I really enjoyed reading your metaphors last week. They really help me conceptualize my life and work.
As usual, touch on the topic if you want to, check in with last week's goals, and list goals for next week.
Cheers!
Bardiac
Progress on the revision, MAYBE going to see the Northern Lights (or at least try), and regular exercise
Daisy
1) Submit finished paper (Yay!)
2) Plan out structure of new Northern paper
3) Pick one part of Northern paper and work on it
4) Nag co-author to send me draft of joint paper so I can add my parts to it
DEH
Focus on health; rest enough, go to 3 yoga classes*, walk or cardio every day, eat safe foods.**
Do a whole bunch of TRQ things so I can stop thinking about them.
Schedule 1-2 hours a day for research and stick to that time.
GEW
1) Figure out session goals
2) Begin drafting a reading list for the SF course
3) Read four SF short stories and finish current novel
5) Go to both dentist appointments
6) Move my body around outside at least once
7) Sign up for local writing conference
heu mihi
1. Send Wonder to writing group
2. Sit x 6
3. Stay 1 week ahead of seminar reading
4. Bibliography search for Longer Impatience
humming42
1 Write 1000 words on Sweet
2 Write 3 modules for online course
3 Set up reading group
4 Finish and submit current book review
5 Edit submitted book review
JaneB
1) make comments on latest versions of Crispier and ProblemChild1
2) make lists for Monday (and possibly go into the office and tidy my desk etc. over the weekend if I have a good day - when I booked this leave next week was the pre-semester prep week, but then the academic year was shifted. When I planned, it went prep week, first year induction week, returners week (induction stuff for second and third years, first year classes start), week when teaching for other years starts. However, the university has changed so that it's now: first year induction week, returners week PLUS all classes start - compressing 4 weeks to 2. AARGH
3) arrange to be interviewed by two possible felines at the shelter, and check out new cattery
4) finish current blanket square (knitting)
5) Go over the week for next week in my diary, and email various people to make appointments of various kinds
6) meal plan and to some extent meal prep for the week
7) Spend an hour in a coffee shop with paper and a pen thinking about this year's NaNoWriMo - do I start over with the first novel in my current sequence (which having written two and three now has continuity holes and other issues - mushing up the three of them into a coherent plot line and starting over would probably be a good move (I like to write by the write-destroy-rewrite-destroy-rewrite-edit method rather than the write once then edit edit edit method). Also fancy Autumnal lattes may be available now.
oceangirl101
1. Prep for Hurricane (cheating, did this yesterday)
2. Finish typing in lost pages of Ch 6 (had a computer crash and lost digital copy but have hard copy)
3. Outline what needs to be done to complete Ch 6
4. Get all course readings on BB etc.
5. Exercise 3 x
Waffles
1. Get asthma paper close to submission-ready
2. PTSD findings writeup and next steps
3. Lancet re-review
4. Gender & Violence re-review
5. Connect with stats person about other asthma paper
6. Connect with collaborators about drug use paper and methods paper
Once again, thanks to GEW for posting. I just came here to do this week's post and was wondering how we'd got to week 3 already, but I figured it out. Sorry I dropped the ball. We had another open house today and I spent all day tidying up and then making the house live-able again.
ReplyDeleteI hope I didn't step on your blog toes! I remember you saying that you like when posts are up on Saturdays, so when I didn't see one yesterday, I thought maybe you were unavailable. Anyway, sorry if I confused you.
DeleteAnd I hope you had some interest at the open house. *fingers crossed*
I have rather a lot of watering activities, which makes things tricky at times (if I do them all, they take up like two and a half hours). They include: exercise (running or yoga); meditation/sitting; writing; language. But if I do them all, I also feel like everything in my life is on track. So I'll keep on going.
ReplyDeleteTo be clear: "Daily" here is M-F, with (ideally) one sitting on the weekend.
That said, I fell down pretty miserably on the daily language and sitting last week. (I kept up the writing! And exercise was ok.) But it was a really busy week. I organized and ran a majors meeting/social gathering on Wednesday, then a department party at my house on Friday--while my husband was out of town, a fact that significantly added to my workload. Then I was 100% on child-minding on Saturday until he got home in the evening. Basically, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons were dedicated to meeting and party prep, with Wednesday evening given over to the meeting and Friday evening to the party. And Saturday to recovery. So it's a wonder that I did anything at all.
Last week:
1. Send Wonder to writing group - DONE
2. Sit x 6 - x3
3. Stay 1 week ahead of seminar reading - DONE(ish)
4. Bibliography search for Longer Impatience - DONE
This week:
1. Service misc: UWC task, WtW editing, WtW emails
2. Sit x 6
3. Write x 5
4. Language x 5
5. Stay 1 week ahead of seminar
That sounds like a super-social week, which eats up time and energy for most of us academic introverts. With luck, there's also a payoff in good people-energy. I know what you mean about the time spent "watering," as I have a similar set of tasks (though I may think of them more as weeding . . . hmm) that eat large chunks of my day, and yet if I don't do the yoga and exercise, nothing else works, and if I don't work on Greek now, when will I ever learn it? I need to do it before the classicist I work with retires!
DeleteIt *is* amazing you still did some TLQ. And it really does feel great when we can get all of our "watering" done. It's easy to give up TLQ "watering" in order to do TRQ.
DeleteI hope your schedule settles down a bit this week.
Pretty good week - the lingering paper has gone off into the sunset for review (will reappear as zombie in a few weeks I'm sure!) and some other stuff got done amidst registration and class organization chaos. Student numbers in my courses have doubled, nice problem for institution, not so nice for individual faculty...
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals:
1) Submit finished paper (Yay!) DONE
2) Plan out structure of new Northern paper NOT DONE – structure is harder than sections!
3) Pick one part of Northern paper and work on it DONE
4) Nag co-author to send me draft of joint paper so I can add my parts to it NAGGING DONE, NO RESULTS YET…
This is going to be a very busy week for me so I will keep goals modest. The watering idea works – I will not start anything new, just tend to the most immediate needs of the more finicky plants by setting aside an hour every day to work on current projects.
This week’s goals:
1)Plan paper structure – held over from last week
2)Contact graduated student and make paper plans
3)Start data analysis for co-authored study
4)One hour every day on current projects to keep them moving
Yay for sending out completed work!
DeleteFirst, some good news: My first peer-reviewed journal article has been accepted! I just need to do some final copyediting this week.
ReplyDeleteTopic: I wish my "watering" was exercise because I need more of it for my physical health, but for my mental health, reading for pleasure is my "water." If I don't read for pleasure almost every day (which does sometimes overlap with teaching/research), I will shrivel and wither (mentally, that is; I'm definitely not shriveling physically).
This week's goals:
1) Figure out session goals. MOSTLY DONE
2) Begin drafting a reading list for the SF course. DONE
3) Read four SF short stories and finish current novel. MOSTLY DONE, DONE.
5) Go to both dentist appointments DONE!
6) Move my body around outside at least once. NOT REALLY
7) Sign up for local writing conference. DONE
So, for my Session Goals (that I didn't set last week): The article acceptance makes me think I don't want to totally get rid of the research corner of my garden, but I do think that, for the rest of this academic year, I'll just gradually work on gathering the compost for future planting (rather than actively working toward an immediate harvest).
Session Goals:
1) Be a gracious and helpful Drama Mama*
2) Do special outings with my son every 2-3 weeks
3) Read two SF criticism books
4) Access and read the year-in-review article for c18, and read one c18 monograph
5) Draft conference paper for spring (since next semester will be super busy)
6) Clean out my piles in the garage, clean linen closet, working on picture framing
7) Do NaNoWriMo (I want to do this but am not sure if I can)
8) Do final edits for accepted article
The bad news: We found out this week that my MIL has esophageal and abdominal cancer. We're not sure how far along it is or what kind of prognosis she's facing. Either way, her illness combined with my mom's recent issues is showing me that I need to clear a plot in the garden and keep it open for when the season arises for intense elder care. I'm not sure I'm going to be very good at that.
*When one's daughter is very involved with theater, then one must also be, de facto, very involved in theater.
Oh wait, I forgot goals for this week:
Delete1) Finish article edits
2) Write 500 words of fiction
3) Read 1-2 chapters of SF criticism
4) Take guitars in for a tune up
5) Clear a few things from the garage
Congratulations on the journal article!
DeleteWow---what a good news/bad news week. I am so sorry to hear about your MIL's diagnosis; that doesn't sound good, and I wish your family the best in dealing with it. And at the same time, congratulations on the article! Maybe work/tending your garden can be a safe space when you are involved in intense elder care. Or maybe your brain will cut out during those times and you'll need to focus on other forms of self-care; that's okay, too.
DeleteThere used to be a particular romance series I read when I visited my mother. I couldn't concentrate on serious literature, and speculative fiction took me too far away from what I was dealing with (so re-entry was too painful), but the Malloren books by Jo Beverley were remarkably soothing: heroines with domestic problems got them solved by heroes with enormous amounts of money! And they are decently written (no comma splices or dangling modifiers), so I didn't get tossed back into grading mode. Now I no longer enjoy them as I did then, but they were the right thing in that situation.
DEH, thank you for the condolences and congratulations, and thank you for the book recommendations! Maybe Jo Beverly can contribute to my "watering." :)
DeleteCongratulations on all the good and the successes for last week. But I'm really sorry to hear about your MIL. Take care....
DeleteLast week:
ReplyDelete1. Get asthma paper close to submission-ready - DONE. but apparently the journal wants you to submit an abstract first, so we did that and are waiting.
2. PTSD findings writeup and next steps. DONE - waiting on statistician
3. Lancet re-review - DONE!
4. Gender & Violence re-review - DONE!
5. Connect with stats person about other asthma paper - DONE!
6. Connect with collaborators about drug use paper and methods paper - DONE! but no one is responding!!!
This week
1. Analyses for conference abstract (this is kind of annoying bc it is a new doctoral student’s project, but they don’t have any ideas, haven’t looked at the data/survey, can’t analyze data yet, and can’t seem to take the lead on any aspects of the project - I think we should stop and wait till they are ready, but my mentor is pushing it which means I am doing all the work. Not fun)
2. Work on aim 1 discussion then send to co-author
3. Work on creating a job letter for at least one of the places to which I am applying for jobs
4. Maybe work on research statement?
5. Work on revising K aims and send to co-mentors
6. Launch my study!
Ugh #1 sounds like a pain. I'm sorry that that's being pushed on you.
DeleteFor some reason, I wasn't able to post my whole post - it said I had too many characters? So here's the evaluation piece:
ReplyDeleteI’ve had a rough week or so. My roommate has been home sick all day every day and then her boyfriend came to stay with us for 4 days — so I haven’t had any time completely to myself - which, as a massive introvert, I need. These two weeks are also sad anniversaries for me, so pure alone time is really needed. This week I have to be on campus 4 days - which is exhausting since we don’t have offices and are always visible and in the middle of everything. I also am having an issue with another postdoc who appears to be trying to take credit for my work and had a meeting with leadership about a project of mine - but didn’t include me. It seems like he is trying to push me off the project - even though I did 100% of the work and it was 100% my idea. He told me that many of the other postdocs have come to him with complaints about my work on the project and think I shouldn’t lead it next year. I think he may be exaggerating other peoples’ complaints, as he tends to do that - but it still feels bad feeling like my colleagues are possibly all complaining about me. My interactions with him always end up feeling like a masterclass in microaggressions - but this is kind of beyond that. My mentor thinks he is the bees knees and is more concerned about how he feels about me addressing this stuff with him than with how it affects me personally and professionally (and it is affecting me). I am concerned that his focus on himself and promoting himself and trashing others means he has also been trashing me to leadership. That could be really bad for my career prospects if no one but me sees through his behaviors. I vacillate between thinking I should just let it go and focus on my work and being concerned that if I don’t put a stop to this, it could snowball.
On the upside, I had a LOVELY conversation with a clinician/researcher in Australia last night. It was an amazing conversation and I started it feeling so lost and hopeless and ended it feeling just envigorated. We as researchers don’t often talk about what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how it impacts the people we study. This person has given a lot of thought to it, and it felt really grounding and empowering and validating to talk to them. We talk again in two weeks. I had been dreading talking to them bc it is about a project I have been putting off, but now I feel like it is do-able and exciting (although really it is not a project that will in any way support my program of research - it just will be a pub line on my CV). I also now feel like this relationship could be really beneficial to my sense of myself as a researcher and in shaping my commitment to our under-researched population.
Also, item #6 for this upcoming week is already done - and it is super exciting. I launched my study for which I received pilot funding from my university. This study will provide pilot data for my NIH K application. We just did a soft launch (emails, some social media postings), and will do a full-blown launch (social media paid ads) later this week. My goal for the qual part of it is to recruit 6 couples, and two have already said they are interested - so I am potentially 1/3 of the way there in terms of recruitment for that portion!
This all sounds very hard, and I'm sorry you haven't been able to get the alone time you need. Perhaps Alison Green's Ask a Manager column could offer some tips about dealing with the slimy microaggressing post-doc. She answers a lot of letters about difficult co-workers, and some are even academia-specific.
DeleteGood advice - thanks!!
DeleteCongratulations on the launch! It sounds like it's getting off to a good start. Fingers crossed you easily get all the responses/subjects that you need!
DeleteI'm sorry that you're having such trouble with the other postdoc. You really have had so many interesting/challenging dynamics to navigate during your postdoc. I amazed, though, by all you've done and how you've clearly become a more "senior" researcher (or so it seems) among your peers.
In terms of how to deal with him--and not being sure whether to just ignore it or do something--would it be possible to track and document the infractions, gathering more info as you think about how best to handle it? Maybe if you're not sure you want to say anything *yet*, you can be writing everything down so that you're ready if/when you want to call him out.
It does limit the size of comments (hence why mine are often threaded several deep! Sigh...).
DeleteI know you've said your mentor is great for you, but quite honestly it sounds like they aren't doing much of a job at all with managing their group - having favourites, to the extent of not looking for facts during disputes, and expecting post docs to pick up the slack for post-grads who are going off schedule is just not good mentoring. I know they aren't there very much, but still...
The theme of this summer in my research life has been "people are much harder than science" and sounds like that's true in yours too...
This week’s prompt leads me to realize that I don’t have a current means of watering. I’m inspired to figure out what practices might be replenishing going forward.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how I thought these were minimal goals. The truth is that these things are all TRQ, some more urgent than others, some shuffled into corners so I can ignore them. But I want to own up to falling down. And one of the things I’ve learned from this group is that you can start again--not meeting my goals is not the end of the world. So I did one thing, and am moving forward with trying to get the others done in the current week.
This week
1 Write 1000 words on Sweet: no but due 30 September
2 Write 3 modules for online course: no, but reorganized
3 Set up reading group: no
4 Finish and submit current book review: yes
5 Edit submitted book review: no, but a top task for today
This week
1 Write 1000 words on Sweet
2 Write 3 modules for online course
3 Set up reading group
4 Edit submitted book review
OK, I'm laughing at "I have no idea how I thought these were minimal goals," because yesterday I wrote to a collaborator, "This week should be calmer," and by the end of the day (a day that lasted about three years, except I didn't get three years of work done during it,) I was wondering WTF I was thinking. There is no way this week will be calmer, unless wishing can make it so.
DeleteWatering is another useful aspect of the extended metaphor. In another climate, it might not be necessary; some places get enough rain naturally that growers don't need irrigation systems. But in an arid climate, or one with only seasonal rain, we need to adjust to that. I need to think about this myself.
"I have no idea how I thought these were minimal goals."
DeleteI think we should stitch that on a pillow. Or frame it for the wall over our desks.
Topic: “Watering” for me is calm, grounded attention in a calm environment. Too often I approach TLQ in complete freak-out mode, especially as my sabbatical is sliding past me like a runaway car on ice. To that end, I spent most of the time in the recovery room (SIX hours!) last Wednesday thinking about how to improve my space and therefore, my attention on the project. The old Stephen Covey saying about having to sharpen the saw came to mind. I have been hobbled a bit by not being able to lift stuff physically and an old laptop that finally refused to load the entirety of the dissertation without corruption, but I have plans there as well.
ReplyDeleteI apologize for being AWOL, but I’m back!
Session mantra: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” Marcus Aurelius
Session goals:
Plan re-entry from sabbatical, endeavoring to hold on to lessons learned.
Intersperse fun things.
Foster mindfulness.
Move--walk, do Tai Chi.
Create--write, knit, draw.
Analysis: Well, I fell down on goals by not setting any. The procedure was far more involved than suspected, since I won the jackpot for odd internal structures. The surgeon handled them with aplomb, but it still made it a far more extensive operation, meaning more anaesthesia, and more recovery. I am on antibiotics that are just levelling me, although I am trying to fight back.
Despite it all, I went on a weekend writing retreat with a group of local authors. It was great networking, but minimal writing, since my laptop gave up the ghost on the first day. I wrote by hand the rest of the time, but it is just not as efficient.
Next week’s goals:
Petition for sabbatical extension.
Self-care.
Write at least 4 hours for 4 days.
I’m glad to be back, and looking forward to catching up with everyone. Float like mist!
I'm sorry your procedure was more invasive/involved than you anticipated, but I hope you are well on your way to recovery.
DeleteThat's amazing that you were still able to go on your retreat! But damn your laptop. How dare it fail on such a weekend?
"Petition for sabbatical extension" sounds like a fabulous goal. Fingers crossed for that.
And do focus on the self-care so that you can get well. (((EAM)))
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteWatering for me usually means trying to write M-F for some bit of time, even if it is only for 30 minutes. I also find lab work with my students on Friday is an excellent way to end the week. And funnily enough, exercise has become something that I need to do c. 3x a week in order to manage my stress, never thought that would happen (i.e., that I would want to exercise). Things have changed dramatically and I decided over the weekend to take family leave this semester- I just don't think my Mom will make it to the Spring and I want to have some time with her. My university has been remarkably good at trying to accommodate me but its going to require lots of paperwork and meetings in the next few days. Then I will be off to Arizona to be with my Mom. I hope to get some book writing/copy editing done while I am there but if I don't that is ok too.
1. Prep for Hurricane (cheating, did this yesterday)Done
2. Finish typing in lost pages of Ch 6 (had a computer crash and lost digital copy but have hard copy) Done
3. Outline what needs to be done to complete Ch 6 NO
4. Get all course readings on BB etc. NO
5. Exercise 3 x Done
This week:
1. Get all paperwork for leave done
2. Get all course readings up to BB and notes to whomever my replacement will be
3. Make plans to leave for AZ end of week, find help to tend to house while I am away
4. Meet with undergrads working in my lab, meet with graduate students
5. Exercise 3x
6. Organize books/papers to bring with me to AZ for bookwork
I hope all the meetings go smoothly and that you find a good housesitter. This all sounds very hard: my sympathies.
DeleteMuch sympathy, that sounds like quite a challenge to pull together. I'm glad at least that your employer has options in place for you to put important things first.
DeleteI'm so sorry--but thank goodness for an understanding employer.
DeleteFreshers back. All is... very very fraught. Cried at work four times yesterday (in private at least) - today I'm at home and mostly in a swear/yell at inanimate objects state, which is... well, a change. GRRRRRRRR................
ReplyDeleteDid check in over at my blog last Friday, copying it in here now.
Last week's goals
1) make comments on latest versions of Crispier and ProblemChild1 Crispier done and returned. ProblemChild1 - I have looked at the introduction, proposed a major change in structure, and sent it to former-PDF for checking before I spend more time on it
2) make lists for Monday (and possibly go into the office and tidy my desk etc. over the weekend if I have a good day - when I booked this leave next week was the pre-semester prep week, but then the academic year was shifted. Made lists for Monday. Feeling daunted. Had two terrible days this weekend (random sobbing, feeling flu-y etc.), so did not go into work. I did do a tidy of my home work area which is an improvement.3) arrange to be interviewed by two possible felines at the shelter, and check out new cattery met new cats - see last post - need to go back again. Did not check out new cattery (bad weekend...)
4) finish current blanket square (knitting) Done
5) Go over the week for next week in my diary, and email various people to make appointments of various kinds some of it is done, some is not.
6) meal plan and to some extent meal prep for the week. broadly - prepared vegetable frittata wedges and granola-fruit-yoghurt jars for M-W, and cooked some vegetarian sausages as a quick protein snack, and checked that I have three meals worth of evening food. Thursday I'm not in the office, and Friday there is a catered lunch as part of welcoming the new first years
7) Spend an hour in a coffee shop with paper and a pen thinking about this year's NaNoWriMo - do I start over with the first novel in my current sequence (which having written two and three now has continuity holes and other issues - mushing up the three of them into a coherent plot line and starting over would probably be a good move (I like to write by the write-destroy-rewrite-destroy-rewrite-edit method rather than the write once then edit edit edit method). Also fancy Autumnal lattes may be available now. No. Bad weekend.
This week's goals:
1) reformat LikesMathsPaper1 for second journal, resubmit
2) comments on ProblemChild1
3) clear off my desk at work.
4) type up the patterns for the first two squares of the blanket. Either work on the next design, or start on a re-knit of the one I just did (every time I make a new pattern, I need to knit it twice, it seems...).
5) no refined sugar, make sure I drink enough fluids, and take a minute's standing break every 45-60 minutes of desk time
6) call the cat sanctuary and arrange to meet the scared cat again now he's had time to settle in
7) put clutter in hall and sitting room into boxes and hoover, in case a cat gets delivered, and make a New Kitty Shopping List
8) coffee shop with pen, notebook and fancy coffee!
Quite a lot of goals, but small ones and increases the odds of doing SOMETHING TLQ, for me. If I get half of these done I'll be pleased.
HOW I DID:
ReplyDeleteFocus on health: rest enough (Not really, but made efforts), go to 3 yoga classes (Yes, but see my blog for grumpy comments), walk or cardio every day (Mostly), eat safe foods (Minor trouble with spices, but I think that’s irritation rather than a FODMAP thing).
Do a whole bunch of TRQ things so I can stop thinking about them (A bunch of these are still with me).
Schedule 1-2 hours a day for research and stick to that time (NO).
Looking at these responses, I’m wondering what I actually did. A
lot of teaching prep: I had a complicated guest lecture, and had other prep to do for Reasons. Then there was the busy weekend.
NEW GOALS:
Health: keep working on getting enough sleep; walk or cardio daily; weights at least twice; at least one yoga class and some home stretching; keep up the good work on food.
Research: send in answers to queries re MMP; work on last set of revisions; work on two translation-related tasks; keep up with languages.
Teaching: finish a set of grading; do another set; write another assignment and/or delay it.
Life Stuff: one social thing and send that blasted form that I still haven’t done. (Lots of other stuff on my list but I think those things are not happening this week.)