This week, I tried keeping track of how much time I spent working. Of course, observation changes the phenomenon, so I found myself getting up an hour early (four days out of five) to write, and was much more carefully disciplined during my working hours than usual. And yet, as of Saturday--day 6 of the week, much as I hate counting weekends--I was only up to 35.25 hours.
Now we all know that different kinds of academic labor take different amounts of energy. Lying in bed and rereading a novel that I like and have taught four times before is much easier, and can be sustained for much longer, than drafting a conference paper, and teaching a low-level gen-ed class is (usually) much less mentally exhausting than a graduate seminar.
Still, though, I had hoped that I could put in 40 hours of work. I did leave town mid-day on Friday for an overnight at my mom's (she had a gallery opening on Saturday, for her first solo show), but I was surprised by just how difficult it was--what with attending to my child, doing the laundry, meals and clean-up, etc.--to put in an 8-hour day.
So I'm thinking about the clash between expectation, or maybe hope, and reality, and what can be done to soften that crash. Getting up an hour early every day (but one) made a huge difference in how much writing I did this week, but trying to finish up my workday in the evening sometimes meant that I wasn't very attentive to my son--and that's no good. In that case, my expectation for work done needs to be reduced in order to accommodate parenting. And I need to neither beat myself up for, nor resent, that reality.
How do expectation and reality come together (or not) for you? What can you do to move closer to meeting your expected, hoped-for goals, and where would it be freeing to release expectation in favor of reality? --And how many hours a week do you work? Because man do I feel like a slacker.
Check-in time:
Daisy:
1: Polish the 2 science talks
2: Try out keynote talk on patient friends
3: Work on figures and paper text, co-authors will be at conference so they need to see some graphs over beers...
Dame Eleanor Hull:
1. Self: the usual stretching, exercise, safe eating; plus another dentist appointment; make a couple of other appointments.
2. Teaching: catch up on the online stuff and award points; grade a set of papers; class prep.
3. Research: languages; upload a translation chunk; another round of MMP revisions.*
4. Life Stuff: bills and some other financial stuff; oil change.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell:
Two hours x 7 on the sabbatical.
Walk 2.0 miles a day.
Three hours x 4 on the grant.
Complete heels on first pair of socks.
Good Enough Woman:
1) Pay bills and make that one phone call I need to make.
2) Maybe even do taxes?
3) Walk 3x.
4) Morning/evening pages 4x.
5) Read intro of theory book and skim the rest.
6) Read SF novella (Binti) and two SF short stories.
7) Prep for husband's b-day.
8) Schedule mammogram (heavy resistance to this one)
heu mihi:
1. Meditate some amount
2. Run x 3, yoga x 2
3. Catch up on thesis reading (1 diss chapter, 1 Honors draft)
4. 30 minutes of writing x 5
5. Chapters 2-4 of novel (pp. 25-100).
6. Write up contest books.
7. Read Silence
humming42:
1 Figure out how to regain health
2 Submit Buildings, now TRQ
3 Work on pitch paragraph more
4 Set some writing and research goals for the year
KJHaxton:
1. catch up on emails about outreach
2. plan teaching for next few weeks to free up time
3. finish the Good Wife before it is removed from Netflix on 1/2/18
4. work through one of the paper drafts created in the writing retreat
5. look at the data for another paper to find the gaps
Susan:
1. Do the last footnotes and a last read of Way Outside
2. Write formal request for permissions if I get a contact.
3. Read diss chapter from grad student
4. Clean campus desk
5. Identify secondary sources for keynote, maybe write a bit more.
6. Make marmalade, start limoncello to use up citrus
7. Walk three times
8. Get at least 6 hours of sleep.
Topic: Although I have gotten much better about estimating what time planned projects will take, I am too easily blindsided by unexpected demands. I don’t mind revising expectations due to parenting, like heu mihi says. Although my kids are older, it often means that what they bring to me is complicated and emotional. I don’t mind changing plans when friends, or even colleagues, truly need me. It is the constant grind of make-work that annoys the (expletive deleted) out of me. Two weeks ago, I was put on a committee to write strategic goals for the library, ostensibly because I’m “such a good editor.” Oh, please. Last week, I was named to chair a presidential task force (university, not national!), which should be an honor, but I just . . . . Well, I’m just not excited.
ReplyDeleteAs for how many hours I work a week, I’m not a good standard by which to measure. Although academic faculty are not supposed to be required to work a certain number of hours, “convention” at my shop dictates that I work 37.5 hours a week, with all national and regional committee work and all research outside of that time. So, the twenty hours I spent on the sabbatical last week was not counted in the 37.5. I also put in 7 hours on a regional committee which I co-chair, so that adds up to 64.5. Boy, that is depressing. Granted, I rarely put in 20 hours on research, so a normal week is probably less than 50.
Last week’s goals:
Two hours x 7 on the sabbatical. I blew this one out of the water, logging in about 20 hours.
Walk 2.0 miles a day. Only 4 days. I developed a pesky calf cramp on Thursday, and dropped down to 1.25 miles.
Three hours x 4 on the grant. Yes.
Complete heels on first pair of socks.. Close, but about 10 rows short on the heel turn.
Analysis:
I have no idea why I was so on fire with the sabbatical. I guess I see it on the horizon and don’t want to waste any time when it gets here, so I am madly editing what I’ve written and proofreading the text of the edition. I am still not sleeping, but I checked out a couple of novels to read when I wake up in the middle of the night, so that I don’t read from a screen. I have to go to a conference this Thursday through next Tuesday, so my goals are pretty minimal.
Next week’s goals:
Two hours x 4 on the sabbatical.
Walk 2.0 miles a day.
Three hours x 4 on the grant.
One hour x 7 on the novel.
Complete heels on first pair of socks.
I hope everyone has a lovely, productive week. I will probably be late checking in next week. Excelsior, everyone!
Wow, what a productive week! I'm sorry about the insomnia. And I don't at all get how your committee work, especially, counts "outside" of your regular work hours; it's hardly something that you do for personal fulfillment (as someone could, but shouldn't, argue about research--certainly when I was in a teaching-heavy position, research was largely on my own time).
DeleteIn the past, I've had people point out that, for many, a 40-hour week includes five lunch hours and all of the time they are *at* work (even if they're fluffing around on the internet) and that we only count the hours when we're doing work, and that those numbers can be different. What I mean by this is that 35 focused, productive hours of work is quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteBut I have been wondering how many hours I'm getting in, so I'm going to keep track, too. I'd predict that when grading isn't too heavy, I'm between 32-35 hours for teaching, service, and grading. When grading is heavy, It's closer to 45, maybe even more (I teach a 4/4 with a heavy comp load). The difficult thing for me about research and writing is that it's not required for my job b/c I'm at a community college. If I do it, I don't know that I can really count it as work. It's time I would otherwise spend on a hobby. This is probably why it's been hard to do it lately.
Last week:
1) Pay bills and make that one phone call I need to make. NOT DONE. TRQ NOW.
2) Maybe even do taxes? HAHAHA
3) Walk 3x. DONE. EVEN A BIG HIKE.
4) Morning/evening pages 4x. ALMOST.
5) Read intro of theory book and skim the rest. DONE.
6) Read SF novella (Binti) and two SF short stories. DONE.
7) Prep for husband's b-day. DONE.
8) Schedule mammogram (heavy resistance to this one). NOPE.
This week (it's a long list, but some of tasks are quick):
1) Do prep work for Poetry Out Loud judging on Friday.
2) Article search (one hour)
3) Read one theory chapter
4) One hour editing article
5) 2-3 SF short stories
6) Finish "Dawn" by Octavia Butler
7) Walk 3x.
8) Morning/Evening pages 4x
9) Pay bills and make phone call.
10) Schedule mammogram
I spent 8 years with a comp-heavy 4/4, so I feel you. Not much of a chance of daily writing in those days.
DeleteYou're right about the time-at-work stuff; I had an office job once where I would estimate that I really "worked" about two days for every two weeks, especially once I figured out that my immediate supervisor was irritated by how quickly I got things done (it meant that she had to find me more tasks). Boy, those were boring days. Drove me straight into grad school!
I've kind of already talked about the prompt, so I'll skip it here.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I had two wonderful innovations in my life this week:
First, I started getting up early to write for 30-45 minutes every day (but one). I feel so much more on top of my conference paper now. And you know, I think that this is the first time that I've *really* done the write-first thing? I like it. I'm not promising that I'll always do it, because working at 5:30 am is a little obscene, but I like it.
Second, I got that expensive buckwheat-hull pillow I'd been wanting. I expected that it would be anticlimactic in the extreme. But oh my goodness. I have never felt so rested! And no headaches! It's even enabled me to start sleeping on my side, after 41.5 years as an adamant stomach-sleeper. It conforms so beautifully to my head. And it supports my neck, which I suspect was what was causing me so many tension headaches.
It may just be that I'm still glorying in the fact of not having the flu and no longer suffering from post-flu fatigue, but I have so much energy. And I'm so, so much less crabby in the mornings. Best $99 I've spent in a long time.
Also, I did get a lot done in my 38 hours (final tally after Sunday evening). )I included my novel revision time in there, by the way.) See:
Last week:
1. Read Silence DONE
2. Meditate some amount - 2x
3. Run x 3, yoga x 2 - DONE
3. Catch up on thesis reading (1 diss chapter, 1 Honors draft) - I also had to read a writing group chapter, which I did; I read almost half of diss chapter; did not start Honors draft. 50% on this one.
4. 30 minutes of writing x 5 - DONE
5. Chapters 2-4 of novel (pp. 25-99). DONE
6. Write up contest books. DONE
This week:
1. Read 4 essays/chapters for Silence
2. Novel: Revise chapters 5-7 (100-162)
3. Finish reading diss chapter
4. Read Honors draft
5. Meditate some amount
6. Run x 3, yoga x 2
7. 30 minutes of writing x 5
What a fabulous week! You've definitely piqued my interest on the pillow. I'm pretty sure that my headaches are tension related. It's great that getting up early to write is working for you. I do need to find that sweet spot in the day, same time, for writing. I've been so slothful.
DeleteI'm so happy to hear the buckwheat pillow is great for you! It's so good when something like that happens!
DeleteI fell so far behind last week that I didn't post here! Sorry!
ReplyDeleteHere's this weeks stuffs
1. Catch up on union work (I'm treasurer now).
2. Find 2 really good Hamlet articles for my senior seminar
3. Organize the calendar for the works my senior seminar folks decided to read
4. Prep the project for our student researchers meeting (Wednesday) and help run the meeting
5. Practice my new violin piece, and start incorporating vibrato practice
6. Do taxes
7. Organize British Library notes
8. Apply for grad student research help.
9. Do all the usual teaching and grading!
Glad you are here to begin again! Wishing you a grand week, with "all the usual" and more. I think many of us have a tendency to forget that the work that is always there is time-consuming and employs our energy and intellect in ways that can make it difficult to be devoted to TLQ.
DeleteWorking hours are a fairly tense subject around these parts. I'm still technically on reduced hours (well 35 hours a week which is contracted hours but with strong rationale to say no to things outside that). It's very hard to prioritize things into that 35 hours but I am getting better at it. I have some rules:
ReplyDelete- work in evenings or weekends is only done when doing so significantly reduces stress (e.g. marking when there are marks deadlines but not anything that might be considered optional)
- a proper lunch break each day in order to stay functional, preferably with a walk of 1 - 2 miles.
- no prioritization related guilt - value productivity over working on specific tasks. If you aren't making progress on something, move on to something else rather than get sucked into the procrastination void.
- have a good strategy to get back on task after interruptions.
I'll admit, this all takes more discipline than I possess but I'm making progress.
Last week:
1. catch up on emails about outreach - nope, and I'm avoiding it for some reason
2. plan teaching for next few weeks to free up time - done a bit
3. finish the Good Wife before it is removed from Netflix on 1/2/18 - done, but the ending was a little unsatisfying
4. work through one of the paper drafts created in the writing retreat - partly done
5. look at the data for another paper to find the gaps - made a start, but a lot more data than I expected so I need to plan the analysis
I also finished two hats.
This week:
1. finish working through the paper draft
2. finish a hat
3. tackle the emails
4. submit ethics application
I like your rules--especially the first two. Stress reduction is a good reason to work in the evening; satisfying (for example) students' desires for immediate responses is not.
DeleteI'm curious about your strategy to get back on task after interruptions. I think this is my big challenge, and because I have admin roles, this happens ALL THE TIME.
DeleteThe first two of those rules are fairly easy, the third is harder and the fourth - getting back on task - is near impossible. I try to remind myself that just because someone has emailed/phoned/visited with something that needs done, that doesn't mean I have to immediately do it. Poor planning on their part isn't my emergency so I try to remember I don't have to react. I also try to wait until I can respond thoughtfully rather than react instantly and by doing so give myself permission to get back to whatever it is that I need to do. It doesn't work all the time so I try not to be too hard on myself when that happens.
DeleteUgh. Some extra complicating factors for me are a) quantification of interruptions (I lead three core, required modules this semester, one for each year of our three year degree programme, and the first year one involves nearly all academics to a small degree, so I get a LOT of interruptions just from that, never mind all the other parts of the job) - some days between classes and talking to drop ins I get NOTHING done... and b) the problem that the exact same job takes very different amounts of time depending on my mental weather, physical state etc. - on which subject this darn cold is still lingering and I'm struggling to deliver teaching never mind keeping up with the NEW PREP work, and I am very sub-par. I'm just getting to the point where I am very aware that I have moments of being sharp and mentally on the ball, but that most of the time it's uphill through treacle :-(
ReplyDeleteI'm sticking as hard as I can to spending only 8 hours a day on campus, four days a week, and not hopping on the computer in the evening for work reasons, but I'm not succeeding perfectly. And I take maybe half an hour over the day for NOT work things like a quick walk to the nearby coffee place or five minutes of playing a game on my phone, or a bite of lunch - but as soon as I do any of those things someone wanders in! (and yeah, I could shut my door, but my office then becomes stuffy very quickly (even with the window open - choice is hot or cold, but always stuffy), plus at the moment I tend to zone out and end up spending the best part of an hour doing something irrelevant and if I'm going to do that I want to do it deliberately, and preferably at home in comfort with cat). I can't really determine if I'm very disorganised, if I waste time in ways I can't see, or if I'm actually really over worked. OR of course if I'm just being too nice to students and colleagues and should ignore them callously.
I might squeeze out about three hours this week for TLQ, and it all needs to go on those horrible PRoblemChildPaper3 revisions which I had to get another extension for. Cough cough sulk.
I'm exhausted just reading this, and I'm not doing it while recovering from a very bad cold.
DeleteSince finishing graduate school, I’ve struggled with the expectation that I have a lot of time for research and the reality that I don’t have the focus or energy to devote the amount of time I would wish to writing. This is a decade-on effort to figure out how to make the most of the time I have and to stop my inner critic from berating me for not doing more. I could get up earlier, and I could also schedule research as one schedules a meeting. It is time for me try something different.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1 Figure out how to regain health: yes, although it was mostly sleep
2 Submit Buildings, now TRQ: yes
3 Work on pitch paragraph more: no
4 Set some writing and research goals for the year: somewhat
This week:
1 Actually set some deadlines
2 Work on pitch paragraph
3 Submit current book review
4 Read reference materials for Jewels
Interesting question. For me, the challenge is (as JaneB noted) interruptions. Because of my role, right now if there's an issue, I have to deal with it. (And there are issues, right now, which has meant lots of talking to people and problem solving and trouble-shooting.) All that takes not just the time it takes, but disrupts my work on other things.
ReplyDeleteGoals from last week:
1. Do the last footnotes and a last read of Way Outside -- NO, still waiting for last ILL.
2. Write formal request for permissions if I get a contact. NOT YET, will do tomorrow
3. Read diss chapter from grad student NO
4. Clean campus desk (SOME)
5. Identify secondary sources for keynote, maybe write a bit more. NO
6. Make marmalade, start limoncello to use up citrus YES
7. Walk three times YES
8. Get at least 6 hours of sleep. MOSTLY
Analysis: well, as I noted, interruptions and drama in my senate role; also we had a job candidate Friday (I chair the search). And on Wednesday night, one of my cats -- the oldest -- died quite suddenly of a heart attack. I've been more thrown off by that than I expected. The weekend I was just mopey.
Goals for this week:
1. Really finish Way Outside
2. Finish dissertation chapter
3. Write self-statement for review, do bureaucratic stuff connected to it.
4. Identify secondary and primary sources for keynote
5. Walk three times
6. Work on 7 hours of sleep.
Oh, no, I'm so, so sorry about your cat. That would throw anyone way off; I can't imagine getting much of anything done after that. We love our pets and we mourn them when they die.
DeleteOh no, I'm so sorry about the cat! Of course it would throw you off - they may be small animals but they leave a big gap when they leave us.
DeleteCondolences on the cat. The Shakespearean Heroine died like that, some years back, and it really is quite a shock. Making the decision to help a failing cat leave is wrenching but you work through some of the grief as you decide it's time; when it happens without your input, the adjustment starts from scratch. Not to mention that having the oldest one die readjusts all the cat relationships in the house. So sorry.
DeleteIt's true -- I think the suddenness (all over in 5 minutes) was particularly jarring. I'm still working to provide two dishes instead of 3. And watching the negotiations going forward is fascinating!
DeleteSo sorry about the kitty. I love kitties, and you have my sympathy.
DeleteA bit late after conference fun!
ReplyDeleteThe conference was fabulous, it is a great community to work in. My keynote was really well received, even got an invitation to apply for a job I had not considered...
I really learned something important Humming42's comment last week - she mentioned that it was great that students get to see the keynote as an accomplishment by a young female scientist,I had never even considered that they may perceive it that way, and up to that point had not occurred to me that I was setting an example... Funny how we think!Or don't think in this case! Thanks Humming for pointing that out :)
Topic: Work hours... I started tracking my time last year (using toggl, it is excellent) and have learned so much about work habits and timing. I started because I was frustrated with not knowing where time had gone even when I was working a lot. I have a system for assigning tasks to categories, there is none for "faffing around on internet" or drinking coffee or lunch or personal stuff (appointments, logistics, driving) and things like that so I don't count anything that is not directly related to a specific task as working. This keeps me very honest because if I'm not recording it I know it doesn't count and it makes me much less likely to do stuff that just sucks up time for no reason. I find the proportions of different tasks vary quite a lot depending on the week. Most weeks end up in the 40 to 45 hour range for real work, but I have to work after kid's bedtime or early in the morning to hit that consistently. More for major deadline weeks or marking weeks, less if snow days or sick days interfere. I find if I drop much below that to 35 or so I feel behind and drop balls so if I see the week is going off track I add a few early mornings. I like seeing the proportions of different tasks as a visual report too, for a data geek it is just fun. And tracking consistently makes it a lot easier to assign times to things (will work on this admin thing or lecture for 2 hours) and when the time is up, that's it, no more so I work more efficiently if I know there is an end to it.
Last week's goals:
1: Polish the 2 science talks DONE
2: Try out keynote talk on patient friends DONE
3: Work on figures and paper text, co-authors will be at conference so they need to see some graphs over beers... NOT FINISHED, BUT GOOD DISCUSSIONS ANYWAY
This week's goals:
1) Read student work and comment
2) Put all the cool conference discussions right into paper before forgetting them!
3) Finish paper text
Congratulations on the talk (and invitation)! That's fabulous!
DeleteI may need to check out this toggl business--I enjoy self-monitoring and self-reporting, probably too much (I won't allow myself to get a Fitbit but I do get a little obsessed with the steps counter on my phone); it sounds fun.
(I just bought a fitbit yesterday, so...)
DeleteCongratulations on the successful talk and invitation! I might also want to check out toggl.
DeleteOh, let's see. How did I do, now that I'm well into a new week?
ReplyDelete1. Self: the usual stretching, exercise, safe eating; plus another dentist appointment; make a couple of other appointments. YES to all but making the appointments.
2. Teaching: catch up on the online stuff and award points; grade a set of papers; class prep. NO, YES (as of Monday), YES.
3. Research: languages; upload a translation chunk; another round of MMP revisions.* YES, YES, NO.
4. Life Stuff: bills and some other financial stuff; oil change. YES (yesterday), NO.
I consider that working in the summers and holidays, when I'm off-contract, makes up for any shortage of hours during the semester. The expectations/reality crunch happens mainly around commuting and physical energy, which is of course affected by emotional events. Of late I'm doing a lot of processing to do with my father's decline (all those feelings I didn't have in November, which are at least as much to do with brothers and family dynamic as with my dad himself), and my husband has his own sibling thing going on, so we talk a lot about these things. And then we try to put them down and get on with our lives, which includes organizing another (the last, I hope) round of repairs to the house before we do the final clearance of clutter, have it photographed, and list it. So I feel like I have two jobs, one at work, one at home, and only really enough energy for one of them. There's a lot of half-assing stuff, or waiting till the last minute.
This week looks a lot like last week:
1. Self: the usual stretching, exercise, safe eating; make a couple of other appointments.
2. Teaching: catch up on the online stuff and award points; grade a set of papers; class prep.
3. Research: languages; upload a translation chunk; another round of MMP revisions.*
4. Life Stuff: collect tax docs and list deductions; oil change; re-org kitchen cabinets.
Getting ready to move, and dealing with parental aging issues are both heavy duty. If you look at those old lists of life stressors, they are pretty high (moving, changing jobs, and the death of a significant person are the top three.) And yes, you have two jobs. One of the things that I found helpful in the Slow Professor (which I am reading slowly!) is the sense that work patterns etc vary over time.
DeleteJust wanting to let everyone know that you are all helping me pass the time while I wait my turn at the DMV. I’m here to get a driving record print out so that I can help drive theater kids to a Stagefest competition next weekend. We’ll have to depart at 4:30am and drive back home the same night. The DMV closes in 12 minutes, and I’m afraid they’re going to close and send me away. *sigh* Not helping my work productivity.
ReplyDelete