I tend to be completely ineffective at self care, but I am here in the actual afterglow of using a face mask. I’m proud of myself for doing this simple thing after trying to think of what I could do to feel a bit more content and even cheery. Many TLQers regularly post self-care items on their lists for the week...what is something you could do for yourself that would be deeply, deeply gratifying? I’m thinking of one of Brian Eno’s oblique strategies, which is “go to an extreme, come part way back.” Consider the outrageous thing, then think of how it could truly be accomplished (or added to future plans) this week.
Last week’s goals:
Contingent Cassandra (carried over)
--At least 1 walk, 1 stretch session, and 1 weight-lifting session, preferably on 3 different days.
--continue editorial & peer review followup (group email and individual emails as necessary
--Finish second individual contribution to curricular project
--Do at least one more editorial review for curricular project
--Continue morning writing on weekdays I'm at home (probably mostly individual contribution; possibly some FLC work and/or question-brainstorming)
--Plan/schedule/perhaps begin work on proposal for curricular project conference poster
--Take a day off
--aim for lights out no later than 9:30 each night (with wind-down reading beginning at 8:00 if at all possible)
Dame Eleanor Hull
Health: exercise, stretch, sleep, eat safely.
Research: keep up with language work; more translation style checking; edit introduction based on new editorial comments (last two are moving to TRQ).
Teaching: grade gen ed papers; make up new writing assignments for both classes.
Admin: assemble committee questions and schedule Thing.
Life Stuff: more dull tasks (pick any three).
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Write 500 words a day.
Draw one picture this week.
Write and post a snippet of the novella.
Knit half an hour a day.
Good Enough Woman
1) Float like mist at my son's event on Saturday.
2) Help my daughter with acquiring dress for the dance (if necessary).
3) Get some rest.
4) Get as much grading a prep done this weekend so that I'm ready to review applications next week.
5) Pay bills.
6) Get plane ticket for conference.
7) Do check in by Sunday night.
heu mihi
1. Weekly accounting
2. Language x3, sit x4, write x4, exercise x4.
3. Write 2500 words unless I get to the end first.
4. Work on revisions to intro; check original language for chapter 4.
5. Malory to p. 500.
humming42 (carried over)
1 Submit book review
2 Submit article review
3 Submit other article review
4 Post to reading group
5 Promotion for big conference
6 Confirm date for small conference
JaneB
1) Teaching: prepare for next week, read and feedback on pile of looooong drafts, Set first half of exam Qs for new module, set up resit exam for first year module
2) self-care: do something not-work every evening other than stare at the phone, go to bed early every night, drink 1.5-2 l of water a day and focus on hitting >5 fruit and veg portions a day, cut down refined sugar.
3) research: Continue ProblemChild2 analysis. Model runs for FlatProject (slightly cheating as these are just chugging away on my computer and won't finish until next weekend at the earliest). Reply to difficult email about Gallimaufray. deal with latest set of queries about Crispier and ProblemChild1. Probably don't finish draft of grant idea for circulation to collaborators.
4) making stuff and being creative: finish test swatch. Look for rest of yarn for colourwork block, start that.
5) domestic chaos reduction: Get boiler fixed and serviced. Catch up with washing up. book more sessions with decluttering woman.
oceangirl101
1. Catch up on teaching prep and grading
2. Write small travel grant for next conference
3. Look at book figures and set up meeting with drafter
4. Figure out help with statistics for R and R
5. Look at R and R even if you do nothing
6. Exercise x 2
Susan
1. Grade papers
2. Draft proposal for summer fellowship
3. Get back to exercise
4. Keep getting good sleep
5. Enjoy my visit with family and friends
Waffles
1. Review student's paper
2. APA grant (due Friday - ha ha)
3. Gender review (dragging my heels bc I am likely to reject it - this will be my 4th review of this paper)
4. Scoping review flow chart
5. PTSD paper - pull together and figure out next steps
6. Next steps for psych program project
7. Next steps for couple ID analyses
Topic: I want to move into a hotel and abandon this house to raccoons, but that doesn't seem like a good idea. I spent hours up a ladder this weekend trying to repair a crack, but I think we're going to have to get a professional in to do it properly. I was trying to avoid the hours of getting estimates and hassles of getting on someone's schedule, and then having people in the house (always at the crack of dawn) messing around. I'm sorry. I can't think of anything nice to do for myself that even sounds appealing.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
Health: exercise, stretch, sleep, eat safely. MOSTLY.
Research: keep up with language work; more translation style checking; edit introduction based on new editorial comments (last two are moving to TRQ). YES, NO, SOME.
Teaching: grade gen ed papers; make up new writing assignments for both classes. YES, NO.
Admin: assemble committee questions and schedule Thing. PARTLY, YES. Plus much time e-mailing well-meaning administrators who are making bad decisions about Thing.
Life Stuff: more dull tasks (pick any three). ONE (the crack; but despite the time put in, it's not really done).
Some good news on the food front is that I have found that antihistamines will mitigate a reaction. Not so much that I can eat anything I like, but enough that it's easier to bring myself to test things since I won't be suffering for three days and nights. So I've managed to get away with a few bites of things I would have avoided, before.
New goals:
Health: exercise, stretch, sleep, eat safely.
Research: keep up with language work; more translation style checking; edit introduction based on new editorial comments (last two are moving to TRQ).
Teaching: make up new writing assignments for both classes.
Admin: finish assembling committee questions and attend Thing.
Life Stuff: more dull tasks (pick any three).
Excellent news on the antihistamines! Sounds like they might also come in handy if you eat something away from home that turns out to have some undisclosed problematic ingredients. And it seems like that would make travel (conference and otherwise), socializing, etc. a bit less of a minefield.
DeleteAnd I sympathize with the desire to abandon the house to the raccoons. I *think* I want an older house with a yard, but, even with some familiarity with the situation (I grew up in a house of that description, and had some maintenance responsibilities relatively early on), I'm not so sure. Maybe when I retire?
Indeed, the antihistamine trick takes some of the anxiety out of travel and eating out. I've been managing, but doing so takes up a LOT of brain space. I also grew up in an older house with a yard, but in a very different climate, which changes things a lot.
DeleteYesterday I took out some of my feelings on the treadmill, followed with a long hot shower, and then mashed potatoes (my comfort foods are all mushy), so I guess that qualified as self-care.
That would definitely qualify as self-care. Thrice.
DeleteThe double bind of home ownership: is it more of a time vacuum to try to fix it yourself or to try to hire someone to fix it for you? Exasperating.
DeleteOur older house is, uhm, quirky. We go through phases living in harmony with it then sometimes it seems to throw a tantrum at us where everything goes wrong. Saying that, as I write the kittens are charging around top speed and generally trashing the place so perhaps the house has a point!
DeleteGlad the antihistamines give some protection.
Oof! Sorry for the lack of check-in last week. TRQ teaching tasks have really hit hard the last few weeks.
ReplyDeleteOn self-care, the answer is easy (and links back to my "day off" post a few weeks ago): even having taken only two walks recently in one of my favorite walking venues, I'm reminded of how good an idea a walk is: it's not only good exercise, but also a chance to have some quiet time away from everything on the computer. I don't even take a phone with me when I walk (which I realize seems odd, maybe even unsafe, these days, but cell phones are a very recent invention, and people, including me, walked without them before then). So, I'm pretty sure more walking would equal self-care on a variety of levels -- so I should plan more of it.
Goals (that turned out to be) for the last several weeks:
--At least 1 walk, 1 stretch session, and 1 weight-lifting session, preferably on 3 different days. [1 of each over 2 weeks]
--continue editorial & peer review followup (group email and individual emails as necessary [no]
--Finish second individual contribution to curricular project [no]
--Do at least one more editorial review for curricular project [no]
--Continue morning writing on weekdays I'm at home (probably mostly individual contribution; possibly some FLC work and/or question-brainstorming) [one morning on FLC work; others deliberately began with grading]
--Plan/schedule/perhaps begin work on proposal for curricular project conference poster [no]
--Take a day off [no]
--aim for lights out no later than 9:30 each night (with wind-down reading beginning at 8:00 if at all possible) [mixed; usually closer to 11:00 p.m.]
I'm in the throes of midterm grading (and dealing with a new requirement that we actually turn in midterm grades -- which makes sense, but definitely adds a bit more pressure), and at this point I'm pretty sure the best plan is to push through and regroup.
So,
Goals for the coming week:
--Walk at least 2x, lift weights and stretch at least 1x each
--Communicate with OER project group (group email; also send email to my co-coordinator that I just discovered sitting in my drafts folder)
--Do curricular project conference poster proposal (this is now TRQ, since it's due 3/1)
--Regroup, or at least plan to regroup, on curricular project and things more generally, including scheduling a day off as soon as midterm grades are in.
Getting away from the computer and all of its burdens can be a huge relief...although it can take some practice to let go of the anxiety of missing something urgent (the academic version of FOMO, which is hardly glorious but driven by the "always on, always available" phenomenon that now seems to be part of our reality.
DeleteI do like walking as a way of clearing my head. I've been trying to go for a short (30 mins) walk every morning in the space between arriving at work and settling at my desk. It's nice to tick off something for me at the start of the day. I don't manage every day, sometimes the campus coffee shop and a quiet cup of tea is more appealing. I just need to learn to do that without a screen in front of me.
DeleteI would love a 5-day retreat for writing and reading and resting. I can't decide if there would be structured workshop stuff or just time and space. It might be good to have some structure. Perhaps I could work on little 1-2 hour retreats in my witch hut or at the coffee shop. These days, I rarely take such time, and when I do, it's for grading/prep/service.
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1) Float like mist at my son's event on Saturday. DONE.
2) Help my daughter with acquiring dress for the dance (if necessary). DONE.
3) Get some rest. DONE.
4) Get as much grading a prep done this weekend so that I'm ready to review applications next week. ACTUALLY, I reviewed a lot of apps and did a little grading.
5) Pay bills. NOT YET.
6) Get plane ticket for conference. NOT YET.
7) Do check in by Sunday night. HERE I AM! DONE.
I thought about putting off check in until I paid bills and got my plane ticket, but I wanted to hit goal #7. The coming week is busy with teaching stuff, and I'm screening candidates, which takes a lot of time.
This week:
1) Screen candidates. Do all but about 1/8 of the rest (or finish them!)
2) Buy plane ticket.
3) Pay bills.
4) Don't overdo daughter's pre-dance party, but also surrender to the dance-related duties. Don't fight it.
5) Float like mist during Sunday movie outing with daughter and her squad.
6) Keep up with DE class (I'm starting in the hole).
7) Spend 45 minutes on conf. paper.
Yay for good floating like mist! There is a lot of balance there between the many aspects of your life.
DeleteI like the idea of downsizing the retreat and making it work for you. Indeed, finding a structure that is both replenishing and productive is a key.
Love the idea of a 5 day retreat. I think I'd prefer some structure but in a gentle way that relieves us of the burdens of making a decision of what to do.
DeleteTopic: I would love more sleep than I've been getting. And more quiet time away from the computer. And...that's about the extent of my ambitions right now.
ReplyDeleteA meditation retreat sounds really nice. I haven't done one in 20 years or so, so I'm not sure how it would go, but some kind of yoga-nature in pleasant weather-meditation retreat combination would be quite lovely, I think.
I didn't even get to a yoga class last week, so that's on this week's schedule for sure. I'll try to sit more. Weather is not very good but maybe I can manage a walk or two.
Last week:
1. Weekly accounting: The short trip to my in-laws' cut into work time. Total 28.3 hours, 12% service, 27% research, 61% teaching.
2. Language x3, sit x4, write x4, exercise x4. -ISH. Language yes, writing yes, exercise x2, sitting x2.
3. Write 2500 words unless I get to the end first. -Yes; still not at the end
4. Work on revisions to intro; check original language for chapter 4. -YES
5. Malory to p. 500. -YES, by the skin of my teeth
Oh, and also, my editor told me last week that she'd like my final manuscript by the third week in March (not May 1 as I had thought). So I really need to step up my revision game--spring break is in 2 weeks, which will help, but things are super super crazy until then, with a million meetings and four job candidate visits.
This week:
1. Weekly accounting
2. Language x5, write x5, sit x5, exercise x5
3. 2000 words of fiction
4. Tiresome admin stuff for conference
5. Malory to p. 600
6. Reread/revise ch. 1 (very little to do there, I hope!) and keep working on intro
7. Allow myself not to feel tyrannized by my to-do lists
Is there any way to get a bit more time from the editor? It seems like a reasonable argument that rushing through book edits benefits no one.
DeleteI could take more time if I need it. The advantage to finishing up early is that I could seize an earlier opening in the production queue. But if it becomes clear that I won't make it, then I'll ask for more time!
DeleteTopic: more sleep. The ability to not eat sugar, or carbs, or dairy, even when I'm sad and tired and aching and incompetent. Actually, the ability to digest kale, salads, spicy food, pulses etc. so I could eat vegan would be great, then I could eat clean vegan more easily when out and about and lazy and that would be good for me! The ability to sleep regardless of the world being well on the way to hell in a handcart whichever scale I look at.
ReplyDeleteMy character is going to practice self-care by petting a cat and telling the most annoying of her companions to go jump in a lake, then stomping off for a good satisfying sulk and unintended nap. me, well, I actually get my day off this week, and dammit I am going to use it to do some really dull errands (fetch a prescription, catch up on the pot-washing and clean the bottom of the sink once I see it, scrub the cat litter tray), watch a really junky movie (Deadpool II is queued up), and have a long lazy Afternoon Nap With Fluffy Companion. I had 20 hours of classroom time last week, 6 of it new preps. it was not a good week (see blog for other rants).
last week's goals
1) Teaching: prepare for next week, read and feedback on pile of looooong drafts, Set first half of exam Qs for new module, set up resit exam for first year module Yes, yes, no, no
2) self-care: do something not-work every evening other than stare at the phone, go to bed early every night, drink 1.5-2 l of water a day and focus on hitting >5 fruit and veg portions a day, cut down refined sugar. most evenings, hahahahnotatall, 5 days, most days, oops
3) research: Continue ProblemChild2 analysis. Model runs for FlatProject (slightly cheating as these are just chugging away on my computer and won't finish until next weekend at the earliest). Reply to difficult email about Gallimaufray. deal with latest set of queries about Crispier and ProblemChild1. Probably don't finish draft of grant idea for circulation to collaborators. Yes, yes, no, yes, yes, no
4) making stuff and being creative: finish test swatch. Look for rest of yarn for colourwork block, start that. yes, no I think I need to put in a yarn order, as I appear to have imagined most of the order I THOUGHT I put in (I found the yarn for the other project that should have been in the same pack, but it was alone)
5) domestic chaos reduction: Get boiler fixed and serviced. Catch up with washing up. book more sessions with decluttering woman. yes, nearly, yes
this week is a bit less teaching insane. And I'm really grumpy. So definitely time for more self-care items with higher priority
1) Teaching: prepare for next week (cheating as almost finished that already), set first half of exam Qs for new module, set up resit exam for first year module
Delete2) self-care: take Thursday off for chores and movie watching and napping, do something not-work every evening other than stare at the phone, go to bed early every night, drink 1.5-2 l of water a day and focus on hitting >5 fruit and veg portions a day, cut down refined sugar.
3) research: Continue ProblemChild2 analysis. Model runs for FlatProject. Reply to difficult email about Gallimaufray (because the guilt of putting it off is probably worse than the doing it by now). deal with latest set of queries about ProblemChild1 (how did it come back in less than a week? Oh yes, Maximus Annoyingus Coauthor is RETIRED. And apparently has nothing more fun to do than quibble word by word through papers by return). put draft of grant idea firmly aside.
4) making stuff and being creative: do yarn order for colourwork block, play with patterns.
5) domestic chaos reduction: sort out car light. Catch up with washing up. fetch prescription.
I hope you find ways to integrate goodness for you into the dull Thursday errands. My arbitrary horoscope for you would read something like: This week will bring you something surprising and delightful if you are willing to make space for it.
ReplyDeleteStill struggling with motivation and staying on task. Self-care this week would be the magic to get myself back on track. If anyone has an experience with a complete failure to move forward on every front, I would be very grateful for your advice. I do feel like if I could just started, I could build the momentum to get things done.
ReplyDeleteTwo weeks ago:
1 Submit book review: yes (another TRQ)
2 Submit article review: no
3 Submit other article review: no
4 Post to reading group: no
5 Promotion for big conference: no, but it wasn’t needed
6 Confirm date for small conference: yes
This week:
1 Submit TRQ book review
2 Submit 3 article reviews
3 Post to reading group
4 Submit seminar draft notes
Sometimes having a week or two of epic failure on all fronts brings a rebounding week with renewed energy for me, but sometimes not. I tend to give myself a super small project, like to just look at the R and R but not to have to work on it. Usually once I open the file and start to look at it I start to get work done. And I remind myself that even getting my own research done in 20 minute bits is better than nothing. It does add up over time.
DeleteThanks so much for this. I did get one thing done today and will apply the "I'm just here to look" principle for other projects over the weekend.
DeleteSelf care is interesting. I like the idea of walking from CC, but I'm also tempted by a vacation retreat: not structured, but a pretty cottage where I can read fiction, maybe write some, and where there are good friends near by so I can have sociable evenings. I need a balance of sociability and solitude...
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Grade papers DONE (but only by getting up at 5 AM on Monday to finish)
2. Draft proposal for summer fellowship DRAFTED
3. Get back to exercise A little, but not really
4. Keep getting good sleep YES, Mostly
5. Enjoy my visit with family and friends YES (much more social than I expected.)
Well, between rain and the travails of my furnace (fixed last Wednesday, then died again Sunday night, and fixed again this morning) I have not got much exercise. It's not good. Other than that, I got done what needed to get done, I celebrated my brother's birthday, and I saw a bunch of professional colleagues/friends. So generally a win.
The week ahead is gradually getting consumed by administrivia. It appears that EVERY committee I'm on has a deadline of some sort this week or early next. One I learned about last night, which made me VERY unhappy. So I'll have a boring list and try to get something done that is more interesting than the admin stuff I'm doing. (Fortunately, one of the deadlines I thought was this week is in fact in two weeks, so there's that!) I'm going to try not to kill anyone because of frustration. Counting down to spring break...
1. Finish and submit fellowship application
2. Do admin work for conference in three weeks
3. Rank graduate fellowship applicants
4. Do 4 hours of work on collaborative project, skype with co-author
5. Design next writing assignment for class, also final project
6. Keep getting 6 1/2 to 7 hours of sleep
7. Really get back to exercise
8. Plan something fun for spring break.
Ugh on all of the committee work and admin work. With hope those those tasks won't be too cumbersome, but likely will take more time and attention than is their due.
DeleteI think that balance of sociability and solitude is integral to well-being, although I don't know that it's true for everyone. Certainly for me.
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ReplyDeleteI feel like there should be some kind of alarm and red flashy light to indicate that I'm resurfacing here :) I've been lurking but as my 'to do' list hasn't really changed from a few weeks ago, I felt that I would just feel bad about constantly listing the same stuff. I feel like the worst of semester is now over and while there's still plenty to do, the majority of it isn't particularly urgent.
ReplyDeleteSelf-care - yes, that's important. I haven't been doing it which is why things are coming really quite unstuck right now.
1. Mark coursework - DONE but more has come in
2. Majorly plan outreach event - DONE and ran the event
3. Submit ethics - not done, low priority as does not particularly benefit me
4. Make serious progress on Albatross edits - DONE and submitted
5. Complete sustainability draft - DONE and submitted
6. Followup from outreach meeting - partly done but low priority for now
Albatross book chapter is in and I'm waiting for the proofs. I did the project 4 - 6 years ago (I forget when) as part of my MA and had about 7 years of data to write up. It's been on my TLQ list on and off over the last few years, first to resubmit as my MA thesis and then to write up for publication. And it's done and it's like the thing that's held me back on other publications because I wanted to do it first and it's done!
This week:
1. Marking
2. Resting and getting over the cold
3. Tackling all the small things ignored over the past few weeks
WOOT! WOOT! for resurfacing, getting unstuck, and big progress on Albatross! Weekly check ins can be difficult when projects take far longer--culturally we acknowledge completion much more than we do progress (despite the old tortoise and hare). Especially with publication, which is eternally slow. I'm reviewing a book that was just published and when I went to learn more about the author online, I saw that the book was under contract in 2014. Five years is a long time to sustain enthusiasm and diligence on a project, even if it is a Whole Book.
DeleteSorry epic fail on getting to this earlier in the week. My real desire is to quit this semester and spend the rest of it at a warm beach somewhere staring at the ocean. My in real life self care is less glamorous but involves Netflix watching to tune out, facials and baths, exercise, and a brief two day stint to a cold but pretty beach resort over Spring Break (next week). Walks on the beach in the late winter are almost as good as they are in the summer.
ReplyDeleteLast week
1. Catch up on teaching prep and grading Yes
2. Write small travel grant for next conference Yes
3. Look at book figures and set up meeting with drafter No
4. Figure out help with statistics for R and R Yes
5. Look at R and R even if you do nothing No
6. Exercise x 2 Yes
This week
1. Look at R and R even if you do nothing
2. Finish reading second draft of graduate student diss and provide comments
3. Meet with drafter to go over book figures
4. Exercise x 3
5. Something fun x 2
I hope that you have a wonderful mini-vacation! And I really like goal # 1--that's not a bad way to start (and get over the fear of starting).
DeleteSome folks from here actually suggested this to me earlier in the semester- that easing into a big hard task with a very small foray is the best way. I had used this strategy lots when writing the diss, but have not for many years. It has proven effective of late.
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ReplyDeleteSometimes the beach in the cold is even better.
ReplyDelete