Week 4: Retreat

The idea of a writing retreat continues to float around in my mind. I find it difficult to ignore the distractions of being at home--I can sit down and work for a span of time, but I’m taken with the idea of being in space and time where writing/research is my sole responsibility. Being at a conference where I don’t have many commitments has been a very good way to retreat when I have a hotel room to myself. I’ll have that opportunity in April and am very much looking forward to it.

Topic for this week: what would your ideal writing retreat look like? How have you been able to create the conditions of retreat when you’ve needed it the past? Any tips on how to design a mini-retreat or apply for a retreat or residency? Here’s a list of writing residencies in the US from last year if you’re interested: http://thewritelife.com/writing-residencies/#.vdsszs:m4F

Check in as usual: Prompt optional, report on last week, set goals for the coming week.

Bardiac

1. Prep classes!

2. Write a grant proposal (internal)

3. More birding!

4. Practice violin

5. Get some exercise every day.

Daisy

1: Work on figures (less intimidating than "finish"?)

2: Read student's thesis chapters and provide detailed yet supportive feedback...

3: Get enough sleep so I don't get kid's new cold (fat chance, but I can try!)

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Regular stretching and exercise, safe food, enough sleep.

2. Touch work.

3. Keep up with online class stuff.

4. Be present with my family, be tactful or at least keep mouth shut, think things through.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell (carried over)

Compile list of research questions to answer before the sabbatical.

Walk 0.75 miles a day.

Three hours on the grant for four days.

Switch to first pair of socks and complete foot to heel gusset.

Good Enough Woman

1. Read intro and skim new theory book and take notes for article.

2. Grade all or most of the assignments I'll get on Thursday so I can give them back next Tuesday. I want to stay ahead of the game.

3. Do some homework/training to prep for the Poetry Out Loud competition I'll be judging in a couple of weeks.

4. Morning/Evening pages 4x.

5. Walking 3x.

6. One hour tidying campus office.

7. Have fun with the kids during my "Mommy weekend."

heu mihi

1. Meditate some amount. (I like this way of phrasing it!)

2. Read 3 Silence articles; sketch in notes about how to use them (if they're usable).

3. Look at NaNo novel and 2006-07 novel; make a decision about which to pursue right now.

4. Submit grant app for student group

5. Finish Contest Book 2

humming42

1 Submit book review

2 Edit Buildings draft

3 Work on pitch paragraph

4 30 minutes writing/research related 3x

Jane B

1) make an appointment to see my GP if possible

2) be kind to myself and put sleep before everything else on the list!

3) do revise and resubmit for Problem Child 3

4) finalise and send off two other newsletter pieces for Society Thing

5) do as much teaching prep as possible - I'd like to be prepped to the end of the following week (new lectures to write, sigh, if I even have a voice to lecture with...)

6) grade things (I have two large things to double-mark for the teaching fellows coming in this week, and need to collate marks from 17 other people (aargh) for my giant first year module)

KJHaxton (carried over)

1. Finish marking coursework and exam scripts

2. Finish draft of opinion article

3. make contact with people about outreach events

4. finish teaching admin for semester ahead

5. knit something else

6. plan victorian paper, gather references before writing retreat and write a significant quantity of the first draft

Susan

1. Really finish way outside

2. Request permissions for Way Outside

3. Start outlining keynote, figure out research/reading needed

4. Walk 3 times

5. Get at least 6 hours of sleep

6. Decluttering: 5 minutes per day of SOMETHING

Week 3: Start Again

My old (grad-school-era) yoga teacher used this phrase all the time, but especially when he had us do short sitting meditations: "Has your focused shifted away from the breath? Start again." And we--or at any rate I--always needed to start again.

I find this refrain rather consoling, because it's a reminder that it's all a practice, even more than it's a process. To have a daily writing habit, you have to write every day--that is, you have to start again, every single day. (Or every work day, whatever.) It does get easier the more you do it; in that sense, it's a process where you can see yourself making progress. But a few days off--which happens!--means that you need to start again. And again. Thinking of it as continually starting, rather than something done or not done, provides a constant opening to opportunity: You can always start again.

And anyway, I need a re-start, after that bout of the flu. I'm more or less on top of my course prep (I start on Tuesday), but my research/writing goals have been seriously sidelined, and exercise is still a dicey proposition. So I'm going to try to start again this week, in some deep ways.

What about you? Do you already need a re-start in any area? Take one! Are there habits that you have successfully internalized, but where it might be helpful to think about it in terms of continual practice, rather than a goal with an endpoint?

Check in as usual: Prompt optional, report on last week, set goals for the coming week.

Last week's goals:

Bardiac:
1. Big one, for sabbatical, think about an adventure (or two)
2. Do some birding
3. Finish writing a review letter
4. Prep for writing a second review letter
5. Practice violin: work on bowing, especially!
6. Exercise at least a bit every day (shoveling counts...)
7. Start prepping classes (start in two weeks!)

Daisy:
1: Finish the figures!!!! Seriously...
2: Do reading for new literature review section on new project
3: Decide on new round of lab work and get contracts set up

Dame Eleanor Hull:
1. Research: Daily translation work; upload at least one chunk. Make plan for revising the last article. Fill in a form and write an e-mail.
2. Teaching: Start teaching notes. Do some more assignment-writing. Set up online stuff.
3. Self-care: see dentist; stretch at least once daily; cardio 6-7 days; weights 2 days.
4. House/Life: stuff from last week, plus pack for a trip.
5. Admin: annual evil documents.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell:
Compile list of research questions to answer before the sabbatical.
Walk 0.75 miles a day.
Three hours on the grant for four days.
Switch to first pair of socks and complete foot to heel gusset.

Good Enough Woman:
1) Print and read chapter four (aka "Jenny").
2) Try (again) to find a bookshelf that will work.
3) 1-2 hours tidying office.
4) Finish reading gothic novella for class.
5) Morning (or evening) pages 4x.
6) Walking 3x.

heu mihi:
1. Meditate some amount.
2. Finish both syllabi; prepare Moodle pages.
3. Balance checkbook, pay bills, generally get my s*** together
4. Write letter for student group
5. Finish Contest Book 1; read intro and 1st chapter of Contest Book 2
6. Read 1-3 essays from Silence bibliography

humming42:
1 Submit book review
2 Edit Buildings draft
3 Work on pitch paragraph
4 30 minutes writing/research related 3x

JaneB:
1) do revise and resubmit for Problem Child 3
2) write some newsletter pieces for Society Thing
3) do some teaching prep
4) grade things
5) be kind to myself

KJHaxton:
1. Finish marking coursework and exam scripts
2. Finish draft of opinion article
3. make contact with people about outreach events
4. finish teaching admin for semester ahead
5. knit something else
6. plan victorian paper, gather references before writing retreat and write a significant quantity of the first draft

Susan:
1. Finish way outside. I got final comments just before Christmas, and I just need to sit down for a few hours and do it.
2. Start permissions for way outside
3. Finish organizing my desk 4. Read grad applications5. Walk 3 times plus 3 times workout. 

Week 2: Planning & organizing

Welcome all to week 2! Classes start for me this week, and I am working through reorganizing my schedule and my routines, as many of us are. In this reorientation, I’m noting Daisy’s shout out: WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN, ALWAYS. The trouble I’m in right now is that I write everything down, four times. On the computer, there’s a to do list and a spreadsheet. On paper, there’s a to do list in my notebook from the first-of-semester planning meeting, in addition to the bullet journal style monthly list I already made. I need to consolidate all of this and do just one thing.

So topic for this week: What system(s) of planning and organizing do you use? Apps, websites, journals, calendars, notebooks? In addition to managing life and work, and making deadlines, I expect many of us are also accountable for reporting on our progress/accomplishments. My faculty activity report is due Monday, and I am seemingly not nearly as careful about keeping up with things as I was pre-tenure.

Wishing you good health and warmth this week!

Bardiac (wasn’t sure if these were weekly goals or session goals)

1. Big one, for sabbatical, think about an adventure (or two)

2. Read a book of poetry (for fun)

3. Finish writing a review letter

4. Prep for writing a second review letter

5. Practice violin: work on bowing, especially!

6. Exercise at least a bit every day (shoveling counts...)

Daisy

1: Finish figures for LP

2: Finish other two abstracts which are now TRQ

3: Sleep off back-to-school bug

Dame Eleanor Hull

1. Research: Daily translation work; upload two chunks. Make plan (or find old plan and review) for revising the last article.

2. Teaching: Syllabi for two classes. Start teaching notes. Do some more assignment-writing.

3. Self-care: see doc (done this morning); make two more appointments when referrals come through; stretch at least once daily; cardio 6-7 days; weights 3 days.

4. House/Life: some financial and filing things. Keeping this minimal as I focus on pre-semester prep.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Send guidelines to the senate committee for wordsmithing.

Finish two staff evaluations.

Revise the outline for chapters 1 & 2 of Prudence.

One more week of walking 1.5 miles a day.

Two hours on the grant for five days.

Another foot of the lace shawl.

Good Enough Woman

1) Print and Read Chapter 4, thinking about what could be cut.

2) Read one critical article/chapter.

3) Finish SF novel.

4) Find a plant-heavy dinner recipe.

5) Walk 3x.

6) Buy or order bookshelf.

7) Spend 1-2 hours tidying campus office.

heu mihi

1. Meditate some amount.

2. Read first 6 chapters of Contest Book 1.

3. Bibliography for conference paper (hereafter Silence. My three projects this semester are Silence, Wonder, and Impatience. And those aren't even pseudonyms!),

4. Prep 1 syllabus/course.

5. Letter for student group.

humming42

I have to report for jury duty Tuesday and hope it won’t wreck my week)

1 finish book and submit book review

2 write outline for Jewel article

3 edit Buildings draft

4 finish book and write review

5 write and post syllabi

JaneB

On rest & recovery

KJHaxton

1. Mark coursework and exam scripts

2. write draft of opinion article

3. make contact with people about outreach events

4. finish teaching admin for semester ahead

5. knit something else

Week 1: Support Precedes Action

Disclaimer: It is likely that many of my concepts for TLQ posts will come from yoga classes. I'm sorry about that, if it bothers anyone, but I seem to get a lot of "theme" ideas there. Maybe it's because the teachers tend to repeat the same phrases over and over and over again. (A helpful teaching tip, I suppose.)

"Support precedes action" is one such phrase, and it clearly applies to yoga and other physical activities. When you move without support, you're flailing. Say you want to reach for something with your arm. You can just lift your arm right up and reach for it, of course, but if you don't recall--bodily, more than intellectually--the connections down through your shoulder and ribs, into your lungs, even to your feet--and your feet into the earth--your range is limited. Or you strain yourself, throwing your arm up farther than it's ready to go.

OK, that's a slightly silly example, since we all reach for things without grounding down into the earth on a pretty regular basis. But when you do invoke support, it feels different. Stronger and clearer. Better.

Many of us are about to jump into the action, academic-term-wise, and we're all bracing ourselves for TLQ action. What's your support? What do you need to have, as a foundation, to take the actions that you've set as your goals? And on even the most micro-level, what support can you invoke to help you act, even--especially--at those moments when it seems most difficult?

Is it stability in your household or relationships? Material support, such as grants or other funding? Clear thinking about what is and isn't your job? A clean desk? Or even just something like checking your posture, noticing the texture of the blank page of your notebook, or taking a deep breath before jumping in?

Below are the goals that you posted last week. If you didn't post goals, no worries; if you're new to the group, welcome! Responding to the prompt is, as always, totally optional.

************************

Daisy:
1: Do very minor revisions on just-accepted paper – this is TQR in a good way! (I’m halfway through but putting them on here so I can feel good about having something completed!)
2: Do long neglected sample sorting and shipping for New Local Grant
3: Finish half-done figures for LP
4: Pick 2 of the 4 conference abstracts that need writing and finish them

Dame Eleanor Hull:
1. Research: send off the MMP (already done); get back to work on translation (already done); upload a chunk to our shared Dropbox; read through the last article that I need to revise.
2. Teaching: prepare rough drafts of syllaboi for two classes; start daily teaching notes; review teaching journal for last year's version of the class I've taught before; prep first writing assignment for that class.
3. Self-care: stretch at least once daily; cardio six days; weights 3x; bake safe cookies.
4. House/Life: look at last year's tax return to figure something out. Pay bills. Package used printer cartridges to send for recycling. Shop for new laptop.

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell:
1. Decide if the sale airline tickets will work.
2. Revise the outline for chapters 3 & 4 of Prudence.
3. Get at least 1.5 miles of walking a day.
4. Call gastroenterologist. Sigh.
5. Go to dental appointment. Sigh.
6. Finish another foot (12 inches) of lace shawl.

Good Enough Woman:
1) Check local listings for second-hand bookshelves for the witch hut.
2) Plan for my mom's b-day.
3) Find a dinner recipe that might be good for the repertoire.
4) Prep one syllabus.

heu mihi:
1. Meditate some amount.
2. Draft out what I've already mentally composed for the conference paper; compile bibliography.
3. Read dissertation for next week's defense.
4. Bottle beer.

KJHaxton:
1. Finish marking coursework
2. write draft of opinion article
3. make contact with people about outreach events (e.g. reply to emails that got lost in the end of semester chaos)
4. tackle teaching admin for semester ahead.
5. finish knitting a hat

Welcome to 2018!

After what was for many a trying year, we can now imagine a fresh start. As you may be thinking about (or refuting) resolutions, today seems like a good day to think about setting goals for this session. We'll run through Easter weekend, which is the first weekend in April. Generally check-in posts will go up on Fridays/Saturdays for comments and updates.

With gratitude, much of the following text is lifted from kjhatxon, our predecessor as host here at TLQ.

The format will be the same as ever, but a recap: we will set goals for the whole session and then for each week. It's really easy to get carried away setting goals so I encourage you all to be optimistically realistic without creating a new source of pressure to perform! Goals can be in any aspect of life although the key focus is often writing tasks that are personally (and professionally) important but that never quite tip over into important AND urgent. Each week there will be a discussion topic, generally prompted by checkins the previous week. Feel free to suggest topics to throw open to the group. We'll recap the session goals for updating and refining at least once during the session, as well as the weekly goals. Feel free to comment on everyone's goals as much or as little as you like.

So for this week:

1. Who are you? What's your main focus at the moment? And where are you based? You are welcome to be vague and mysterious in the interest of maintaining anonymity while still introducing yourself to the group.

2. Goals for the session. For the last couple of sessions we've framed this as what would you like to sit down and feel satisfied about over a cup of tea (or coffee or hot chocolate) in 15 weeks time. Common themes include research, home stuff, self-care, crafts, exercise, writing, gardening and you can be as detailed or brief as is helpful to you. Many of us give specific projects nicknames that help us keep track of things. If you anticipate any challenges for the weeks ahead, you can note them too.

3. Goals for the coming week. What do you want to get done in the next week? Specific small tasks and “microdeadlines” are typically more achievable than 'tackle big task'. And don't forget, a lot of this is about the satisfaction of ticking things off the to-do list. So you can be as detailed as you want to in breaking goals down.

Newbies are welcome to join. And finally, don't worry if you miss a few checkins. Life happens.