1 Write grant proposal
2 Work on manuscript every. single. day.
3 Breathe, be kind to myself, be mindful of creating distracting little projects
JaneB
1) self-care – sleep, fruit and vegetables (as well as chocolate if necessary; sound basics will help), being the rock or the water as the situation requires, not getting sucked into too much negative talk
2) get ProblemChildPaper3 completely written on the writing day
3) get those two figures done for SpecialIssue paper (TRQ, but coming here for crossing off purposes).
karen (held over)
1. Finish the reorganisation of the home filing system into something I can use.
2. Sow remaining early start veg.
3. Break down curriculum project tasks for the week and set up at least 5 meetings.
4. 30 min research projects work each work day.
5. Do either music or movement each day, 5 minutes min.
KJHaxton (held over, missing presumed having a wonderful holiday)
1. Be on holiday
2. Come up with topic for week 2 here.
Matilda (held over)
1. Finish revision of Chapter 1.
2. Finish writing up of the first part of Chapter 2.
3. Do 5 minute exercise every morning.
4. Have more vegetable, less bread.
5. Write my journal every day.
6. Practice writing. - Read a lot, write a lot, look up good dictionaries. Do you have any other practical tips to improve writing?
Waffles (held over, hope you are recovering)
Recovering from the move, goals to follow!
One thing I've been thinking about this week for the conditions under which I can I can make progress on TLQ: one key component is time to dive in and truly focus especially for research/writing tasks, but in order to have that time being able to get ahead enough or have the clarity to make priorities so that TQR doesn't become so overwhelming that I gt paralysed.
ReplyDeleteThe past two weeks have been good in clearing some of the TqR backlog that piled up while I was sick.
1. Finish the reorganisation of the home filing system into something I can use. DONE! Files alphabetised, updated, the four year post renovation backlog filed, plenty of shredding on the compost.
2. Sow remaining early start veg. DONE! As well as flower seeds to try and have a cutting garden. Now we just need to make/clear enough beds to be ready when it comes to planting out.
3. Break down curriculum project tasks for the week and set up at least 5 meetings. Need to set up more meetings, but major progress on paperwork and a significant meeting last week that went well.
4. 30 min research projects work each work day. NO.
5. Do either music or movement each day, 5 minutes min. One week of music practice, and last week I started trying to do Couch to 5k - mainly by telling our half-marathon running admin staff so that I can't back out - and did two walk/jogs.
Next week:
We've got family visiting, so I'll be trying to
1. Finish off marking
2. Have complete draft of grass work.
3. Hour and a half on coauthored conference paper draft (already put into calendar)
4. 3 x walk/jogs (I don't think I can call them runs)
I hope the family visit goes smoothly and that you get time to escape for a walk/jog!
DeleteCongrats on all the progress!
DeleteI think anything that gets your heartrate up more than walking you can call running. Couch to 5k is pretty amazing. I am most definitely not a runner--but I did finish Couch to 5k, so I can't say I don't run any more.
one key component is time to dive in and truly focus especially for research/writing tasks, but in order to have that time being able to get ahead enough or have the clarity to make priorities so that TQR doesn't become so overwhelming that I gt paralysed.
DeleteThis description of the dilemma rings very true for me, too Once I'm overwhelmed (or when I'm frequently briefly overwhelmed), it's easier for me to get overwhelmed, and harder for me to figure out how to get back to a state where I can see and deal with the big picture. Instead, I end up in a TRQ rush/collapse/back to TRQ cycle instead.
Nice topic! I always like Autumn as everything seems to be going back down into the earth ready for a long winter nap, but at the same time I miss the planting of seeds and nurturing of seedlings. Karen - you reassure me that it's still happening :) I will however spend the next few weeks planting pots of spring bulbs - I did this last year and was rewarded with lots of beautiful flowers from January through to May. As for conditions for growth, I need sufficient space to think, enough daylight and fresh air to walk while I think, and and a good weed killer/bug spray to keep the admin at bay!
ReplyDeleteLast week - yes, indeed, still holidaying. The first cottage had great internet access, the second was definitely more sheep powered and it was too hard to get a stable enough connection to comment.
Goals: 1. Be on holiday
2. Come up with topic for week 2 here.
Managed both of those nicely and it was a good holiday. Tomorrow's 'the first day back at school' and I'm feeling quite sulky.
This coming week:
- 3 decent walks at lunchtimes or at dusk (decent = 3 miles)
- use working at home day to make some progress on a potential publication (could be as simple as organising computer and physical workspace and files)
- try not to freak out that it's the first week back and first lecturing since last October.
We'll see!
I love the idea of dusk walks, consciously marking the shifting light.
DeleteMay your bulb planting go well. I've missed a few years of new bulbs though indecision in the face of so many lovely options in catalogues, but this year I did get some fresh tulip bulbs which I've just brought inside to the kitchen to watch as they bloom.
I hope you can keep some of your holiday feelings as you move into the term!
DeleteOhh, planting bulbs! That's something that I always mean to do. Not sure I'll get to it this year, alas.
ReplyDeleteConditions for growth...ugh. This semester feels like triage and hyper-organization and exhaustion already, but I am making progress on the things. I'm hoping that, once I get the manuscript out and the tenure file it, I'll be able to feel a little calmer, but I fear that that won't really happen until next semester, when I have a Tues-Thurs schedule (instead of my current MWF). I really shouldn't complain--I taught 5 days/week for most of eight years--but I absolutely hate prepping on Sunday afternoons, which I always seem to end up doing when I teach on Mondays (my husband is a minister, which affects our weekend schedules quite a lot). This is really just a dumb hang-up of mine, but it's existed pretty much since elementary school, so I don't think that I'm going to shake it off anytime soon.
Last week:
1. Reread/revise ch. 3.
DONE--got through ch. 4, too!
2. Enter revisions to intro & print so husband can read it.
DONE
3. Get one week ahead on reading for all classes.
DONE
4. Meditate four times.
NOT DONE--I managed 2, I think.
5. Enjoy the outdoors for at least a few minutes every day; look out the window sometimes.
MOSTLY? I didn't strictly keep track, but having this goal did encourage me to take outdoorsy breaks now and again.
This week we have friends visiting and I have a TON of meetings etc., so I'm not sure what's going to happen. But here's what I'll try for:
1. Read and revise ch. 5
2. Draft conclusion
3. Meditate twice (being realistic, given visitors)
4. Go for a walk/look out the window most days
5. Do prep work for prof. org. project
I was just thinking about my own Sunday night hang up and reminding myself that I don't have to go to campus until noon on Mondays, so I can enjoy the morning. But I still put this artificial pressure on myself that every item on the list has to be checked, every dish washed, every paper graded, the trash put out, and such. It's so ingrained that I experience this during breaks from class too.
DeleteI can't imagine submitting a manuscript in the same semester your tenure package is due! Amazing.
I have that Sunday night hangup too--and it's being challenged all over the place now that my 7th grader has weekend homework.
DeleteCongrats on all your progress!
I've been *trying* over the last few years to take Sundays off (since I spend the morning at church anyway -- no pastors in the family, but sing in the choir, and try to go to the adult Sunday School hour as well, since I'm on the committee that organizes it -- and end up coming back in the afternoon/early evening at least twice a month). I can't say I've gotten there entirely (Tu/Th schedules are definitely easier than MW for this), but I have at least gotten to the point of steadfastly not checking/answering email, especially from students. I think it would be much harder if I had any admin/committee responsibilities.
DeleteI love the topic. It's helping me take the long view. Some things just take longer to germinate and grow. It also helps to make sense of some of the things I'm doing now, which are important to me, but don't have obvious immediate payoff. However, I hope at some point in retirement to live in Europe for a few years, and so the time I now spend on modern languages could really pay off then. We'll see what pans out.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
1) Self: daily exercise, yoga (2x, preferably), enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely. YES! About 3 times a week I do yoga twice a day, and it makes a lot of difference---better sleep, less pain---so that is encouragement to try to increase the number of days when I get to it twice.
2) Research: 5 hours, focusing on product. YES. I wrote 1400 words and turned them over to my writing group, who were helpful.
3) Teaching: finish setting up assignments for undergrads. NO. I set up one more, and graded most of a set of essay.
4) House/Life: finish packing the guest room, do some other useful house thing. NO. So close; it kept seeming that there would be time, there should be time, and yet here it is Sunday night and I haven't done any house stuff. Oh, wait: I organized a minor repair (a new one that cropped up), so I guess that's something.
New goals:
1) Self: daily exercise, yoga (2x, preferably), enough sleep, work on at least 2 languages, do the necessary cooking so I can eat safely.
2) Research: 5 hours, focusing on product. I hope to put all the revised bits together and work on transitions.
3) Teaching: finish setting up assignments for undergrads.
4) House/Life: finish packing the guest room, do some other useful house thing.
It sounds like a good week in the balance: those YESes next to research and self-care are terrific!
DeleteLovely topic! My son and I just planted a raised bed last week, and our little seeds are starting to sprout! When my son first said he wanted to garden, I envisioned us building a raised bed. Then reality occurred to me. So I bought a (way too expensive--because I have black thumbs) snap-together bed with a watering reservoir system. Best gardening decision ever.
ReplyDeleteI definitely need a water reservoir system to flourish. I need white space in my day, creative inputs, the support of writing friends, a little bit of pressure (deadlines and accountability are a necessity for me), and confidence in myself and my work. Tall order, that.
Last week:
-plan exercise and eating and do it!--ISH. Did some planning, exercised, ate fairly well.
-no screens 3 nights (let's be realistic)--YES
-1 hour coffee shop writing 5 days--YES--this habit will change my life!
-finalize YB--ALMOST. I need a better last line. Sheesh. Writing is hard.
-redraft PO--NO, but I did write a fresh new draft.
-finish drafting KLB handouts--ALMOST. I made enough progress that I will definitely hit my hard deadline on Wednesday.
Having coffee shop time has been super helpful. I try to make it my first available hour of the day. I've made a lot more progress away from the household tasks that never seem to end. I anticipated having time on the weekend to work this past weekend, and I didn't manage to make time for it. I think for next weekend, I'd like to have my goals done by Friday so I can have a guilt-free weekend.
New goals:
-plan eating/menus and eat well
-1 hour coffee shop writing 5 days
-finalize YB
-redraft PO
-finish KLB handouts
-revise RB
-draft 10 pages of MF
-finish goals by Friday pm
That all looks great. Go you!
DeleteTopic: Conditions for growth--great ruminative topic! I need space, both temporally, emotionally, and physically. I am finding that carving out a space and time works well for me, even if there is sometimes an emotional cost. I need contact, although I am sometimes a recluse and curmudgeon. I have always come home from conferences energized, happy, and ready to focus, after the whirlwind of talking about arcame and obscure texts and subjects for several days. It’s true with my fiction writing as well, and I am lucky to have found a supportive group IRL. I have begun to carve time and space for that as well. I need cheerleading, which sometimes makes me feel needy, but I do better when I have a group who urges me on. And finally, at least for now, I need tools. I used to feel guilty about wanting good paper and pens, but I’m getting over that. I pulled two brand new notebooks I had been hoarding off the shelf, and starting using them--one for my novella, and one for my scholarly book. *throws confetti*
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
Recalibrate the outline for the book. Yes
Write my part of the survey article. Yes
Spend at least five hours on the grant. Only four, but I’m content with that
Organize, toss or scan one file drawer. Yes
Continue to expand project file with one folder per project. Yes
Walk more than 45 minutes a day. Yes
Go to bone scan appointment. Yes.
Analysis: Last week, I was on the upside of having ADD, being hyperfocussed. In addition to the goals above, I combined three old hard drives and seven (yes, I blushingly admit, SEVEN) thumb drives, getting rid of duplicate versions, renaming files using sensible version control, and gleefully assigning the duplicates to file hell. My husband would wander by, grouse that I was still working on this stuff, and wander off grumpily. But I have clean, organized, useful files!
I had been dragging my heels on the survey article. I am one of four authors, and have about as much interest in the topic as I would in, oh, double-entry accounting. I keep telling myself it is an article toward promotion to full.
The same is almost true with the grant. I found out only after I had gotten the grant that I would not get any funds to hire someone to do the work. So, although I am interested in the work, I had not planned to have to do it all by myself, above and beyond the rest of my duties.
The rest of the goals came pretty easily (I look around uneasily, not wanting to tempt fate). I recycled and shredded with wild abandon, actually filing what had to be filed as I put my hands on it, rather than stockpiling in hopes I would have a great “I love to file” epiphany. As I mentioned last week, creating the project folders is a very easy extension to the organizing.
I got up to walk when I had gotten enough paper cuts from scanning, or when my health app got too annoying to ignore. The funny thing is that about 3pm, I would get the notification that I had reached my goal, and didn’t I want to walk more? Even funnier, I often did want to do so.
I made the bone scan appointment and actually got it done last week. I have to wait for the results, hoping that I continue to gain bone mass.
Next week’s goals:
Create the tables for the survey article.
Edit the survey article without ticking off my co-authors.
Update my CV for the sabbatical application.
Spend at least six hours on the grant.
Organize, toss or scan one file drawer.
Continue to expand project file with one folder per project.
Walk more than 45 minutes a day.
Edit at least five pages of the book.
Write at least four pages of the novella.
Transfer the outdoor plants to the winter pots, even if it was 90F today.
Happy belated Autumnal (or Vernal, depending on your hemisphere) Equinox, everyone. Be the stone, the water, or the mist.
Good tools really do help, don't they?
DeleteYes, they do. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in that.
DeleteLike others, I need various kinds of space. My nourishment (water/growth catalysts) is alone time. Lately, it seems I been in a constant rush, so I haven't had these things. Even TRQ hasn't been getting done. After Wednesday of this week, things should open up a little bit so that I can tend to my growth.
ReplyDeleteI also notice that my friends with nice gardens spend a little bit of time outside everyday pruning, admiring, and talking to the plants. They don't neglect the plants for two weeks, and then binge on the garden for a day. Granted they need a bigger block of time now and then to do some major care and pruning, but it's the regular upkeep that makes a difference. I am trying to come to terms with this for writing and exercise.
Last week's goals:
1) Research options/activities for middle school writing club, which starts next Monday (quite nervous about this). DONE.
2) Try to move like water with TRQ and family, especially with weekend guests, and also with helping daughter make matching T-shirts for an upcoming activity with friends. This will be a special challenge when it comes to the iron-on transfers. DONE. (I was rough water, but I was water all the same.)
3) Write 200 words of fiction. NOT DONE.
4) Go to bed by 11:00 and focus on rest. MOSTLY DONE.
5) Pay bills. PARTLY DONE. This is TRQ now.
My mother-in-law has come and gone, I have made t-shirts for my daughter's obstacle challenge, I'm mostly recovered from the shingles, and I don't have any medical appointments this week (other that the unexpected trip to the dentist for my daughter today). I'm hoping all of this means I can find some space in my week to get caught up with TRQ and even do some TLQ. I'll keep the TLQ list modest as I catch up on the rest of it.
This week's goals:
1) Pay bills.
2) Try to embrace my job (I've been resenting its demands this semester, but it's time to remember that I'm getting paid, and I need to get on board and think postively.)
3) Finish course proposal for science fiction class.
4) Write: 15 minutes x 5 (actual writing).
5) two walks, one swim, daily stretching (even if stretching is just two minutes) morning and evening
6) do some planning for middle school writing group (the first meeting was today--VERY SCARY, but fun!)
Rough water is more beautiful (so long as you're not trying to sail on it). And it doesn't grow algae or mosquitoes.
DeleteI'm so glad the middle school writing group went well!
DeleteRough water is water all the same. :)
I'm glad you'll have a little bit of room to breathe this week.
Conditions for growth: I think I need a mix of time to focus and concentrate with no interruptions (and no one looking at me*) and some time to connect with others. I need independence with some good support. I need to feel at least one person believes in me.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t made my TLQ goals yet - I hope I can do so this weekend. In the meantime, here are my goals for this week:
1. Finish the review I promised to do (okay, start it too!)
2. Outline for PTSD paper
3. Figure out my goals
4. Work on LHF grant revisions (my mentor gave me feedback, I started reading them and burst into tears and haven’t touched it since).
Some analysis: These past few weeks have been rough. My postdoc mentor hasn’t moved here yet - but has been here for the past week (leaves today) - which has been really really good. There have been some really challenging things at this new university - and she has been supportive of me and has been pushing against leadership to get them to respond. I framed the challenges as not just being about me - but about all of us postdocs (and I did this strategically) - and I think that that has really helped. Leadership has promised to fix some of the issues (one of the big ones is that even though I got NIH funds - the university is soaking up everything except for my stipend which leaves me no money for my training needs and no research funds - this has left me feeling despondent).
*Our current setup for the postdocs is that we all sit at one giant desk along with some PhD students and staff with minimal visual barriers right out in the middle of the floor. We have no privacy, no security (things keep disappearing from my desk), and no ability to focus. You can’t even eat an apple without worrying about how the sound of your chewing might affect others. It’s really disastrous. Luckily no one expects us to be there 100% of the time - but we keep being told the space is designed to increase collaborations. But, we can’t talk to each other bc it creates problems for others and most of us work elsewhere whenever we can, so collaborations resultant from the space are unlikely. It sounds like leadership is realizing this is not a good setup for us and is looking into options. We’ll see. The only good thing about my mentor being gone is that I can use her office (when I'm not working from home).
Wow. Ugh. That set-up sounds godawful and I hope changes will happen soon. Re the feedback that made you cry, can you have someone else summarize/re-phrase it for you? Failing that, what about a work session where your only task is to take the feedback and turn it into a list of things to do, phrased in a way that feels manageable? That's what I do with feedback from journal editors. Add wine or chocolate, music, whatever else you need to make it possible to work through the list and turn it into something you can cope with.
DeleteThat really is a nightmare work space (but, yes, from everything I hear, typical of what workspace designers think will increase collaboration). It makes the office spaces in our new building-to-come (about which we are -- appropriately -- up in arms) sound downright private and functional. I like the way you made it a group issue; that makes sense.
DeleteAnd I certainly hope you get the benefit of the funding you worked so hard to get.
I was going to ask about library carrels, etc. as alternative spaces, but it sounds like that's what you're already doing. Being able to use your advisor's office is definitely a good tradeoff.
On the "at least one person who believes in [you]," I know it's a cliche, and not easy, but can you work toward that person being you (at least sometimes)? Or does that just not work? (Introvert speaking here, so I admit I sometimes don't get that feedback from others can be a very real need).
I like DEH's suggestions for dealing with feedback, too. (And I can see how even constructive critical feedback would be more difficult to deal with when there's a general dearth of useful feedback, not to mention a fishbowl atmosphere. Again, ugh.)
Topic: Like many of you, I need a mix of quiet/reflective time and structure, and some real downtime on a regular basis (still trying to figure out, in the absence of the possibility for a really long restorative break, what combinations of amount of time and activity might be truly restorative). I also almost certainly need more time outside than I'm currently getting (though there are some structural barriers to that: living in an apartment half an hour's drive from my garden plot, and in the very short term, a combination of higher temperatures than usual for fall in our region and high pollen counts). I'm pretty sure that more time outdoors walking or gardening would be restorative, but as I mentioned upthread, I seem to very easily get into a TRQ rush/collapse cycle that doesn't facilitate getting back into the habit/pattern of working in those activities. I suspect that more time outdoors would also increase my emotional balance/equanimity, which isn't *way* off, but I am noticing that things which require emotional energy for one reason or another definitely take longer (and sometimes just don't get done, at least not on time).
ReplyDeleteGoals from last week:
Delete-Lift weights at least 2x, walk at least 1x
-Try to keep bedtime consistent
-Prepare and deliver presentation on pedagogy project
-Decide what to do about other pedagogy project (handoff? grant applications this year but no work ‘til summer ’18?)
-Begin planning Spring ’18 lit class (figure out what I need to do by when; begin planning readings and perhaps doing some background reading)
Achieved: the presentation, and related pedagogy project decision-making, and a bit of Spring '18 course research/planning (which sees to be becoming the subject of productive procrastination; fair enough). Bedtimes were all over the place, however, and I didn't exercise.
Analysis: the pedagogy project and conference presentation are definitely an example of things taking up more time because they're taking up emotional energy (mostly frustration stemming from dealing with administrators -- this was an in-house conference that ends up serving all kinds of competing administrative agendas, with the actual faculty talking about actual pedagogy sometimes getting caught in between. Every time I present at it, I swear not to do so again, and then I forget/decide it can't really have been that bad and propose a presentation again. And since they accept all proposals, as far as I can tell, which is part of the problem. . . .). Anyway, too much time and, more to the point, energy, was taken up by angst, and too little by actual productive work, or respite therefrom in the form of exercise. The conference does serve a purpose (being seen to support various initiatives, keeping my c.v. from developing major holes), but I need to be (even more) strategic in approaching it.
I also need to figure out what the structure of a "normal week" looks like this semester (not that there's ever a normal week), and plan accordingly. I'm realizing that Monday teaching plus a regular Monday night church search committee meeting (which tends to lead to, not exactly angst, but sometimes anxiety, and definitely a rather full/busy brain rather late in the evening) makes for a difficult start to the week, especially in terms of things like keeping a regular schedule (and that, in turn, affects my ability to make the best use of what really is plenty of flexible, if not free, time).
So I guess I'm at least keeping to my meta-goal of trying to pay attention to what's working/not working.
Goals for this week:
Delete--Lift weights 2x, garden 1x
--Keep working on more regular bedtime (after I get past the combination of two evening meetings tonight plus teaching tomorrow)
--Plan followup on pedagogy project and send group email
--Rearrange books in apartment to make those relevant to Spring '18 classes more visible/accessible.
--Pick up at least one book relevant to Spring '18 classes at library
The week to which this check in relates was mildly horrible, but I did manage some self-care, wrote the rest of the draft of my section of the ProblemChild3 paper (though some of it is VERY drafty - "here I need to say something about why we think that, add a sentence about how Bloggs disagrees and show how she's wrong for our specific case and cases like it, then say yes look we have a conclusion which is reasonable". However, I actually find turning this sort of draft into prose quick and easy compared with constructing the order of the elements of the paragraph/argument, so I count it). No way on earth will I make the deadline for the Special Issue though - former PDF hasn't done her last bits, and the figures are still very rough. And I did the final corrections for SpecialIssuePaper, and it is now published online first. YAY!
ReplyDeleteThis week has been really, really bad. Survival is the goal, and if that means actually getting to work every day, I already failed (worked from home today in silence as my voice has gone). Wrote a bit more about it on my blog but there are SO MANY THINGS. Not so much "nibbled by goldfish" as "nibbled by goldfish, but some are piranhas in very good disguise."
I am really having a week of I am too old, too cynical, too tired for this.
Ugh. Sounds very difficult. Wishing you healing and a little breathing room here and there.
DeleteTotally agree on the difficulty of organizing the order of things. In the circumstances, you're doing well to keep up with writing and some self-care.
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