But this is our last week, so it's time to look back on both your week's goals and your session goals (both are listed below--I apologize if I left anyone out!). How did it go? Any observations or conclusions about this session? And also: Who would like to host next?
Last week's goals:
Bardiac:
1. Prep stuff for a grad research assistant to do. I've never really been successful using grad research assistants, but I'm going to try again. (Usually, they barely do what I ask, so it's sort of useless.) I'm going to give this one a pretty specific task to start, and hope she can do it.
Daisy:
1) Read and comment on student’s complete thesis (yay for student, lots of work went into that!)
2) Get back to Local Project Paper and see how much still needs to be done, and then do something about it! Anything would be better than the great pile of nothing that happened the last few weeks…
Dame Eleanor Hull:
Self: stretch twice daily, cardio or a walk 6x, weights 3x, safe eating.
Research: finish and upload a chunk of translation; scholarly reading at least 3x.
Teaching: write/post last two writing assignments for the semester (!).
House/Life: get tax stuff sorted and to accountant; keep plugging away at the sorting and tidying.
Good Enough Woman:
1) Start taxes (if I get the form I'm waiting for).
2) Finish Brit Lit essays by Thursday (to free up break a little bit and make students happy)
3) 2 brainstorming/writing for novel (at least one hour of actually drafting)
4) Make both family and productivity plans for spring break.
5) Walk 2x, Yoga 1x.
6) Savor quality time/moments with kids.
Heu Mihi:
1. Two hours of reading grad work
2. Write 5 hours (on Wonder; includes research time)
3. Meditate some amount
4. Begin grading incoming papers right away or close to it
5. Full slate of exercise (run x 3, yoga x 2)
humming42:
1 Finish and submit next book review
2 Complete article peer review
3 Try again to establish some incremental deadlines
4 Do something with Jewel article
Susan:
1. Do some desk clearing
2. Finish overdue book review
3. Keep working on the short essay Witch
4. Do at least one hour of work on new book, Author
5. Get back to pleasure reading
6. Continue my walking, making 10,000 steps every day.
Session goals:
Bardiac:
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...)
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 and submit local project paper LP
2: Write up and submit two first-author articles on Fabulous Northern Project FNP
3: Write my parts of two co-authored pieces on Other FNP
4: Do preliminary work for New Northern Project NNP so that field season goes brilliantly
2: Write up and submit two first-author articles on Fabulous Northern Project FNP
3: Write my parts of two co-authored pieces on Other FNP
4: Do preliminary work for New Northern Project NNP so that field season goes brilliantly
Dame Eleanor Hull:
1. Research: get through my share of translation revision, so that by early April the whole translation team is at the same point w/r/t the final draft. Do one more set of article revisions. Consult with colleagues regarding application for full professorship. Keep up with language study in two dead and two modern languages.
2. Teaching: Plan fun and manageable courses; keep up with grading and prep (one new course this spring); have a colleague observe a class.
3. Self-care: take care of some medical and dental appointments; regular exercise and stretching; food prep as necessary for healthy, safe eating. Do fun things regularly.
4. House and Life Stuff: gather tax documents and hand them over to accountant; replace some more windows, finish the decluttering, have the house photographed and list it; visit my dad and deal with parental/family stuff as necessary; make a list of stuff that I will do later in the year (2nd through 4th quarters).
2. Teaching: Plan fun and manageable courses; keep up with grading and prep (one new course this spring); have a colleague observe a class.
3. Self-care: take care of some medical and dental appointments; regular exercise and stretching; food prep as necessary for healthy, safe eating. Do fun things regularly.
4. House and Life Stuff: gather tax documents and hand them over to accountant; replace some more windows, finish the decluttering, have the house photographed and list it; visit my dad and deal with parental/family stuff as necessary; make a list of stuff that I will do later in the year (2nd through 4th quarters).
Elizabeth Ann Mitchell:
Session mantra: Contemplate, breathe, center
Plan what libraries to visit in what countries, and when.
Coordinate the outline for Prudence with the schedule.
Work up to 5 miles of walking every day.
Knit 2 shawls, and 2 pairs of socks.
Plan what libraries to visit in what countries, and when.
Coordinate the outline for Prudence with the schedule.
Work up to 5 miles of walking every day.
Knit 2 shawls, and 2 pairs of socks.
Good Enough Woman:
1) Develop chapter four of PhD thesis into an article. I'm calling this project "Jenny."
2) Read three SF/F novels and five SF/F short stories (to continue prep for Spring 2019 science fiction class).
3) Develop four new family-dinner recipes that are plant- and fiber-heavy.
4) Walk 45min, 3x per week. Occasional swimming and yoga.
5) Clean out my stuff in the garage left over from summer re-organizing.
6) Tidy work office.
7) Finish outfitting home office/studio/witch hut.
2) Read three SF/F novels and five SF/F short stories (to continue prep for Spring 2019 science fiction class).
3) Develop four new family-dinner recipes that are plant- and fiber-heavy.
4) Walk 45min, 3x per week. Occasional swimming and yoga.
5) Clean out my stuff in the garage left over from summer re-organizing.
6) Tidy work office.
7) Finish outfitting home office/studio/witch hut.
heu mihi:
-Write conference paper (for March)
-Revise old conference paper into the beginning of an article
-Move forward on a creative writing project--either the novel I wrote in 2006/07, or my NaNo mess.
-Make things! Slippers, beer (my brand-new hobby), knitting projects to use up old yarn, paper, books--whatever I want. I like the idea of a craft-a-month that KJ Haxton mentions above; I'm going to adopt it.
-Meditate. Keep trying.
-Revise old conference paper into the beginning of an article
-Move forward on a creative writing project--either the novel I wrote in 2006/07, or my NaNo mess.
-Make things! Slippers, beer (my brand-new hobby), knitting projects to use up old yarn, paper, books--whatever I want. I like the idea of a craft-a-month that KJ Haxton mentions above; I'm going to adopt it.
-Meditate. Keep trying.
humming42:
1 meet deadlines in all aspects of life
2 submit Jewel article
3 submit Buildings article
4 make significant progress on Tiny Project
5 write tiny pitch for Tiny Project
6 set and meet incremental deadlines for 2018 projects
2 submit Jewel article
3 submit Buildings article
4 make significant progress on Tiny Project
5 write tiny pitch for Tiny Project
6 set and meet incremental deadlines for 2018 projects
KJHaxton:
1. Make progress on all the lovely chocolates we got as gifts this holiday. This is definitely a marathon not a sprint :) Currently they are piled up in order of expiration date!
2. Walk regularly and try to find some other kind of tolerable exercise.
3. Organise 2 outreach events with external funding, plan 2 outreach events for May
4. Get into new role at work.
5. Submit opinion article and one research article.
6. complete a craft project each month
2. Walk regularly and try to find some other kind of tolerable exercise.
3. Organise 2 outreach events with external funding, plan 2 outreach events for May
4. Get into new role at work.
5. Submit opinion article and one research article.
6. complete a craft project each month
Susan:
1. Way outside project: it's almost done -- I'll finish the substantive stuff today (I think) and then I have to do permissions.
2. Big lecture. I'm giving a keynote at a conference in March, and need to write it. I'll give the same talk in the UK a few weeks before, so I basically have February to do this
3. Polemic: I want to write a polemic on a topic that folks are interested in, drawing on my scholarship. I imagine this as short (30-40,000 words). My goal for the spring is to get a solid outline and draft the first chapter. I may do more, but that's doable.
4. Home: I want to deal with some of the clutter I'm living with. My desk is the first goal, but there's the guest room and the second study which might become a den if I dealt with stuff.
5. Health: I want to keep moving, eat well, and sleep c. 7 hours a night.
6. Recreation: read for pleasure; see friends. Do something each week.
2. Big lecture. I'm giving a keynote at a conference in March, and need to write it. I'll give the same talk in the UK a few weeks before, so I basically have February to do this
3. Polemic: I want to write a polemic on a topic that folks are interested in, drawing on my scholarship. I imagine this as short (30-40,000 words). My goal for the spring is to get a solid outline and draft the first chapter. I may do more, but that's doable.
4. Home: I want to deal with some of the clutter I'm living with. My desk is the first goal, but there's the guest room and the second study which might become a den if I dealt with stuff.
5. Health: I want to keep moving, eat well, and sleep c. 7 hours a night.
6. Recreation: read for pleasure; see friends. Do something each week.
I have a piece of excellent news: my department has asked me to apply for promotion to Full.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
Self: stretch twice daily, cardio or a walk 6x, weights 3x, safe eating. YES to all (well, stretched once a day, mostly).
Research: finish and upload a chunk of translation; scholarly reading at least 3x. YES; 2x.
Teaching: write/post last two writing assignments for the semester (!). NO.
House/Life: get tax stuff sorted and to accountant; keep plugging away at the sorting and tidying. YES! I am so glad to turn the taxes into someone else's problem. And some sorting/tidying got done, though it's still proceeding slowly because of all the work and other things.
Session goals:
Research: I'm moving along with translation and keeping up pretty well with the dead language study groups. I have looked at the last set of article revisions but haven't managed to get to grips with that yet. And it looks like I am going up for full!
Teaching: keeping head above water, enjoying myself, will be observed this week.
Self-care: doing very well.
House/Life: taxes, windows, one visit to my dad, and much eye-rolling over e-mails from brothers, all accomplished.
Thanks for the support! I wish I could volunteer for the next session but I don't think I'd manage very well this time. Maybe the one after that?
Congratulations! And well deserved! The MMP alone ought to earn you a promotion.
DeleteWell, that's what I think about the MMP (and its associated bits, which in my mind are the moral equivalent of a book), but let's see if I can convince everyone else of that!
DeleteCongratulations, Dame Eleanor! I look forward to calling you full professor Dame! Seriously, that's wonderful news!
DeleteCongratulations! That's great. It's nice to be *asked* to apply!
DeleteI love "Full Professor Dame"! Thank you for that. :-)
DeleteCongratulations! I hope the paperwork falls into place smoothly...
DeleteWhat fantastic news, DEH! I like Full Professor Dame, too.
DeleteThat is good news, indeed! Huzzah!
DeleteLast week:
ReplyDeleteMy husband, as you may know, is a pastor at a mainline Protestant church. (He was a professor of religion when we met; when I took the job at Idyllic State 2.5 years ago, he made the switch, having been ordained at some point in grad school.) He decided to do an all-night Easter vigil, with different people praying for an hour at a time--and he would stay at the church, to do the 2 am stint and also to be there on time for the 7:00 service that they do on Easter mornings. (Regular service is 10:00.)
So our son--age 5--learns about this and decides that he, too, absolutely MUST spend the night at church!!! And my husband tells him that he can. He didn't actually think that I would have to be there, but I figured it would not work well if I stayed at home (and I think that I was right--someone had to get the boy up and dressed before the 7:00 service, after all, and my husband had his hands full.)
So we spent the night on an air mattress in my husband's office. Son slept well; we did not.
Anyway, that whole rigamarole (plus two Easter services, let's not forget) cut deeply into my weekend work time.
So here's my last week's wrap-up:
1. Two hours of reading grad work
Done: 1.5. Planned on a half hour on Sunday. Did not happen.
2. Write 5 hours (on Wonder; includes research time)
DONE!
3. Meditate some amount
Twice--I'm counting my midnight-1am vigil slot in here.
4. Begin grading incoming papers right away or close to it
Does Saturday count as right away, if the papers arrived on Thursday?
5. Full slate of exercise (run x 3, yoga x 2)
Yes. And what with everything else (including a long meandering walk with son on Friday, when he was out of school), my body is very tired and I'm taking a little break now.
Session goals:
-Write conference paper (for March)
DONE
-Revise old conference paper into the beginning of an article
Article is definitely begun. I've made good progress, I think.
-Move forward on a creative writing project--either the novel I wrote in 2006/07, or my NaNo mess.
2006/07 novel has a query under review.
-Make things! Slippers, beer (my brand-new hobby), knitting projects to use up old yarn, paper, books--whatever I want.
DONE: A little bit. My second batch of beer is bottle conditioning right now. I finished my slippers. I'm working on a knit quilt (a 5-year project, I think) and a complicated cable-knit sweater for husband.
-Meditate. Keep trying.
Mixed results here. I need to take a long look at my priorities with regard to meditation.
Oof. Whoa. Wow. That does not sound like the most fun Easter ever.
DeleteI loved the Youth Group sleepovers at the church when I was a teenager, but they were never associated with vigils. And I was in my teens, not five! Looking back, I think they may have been intended to give parents a night off, or at least a night with their younger kids while the teens were off with their peers.
My old church used to do the all night vigil on Maundy Thursday. Then we realized no one wanted the 2 AM shift in an empty chapel, so we stopped between midnight and 6 AM...
DeleteI did several stints as a youth group leader, so have done "lock-ins". I *never* slept.
I used to love sleeping on chruch hall floors and the like... when I was a teen or in my early twenties and part of a student Christian [denomination] society, student ecumenical retreats (where we always rediscovered that Methodists are fussy about their tea and Catholics have the most risque stories) or church activities... from about 25 my body decided church halls were no longer comfortable and sleeping properly trumped Fun Social Things. Doing it with a small child sounds EXHAUSTING (although a good excuse to eat ALL the chocolate, seasonal cake and candy that you want for the rest of the weekend, for the energy). Sounds like a very productive semester overall though!
DeleteI cannot sleep on floors, not since my twenties, certainly. Congrats on how much you have done on the academic front, and wow, a query under review for the earlier NaNo novel is great.
DeleteHi All,
ReplyDeleteI actually did well this past week, but then, I only gave myself one top left quadrant task.
1. Prep stuff for a grad research assistant to do. I've never really been successful using grad research assistants, but I'm going to try again. (Usually, they barely do what I ask, so it's sort of useless.) I'm going to give this one a pretty specific task to start, and hope she can do it.
I organized a really good, small, focused project for the grad student which should help me, and should teach her to learn to use EEBO and some other research tools. Hopefully, it's win-win.
For this week, department politics has exploded. It's not a bad explosion for me, but it takes more time than I'd like.
My top left quadrant task for this week is to begin drafting the paper that won't get written unless I just sit and start writing. I think I need to just put one thing in the top left quadrant. (Are we starting again? And can I do that now, or should I wait?)
I really like your idea of only doing one TLQ thing, although, knowing me, I doubt that I'll be able to make myself adopt it.
DeleteI don't know when we're starting again, or who's hosting--but I can host again if need be, and we can kind of start whenever, so yeah, come up with goals! It can't hurt! (Worst case scenario is that you don't have an obvious place to post publicly about how you did this week....)
I think part of the impetus behind TLQ was that people found the focus-on-one-project writing groups weren't delivering what they needed. Another Damned Medievalist Writing Group long ago started with that focus, and I continued it for awhile. But it's true that we often wind up with multiple writing/research projects, besides all the teaching and Life Stuff and other important things that crop up.
DeleteI hope the department explosion gets cleaned up quickly, with minimal damage! I'm sorry I never got around to extending congratulations for your great evaluation. I don't know why it has come to feel like commenting on a blog is a Big Thing To Put Off. I didn't use to feel that way, back when there were more bloggers and much more commenting.
I am at a conference this week (not realizing it would prevent me from doing anything else) and sat down to chat with a friend from graduate school. We had our ongoing annual check-in about department politics, and in that conversation I realized how incredibly liberating it's been for me to decide I have no interest in my department's politics. But as you note, you still feel the fall out of other events that don't include you directly. With hope you can keep a safe distance.
DeleteCongratulations on achieving something this week! I hope the grad RA works out...
DeleteRe: TLQ - we set up this group with the ethos of not having strict rules, after some minor upsets in other groups around what was and wasn't appropriate. If one project or one goal at a time works for you, that's wonderful and we're here to support you. If you need help because that's impossible given the realities of your life right now, or because your work style doesn't fit that (the nature of working as a STEM person on nearly 100% collaborative work is that TLQ is too dependent on other people for me to confidently do just one thing for three months - a week at a time, maybe!), then we wanted it to be OK for people to set multiple small goals, or use the group to help them work out a different focus for each week without losing sight of the agenda for the quarter or semester or year. Some people may want to move from one state to the other, and the group is here to help!
It's probably also a reflection of our increasing age that self-care has become a part of the group for many of us - one of the minor spats which led to proposing this group was about whether struggles with self-care were irrelevant/distracting to TLQ and inappropriate to bring to a support group or central to it. As you can probably tell, I've often found the greatest value in this group is in sharing the realities of being flawed, failing humans who still believe in growth, who start again every week, and share the humour, the little griefs and joys, and hints and tips about how to start over again and again and again, and to realise that actually, when we take a breath and look at the view, what a big mountain we've managed to climb despite all those half-steps and stumbles.
I get to "act purely professional" at work a LOT, and I really value the chance to be All Of Me here - academic, passionate, incompetent, frustrated, delighted, determined, feeble, confident, discouraged, sarcastic, compassionate, encouraging, humorous, self-deprecating, proud of small achievements - and growing as an academic and as a person.
So in terms of rules, I'd argue, the rule is use the weekly and session-ly goal setting in a way that WORKS FOR YOU (and be supportive to everyone else even if they don't do things the same way).
Aaargh department explosions. We're in the middle of a looooong one with occasional little splashes of sparks, it's very tiring even when I try to ignore it (and I have a genetic condition called Chronic Curiosity - NOT nosiness - so I'm pretty bad at ignoring it, I quickly get frustrated by not knowing what's going on!)
DeleteWhat JaneB said about goals and allowing individuality is why I keep coming back to this group. I wrote a post long ago about having been trained to be a "professional good girl," and it was soul-crushing. Like JaneB, I need a place to let down my hair.
DeleteGo ahead and set goals--you can always report on them when we start up again; as the week has gone on, it looks like we may start again pretty soon, as well.
I also hope you can continue to avoid the explosion.
Thanks, all! I really like this format; it's just the one thing may be best for me when the weeks are super busy.
DeleteI also forgot to respond to my 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...)
I did all except exercising every day. So that was good.
Thanks again for having the group!
ps. The politics thing seems to have calmed for the moment.
Last week was pretty short and chaotic, but I did what I hoped for so I am ok with that. This coming week is more chaotic, so not planning much. I'm actually taking a few days off and going away with the kid for a fun trip for no reason other than it sounded like a good idea in February and it has been a very long semester!
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) Read and comment on student’s complete thesis (yay for student, lots of work went into that!) DONE
2) Get back to Local Project Paper and see how much still needs to be done, and then do something about it! DONE, and moving along nicely...
Session goals:
1: Finish and submit local project paper LP - NOT FINISHED, BUT CLOSE... This one should have been done by now, but I'm sure I can get rid of it in a week after classes end...
2: Write up and submit two first-author articles on Fabulous Northern Project FNP ONLY ONE GOT WORKED ON, but it is good so I'm happy.
3: Write my parts of two co-authored pieces on Other FNP BOTH DONE AND ACCEPTED so very happy with that.
4: Do preliminary work for New Northern Project NNP so that field season goes brilliantly
DONE, including the extremely time consuming task of recruiting, vetting, organizing, and accepting three new graduate students. I'm very happy with that.
Other significant things from the session:
2 graduate students are defending in a few weeks, that was a huge amount of work getting to this point.
Got new grant related to regular field project but for a very different product, so it is going to be fun and involve a level of creativity I'm not usually involved in.
Did very well in new external national-level service activity, both from outside feedback (yeah, outside of academia people actually tell you when you do a good job on something! Weird...) and from satisfaction with actual tasks.
So it was a pretty good session other than the sulking in the middle, and it has set me up well for the coming summer field season and class-free period.
I will not be around for the next session unfortunately. I just finished working out the whole summer field schedule, and out of about 15 weeks of time I will only be home for about 4 of those, most of the time will be out of internet range.
Thank you to our excellent hosts, I really enjoyed the discussions and prompts, and as always the virtual moral support from the group!
Have a great summer everyone!
I think sometimes sulking just needs to happen. It helps with the bouncing-back part, if we've acknowledged the setback properly. I've even read psychological studies about this. And it sounds like you have had a very good session. Best wishes for a fun and productive summer in the field!
DeleteI hope you have a great trip with the child! I just had a little trip with my kiddos, and it was great.
DeleteAnd what a great semester! It seems very productive. I hope all goes well in the field this summer!
Sounds like a great semester and a great summer coming - hope to hear ALL about it in the autumn session!
DeleteKudos on getting through the sulks (I agree with DEH, they are often necessary) and coming back strong.
DeleteEnjoy the summer, Daisy!
So, last week's goals:
ReplyDelete1. Do some desk clearing YES (still doing it)
2. Finish overdue book review NO
3. Keep working on the short essay Witch A LITTLE
4. Do at least one hour of work on new book, Author NO
5. Get back to pleasure reading NO
6. Continue my walking, making 10,000 steps every day. YES -- all but one day
There was travel, there was catching up, there was stuff related to the search I chaired... And a mini-cold (i.e., enough that I know I'm not 100%, but really trivial). Sigh. I don't like the book I'm reviewing, and keep getting cranky, so that's not good :)
Session goals
1. Way outside project: it's almost done -- I'll finish the substantive stuff today (I think) and then I have to do permissions. YES-- DONE, sent off, permissions sorted, and I hope no more edits!
2. Big lecture. I'm giving a keynote at a conference in March, and need to write it. I'll give the same talk in the UK a few weeks before, so I basically have February to do this
DONE. Well, the UK talks were cancelled due to strikes, but I gave the talk and people seemed to like it. (It also helped me figure out future directions, which was useful..)
3. Polemic: I want to write a polemic on a topic that folks are interested in, drawing on my scholarship. I imagine this as short (30-40,000 words). My goal for the spring is to get a solid outline and draft the first chapter. I may do more, but that's doable.
STARTED (this is also called Author). But I didn't expect to do much this early, so I call this a win. And I've got an outline. 1000 + words down...
4. Home: I want to deal with some of the clutter I'm living with. My desk is the first goal, but there's the guest room and the second study which might become a den if I dealt with stuff.
NO. But I did get rid of three bags of clothes, and will try to keep trimming my closet and drawers.
5. Health: I want to keep moving, eat well, and sleep c. 7 hours a night.
SORT OF. I've kept moving (and getting a fitbit has been good for this), I've eaten pretty well, but realistically I need to sleep at least 6 hours a night, and I usually do that. Much better when I get 7, but I have to go to bed earlier. (The feline alarm clocks wake me up by 6 AM no matter what.)
6. Recreation: read for pleasure; see friends. Do something each week.
Some pleasure reading, did a lot with friends, and I think I pretty much did something fun each week.
So I think it was pretty successful session. I also put together a conference proposal, and did an R&R for a second article.
As for next session, I'd be willing to co-lead.
Clutter is SO hard to deal with. It's not so much the Stuff as the Feelings About The Stuff, the Memories Associated With The Stuff, and the Psychological Hangups About The Concept of Stuff. Congratulations on the trimming that you have done, and on the writing, which sounds like another sort of desk-clearing.
DeleteI find that I can get into a zone on it. But paper is my nemesis...
DeleteThat does sound like a productive session, and I'm impressed with you regular achievement of 10,000 steps. I struggle to make it (and don't, typically).
DeleteI hope you have more time for pleasure reading, soon!
Oh yes, the fight against clutter. I find paper replicates at night, no matter how much I try to keep up with it. As for other things, DEH has it spot on for me, so that is hard as well.
DeleteI agree with GEW, this looks like a very productive session.
I fell off the globe a month (or more) ago when I fell into the Slough of Despond. Partly, I find March a difficult month for weather reasons, but also, I have been struggling with various new health issues. Even though only one of the health concerns (narrow angle glaucoma) is serious, I’ve been feeling very sorry for myself. I do have a date for surgery to address the glaucoma, at least, so fingers crossed that will be resolved by mid-May. On the work side, it has been the death of a thousand cuts, because for some reason, everyone in power has decided that I should finish all the work that I would have done for the next six months before I leave on May 1st. Some have even offered that I could just keep doing some of the work while on sabbatical. So I have walked around alternately depressed or angry for weeks now, although I am becoming more and more curt, and any slight feeling of wanting to check in or help out has completely disappeared.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, I did receive a grant to go to a nearby research library for a week this summer, which was a nice coup. Also, I got permission to work in the Special Collections Reading Room, even though I will not be using any of their resources. It is in another building, so I will not be found out by people wanting something un-sabbatical from me. I worry about being drawn to do cleaning or other non-research things if I am at home all the time, so having someplace else to go will be helpful.
There doesn’t seem to be much point looking at my last weekly goals. As for the session goals, I found my session mantra Contemplate, breathe, center hard to maintain in March. I think the issue with my eyes has really rocked me. My mother lost most of her sight about a decade before she passed away, and I always thought that would be a very hard adjustment. My prognosis is much better, but my brain is having difficulty convincing my heart/gut.
Plan what libraries to visit in what countries, and when. Where is planned, but not quite when, yet.
Coordinate the outline for Prudence with the schedule. Done.
Work up to 5 miles of walking every day. Done.
Knit 2 shawls, and 2 pairs of socks. Only one of each.
I can probably co-lead for the summer as well. It might help me stay on track, and less crabby!
I do find the accountability very helpful, and it is a wonderful, supportive group.
Wishing you a safe and easy surgery, and lots of centering when you are able to get there. I feel angry with the selfishness of other people who are burdening you so much.
DeleteI am so sorry for these big bumps in the road! I would feel a lot of resentment about the work situation, and I think I am also prone to feeling sorry for myself about health issues (unlike my mother, who is very stoic and whom I am trying to take as my model). I can relate to eye issues, and I'm glad to hear your prognosis is good!
DeleteOn the work front, I'd probably do as much as I could before sabbatical and then leave it at that.
Thank you for the positive thoughts, Linda. I appreciate your anger, too. It's not a six month vacation. I don't understand why some people don't get that. Sigh.
DeleteI hope you have a lovely break when it arrives.
Thanks, GEW, for the good advice. I made a list of what I had committed to do and can do reasonably this month. Your point of leaving it at that is a very good one.
DeleteHave a great break!
Sometimes being mad is useful energy - it can fuel a lot of nos! I hope this is the start of a very productive period for you & that the surgery is both effective and not stressful...
DeleteIt's good to hear from you, because I'd been wondering where you'd got to. Sorry to hear about the eyes and the clueless co-workers. Best wishes for a productive sabbatical despite everything!
DeleteDoes this mean we're co=leading in the summer?
Thank you, JaneB. It is getting easier to say no, especially since there is little benefit to me to say yes (although that does make me feel guilty to say).
DeleteAnd thank you, DEH. I am hoping that having to fight so hard for this sabbatical is going to make me very serious and focussed about it.
And yes, DEH, I can certianly co-host the longer summer session with you.
Last week:
ReplyDelete1 Finish and submit next book review: yes
2 Complete article peer review: yes, but then I forgot to submit it!
3 Try again to establish some incremental deadlines: somewhat
4 Do something with Jewel article: no
Session goals:
1 meet deadlines in all aspects of life: mostly
2 submit Jewel article: no
3 submit Buildings article: yes, finally
4 make significant progress on Tiny Project: not at all
5 write tiny pitch for Tiny Project: no
6 set and meet incremental deadlines for 2018 projects: somewhat
This was a particularly difficult couple of months for me with regard to getting things done, and I am not entirely sure why. I’ve been trying to monitor my media diet and close internet window when I feel angry, hopeless, or forlorn about the state of things in the world, as I’ve realized that has a bad effect on me.
I sent out a few abstracts that were not accepted and responded to it as if I was an utter failure as a scholar--I know how silly that was, but at the time it was really real. Now I’m counting the weeks until summer so I can get to work on the research I’m excited about, while also sweeping up the undone stuff (like Jewel and Tiny Project) and make some progress.
Thank you all for the ongoing conversations, contemplations, and support here. It is truly a welcoming space.
I hope things get a bit smoother soon, but at least "Buildings article" is submitted! I hope summer arrives quickly for you.
DeleteThanks for hosting, humming42!
At least you kept turning up here, and I hope a bad spring means a good summer is just around the corner...
DeleteThank you both for your encouragement! I'm hopeful too.
DeleteI sympathize with your feelings about the rejection of the abstracts, as I am all too familiar with the disconnect between what one knows logically and how one feels about things.
DeleteI also hope that you will go running into the research this summer with joy and abandon.
Last week's goals:
ReplyDelete1) Start taxes (if I get the form I'm waiting for). YES, STARTED.
2) Finish Brit Lit essays by Thursday (to free up break a little bit and make students happy) DONE
3) 2 brainstorming/writing for novel (at least one hour of actually drafting) BRAINSTORMED, DIDN'T WRITE
4) Make both family and productivity plans for spring break. FAMILY YES, PRODUCTIVITY NO.
5) Walk 2x, Yoga 1x. NOT DONE (but I had a big hike in the redwoods yesterday!)
6) Savor quality time/moments with kids. TOTALLY DONE!!! It was awesome.
Spring break kind of took over this week, and I had a short but great mom/kid trip. Great quality time, so I don't feel bad about anything I didn't do. But I will have to get some grading, etc. finished this weekend.
Session Goals:
1) Develop chapter four of PhD thesis into an article. I'm calling this project "Jenny." NOT DONE.
2) Read three SF/F novels and five SF/F short stories (to continue prep for Spring 2019 science fiction class). DONE.
3) Develop four new family-dinner recipes that are plant- and fiber-heavy. NOT FOUR. MAYBE TWO?
4) Walk 45min, 3x per week. Occasional swimming and yoga. HAHAHA!
5) Clean out my stuff in the garage left over from summer re-organizing. ONLY A BIT DONE.
6) Tidy work office. QUITE A BIT DONE.
7) Finish outfitting home office/studio/witch hut. MOSTLY DONE.
Meh. I wasn't great. I wasn't terrible. Still trying to figure out goals for the next 15 years, and I'm still feeling confused about what kind of writing to prioritize.
Anyhoo, thank you so much to heu mihi and humming42 for hosting!
I wonder if we should have a short session between now and early June, then a summer session? Unless the group wants a little break? I can't host this summer, but I could help with a short 6-8 week session to follow this one . . .
I would LOVE a short session between now and early June, then a summer session - it would fit the realities of my UK academic schedule well (teaching ends 4th May, but then there is nearly a month of assessment dates, exams and meetings, and marking has to be done for early June, then June is down to a meeting a week or so, with late June - mid-August the only real "research-y"/actual holiday is possible bit of summer but students not back until mid-September. I could help with a short session (to help get ME into the swing of things again too)
DeleteIf other people could do the short session, I think I could handle a summer one running June-August (co-hosters welcome but not essential).
DeleteEven if you didn't accomplish every last one of your goals, you accomplished several of them, GEW. Goals are supposed to be aspirational.
DeleteI think a short session is a great idea.
I can't seem to find any goals I set for this session! I've not been here much either. Let's see...
ReplyDeleteJanuary - went to conference, gave paper, got Conference Crud (finally stopped coughing/feeling noticeably unwell 6.5 weeks later). Much work stress (teaching teams are not always/often 100% a good thing).
February - crud continued, teaching began, emotional labour on teaching went through the roof. Industrial unrest grew, strikes were called.
March - lots of industrial action days. Very distracted by Industrial Action twitter, and acutely stressed because striking meant being BAD as an academic, not striking meant being BAD as a union member, the rhetoric and communications from the central union, the employer body, the government and our local university hierarchy all stripped away any cosy pretence that anyone cared about ordinary academics at all, and local management (i.e. within Faculty and Subject Entity) was conspicuously absent/silent. Oh, and my beloved cat had to be put down (I KNOW it's the best and kindest thing, but having to sign a piece of paper authorising someone else to kill my cat and then hold her whilst it happened is really, really hard, especially when it happened so quickly (24 hours earlier she'd seemed fine)). And work is very hard at the moment. Action Short of a Strike is just HARD, and people are all so stressed, and there've been lots of changes in service roles which mean I feel very... lonely, and isolated. NO-ONE currently in roles relating to teaching for which I need others' input likes to answer their email or is responsive, and it's not good.
That said! I did achieve things...
ProblemChildPaper3, returned revise and resubmit at the end of the last session, is now revised, resubmitted, the proofs are done and it's got a doi (so nearly nearly nearly nearly out).
Delete* SocietyThing has been the process of working with others to develop and petition for the formation of a Special Interest Group within a large and professional learned Society that I belong to, and we have finally been successful! So the next step is to organise a launch event, construct a formally constituted committee out of our application group, pick logos, set up communications etc. - lots of formality, but a Good THing I hope.
* Co-written and submitted four proposals for themsd sessions at major conferences, three of which will likely lead to edited volumes
* GrantINeverShouldHAveStarted has finally jumped all internal hoops and should be submitted next week
* A new one year postdoc fellow has started with my group such as it is, and so far he's great. I also have a six month graduate intern joining me in May, and the project is tied to an obligation I have to a project with long-term collaborator FocusedWoman which will be really useful in terms of getting that work done (and will be cool work). These things don't count as income but will generate papers.
* I've been working with graduate student LikesMaths on two papers - one from outline in January to one-two edits from submission now, and UnexpectedPaper from rejected pile via major reanalysis of data to nearly ready to resubmit
* I've helped with a complete rewrite of a paper led by a younger collaborator (I forget its nickname for now) which has been bouncing down the "journal status list" collecting rejections - it started over-ambitiously high, then was unlucky with the referees, and I think has now found a home as we got an encouraging revise-and-resubmit from a journal which is very respectable
* I did some Actual Lab Work and produced pilot data for the current FavouriteIslands project which is rather encouragingly interesting (and different from the "expected" values in ways which fit the pub-session arm-waving hypothesis developed by the project team which set off this project in the first place). Also gave myself a mild postural migraine from doing microscope work for too long whilst out of practice, but, data! :-)
So actually I have acheived some research things. It's impressive how far a bad attitude and a lot of half hours of grumpy poking at text can get you sometimes!
"It's impressive how far a bad attitude and a lot of half hours of grumpy poking at text can get you sometimes!"
DeleteSo very true, and worth remembering.
Condolences on the cat, again; I know what you mean about the cognitive dissonance involved, and it is very hard. Also reinforced by your friend's cat dying as well. The cat of a good friend died yesterday and I am reminded of the several of ours that died in March/April: why is spring such a bad time for elderly kitties?
There's definitely something about Spring and kitties leaving the world as well as arriving in it - Hairball who preceeded Furball in my house also died around Easter time, and my friend's cat was the fourth elderly cat owned by people I know who died in the space of less than a month this year (and her cat's death was also hard - the cat was seriously ill, so she had time to prepare, but she decided not to take her to the vet during the bank holiday despite the treatment not working and the cat refusing to eat and becoming withdrawn over the Easter weekend. The cat began having small fits and being in quite a lot of distress late on the Monday (probably organ shut down), and actually died in a seizure in her carrier on the Tuesday in the vet's waiting room, on her way to be put down, so my friend is I think extra distressed that maybe she got the timing wrong and should have called the emergency vet earlier).
DeleteCondolences to you for your cat's passing. One has to be there, but it is so hard, even though it is clearly the Best Thing To Do.
DeleteAnd kudos for getting things down despite the continuing crud and upheaval.
I sympathize with the disappearing (or hiding) colleagues. I hate that I don't even get the chance to show that I might have something to offer. If someone talked with me, and then decided to ghost me, as the twenty-somethings say, at least I'd have had a chance.
A short session -- as GEW suggests between say April 14 and June 8? Does that work? Then pick up for the rest of June, July & August?
ReplyDeleteWorks for me. I'm happy to host or co-host with GEW for the short session, then hand over to DEH (and someone else if they want) for the full summer session to the end of August.
DeleteI can work with DEH for June, July, and August.
DeleteSounds perfect! JaneB, would you like me to get us started?
DeleteI'd also like to thank this session's hosts for some really excellent prompts! I wish I'd been in a place to be involved in the discussion, but just looking at the titles and prompts was helpful
ReplyDeleteI second these thanks, and those of others. Even while I was being Achilles in my tent, I came by to read the discussions.
Delete