What struck me last week was that we were mostly OK with where we were: "some good things happened" or, as Humming42 said, "I'm content". But in a month or two, all of us will be teaching, and there will be lots of pressure from the additional work that takes place in online teaching. What do you plan to do to hold on to the idea of "some good things", or "enough" as we leave summer for the busier pace of the semester?
I hope that Daisy's camping trip goes well, and that Oceangirl101 is recovering from her surgery and off the steroids...
Goals from last week:
Daisy
1) Finish and submit three abstracts/registrations
2) Finish and submit invited keynote abstract
3) Finish off major committee draft documents and circulate
4) Fun thing for both: long camping trip!
Dame Eleanor
Work 3-4 hours a day, five times, with some on each of research, teaching, service (have to finish promotion review).
Regular exercise, stretching, safe eating, fun things.
~2 hours a day unpacking and/or life admin (try to clear out some significant number of energy-sucking undone life admin tasks).
Keep track of what I'm doing so I don't wonder where the day went.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
New writing 1 hour x 5.
Take notes on 3-4 articles for the lit reviews.
Continue cleanup of paper and electronic files. 1 hour x 5
For fun: one new craft project 1 hour x 4.
Heu Mihi
1) Finalize big course syllabus, finish up 2 more PowerPoints, and test the video recording and uploading system
2) Review article for journal
3) Read MA student's 1st chapter
4) Call carpenter about fixing greenhouse
Humming42
1 finish Square and submit
2 keep up with grading summer online classes
3 finish reading next book for review
4 consider editing a creative piece for submission
JaneB
1) get to bed before midnight at least 5 nights
1b) do something Not Work and Not Noodling every evening
2) Do workshop follow-up stuff (we have a follow-up meeting on Friday afternoon. In the 'ot. And my desk is in the hottest corner of my house. SIGH). Do comments on manuscript for post-grad.
3) do all the set up for transitioning into my next bullet journal...
4) do at least one more Summer Thing off my fun ideas list
5) be ready to start gaming with niece...
6) make some progress on at least setting up the VLE pages for the new academic year...
OceanGirl101
1. Director of Grad Studies stuff- prep new student orienation materials
2. Copy edit Ch 7 and finalize data analysis bits that are still left to do or to polish up
3. Dr post op appt
4. Read things for grad students
5. Prep bit of data for collaborative paper
6. Don't overdo it in steroid induced energy swells!
Susan
1. Adapt welcome module
2. Sketch out shape of standard week in undergrad class, module structure
3. Spend time with Perusall, decide whether it will work as I want it to
4. Spend one hour on Famous Author
5. Keep walking
6. Read for fun
7. Have fun in the mountains
I'm trying to enjoy being outside, listening to birds, watching the bugs flit and fly in the flower gardens, drinks on the deck, etc. Of course, since it's usually pretty lovely here through September, and I'll be teaching from home (hoping to get a lot of the pre-recorded lectures done so I can have some time to relax), summer feels like it'll just sort of be going on...and on.... But it won't be, and meetings will start (had a 2-hour meeting today about teaching; it was ironic, I thought, that I got a Zoom-induced headache from a Zoom meeting in which one of our main topics was how not to subject our students to too much Zoom!), &c.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1) Finalize big course syllabus, finish up 2 more PowerPoints, and test the video recording and uploading system - DONE, plus recorded 3 lectures! 1.5 classes have been taught!
2) Review article for journal - Yes, mostly. The final judgment will depend on some things that I'm waiting on, but I've done the hard work.
3) Read MA student's 1st chapter - Did not do! I forgot that this was on my list. I'm starting it now.
4) Call carpenter about fixing greenhouse - DONE
This week--a lot:
1) Record 2 more classes' worth of lectures, at least
2) Prep 2 more totally new PowerPoints
3) Read 2 chapters of MA thesis
4) Review other journal article
5) Miscellaneous journal-related tasks
6) Figure out parking situation (do I really need to pay $525 to hold a space I won't be using until Spring at the earliest?)
7) Announce dissertation defense
I hate Zoom and all its ilk. I'm considering giving my two dissertating grad students my phone number and having phone conferences with them. That's a technology I'm used to, we get good cell reception in this house, and I'd be able to look at their work onscreen while we talk without feeling like I should look at the camera.
DeleteTopic: I do look back at this session so far, and feel I have accomplished “some good things.” I’m in a different place than most (or all) of you, because my day job changes focus, but doesn’t lessen, in the summer. However, the major difference between last summer and this one (other than the obvious) is that I am in a much better work situation. No longer essentially making widgets that are counted at the end of every day has freed me to be more productive. Two major shifts happened--I work harder because I enjoy the work and know it is appreciated, and I am more efficient with the less than exciting data cleanup, because it is not expected to be my major focus, but something to do in the interstices. I am encouraged and supported in my research, and actually expected to do it, for the first time in a very long time.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I look back on this paradigm shift and my new workflows and feel good about them. I believe that they are becoming habitual enough I will continue them even when I go back to campus. I will have to fight the internal attraction to the “shiny,” doing the little tasks rather than the large, yet far more important, ones, which is something I have to fight more on campus than at home. I will also have to protect my time more rigorously against the raging, engulfing meeting monster, but I am getting better at that this session.
Last week’s goals:
New writing 1 hour x 5. Yes, but only 3.
Take notes on 3-4 articles for the lit review. Yes, but only 2.
Continue cleanup of paper and electronic files. 1 hour x 5 Yes, about 8 hours worth. There are many files that can be gone through while listening to books, thankfully!
For fun: one new craft project 1 hour x 4.Yes. More like 3 hours, not 4.
Analysis:
I found myself getting very annoyed at how often I was having to search for things I needed, from articles I knew I had printed and brought home, to notes and digital pictures of the rare books I was cataloging. Finally, I just devoted more time to getting things organized, and it has helped already. It impacted the writing and lit review reading, but it will pay off in the end.
Next week’s goals:
Contact Office of Research again.
Tack down the days to work in the Big City archive.
Take notes on 4-5 articles for the lit review.
Continue cleanup of paper and electronic files. 2 hours x 5
For fun: one new craft project 1 hour x 6.
I hope that oceangirl has had minimal reaction to steroids and is feeling better. Also, I hope Daisy is enjoying the camping trip and that Susan enjoyed the mountains. Finally, I hope everyone is doing well and making good progress. Float like mist, everyone.
Hooray for a better work situation! And the organizing will pay off in greater productivity and reduced mental load, so very much worthwhile to just do it.
DeleteIt's so great that you now have a better work situation, where *you* are appreciated for what you bring!
DeleteThe new house feels like being on vacation all the time. We're in the middle of so much green space; that's relaxing. We're no longer in a house that causes a lot of anxiety (what is going to go wrong this month?). We're both much calmer here. I expect all that will continue even when work ramps up, and I am looking forward to getting my fiction out of storage before too much longer---then I'm going to luxuriate in getting reacquainted with old favorites!
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
Work 3-4 hours a day, five times, with some on each of research, teaching, service (have to finish promotion review). Oh dear: I think I did about 10 hours total, last week. But 7 yesterday, to finish off the review.
Regular exercise, stretching, safe eating, fun things. Yes.
~2 hours a day unpacking and/or life admin (try to clear out some significant number of energy-sucking undone life admin tasks). Good progress in this area.
Keep track of what I'm doing so I don't wonder where the day went. Mostly.
It seems like there are days that are work-oriented and days that are house/life-oriented. That's fine, but I do want to "touch work" on house days and "touch unpacking" on work days, because I fear losing touch with projects will make it very difficult to get back to them.
These goals are working well for me, so I'm just going to keep them (with slight modifications):
Work 4-5 hours a day, five times, with some on each of research, teaching, languages.
Regular exercise, stretching, safe eating, fun things.
~2 hours a day unpacking and/or life admin (try to clear out some significant number of energy-sucking undone life admin tasks).
Keep track of what I'm doing so I don't wonder where the day went.
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteWell to speak to some good things I got done this summer- wrote a hard and long almost final chapter to my book (Ch 7, finished first copy edits on Monday!!), recovered from COVID long haul symptoms (with only a few remaining in month 4), outlined Ch 8 (final chapter of the book!!), got some work done on my house, gardened, tried to get my exercise stamina back, and had sinus surgery. Put that way it seems like I did alot. Its so much better to focus on that than what I would have liked to get done (ie. be 100% done with the book which I am not and I am stressing about given that school starts in two weeks.
This week I am going to take a deep dive into CH 8, getting as much written and outlined as I can before having to move to teaching prep next week. I also have some other bits for other papers to tend to. And I have been asked to write a regional synthetic text-like book for a very well known press. I am not sure its a great idea to embark on a new book when having hated writing my second one, but that being said, it would be a short book and alot of the research would be pretty fresh in my head- it would just require expanding themes from Book 2 to a broader region, which I tend to be good at. I want to be sure I don't just say yes because I am excited to be asked. I have realized that I do not want to write another book until 2022 as I have articles and grants that I need to get out in 2021. The editor at the press has said this is ok..... so I need to mull it over and give it some thought.
Last week:
1. Director of Grad Studies stuff- prep new student orienation materials- YES, but not complete
2. Copy edit Ch 7 and finalize data analysis bits that are still left to do or to polish up Yes to editing, last bits of analysis begin today
3. Dr post op appt- Yes
4. Read things for grad students- Sort of - 50%
5. Prep bit of data for collaborative paper- NO
6. Don't overdo it in steroid induced energy swells! Yes, but its amazing how long the steroid effects have lasted. They really are evil, at least for me
This Week:
1. COntinue to prep stuff for new grad student orientation
2. Outline Ch 8 and start writing
3. Data bits finalized for Ch 7, rewrite text as needed
4. Data bits together for co-authored paper
5. Consider if I want to write regional text-like book for well known press
6. Paperwork for aunt in memory care to get her into state system
7. Consider buying porch furniture so outdoor space is more comfy and available for social distancing with a friend at a time during cooler months
I am SO GLAD to hear you're recovering well. And the book! The book! In spite of COVID, too.
DeleteThis is indeed a lot, and it's wise to think about whether to say yes. My experience with the overview essays (and Famous Author, which is more synthetic) is that that particular kind of writing is *hard*.
DeleteBut glad that recovery is going well!
Yay feeling better, yay book, yay getting surgery out of the way! This is an excellent way to look at things. And I vote "yes" on the porch furniture: reward yourself now, and enjoy the memories of a successful summer every time you sit outside!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHaving a rather crappy week; haven't made any of my goals. I'll be back for the next week's check-in, hopeful for progress.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry. Sending good vibes your way.
DeleteOvercome By Events happens. Here's to a better 7 days next week!
DeleteI hope that I can develop a rhythm to work once the semester starts that is under control. I particularly hope I can keep with the mostly no work after dinner piece. The good enough has to keep going because otherwise...
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
1. Adapt welcome module YES, mostly
2. Sketch out shape of standard week in undergrad class, module structure YES
3. Spend time with Perusall, decide whether it will work as I want it to SPENT SOME TIME, need more
4. Spend one hour on Famous Author YES
5. Keep walking YES, mostly
6. Read for fun YES (finished two books, almost done with 3rd.)
7. Have fun in the mountains YES (see above re. reading for fun)
I am making progress getting ready for the semester, so that's good. I've now done the workshops on zoom teaching and making videos, which instead of saying here's how you do X, were "Here's where we have instructions on this on our website". They seemed shocked in the one on making instructional videos that I wanted to know how you actually did it, not be told where I could watch an instruction video! /Grumble grumble grumble//
I had a great time in the mountains, though it was a lot of driving. My niece seemed surprised that I was happy to sit in my room and read, rather than sitting at the pool where the kids were making lots of noise! But it was great. It also convinced me that my beach getaway needs to be 3 nights so I can *really* dig into the reading, and I've now booked it.
Otherwise, it's been a bit emotional the last few days, as yesterday I learned that 2 colleagues had died - and I spent the day immeasurably sad (between 4 zoom meetings).
Goals for the week ahead:
1. Meet with TA and work out Perusall
2. 3 hours on Canvas website & syllabus for big course
3. Try 2 programs and make trial video
4. Contact colleagues to schedule first set of roundtables.
5. Spend 3 hours on famous author
6. Read essays for Article Prize #1
7. Keep reading for fun
8. Keep walking
9. Be kind
"Good enough" IS good enough. Your mountains trip sounds lovely, as does the idea of three nights at the beach---glad to hear you booked it. If there were anywhere worth going within a few hours' drive of where I am, I'd do it, but the new house is very nice and much simpler/cheaper/less stressful to stay here and enjoy the yard and deck!
DeleteSo sorry to hear the news about your colleagues. Virtual hugs if you want them.