Apologies on the late post. I keep forgetting the day, since they are all mostly alike. Here it us Sunday afternoon. It's a lovely summer day here, not hot at all. I'm about to go out for an evening walk.
I loved hearing about everyone's research superpowers last week - ideas, close reading, synthesizing, balancing theory and science -- we're an impressive bunch!
I've been thinking about how to keep going given the state of the world, between pandemic and politics. I'm trying to think about nice things. So for this week, I thought it would be a good week to share one thing that gave us pleasure in the last week. It helps me remember pleasures when I write them down, and I also get pleasure from seeing what other people have had.
Goals from last week:
Daisy
1) Finish editing awesome paper for main co-author so he can submit it!
2) Make three new figures for neglected paper
3) Write plan for new paper on local area
4) Process data for co-authors on cross-Atlantic project
5) 30 Day Challenge - stretching , stretching and rehab
6) Fun thing for me: bike to coffee shop when they have surprise pop-up hours
7) Fun thing for child: let her bake a cake with buttercream frosting, her idea...
Dame Eleanor:
Establish a routine for work/house/exercise.
Sleep: aim for both more and earlier.
3 x 2 hours work; notes on another ILL book, an assessment thing from last year, some dead language study.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Update the third presentation with what I scrawled the night before the talk.
Schedule time to post the presentations.
Finish annual Faculty Activity Report.
Mail the birthday card.
Heu Mihi
1. Reading: Finish Theoryish book; read 2 Nunnery essays; read 100 pp. of Big Honking Book
2. Writing: Minimum of one freaking paragraph, come on, seriously
3. Students: Try calling advisee; follow up on students with incompletes; read at least 1/2 of a diss chapter; one full day of advising (no choice about this one, I'm afraid)
4. Fun: Start reading a novel; knit
5. Yard: Bucket o' bishop, plus some other yard work
6. Good Thing daily
Humming42
1 write and submit two book reviews
2 submit one more essay peer review
3 write and submit conference abstract
4 write 1000 words for Tiny Project
JaneB
1) self care whilst
2) making more lists
3) doing small things on the followup of community project
4) ticking off at least 10 things from the list of small but necessary jobs (mostly around 15-45 minute jobs that keep getting copied from week to week...).
5) finish one small section of FlatProject1.
6) have a two day weekend!
Oceangirl101
1. Reread CH 6, outline rest of CH 7
2. Copy edits/additions to co-authored ms.
3. Exercise x 2, walk x 4
4. Bunch of medical appts
5. Paperwork to get aunt on state system (I am her POA)
6. Begin to suss out what articles/books needed for fall classes
Susan
1. Start next chapter - write 1500 words
2. Get book orders in
3. 8 more journal issues
4. Do a bit of clearing in old office
5. Keep walking
6. Go to bed at a normal time and get sleep
7. Try not to get sucked into twitter and the disaster that is the US right now.
I love this prompt! Alas, last week was really stressful. My son got sick--a stomach thing on Tuesday, plus fever; fine Wed & most of Thurs; then fever, swelling around his eyes, hives. The doctor scheduled a Covid-19 test for Friday afternoon. Luckily, the test came back negative on Saturday, and, while it's only about 70% accurate, the doctor said that it seemed very unlikely to be Covid and was probably some other virus. He's pretty much all better today, finally. How did he get a virus? No idea. But between that, and having to write an anti-racism statement to send to our majors, I felt like I just didn't have a lot of focus. When I looked at my week's goals, however, I'm surprised by how many of them are done. (Mostly the reading. The stuff that I want to avoid, like tracking down my advisee or taking notes, are undone.)
ReplyDeleteBut one thing that did give me pleasure, and continues to give me pleasure, is sitting on our front porch and reading in the mornings. The flowers out there are coming in (we have a beautiful wildflower garden and enormous rhododendrons courtesy of the next-door neighbors), the chipmunks scamper adorably, the birds sing, the sun is pale and liquid at that hour. It's quite lovely.
This week promises to be unproductive as well, sigh. I have many hours of first-year advising today and tomorrow, then Wednesday is my birthday, and Sunday is my son's birthday. So I'll do what I can do.
Last week:
1. Reading: Finish Theoryish book; read 2 Nunnery essays; read 100 pp. of Big Honking Book - DONE
2. Writing: Minimum of one freaking paragraph, come on, seriously - DONE
3. Students: Try calling advisee; follow up on students with incompletes; read at least 1/2 of a diss chapter; one full day of advising (no choice about this one, I'm afraid) - ONLY THE LAST ONE
4. Fun: Start reading a novel; knit - DONE
5. Yard: Bucket o' bishop, plus some other yard work -OTHER YARD WORK YES, BUCKET NO, although I did pull some isolated bits of the Weed
6. Good Thing daily - SOME DAYS
This week (not expecting to complete all of this):
1. Notes on Theoryish book
2. Call missing advisee
3. Big Honking Book to p. 450
4. Read two Nunnery articles
5. Bibliography/prelim lit review for Fairy Tales
6. Write for 1 hour, total, on the prompt: What ideas, questions, themes am I trying to bring together here?
7. Bucket o' Bishop
8. Good Thing daily
9. If I'm awesome, read some of the dissertation
I'm sorry you had such a stressful week, and hope your son remains well.
DeleteAll the right-thinking members of Barsetshire society loathe the Bishop.
Thanks. He's much better today, and we've taken away both his breakfast-in-bed table/desk and the little bell he used for summoning us, so we're ALL a lot happier!
DeleteSo sorry about the virus, but glad your son is better.
DeleteI love the sound of your front porch!
While Dame Eleanor has gone all Trollope on the Bucket o' Bishop, I'm just fascinated and wondering. So many possibilities!
So sorry to hear about Bonaventure's illness. I always felt so helpless when my kids got sick, so you have my sympathy.
DeleteYour front yard sounds absolutely delightful. I love to sit out front although I am often chasing away the bunny who has acquired a taste for my hostas!
Hope you had a lovely birthday, and that little one is feeling good for his upcoming birthday too! Glad he's on the mend.
DeleteAnd even with the stressful week, that was a lot of reading that you did, congratulations!
There were a lot of pleasurable things in last week. A lot of them were about the outdoors, walking & admiring other people's gardens, or working in my own. I went for a walk with a friend, and we played "Bring Your Own Book" with some other friends over Zoom.
ReplyDeleteLess happily, I got a rejection of a R&R. I sent it somewhere else without even reading the comments. If the second place rejects it, I'll read both sets of comments; if they agree, I may try to revise again. If they disagree, I'll send it to a third journal without revising. I am tired of this piece, and working on it more will take my attention away from the projects that I want to be my current focus, where I think I can make more of an impact.
Still . . . maybe I should be nicer to the Research Fairy!
How I did:
Establish a routine for work/house/exercise. NO. Exercise is happening, as is house stuff, but I wouldn't say there's a routine.
Sleep: aim for both more and earlier. A NICE THOUGHT, honored more in the breach than the observance.
3 x 2 hours work; notes on another ILL book, an assessment thing from last year, some dead language study. ONCE, YES, YES, NO. Also ordered books for the fall, finally.
By the time we have the Week 7 check-in, my Mammoth of Moving has to be over the mountain. And the mammoth does not like to move quickly in June heat. So rather than fencing off the mammoth in the magical paddock while I cavort with the Research Fairy, I'm using the paddock's climate-control feature to keep the mammoth moving: I get it to walk from one end of the paddock to the other, then re-deploy the paddock so that the mammoth is once more at the near end of it and coax it to the far end, rinse and repeat. No doubt there's some easy magical way to do this, but I have not figured out how to do it; any magical thing that is more than "press this button" just doesn't work for me. (I should have paid more attention in magic class instead of shooting paper pellets at Danny Heywood, I suppose.)
The research fairy got his fifteen minutes on Monday, but when he started buzzing and whining on Tuesday, the smallest cat leapt into the air and snagged him by one little pointed shoe. He's annoying but not stupid; he played dead till she backed off. But as soon as he opened his eyes, the fluffy cat went over and washed his face for him, removing still more of the glitter, and the biggest cat sat with his tail twitching till I intervened and stuffed the Research Fairy in the paddock with the mammoth. Last I knew, he was curled up under the mammoth's left ear, counting his remaining sequins.
The good news is that the Top Brass have seen reason and I don't have to take delivery of the Hippogriff until after I get the mammoth where it's going.*
New goals: only two categories this week.
Self-care: stretching, exercise, sleep, restorative activities like reading, necessary food prep.
House/life stuff: drop taxes at accountant, mail med forms, what seems like a zillion tasks and errands.
*LRU finally opened up a July session for training-to-teach-online, so I don't have to do that in June. Whew!
I like the idea of keeping the Mammoth of Moving actually moving. Whenever I move I think I will do that, but the end is always stressful. Anything you can do to reduce stress...
DeleteAnd yay for nice outdoors, and yay for being able to delay the Hippogriff.
I so appreciate hearing your strategy of just sending the ms. to another journal without even looking at the reviews! I have never done that but wish I had. Sometimes one reviewer can really screw up the whole process, especially when the editor does not get involved to manage it.
DeleteI like your "send-it-on" strategy, too. I waited five weeks to hear back on my last rejected R&R, fixed everything, sent it in, and waited FIVE MONTHS to hear they had rejected the revisions. Why put up with that nonsense? Your plan makes so much more sense!
DeleteSadly the magical paddock manufacturers insisted that they knew best when designing those and did not incorporate users' feedback on the need for easy moving of large mammoths... They said the upper admin told them in no uncertain terms that the added cost was just not justifiable and that everyone could just re-deploy the paddocks if they had to shift things...and that shifting them was overrated and wouldn't they just move by themselves when they had to?
DeleteGlad the research fairy still has some sequins! I think I should introduce mine to my cat, it might put a little more zip in the fairy's attitude about motivation and focus...
Good luck with the two very full categories this week!
Pleasure: I had friends for lunch. We sat at my dining table 6 feet apart, and I had made good food, and we had food and conversation like civilized adults. It was magic. Social contact really is the great loss of this time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I started reading a new novel for pleasure.
1. Start next chapter - write 1500 words 500, but started
2. Get book orders in NO, but decisions made
3. 8 more journal issues YES (I think, stopped counting)
4. Do a bit of clearing in old office YES
5. Keep walking YES
6. Go to bed at a normal time and get sleep MOSTLY
7. Try not to get sucked into twitter and the disaster that is the US right now. YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?
Writing was slower than expected because... not sure. One day I managed to write the chapter title! Thursday disappeared with taking my mother to a dr. and abovementioned lunch. I did the dreaded sexual harassment training, which is 2 hours I will never get back. A few nights I got to bed and fell asleep, and woke up in 30 minutes wide awake... this is the worst for me. I'm bored by entering book orders in a clunky system, and I don't think most students will buy through the bookstore, so it just seems like time I don't want to spend. The good news is that I've more or less mapped out the course. On the domestic front, I've had people give estimates on getting rid of disgusting carpet in my bedroom, and my A/C needs a major new part so seems to crash whenever it gets too hot here. (Part now ordered, but I may need techs here every week until it comes.) I spent 45 minutes on the phone helping my mother order a book. Otherwise, there's the world: I'm somewhat optimistic about the possibilities for change, but concerned for my students. Also, there's a big court decision that will come down in the next few weeks (not this AM) which has a significant impact on my students. So in the back of my mind is that.
Goals for the week ahead:
2500 words on chapter
Actually do book orders
at least 6 more journals
Keep walking
Go to bed at a reasonable time
Cook something new
Those are lots of done things! And the start on the next chapter is a big win - starts are the hardest, after that it always feels better!
DeleteI love the idea of a distanced dinner with friends, that is an excellent activity to look forward to again.
Topic: My irises blooming gave me pleasure last week. A friend of mine gave me several irises when she moved away last fall, so I had no idea how they would adjust to their new surroundings. Last week, they bloomed like they had been in my front yard for years. They are clearly happy, and that made me happy.
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals:
Update the third presentation with what I scrawled the night before the talk. Yes, I actually did it. FINALLY
Schedule time to post the presentations. Done.
Finish annual Faculty Activity Report. Yes, done, formatted, and submitted!!!!
Mail the birthday card. Yes, sent and received!
Analysis: It was a good week, which I didn’t expect. I think it helped to get my desk cleared off, which was an accomplishment all in itself. It allowed me to spread out the various papers and books I need to write and delve into the forty questions I come up with--marked by red CHECK all over the place--which I find necessary to moving forward.
It also helped immensely that I found another treasure trove of presentations I had given in the past and meant to turn into articles--only to file them away in an archival box during (probably) the last move, which is now four years ago. It was really nice to read through them and think, “hey, this isn’t all that bad.” I work more consistently when I can interleave a couple of projects together, switching when stuck or bored.
Next week’s goals:
Proofread 1 hour x 5.
Edit 1 hour x 5.
Revise introduction outline.
Contact co-editor.
Contact Office of Research for extension of grant-funded travel.
Outline one presentation into journal article form.
Hope everyone is avoiding stress-inducing things, and finding time to relax. Float like mist, everyone.
Wow that was a great week for getting things done! Hope you celebrated for that :) It is pretty cool when we can read through old stuff and see that it is good!
DeleteClean desks are so nice...
What gave me pleasure last week: cooking (I made a wonderful frittata with balsamic tomatoes, kale, eggs, and cheese), gardening (the first cherry tomatoes came in!) and social distancing walks with a few friends.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise it felt like a hard week but somehow they all sort of do these days. I had some health stuff come up which slowed me down on many fronts. I am doing my best to try to stay positive. The ongoing COVID compications are not helpinkg, but on the other hand, things could be much worse.
Last week:
1. Reread CH 6, outline rest of CH 7 - No, but continued writing and number crunching instead, slow slow progress
2. Copy edits/additions to co-authored ms. Yes and co-authored loved them!
3. Exercise x 2, walk x 4 Yes to first, no to second (maybe 2?)
4. Bunch of medical appts Yes
5. Paperwork to get aunt on state system (I am her POA) Started
6. Begin to suss out what articles/books needed for fall classes No
This week:
1. Number crunch one section of Ch 7, write it up, read Ch 6 and outline rest of Ch 7
2. Call handyman
3. Exercise x 2, walk x 4
4. Paperwork to get aunt in state system
5. Self-care to get chest/rib issue underwraps, 30 minutes per day- bath, massage, ice/heat, stretch etc. etc.
6. Write up bits of data analysis for new paper, contact collaborator
Hope the health stuff improves, hard to focus when there are ongoing things like that! Hope this next week has some recovery and relaxation in it!
DeleteI'm impressed you are getting joy out of cooking, that does sound like a great meal!
Things making me happy: having physically distant beers in a colleague’s yard on sunny days, early morning tea when everything is quiet and green (I think I’m going to move that outdoors once the incessant rain stops)… The days when child gets really into something and has a fabulous day despite being a bit lonely and bored are wonderful. The small victories with papers and writing are very satisfying right now too. I’m also happy that I finally got back the very neglected paper… Apparently “writing” it is a bridge too far but making one figure at a time seems to work so I’m going to do that. Normally I would also say “running” but that’s not allowed yet…
ReplyDeleteI had a bit of a rough week, totally lost all focus and motivation around Wednesday (pretty sure it is because zoom meetings ate my brain) and never really got it back. So I spent a bit of time rage-donating to various organizations and writing and new and improved, and most importantly actionable EDI plan for my professional association (I’m president now so I can do that!). But some research things still got done, everyone is still healthy, and there are new flavours in the delivery beer store so things are looking up, this was a good Monday already.
Last week’s goals
1) Finish editing awesome paper for main co-author so he can submit it! DONE
2) Make three new figures for neglected paper MADE ONE YAY!
3) Write plan for new paper on local area NOT DONE
4) Process data for co-authors on cross-Atlantic project HALF DONE
5) 30 Day Challenge - stretching , stretching and rehab MOSTLY DONE, ONGOING
6) Fun thing: bike to coffee shop when they have surprise pop-up hours NOT DONE, TOO MUCH RAIN
7) Fun thing for child: let her bake a cake with buttercream frosting, her idea... DONE, IT WAS GREEN AND VERY DENSE!
This week’s goals:
1) Continue to make figures for neglected paper
2) Local paper outline and figure list
3) Read and respond to student work
4) Review and edit co-authored bit paper, different one from last week
5) Daily stretching and injury rehab
6) Write new policy documents for association I’m now in charge of
7) This week’s fun thing for child: sushi take-out
8) This week’s fun thing for me: beer in someone’s garden if we get a sunny day
Pleasure - cooler, mixed weather with actual rain! I do love a nice bit of summer rain... this week is off to a bad, slow, sullen start, naturally...
ReplyDeletegoals from last week:
1) self care whilst I was doing great until Saturday evening...
2) making more lists some. Not done the hard stuff. Don't want to. I mentioned this week is shaping up sullen right?
3) doing small things on the followup of community project did rather a lot because it is ending up on my pile more than I originally hoped...
4) ticking off at least 10 things from the list of small but necessary jobs (mostly around 15-45 minute jobs that keep getting copied from week to week...).nine!
5) finish one small section of FlatProject1. No, of course not, because there were other things that came up...
6) have a two day weekend! I did, and I read stuff and napped (and ate stuff and let my bodyclock go back to natural which explains some of today's sullen
goals for this week:
1) self care - going to bed before midnight would be a sensible focus but I Don'T Want To. My mammoth is in my head and my emotions stomping around this week!!!
2) making more lists - at least doing some free-writing around what OUGHT to be on the lists.
3) doing the next necessary thing on the followup of community project
3a) having a meeting about the other workshop thing I want to do this summer (I DO want to. Just the mammoth is stomping on the want today)
4) ticking off another 5 things from the list of small but necessary jobs (mostly around 15-45 minute jobs that keep getting copied from week to week...) (and doing the first batch of late-with-allowances summer marking).
5) finish one small section of FlatProject1 (there is a writing day Thursday. I CAN DO THIS).
6) have a two day weekend! (although since that seems to have attracted the stompy bad mood mammoth, maybe not a good idea?)
And now I am taking the stompy bad mood mammoth out of this blog before it gets ranty. We are going to journal, then crochet, then GO TO BED. Oh, and send an email first... there are ALWAYS emails...
Oooh that mammoth can be so grumpy some days... I think it takes turns visiting us all and riles up the other mammoths... Bad mammoth!
DeleteBut, yay for having the actual 2-day weekend and doing all the community project stuff! That is important work. And yes, having weekends is included in that category!
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteThe week got away from me but I am finally here. For the last ten years or so, I have had a profound loss of the ability to read for enjoyment. Reading reminds me of work too much and I tend to skim fiction looking for the interesting bits like its academic work. It bothers me a great deal. What seems to work the best for me is to read sci-fi. I tend to enjoy dystopian novels, but less so these days. I had a hard week dealing with anxiety in terms of our admin wanting us to teach on campus in person in the fall, starting in as our new DGS, and ongoing secodary medical things likely related to having had Covid. I hope to be better about checking in earlier in the coming week.
Last week
1. Reread CH 6, outline rest of CH 7 started
2. Copy edits/additions to co-authored ms. yes
3. Exercise x 2, walk x 4 No, about half though
4. Bunch of medical appts yes
5. Paperwork to get aunt on state system (I am her POA) yes, started
6. Begin to suss out what articles/books needed for fall classes No
This week:
1. Work on Ch 7 4 days
2. Reread Ch 6 to outline rest of Ch 7
3. Medical appts
4. Exercise x 4
5. Fun x 2