Northern Fall/Southern Spring Week 12

Well, JaneB posted last week about why she hadn't posted the week before, but it appears that I was not the only one who flaked on posting last week. Between medical issues for my mother, preparing to host my brother, SIL, and the not quite 6 year old twins, I completely flaked.   I have spent the day slowly recovering from their presence -- which is great, but exhausting; and my mother tells me how my brother annoys her.  It's all tiring and even though I love them all, all together is hard. 

 I'm obsessed with impeachment stuff, and on twitter watching many colleagues in the UK on their picket lines.  It's not only getting towards "the holidays", but also the end of term in the US, with attendant grading.  Lots of institutions with Xmas dos.  This makes JaneB's questions from last week particularly relevant. Since only Dame Eleanor and Humming42 posted last week, I'm going to repeat them:
In this season of crazy demands, what advice do you find useful on how to be kind to ourselves?  How do we frame the necessary triage as realistic, professional and smart?  What gifts do we want to give ourselves this year?
Which little pieces of the seasonal ritual do we genuinely enjoy, benefit from and intend to prioritise in the coming weeks?
(Go back and read what Dame Eleanor and Humming42 wrote, too -- both very thoughtful and provoking, at least for me!)

Dame Eleanor Hull
*submit abstract; 4 hours on R&R.
*grade 1 complete set of papers, start 2nd set.
*daily exercise and stretching.
*work on dead languages.
*sort/file/toss papers; tidy my study.
*enjoy 2 social engagements.

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell (from last week)
Start to tie up loose ends, and decide which ones can stay untied in the old job.
Look at five of the suggestions for the special issue.
Finish packing the cubicle.
Look at the second interlibrary loan book.
Plan what I need in the new office space.
Edit Prudence 30 minutes a day.
Find out the brass tacks of the new building--refrigerator? Lounge?
Begin the attack on the yarn stash.

Heu Mihi (from last week) 
1. Survive the following: Tonight's speaker, whom I'm hosting; Husband's 50th birthday party tomorrow; guest author in class on Wednesday; giant birthday party for Husband on Friday. Take care of everything that needs taking care of. Don't freak out about the house being small and full of people and getting messy. DON'T.
2. Language x 3
3. Read 2 chapters/essays on research topic

Humming42 
1 Submit DQ, for real, for real
2 Write next book review
3 Try to finish 1 December article
4 Submit KR abstract

JaneB (from 2 weeks ago) 
1) maintain habits (8 items)
2) research - flat project, do SOMETHING. MAYBE
3a) External examining - read a large, large pile of final projects and prepare for a trip to Crowded Capital on the 20th... this has to all be done by the 15th because of family stuff...
3b) prep everything for next week.
3c) Sit down and look seriously at what is to come, and possibly throw self on the mercy of timetabling to ask for a change of some sort, or the mercy of my colleagues, or just... I dunno, cut something. I just. Can't.
4) NaNo. Discuss family stuff with sister, try to finalise the plan for parents wedding anniversary weekend.

OceanGirl101 (from 2 weeks ago)
1. grade midterm, input all grades etc.
2. prep classes
3. two article reviews
4. read student diss chapter
5. bills
6. exercise x 2

Susan (from last week) 
1. Make committees
2. Get all the assignment prompts and related material for both Course A and Course B
3. Finish grading papers for B
4. Do stuff for committee I chair
5. Start reading student dissertation
6. Read 3 journals
7. Walk
8. Sleep
9. Keep knitting in meetings. I started a scarf at the conference, and have decided it's good for me!

Northern Autumn/Southern Spring Week 11

Hi everyone!  I didn't check in last week for family reasons - my sister and I organised a weekend away for the whole family to celebrate our parents' 60th wedding anniversary.  The important bits - that our parents enjoyed themselves, that everyone had food they could eat, that there were no rows, that the "grand-dog" didn't eat people food, break anything or spontaneously combust from the excitement of a new place and lots of petting hands - all went off fine, which is what really matters!  The rest of last week was a mess - I had a migraine, a late report, a talk to write, an important research related meeting to attend away from campus one day, my car broke down (on the way BACK from the meeting, at least) and needed to be towed and repaired, my work computer broke down (and is not fixed.  Which slowed me down SO MUCH), and Christmas Is Coming regardless of whether I've done anything for it or not.  And don't even mention grading - which thanks to our fancy VLE and my town's not great internet I can't easily do from home any more, and can't do at the office right now thanks to the dead computer, and also the brain computer Does Not Want To.

Naturally I prioritised working on my NaNoWriMo effort, naturally, and have now hit 50k words... bad, messy, zero draft words for the most part, but actual words in a Scrivener document, and I think I've finally solved the "this timeline doesn't quite work" problem at the heart of the novel sequence I mostly work on, so maybe it will FINALLY come together into a first draft (with a lot of moving around of words).

At this point of the year, both academic and calendar, things are reaching a crunch point.  It's time for triage, and some brutal actions - throwing things we said we'd do by the end of semester or by the end of the year overboard, sending those postponment emails, admitting that our to do lists are just too full.  It's also a time when we get a barrage of positive messages - for North Americans, thanksgiving really emphasises that, but for all of us whether we celebrate or not the run up to Christmas is a time of light in the darkness, kindness to stranger and friend, and doing nice things for people we like, love or rely on - so for this week's topic, how about some advice on how to be kind to ourselves too?  How do we frame the necessary triage as realistic, professional and smart?  What gifts do we want to give ourselves this year? (I'd like to give JaneB some guilt-free permission slips for missing deadlines, some extra naps, and a teflon shield for her email to deflect the toxic academic-blaming messages of the central administration.  And some grading-elf-lures).  Which little pieces of the seasonal ritual do we genuinely enjoy, benefit from and intend to prioritise in the coming weeks? (For me, that's having a ring of advent candles, and taking a few minutes to sit in the dark then light them for a few minutes each evening.  It's meditative, it's symbolic... and it may not be very practical with an idiot floofy cat who loves to waft his tail over whatever I'm focusing on that isn't him, but I intend to try).

Goals from last week:
Dame Eleanor Hull
*draft abstract, send to writing group; two more hours on R&R;
*write one quiz, grade it plus a one-sentence assignment;
*daily exercise and stretching (x6);
*keep up with dead languages;
*pay bills; book flight to see my dad.

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
Start to tie up loose ends, and decide which ones can stay untied in the old job.
Look at five of the suggestions for the special issue.
Finish packing the cubicle.
Look at the second interlibrary loan book.
Plan what I need in the new office space.
Edit Prudence 30 minutes a day.
Find out the brass tacks of the new building--refrigerator? Lounge?
Begin the attack on the yarn stash.

Heu Mihi
1. Survive the following: Tonight's speaker, whom I'm hosting; Husband's 50th birthday party tomorrow; guest author in class on Wednesday; giant birthday party for Husband on Friday. Take care of everything that needs taking care of. Don't freak out about the house being small and full of people and getting messy. DON'T.
2. Language x 3
3. Read 2 chapters/essays on research topic

Humming42 
1 Submit DQ, for real.
2 Write next book review
3 Submit old Perform abstract for new publication
4 Grade like a madwoman

JaneB (from previous week) 
1) maintain habits (8 items)
2) research - flat project, do SOMETHING. MAYBE
3a) External examining - read a large, large pile of final projects and prepare for a trip to Crowded Capital on the 20th... this has to all be done by the 15th because of family stuff...
3b) prep everything for next week.
3c) Sit down and look seriously at what is to come, and possibly throw self on the mercy of timetabling to ask for a change of some sort, or the mercy of my colleagues, or just... I dunno, cut something. I just. Can't.
4) NaNo. Discuss family stuff with sister, try to finalise the plan for parents wedding anniversary weekend.

OceanGirl101 (from previous week)
1. grade midterm, input all grades etc.
2. prep classes
3. two article reviews
4. read student diss chapter
5. bills
6. exercise x 2

Susan
1. Make committees
2. Get all the assignment prompts and related material for both Course A and Course B
3. Finish grading papers for B
4. Do stuff for committee I chair
5. Start reading student dissertation
6. Read 3 journals
7. Walk
8. Sleep
9. Keep knitting in meetings. I started a scarf at the conference, and have decided it's good for me!

Northern Autumn/ Southern Spring Week 10

Well, last week past and I didn't even post - my mother was in the hospital for several days, and it threw everything off schedule. (She's OK, and was relatively healthy for being in hospital.  But it was time.)  And it appears that everyone is struggling, because lots of us didn't post.

I want to think more about JaneB's question from last week about how we decide what not to do, and turn it to intellectual focus.   I'm at a conference this weekend, and as is often the case at conferences, I hear papers and think, "Oh, shiny, new, I could do that!"  And the next one  "Oh, I could explore that!"  Having read and participated in conversations on this blog for some years, I know I'm not the only one who gets excited by new ideas and areas of exploration.  How do we choose projects?  When do we say no to projects?  We make choices about research at the beginning (will I take this on?) and then in prioritizing in real time-- what will I work on NOW.  Research projects are rarely squeaky wheels, so maybe thinking about how we both choose and prioritize them can be a transferable skill?

Goals from last week:
Dame Eleanor Hull
*finish long overdue R&R; progress on abstract;
*write two quizzes;
*daily exercise and stretching (x6);
*keep up with dead languages;
*deal with paperwork.

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
Finish packing my cubicle.
Continue editing Prudence 30 minutes a day.
Write a little fiction every day.
Contact my co-editor about next steps.
Contact my advisor.
Go through Interlibrary Loan books.
Knit the tree skirt every day.
Knit socks every day.

Heu Mihi (from previous week)
1. Finish conference paper and print it out; prepare intros/read abstracts for panel I'm chairing
2. Language x 2
3. Clear out email and niggling service-y tasks
4. Find a book or article that I want to read and that's related to my next project

Humming42 (from previous week)
1 Finish and submit DQ
2 Prepare online conference presentation for next week
3 Read next review book

JaneB (from previous week) 
1) maintain habits (8 items)
2) research - flat project, do SOMETHING. MAYBE
3a) External examining - read a large, large pile of final projects and prepare for a trip to Crowded Capital on the 20th... this has to all be done by the 15th because of family stuff...
3b) prep everything for next week.
3c) Sit down and look seriously at what is to come, and possibly throw self on the mercy of timetabling to ask for a change of some sort, or the mercy of my colleagues, or just... I dunno, cut something. I just. Can't.
4) NaNo. Discuss family stuff with sister, try to finalise the plan for parents wedding anniversary weekend.

OceanGirl101
1. grade midterm, input all grades etc.
2. prep classes
3. two article reviews
4. read student diss chapter
5. bills
6. exercise x 2

Susan (from previous week) 
1. Make committees
2. Admin stuff: expense reports, letter, report etc. Maybe clear out email?
3. Re-read Race, think about how to revise
4. Clear desk, which has become a disaster area
5. Keep walking
6. Sleep

Northern Autumn/Southern Spring week 9 (I think)

Hi all,

We are definitely in the season of overwhelm, or what my mother calls the Season Of The Great Too Much (she's usually referring to Christmas shopping and over-consumption in general, but as an academic that also describes my work life at the moment).  Last week Susan asked about handling overwhelm, and I'd like to keep the topic going this week - my question is how do you decide what NOT to do?

I find it very difficult when I'm feeling overwhelmed to decide what is good enough, what can wait until next week, and what I should pick as my top three things for a given day - it's as if all the little voices of the to do list items get so loud I can't think properly or focus on my priorities.  Anyone got any tips or Do Nots?  I know what DOESN'T work is paying attention to the person who is being most demanding that I do THEIR thing, because that trains them that being demanding works (bad move!), because their priorities are very rarely mine, and because being reactive all the time makes me feel more overwhelmed.... 



Dame Eleanor Hull
*daily reading/writing (x5), OR a weekly total of 50 pages read, 1250 words written;
*grade 1500-word essays; check two in-class writing assignments; plan when to give two quizzes;
*daily exercise and stretching (x6);
*keep up with dead languages;
*deal with paperwork.

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
Continue editing 30 minutes a day.
Write a little fiction every day.
Weigh suggestions for special issue.
Do not overwork.
Continue knitting the tree skirt.

HeuMihi
1. Finish conference paper and print it out; prepare intros/read abstracts for panel I'm chairing
2. Language x 2
3. Clear out email and niggling service-y tasks
4. Find a book or article that I want to read and that's related to my next project

Humming42
1 Finish and submit DQ
2 Prepare online conference presentation for next week
3 Read next review book

JaneB
1) maintain habits (8 items)
2) research - flat project, do SOMETHING. MAYBE
3a) External examining - read a large, large pile of final projects and prepare for a trip to Crowded Capital on the 20th... this has to all be done by the 15th because of family stuff...
3b) prep everything for next week.
3c) Sit down and look seriously at what is to come, and possibly throw self on the mercy of timetabling to ask for a change of some sort, or the mercy of my colleagues, or just... I dunno, cut something. I just. Can't.
4) NaNo. Discuss family stuff with sister, try to finalise the plan for parents wedding anniversary weekend.

OceanGirl101 (carried over from last week)
1. Finish ed vol chapter, all text, ref and figures
2. Emails for summer fieldwork
3. Midterm- construct new one, grade etc.
4. Bills and laundry and the such
5. Meet with xarpenter for new bookshelves in office
6. Exercise x 2

Susan
1. Make committees
2. Admin stuff: expense reports, letter, report etc. Maybe clear out email?
3. Re-read Race, think about how to revise
4. Clear desk, which has become a disaster area
5. Keep walking
6. Sleep

Northern Fall/Southern Spring Week 8

First, a belated happy birthday to JaneB!

Last night the clocks changed here, so we've got more light in the mornings, but the evenings will now close in earlier.  The next three months are always the hardest for me, as I just want to hibernate.   

We are half way through the session, and while I won't do a formal mid-session check-in, I invite you to think about your session goals this week: were they reasonable?  Do you need to cut back?   

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, we're deep in the time of grading, and lots of deadlines, committee meetings, conferences, and. . .  It all gets kind of overwhelming.  How do you manage being overwhelmed?  Is there a mantra? Is there something you do for yourself? Or do you just push through?  

Goals from last week:

Dame Eleanor Hull
*daily reading/writing (x5), OR a weekly total of 50 pages read, 1250 words written;
*grade 2 short assignments (summaries; Mab in-class), start grading 1500-word essays; plan when to give two quizzes;
*daily exercise and stretching (x6);
*keep up with dead languages;
*deal with paperwork.

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell
Continue editing 30 minutes a day.
Write a few hundred words of fiction every day.
Weigh suggestions for special issue.
Do not overwork.
Start knitting the tree skirt.

HeuMihi
1. Brilliant revision of collection proposal
2. Conference paper/research 30 minutes x 3
3. Language work 30 minutes x 3
4. Calm and rational discussion with chair
5. Sit x 5

Humming42
1 Finish and submit DQ
This needs all of the possible time and attention this week.

JaneB
1) maintain habits (8 items)
2) research - flat project, do SOMETHING (which reminds me, I DID do something on flat project last week... had a long angsty conversation with the project lead about former PDF who appears to have got the hump about something but is also really busy so not replying to messages...)
3) Prepare all teaching materials for next week and if possible make a start on the week after that... but
4) Friday is my birthday. Do not work. Write fiction. Roll around in the writing and the ideas being completely self-indulgent. Also, EAT SUGAR (there is a macademia blondie in the freezer which I may have for BREAKFAST). Hippo bird-day to me!!!

OceanGirl101
1. Finish ed vol chapter, all text, ref and figures
2. Emails for summer fieldwork
3. Midterm- construct new one, grade etc.
4. Bills and laundry and the such
5. Meet with xarpenter for new bookshelves in office
6. Exercise x 2

Susan
1. Do next set of grading proposals and drafts
2. DO Blog post
3. Write up minutes
4. Create committees
5. Breathe
6. Keep up with walking, keep getting good sleep.