Amstr
-revise 2 PBs
-finish MF stuff by Thursday pm
-exercise 4x
-mediate daily
-figure out and execute work time
Dame Eleanor Hull
1) Self: stay healthy via exercise, stretching, safe food.
2) Grade undergrad lp2.
3) Life stuff: deal with the bills and parental issues.
4) Resolutions: Live with uncertainty, work the process,
show up, be kind.
Elizabeth Anne
Mitchell
Get completely well.
Finish second stocking.
Plan for holiday travel.
heu mihi
1. Figure out something to do in final classes. (Really. I
have no idea. I'd thought it likely that tomorrow would be a make-up day, but I
didn't cancel any classes, so there's no need.)
2. Actually finish the draft of this terrible novel.
3. Grade All The Things for Big Class.
4. Relaaax! Have a massage (--already scheduled)! Go
Christmas shopping!
5. And, okay, start reading the book that I was supposed to
have reviewed this fall.
humming42
1 30 minutes recherche (reading, writing, research, project
admin) every day
2 Write first Snow blog
3 Write task list for Tiny project
4 Finish all grading!
JaneB
1) If I go to the conference, go to the conference, make the
most of it, and feel entirely free to refuse evening activities if I don't feel
like it. If I don't, do Gallimaufrey stuff and organising stuff which I've been
putting off.
2) Stay in the office for minimum hours on Friday - priority
is to attend a couple of meetings, then post parcels etc.
3) self-care and not wasting energy telling myself I've not
done enough, indulging in self-blame or listening to any other Bugges with their
nasty shrill mean needle-y voices
KJHaxton (carried over)
1. marking
2. prepare lectures for the next couple of weeks
3. work more on ethics forms
4. carry on with Christmas stuff
Susan
1. Write abstract for essay collection
2. Finish footnotes on R &R
3. GRADE
4. At least one walk
5. Party preparation includes decluttering & at least
tidying.
Session Goals:
I've included original and revised goals where they exist - a few folk struck things off the session goals as complete half way through but I think it is important to count all successes for the session.
Amstr
-Draft half of my novel (now aiming for a quarter)
-Develop submission packet for picture books/start
submitting
-Finish prep for and teach weekend course (October)
-Develop website for editing
-maintain consistent exercise and eating habits (4x/wk
exercise; daily meal planning)
-get more sleep! (7-8 hours a night)
Contingent Cassandra
--Continue working more regular movement into my routine:
keep lifting weights on a regular (or semi-regular) basis, get back into habit
of walking several times (or more) a week.
--Work more academic reading into my routine (with likely
focus on Spring '18 class prep)
--Work in at least some other self-care (eating well,
sleeping) and/or financial/household TLQ work when possible.
--Generally try to observe what works -- and doesn't -- in
terms of forming new routines, keeping up with existing positive ones, avoiding
bad habits (like creeping-forward bedtimes and too much reading on the internet
when I'm tired/overwhelmed)
Dame Eleanor Hull
Live With Uncertainty and Keep Working the Process
Elizabeth Anne
Mitchell
Session mantra: Organize, plan, contemplate
Continue to organize paper and electronic scholarship files.
Plan future projects.
Figure out my scholarship path.
Two hours on the book.
Walk an hour every day.
Keep up with medical needs.
Good Enough Woman
Goals for the
session:
1) Develop more stress management strategies, including
exercise and, perhaps, exploring meditation and telling others how I feel.
2) Submit one article.
3) Either do NaNoWriMo or make another plan for drafting
some of a novel, and develop a regular writing habit.
4) Make progress on bags and piles in the garage (this
involves sorting and framing art pieces, finding places for supplies and books,
and etc.)
Revised Session Goals:
1) Move more (more being "some").
2) Write at least five minutes every day in November
(starting Nov. 2).
3) Decide on a journal target for the article. Complete one
revision pass. Create bib of needed sources. (I have a lot of internal conflict
about doing the article, so . . . )
4) Get bookshelf for the witch hut so I can clear some books
out of the garage.
heu mihi
*Research:*
1. Submit my manuscript to the interested publisher. I have
a full draft of everything but the conclusion, and I've just reread/re-revised
the introduction, but the five subsequent chapters need their own rereadings
and re-revisions. I would like to have it sent out by November 1.
2. Plan/outline/research an article that would come out of a
conference paper I delivered last year.
3. Submit an abstract to a conference (due late October).
4. Meditate four times a week. It's a habit that I've been
wanting to establish, and I need it.
Revised session goals
1. 40k words of NaNoWriMo novel--not enough to
"win," but plausibly realistic?
2. Start running again when daylight savings ends and it's
not actually dangerous to do so in the mornings.
3. Make some kind of headway on planned article. (This is a
terrible goal because it is vague and unmeasurable, but whatever.)
4. Meditate 3x week, but build it into a genuine self-care
routine, which may sometimes include blowing it off to lie in bed with the
heating pad on my neck watching Netflix instead. I've had too many stress
headaches this semester.
humming42
1 As ever, write 5x/week
2 Submit manuscript
3 Submit grant proposal
4 Find funding for December conference presentation
5 Submit abstract for photo essay
6 Submit Snow abstract
7 Catch up with co-author and resume Talk project
Revised goals:
1 write and submit blog post
2 send letter of inquiry about February article
3 submit Buildings abstract
4 draft Camp article
5 finish and remaining book reviews
JaneB
1) self-care, self-care, self-care.
2) Research, money acquisition - get rid of the
GrantINeverShouldHaveStarted, get a full draft of GallimaufreyGrant written.
3) Research, writing - don't start anything new until the
current horde are out of the gates. I got a lot of stuff pushed from things I
ought to do to actively being worked on this summer, so now just to keep it
moving... Here's the current list, to be annoying
3a) ProblemChild1 and PC2 - hopefully submitted last week
but no news yet from co-authors.
3b) PC3 - waiting for co-author to write their sections next
week, then the discussion needs drafting, deadline of end of September for a
special issue (AARGH)
3c) Tagalong paper - with co-authors for final checking,
should be submitted by the end of September
3d) Gallimaufrey Review - a cast of tens, driving me nuts,
but more herding than long slog on my part. end of December submission desired.
3e) MScPaper - a revise and resubmit to a new journal.
3f) Ferrett - needs the figures finalising and a final check
of references, then will be ready to submit.
3g) PickyPaper - my baaaaaby, about half drafted and keeps
changing shape. This will take up any quality writing time I can get my hands
on.
3h) ExcessivePaper and SurprisePaper are both with journals
at the moment, so waiting for comments. SpecialIssuePaper is awaiting proofs
(submitted the R&R last December, accepted 4th Sept, have 3 days to do
proofs sometime during my leave, sigh...)
4) Other Academic Stuff that is TLQ - I'd like to spend a
little time working on the new second year modules this semester before they
are urgent. I have some ideas about incorporating group work and mini-projects,
and know from past experience that with multiple academics involved and general
student dislike of group work that this will work a LOT better if it's really
carefully designed and planned and practiced, for this first year. And that
takes time.
5) Stuff For Me - I want to finish a big crochet
blanket/hanging project, and complete NaNoWriMo - I'm thinking of working on
several short stories set in my fictional university setting (Department of
effectively Magic based in a normal middling sort of contemporary university,
which has exchange arrangements with a University in a parallel world where
magic/fantasy elements are standard and technology levels lower - what with the
talking cats (no-one is sure if that was an accident or an Evil Plan overtaken
by events), non-human exchange students and staff, a dragon living in the
boiler room (helps with the budget juggling) and students who keep trying to
use mobile phones in zones where they really can alter the nature of reality,
there's plenty of material, and I haven't worked on short stories for ages,
so...)
karen
1. I have a whole lot of research deliverables (to drop into
business speak) that need to be done before the end of the year: co-authored
conference paper, solo conference paper, co-authored curriculum paper,
community project, dowry grant, grass work. To get these done with any quality
and without major panics I need to make time for progress each week, so the
session goal is probably something about process as well as product.
2. The curriculum project - complete draft needed by end of
year to meet timelines.
3. I have grand garden visions, but if I can have a
vegetable patch with the complete set of planned summer veg and repeat sowing
I'll be happy.
4.Cultivate inner calm by moving, sleeping,
declutter/organising and carrying out creative activities.
KJHaxton
mantra: be sufficient
1. grapple with the scholarship and research issues and try
to reach a plateau if not a conclusion and new direction. The current state of
freefall with arms flailing cannot persist.
2. get to Christmas as intact as possible.
3. finish Machair blanket, beach cushions, and tree printing
project.
4. Submit an article
Revised Goals
1. continue grappling with scholarship and research
2. get to Christmas as intact as possible
3. finish beach cushions and tree printing project
4. submit an article or ethics form
Matilda
1. Finish writing drafts of Chapters 1, 2.
2. Finish writing first drafts of Chapters 3, 4.
3. Finish outlines and structures of Chapters 5, 6.
4. Exercise every day.
5. Eat well.
6. Organise my day.
Susan
1. Finish Way Outside paper, that was a summer goal
2. Write article review for journal
3. Write late book review
4. Do revise and resubmit
5. Get regular sleep, aiming for 7 hours a night
6. Keep moving
7. Make sure I do one thing for fun each week
Although this session has marched by relentlessly, leaving me feeling as though I was barely getting anything done, I have to look back on my session goals with a fair amount of satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteSession mantra: Organize, plan, contemplate
Continue to organize paper and electronic scholarship files.
Plan future projects.
Figure out my scholarship path.
Two hours on the book.
Walk an hour every day.
Keep up with medical needs.
I have managed to organize, plan, and contemplate, although I could have used more time for contemplation and less running around like the headless chicken. My scholarship files in paper have been scanned and turned into electronic versions; the electronic versions have been chivvied into ordered filenames with version extensions, and backup copies. I spent many early mornings staring out my study window searching for a bridge between my medieval studies scholarship and librarianship, knowing that it would be more solidly the first and more esoteric in the latter. I was trawling through my past scholarship as I fed it into the scanner, when the thread amongst it all became clear to me. I have always worked with translation in some way, with an interest in how one captures one language’s poetry and art in another one. The other thread is the translation from manuscript to print, with all the manuscript abbreviations being replicated in print. And voilà, I see the intersection of the two threads is full of early printed translations. I think I will be very happy in that niche.
I also managed to walk quite a bit during this session. It helps me to walk while I think, so I tended to roam the stacks while promulgating policies or figuring out the best way to plot the NaNo project. I kept up with most of my medical needs. I do have to revisit some GI issues, but I hope those can be resolved quickly.
I did not manage two hours a day on the book. Perhaps not surprisingly, getting approval for the sabbatical made it far too easy to set the book aside this session. I do have a lot of planning to do in the next session, so the book will figure centrally in the next set of goals.
Last week's goals:
Get completely well.Not entirely, but I’m better.
Finish second stocking.Yes, just in time!
Plan for holiday travel.Yes, although I need to finish packing tonight.
These were very small goals, and so it is not a grand finale, but all in all, I did reasonably well this session. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday break and I hope to see you all again in the next session. Excelsior, everyone.
I'm probably a bit late to the news, but congrats on the sabbatical! There isn't much better than having a sabbatical on the horizon. And kudos on all of the walking. I wish I could say the same. You are my walking role model.
DeleteIt's so great when one finds those threads that connect what seem like disparate interests. "Material contexts" was mine, a few years ago. Translation is a good one!
DeleteI love the thread you've found. And FWIW, as we contemplate the meaning of the print to digital transition, the second one seems quite timely for a librarian!
DeleteThank you for the congratulations, GEW.
DeleteI need to do more exercise, but I'm happy the walking seems to be a habit.
"Material contexts" sounds interesting, Dame Eleanor. It's a relief to have found a thread finally.
Susan, I have done some work on the change from a print to a digital context, which is definitely an acceptable topic for a librarian (and interesting, as well!).
Last week's goals:
ReplyDelete1) go to the conference and make the most of it or do Gallimaufrey stuff and organising stuff which I've been putting off. didn't go - and didn't do all that much organising stuff. Gallimaufrey is still neglected - I decided I HAD to do some of the organising things FIRST, which is... sigh.
2) Stay in the office for minimum hours on Friday I did most of Friday's errands on Thursday, as I was feeling better, and was in the office maybe 5 or 6 hours on Friday - which let me achieve a couple of things, at least. So kind of yes
3) self-care mixed
session goals:
1) self-care, self-care, self-care. mixed. WHY is this so hard to prioritise?
2) Research, money acquisition - get rid of the GrantINeverShouldHaveStarted, get a full draft of GallimaufreyGrant written. waiting for permission to submit for the former, gave up on the latter for this year. Was involved in two smaller internal applications too
3) Research, writing - don't start anything new until the current horde are out of the gates. I got a lot of stuff pushed from things I ought to do to actively being worked on this summer, so now just to keep it moving... Here's the current list, to be annoying
3a) ProblemChild1 and PC2 - hopefully submitted last week but no news yet from co-authors. PC1 now requires a lot more work. PC2 was submitted in late November - 15 weeks later than planned
3b) PC3 submitted and back with "major revisions" which actually aren't that painful
3c) Tagalong paper submitted, rejected, being rewritten for resubmission
3d) Gallimaufrey Review - a cast of tens, driving me nuts, but more herding than long slog on my part. end of December submission desired. behind schedule, but most of a draft exists
3e) MScPaper - a revise and resubmit to a new journal. untouched
3f) Ferrett - needs the figures finalising and a final check of references, then will be ready to submit. untouched
3g) PickyPaper - my baaaaaby, about half drafted and keeps changing shape. This will take up any quality writing time I can get my hands on.untouched
3h) ExcessivePaper and SurprisePaper are both with journals at the moment Excessive paper was rejected, rewritten and resubmitted, SurprisePaper was major revisions, rewritten, rejected-with-encouragement-to-resubmit-if-we-fixed-the-analysis (?!?), and waiting on co-authors for an action plan. SpecialIssuePaper is awaiting proofs OUT
I also worked on ExoticReviewPaper
4) Other Academic Stuff that is TLQ - I'd like to spend a little time working on the new second year modules this semester before they are urgent a teeny, tiny amount of time was spent.
5) Stuff For Me - I want to finish a big crochet blanket/hanging project literally did half a row, but I have all the yarn organised now..., and complete NaNoWriMo failed, but wrote about 38,000 words. Short stories were not a good choice.
I think I'll allow myself a C for both achievement and attendance/participating this semester - hanging in there, but not exactly achieving. Oh well...
DeleteHave a great break, everyone, and see you next time!
I think you deserve higher than a C for perseverance, JaneB. You had trouble with self-care, and that affected a lot of the other goals.
DeleteAlso, you had a number of projects dependent on other participants, so your control was limited.
All in all, I think you did well in the circumstances, although I agree you need to give priority to self- care (easier said than done).
Have a lovely break!
Starting a new threaded comment to talk about next time. Humming42 offered to co-host the next (first of 2018, roughly New Year to Easter) session - anyone want to co-host with her?
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to go solo if needed.
DeleteI could co-host, although I've never done it before!
DeleteIt's pretty simple. I could also co-host, but I've done it before so I think heu mihi is better :)
Deleteheu mihi, if you're up for it, that would be great
DeleteAll right, it's decided!
DeleteIn keeping with the new year traditions of resolutions and such, I'll post the opening on December 29 so goals can be set during the first week of the year.
DeleteLast week:
ReplyDelete1. Figure out something to do in final classes. DONE
2. Actually finish the draft of this terrible novel. NOPE
3. Grade All The Things for Big Class. DONE
4. Relaaax! Have a massage (--already scheduled)! Go Christmas shopping! DONE (well, I did these things, and I did do some relaxing. But relaxing is never "done.")
5. And, okay, start reading the book that I was supposed to have reviewed this fall. STARTED
Session goals:
1. Submit my manuscript to the interested publisher. DONE
2. Plan/outline/research an article that would come out of a conference paper I delivered last year. NOT DONE
3. Submit an abstract to a conference (due late October). DONE, and accepted
4. Meditate four times a week. It's a habit that I've been wanting to establish, and I need it. NOT DONE
5. 40k words of NaNoWriMo novel. DONE; hit 70k by Dec. 8 or so.
6. Start running again when daylight savings ends and it's not actually dangerous to do so in the mornings. MOSTLY. Deer-hunting season interfered, and then some snow. But I'm committed when it's feasible.
The beginning of this semester was really intense, because I finished both my book and my tenure file on October 6. And then things sort of tanked for a while, and then NaNoWriMo restored my will to do...things, and now I feel this need to catch up and get organized. It was a very service-intensive semester (as the next several semesters will be, unfortunately), and what I hate about service is not the work but having dozens of emails to answer and little odd tasks that don't easily get slotted anywhere and that I don't particularly want to do (or, in some cases, even know how to do, exactly). It makes me feel disorganized. I like bigger, more solid projects better.
But now I'm almost done with grading, sort of, and ready to settle back in. I want to clear the decks, somewhat. The holidays aren't a great time to do that, but then classes don't start up again until January 22....
Service is either the death of a thousand cuts (or emails), or an unwieldy mass of projects planned by committees and having no relation to project management or planning. *shudder* My next semester looks grim, as well.
DeleteSeriously, a tenure dossier and book manuscript at one time is heroic (heroine-like is not as euphonious). And a NaNo novel--never mind how bad you think it is--takes it up another notch.
Yes, the emails! Especially those that need something ASAP! All of the urgent emails.
DeleteWell, congrats on a very productive semester. You managed to rebound from your "tanking" is a very creative way. Gook luck clearing the decks to get ready for a new year.
Yes on the emails! Also, colleagues who think it should all be about them.
DeleteWell, I'm not even going to copy and paste my session goals (or my weekly goals from a few weeks ago). I really didn't meet any of them. I think several of them were just not in keeping with my state of mind. I was still in recovery from the PhD completion and a rough summer, and I probably should have just let myself take the semester "off." So I'm not going to beat myself up about all that I didn't get done. My only real regret is that I didn't walk and exercise more. I am great at exercising when I have extra time (like during Thanksgiving break), but when I'm busy, it's the first thing to go.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I stayed on top of teaching this semester (for the most part), and I was very present for my children. And that's not nothing. I just have a difficult time doing things for myself. That's one of the reasons I started a PhD at age 39 with two young kids: it gave me a real reason to take time for myself. Without that reason, I don't do it. And it's clear that no one in my family is going to encourage me to take that time. No one's going to say, "Hey, why don't you take this afternoon, and just relax." If I want it, I'm going to have to take it, but I'm not so good at that. I'm quite bad at it, in fact.
This is finals week for me. My last final isn't until the 21st, which is just so absurdly late, and we're leaving for a trip just a few hours after I finish the final, so I will still have lots of grading hanging over my head at Christmas, which is a bit of a drag. The grades aren't due until Jan 5th (because of the holidays), but I hope I can find a way to get it finished not long after Christmas so I have a legitimate break.
Happy Holidays, everyone! And thanks to Karen and KJHaxton for hosting this session!
On exercise, would it help to think of it as something you do for other people, so you're healthy and energetic for them? I'm all in favor of taking care of oneself, but if you're the sort of person who has trouble putting yourself first, maybe reframing the goal would be helpful.
DeleteThis is in the "do as I say, not as I do category", but maybe define things for yourself in a way that it's legitimate (somewhat like what DEH suggested on exercise)? I.e., I have to do it for colleague X, who needs to see this article?
DeleteLast week
ReplyDelete1. marking - majority done, some more to do
2. prepare lectures for the next couple of weeks - done
3. work more on ethics forms - a little done but still to do
4. carry on with Christmas stuff - done, doing, to do!
I was also successful in getting the new academic role I was doing CV and presentation for so that's a nice new challenge for the new year!
Session Goals
mantra: be sufficient - done
1. grapple with the scholarship and research issues and try to reach a plateau if not a conclusion and new direction. The current state of freefall with arms flailing cannot persist.
2. get to Christmas as intact as possible.
3. finish Machair blanket, beach cushions, and tree printing project.
4. Submit an article
Revised Goals
1. continue grappling with scholarship and research: I have a better sense of what's going on and a plan.
2. get to Christmas as intact as possible: done
3. finish beach cushions and tree printing project: the tree printing project has evolved as I can see where I was going wrong, the beach cushions aren't started because I got distracted knitting a pretty shawl
4. submit an article or ethics form: not done, partly due to confusion induced by goal 1.
I probably have more to say but I'm tired right now so I'll leave it there.
How I did last week:
ReplyDelete1) Self: stay healthy via exercise, stretching, safe food. YES.
2) Grade undergrad lp2, plus grade grads’ final papers and assign grades for everyone. YES! As of this afternoon, I am done with this semester.
3) Life stuff: deal with the bills and parental issues. NO to one remaining bill, YES to parental stuff.
4) Resolutions: Live with uncertainty, work the process, show up, be kind. YES. Managed to back off having a fight with one brother, even (pigs, singing lessons, just don't go there).
Along with my main goal/theme, Live With Uncertainty and Keep Working the Process, I said "For the last several sessions, I've been trying to get out from under the house, finish a couple of articles, do a decent job of teaching and service, and look after myself." During this session, we did make some more progress on packing the house; I got one revised article sent off; I kept up a good job with teaching etc until Thanksgiving, and even with the mess since then, gave decent feedback to students on their last papers. I need to contact another editor; it may yet be possible to get that second set of revisions finished in time to have another publication next year.
I've kept up with exercise, and on the food front, this week I saw a connection that might lead to at least a partial solution to my digestive problems, if I can talk my doctor into trying something that might sound a little screwy. But I have found a few biomedical articles that support my theory, which also fits with my own medical history. So I'm hopeful that she'll go along, and that this really will make a difference. If I manage to fix the gut problem, that would make my life so much easier; even a partial fix still requiring dietary restrictions (but fewer of them) would be helpful.
On the whole, then, I think I've done better this session than I thought I would. Although at the beginning I was hoping for sell, move, send off two articles, in the middle and up till last week all these goals were looking dodgy-to-impossible. And now I'm doing okay professionally, possibly on the verge of significant physical improvement, and with the perspective that comes from dealing with the problems of old age. I think I may keep my theme for next year, as it has helped me keep going through a challenging few months.
I think living with uncertainty is a great skill, and most academics are bad with it. (We've stayed in the structure, after all!)
DeleteI am impressed how much you've accomplished, having had the parental issues too. And I hope the doctor accepts your idea.
Have a great break!
Thank you! And another piece of good news: Editor #2 can give me till the beginning of January to finish off the MMP. Provided nothing else awful happens, I can do that. Then, speaking of clearing decks, I can work flat out on the translation project so as to meet that deadline in May or June. After that, I hope finally to finish my book!
DeleteSession Goals:
ReplyDelete1. Finish Way Outside paper, that was a summer goal DONE - -and now I've got it back for some final revisions
2. Write article review for journal -DONE
3. Write late book review -DONE
4. Do revise and resubmit - 90% done, footnotes to fix
5. Get regular sleep, aiming for 7 hours a night - Maybe half the time?
6. Keep moving - NO - minimal. I always start hibernating as the days get shorter.
7. Make sure I do one thing for fun each week - I think I pretty much did.
Analysis: this semester was hard: I was teaching two courses, including a new grad seminar, and I had large administrative responsibilities. So LOTS of meetings, emails, etc. It's kind of remarkable I've got done what I have accomplished.
THis week:
1. Write abstract for essay collection NO, about to do it now
2. Finish footnotes on R &R NO
3. GRADE - DONE, grades submitted 2 hours early
4. At least one walk Ha!
5. Party preparation includes decluttering & at least tidying. DONE
Grading always takes more time than I expect, and I actually wrote comments on papers, so. . . The party took time, and I had dental surgery which really knocked me out. So I'm not complaining.
I've got a list a mile long of things to clean up, which is now my to do list. The two articles each need about a half day's work. I must pay bills and organize my office - right now I don't work in it it's such a tip. (I was talking to a colleague about my workload this semester, and he said, "You can't do that". When I said "Well, I did", he said, no you didn't, not if you can't work in your office!)
But I go away for a week, come back, then leave for a conference. It will be a good break. If I can get the two articles finished before the end of this week, I can start the new year with a clean slate. Which would be ideal.
Hurray for clean slates! Dental work, even easy stuff, always wipes me out, too. Good luck with the cleaning and tidying!
DeleteAll in on sparkly tinsel! Thank you for another lovely round of TLQ. It’s always good to be here with all of you. I’m showing up late having been bogged down with last minute grading rush, but at least I got that one thing done (and most important thing) for last week’s goals. Since I didn’t manage anything else, on to revised session goals:
ReplyDelete1 write and submit blog post: not yet
2 send letter of inquiry about February article: done, and will be working on that
3 submit Buildings abstract: done, accepted, working on that
4 draft Camp article: not even close. Still reading background material, and that’s OK
5 finish and remaining book reviews: caught up, but there’s always more to do for this good gig
I’m still determined to figure out how to make writing & research something I do every day. I set out wanting to think of myself as a writer first in 2017, and I don’t think I am there yet. It remains a challenge for the year ahead.