Scrolling back to May, I have learned that this is the last week of our summer session! On one hand, it makes sense since we seem to be moving into that liminal space where summer disappears and we are all-in on fall. I so wish it were a covid-free fall, and am sending out vibes for good health, good circumstances, and no undo stress.
Session goals follow last week’s goal below. Please report as you wish on the past week as well as any last shifts you want to make during the final week of the session. And, as usual, seeking volunteers for the next round. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Not setting any goals.
heu mihi
1. Finish anniversary book (an annual project, due August 15)
2. Draft another lecture for Fall class
3. Car upkeep
4. Yard upkeep
5. Read/write for 5 hours, minimum
6. Exercise as appropriate
humming42
1 overdue academic book review
2 other (now) overdue academic book review
3 draft two modules for collectively authored online course
4 two creative submissions
JaneB
My goals for the next week are all domestic, as I am on annual leave and my house is beyond messy. I also intend naps and D&D!
karen
- get up all AT2 materials online and maintain one week buffer.
- clear all postgrad feedback
- SoTL notes on 3 articles/chapters and 1 pomodoro writing response
- walk 10 000 steps at least one day a week, 2 x yoga classes and 3 x online exercise program thingy
- transplant aquilegias etc into flower bed, prune berry/currant bushes
- cast on second sleeve of jumper, mend jeans and dishcloth
Susan
1. Finish syllabi for fall classes
2. Two writing sessions of 2 hours on book
3. Make progress on self-study and survey
4. See friends
5. Resume exercise/healthy eating
6. Get regular sleep (big challenge is that the cats seem to think my wake up time is 4:30 AM. Somehow that's worse than 5.)
Session goals
Daisy
1) For research I have four papers in various stages, I would like to finish and submit at least three of them.
a) The Albatross - it has been far too long, but this one is the furthest from being finished so it is by far the scariest. It is also the most difficult of the lot, so will take serious effort.
b) Problematic local project - was submitted and pulled back last session, did more analysis, and the answer is exactly the same as before but with better documentation. The good part is that the paper is 90% written, so once the new analyses are complete it should be an easy win.
c) Fun new local project with new co-author - this one is a completely new one for me, and the co-author really needs it to be done so it will be a great chance to "do something nice to help an ECR" type submission. This one needs quite a bit of analytical work but will be the foundation of some future things so absolutely worth doing.
d) Cool very old thing - paper is written but has revisions to do and first author switched to a new job and will never have time for this. I am taking over the revise/resubmit job to get it going again.
2) For habits and health I want to:
a) keep exercising without injuries
b) add some consistent creative activities that will keep through the coming sabbatical year
3) Field Work - the best part of the year! If we're allowed... who knows when...
4) Vacation! As in take one and enjoy it!
Dame Eleanor Hull
*paint a couple of rooms, maybe even three;
*unpack a lot of boxes;
*revise Albatross & send out;
*achieve one polished chapter and the introduction for Book in Progress;
*work on other chapters as inspired;
*prep all four syllabuses that I'll need for next year;
*find new doctor;
*garden as needed/desired.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Mantra: Evaluate
Research: Finish a polished draft of Illuminated.
Begin the process of turning Prudence from a dissertation into a book.
Outline the last of the three translators to finish up Translators.
Contact Co-editor.
Health:
Make medical appointments, especially with those doctors with whom contact was lost during 2020.
Walk in the stacks 3 times daily as well as the early morning and evenings during the hot days.
Be more mindful about eating.
Meditate at least three times a day.
The way I interpret my mantra is "do not agree, without extremely careful thought, to do anything that will impact my research time."
By the end of the summer, I want to have a finished draft of Illuminated, and a rough draft of the early translators article. Finally, I have to reconnect with my co-editor, because we need to start pulling things together.
Good Enough Woman
Academic and Academic-Adjacent:
-Draft the Rambling essay
-Draft the Vampire paper
Creative work:
-Plan and begin DIY MFA
-Outline novel
-write 5,000 words of novel
-write at least one short story
Health:
-More veggies (2-3 servings per day)
-Exercise Daily (walking, stretching, dancing, swimming are all options)
-Try to fix feet (plantar fasciitis)
-Go to the dentist
House:
-Do 3-5 maintenance or decluttering tasks per week
-maintain sanity and marriage equilibrium during some home improvements (new flooring, etc.)
People:
-See my mom at least once per week
-soak up time with son before he goes to college
-keep training the dog and try not to let him drive me crazy (he's not a person, but he affects my relationship with people, so . . . )
-write a couple of letters/cards each week
heu mihi
1. Writing: Book review; Death article; plan for next big project; grant proposal; submit manuscript for edited collection. Ideally start on another piece of next big project.
2. Teaching: Prep lectures for two new books in fall course; read difficult stuff for spring graduate seminar.
3. Exercise: Stick with the exercise regime and run more than 3 miles at least 10 times.
4. Self-care: Eat two vegan meals per week; stretch most nights before bed; take periodic Forest Days.
5. Reading: as many books as I can.
humming42
Teaching
Clean up and add content to summer online class before mid-June
Finish edits and get approval for online class
Draft curriculum proposal for new academic minor
Research
Enjoy summer batch of book reviews: 4 for online journals, 2 for academic journals
Draft DQ book proposal
Create PowerPoint for virtual conference presentation
Creative
Write and submit gun violence piece
Submit to EK competition
Write enough of tiny project to send to manuscript editor before end of July
Organize existing drafts of poems and flash nonfiction
Create a submission plan
Domestic
Finish cleaning office
Build and fill bookcases
Clear all recycling from house and garage
Susan
1. I'm on a book prize committee for the major professional organization in my field, and I have about 80 books now sitting in my office which will have to be read over the summer. (And in answer to last week's questions, my guess is that I will in fact read seriously 10-20 books: in the first read, the only question is whether it's a serious contender, and that becomes clear pretty fast)
2. Get class prepared for fall. Still need to do book orders, and then get a syllabus done. (Classes start right after this session ends.)
3. Start working on the next (last big?) chapter of Famous Author, a book I'm envisioning as short but which is turning out to be much harder to write than I'd like. I finished chapter 2, the chapter which would not end, last week. I'm not going to set big goals, but I'd like to feel as if it's underway before the semester starts.
4. Draft part of the self-study for the program review of our graduate program. Why did I say I'd do that (I know - so that it didn't land on an assistant professor with a 2 y.o.) Most of the hard part will be done when school starts up again, but there's a lot that is formulaic and/or straightforward that I want to get done this summer.
5. Odds and ends: I have a book review to finish, and am - in addition to the book prize -- on an article prize committee (but it's only 8 articles, so not onerous)
6. Admin fragments for professional organization of which I am president, but that should be pretty manageable.
7. I have the fancy bike and its exercise programs, and I want to just keep working out so I stay healthy.
8. Read for fun
9. Get good sleep
Hello, I'm putting off going to bed (nearly midnight in the UK) because tomorrow is "back to work" after about 10 days off. We have five weeks to go until the students return, are being sent cheery methods about how we won't need most COVID mitigations because All Is Well, and it feels like being in a horror movie where I can see the horror-creature-things and other people refuse to listen. I do not like.
ReplyDeleteMy goals for last week were all domestic. The house is still beyond messy but SLIGHTLY less so -for the first week I was just DONE WITH EVERYTHING, but over the last few days I've made small steps and plans, and it feels more possible to not live in chaos.
Of course, back to work tomorrow, so that will wear off fast. i needed 1-2 months, but this is what was possible around work obligations, and sometimes you just do what you can.
I also intended naps - many were had - and D&D - I did some D&D things... at the moment I am running two games for a group of my nibling's friends, one based on a published module (you can buy a book with the plot elements, choices, maps, possible encounters and monsters laid out so preparing is a case of reading that week's chunk of information) but which has developed its own flavour as I had to do some making up of stuff when not everyone could attend, plus a "home brew" game where I have to prepare the maps, plot, characters they meet etc. - we play those games alternate weeks, so one week it's the easy to prepare one, the next it's the home-made one that takes a while. I've now got a bit of a start on the next few sessions of the home-made one, and we played one game of each. Plus my D&D playing revived last summer just playing a one-to-one game with my nibling (which was also home made because the ones to buy always assume you have a group to play with), which we put on hold once the larger group started playing, and I did the work necessary to revive that and nibling and I played the start of the next arc this afternoon, which was a nice way to end the leave.
The goals for the coming week are self care, marking all the resits (depending on how many came in that might be a LOT OF MARKING), and finally facing up to the closeness of the return of students - I have to make a lot of lists and plans and send a lot of emails and do paperwork (no timetable, no official work load assignment, and my partner teacher (soc sci/humanities) for the three skills in beach studies/interdisciplinary beach studies basics modules hasn't been appointed yet, but hey. Five weeks to go...
There must be a place where university admins go to learn happy talk. We get the same, and it's just so frustrating, especially because our county is not very vaccinated, and Delta is doing its thing. They act as if we're stupid. Sending good vibes your way.
DeleteI love hearing about your D&D games!
DeleteIt does feel like a time of shifting energy to me - the weather here is very unsettled - going from glorious sun to wind and rain and round and round. Trying to stay grounded and carry the warmth through.
ReplyDelete- get up all AT2 materials online and maintain one week buffer. YES
- clear all postgrad feedback. YES. (though like the tide, more work has arrived since).
- SoTL notes on 3 articles/chapters and 1 pomodoro writing response. 1 and a bit chapters, during departmental writing group time. Progress is a win.
- walk 10 000 steps at least one day a week, 2 x yoga classes and 3 x online exercise program thingy. Didn't make step count, but did continue using step hacks (slightly further away park etc). 3 yoga classes, 1 online thingy.
- transplant aquilegias etc into flower bed, prune berry/currant bushes. No - bad weather on the weekend made this unappealing, but did finish the rose pruning and sowed seeds for herbs and flowers for the indoor heat mat/greenhouse.
- cast on second sleeve of jumper, mend jeans and dishcloth. Yes to sleeve, no to mending.
This week:
-keep building good habits on steps (maybe aim to pull weekly average higher?), 3 x yoga class, 3 x online exercise program.
-mend jeans, dishcloth, belt - knitting optional for fun
-prune berries/currants and do the pre-bud-burst spray on fruit trees
-spend 3 hours on SoTL notes and writing
-additional week of buffer for online teaching material
I'm happy to host/cohost the next session, as I've got a bit more of a routine going now given we're partway through the semester. Anyone want to share with me? If we take a week off and start the next session on the first weekend in September, 12 weeks goes through to end of Nov, or we could add another couple of weeks to go closer to Christmas.
And now I'm re-reading with actual comprehension, I'm realising this is the actual last. week of the session, as in the final reporting! Oops, I thought last week meant one more week... Time flies.
DeleteThanks to. the hosts humming42 and heu mihi, and thanks to you all for letting me jump in mid-session.
I might be able to co-host.
DeleteEnding sessions often gets a little weird! I interpreted the May plan as having one last check-in this weekend (8/21-22), but whatever . . .
DeleteSusan, I'd be up for co-hosting with you.
Our heroine struggles back to consciousness, feeling strangely blind and helpless. Gradually she realizes that she has been bound hand and foot, and is in a pitch-dark room, probably rather large, but filled with various hard, pointy objects, judging by the echoes and some tentative feeling about. At least she's not gagged! But what has happened? How did she arrive at this pass? The last thing she remembers is walking on a rocky northern beach, enjoying the cool breeze and bright sun. Who could have knocked her on the head and transported her to this chamber? And why? She's not sure whether to hope someone will come, or hope they don't!
ReplyDeleteAs you will gather, I do not feel ready for the end of either the session or the summer! I've been sandbagged!
DeleteThe whole of last week was "Other." I unpacked about ten boxes, power-washed the deck and otherwise prepped it for painting, bought the paint . . . but the weekend ended before I got the paint on it. I added to my lists of Stuff To Do, including some fun activities. I planted some plants contributed by a friend who was cutting back her overgrown garden. I started reading another fantasy novel. And today I'm on contract and back to work, though fretting a bit about the deck, because if I don't paint it soon, I'll have to re-prep it.
How I did with the session:
*paint a couple of rooms, maybe even three: TWO.
*unpack a lot of boxes: YES for some value of "a lot."
*revise Albatross & send out: YES.
*achieve one polished chapter and the introduction for Book in Progress: NOOoooo. Very not. Some work on book achieved, but not nearly enough.
*work on other chapters as inspired: Some, as above.
*prep all four syllabuses that I'll need for next year: NO. How very ambitious of my May self.
*find new doctor: NO
*garden as needed/desired: YES. Quite a lot of gardening! New flower bed, flourishing veg patch, more tomatoes & herbs in pots.
It looks like it was more a summer of "life" than of "work," with gardening, painting, and unpacking. I got the Albatross off my neck, which is a definite plus. I did a little work planning one of my fall classes, but definitely did not stick to the one-course-per-month model that I planned back in May. Well, reach must exceed grasp, or what's a heaven for?
I like the idea of a summer for life more than work!
DeleteWow!! The end already? I guess it makes sense but boy did that go fast…
ReplyDeleteI will not even look back at the previous goals from two weeks ago, will go straight for session ones… And I will do them backwards because that puts the happy positive ones up front and I think that is worth doing!
4) Vacation! As in take one and enjoy it!
THIS WAS GREAT! 2 Weeks of no work and lots of ice cream and beaches and great kid company, she’s already put in the request for doing it again next year.
3) Field Work - the best part of the year! If we're allowed... who knows when...
IT HAPPENED! YAY! We actually got about 5 solid weeks of work done, more than expected, and have about 10 more days scheduled right now before mid-September. It mostly happened in the hot dry weather, so that was extra bonus (for this particular rain-soaked island “dry” means it only rains once a day, not continuously).
2) For habits and health I want to:
a) keep exercising without injuries YES! Not injured, appreciably stronger, and even periodic runs have worked out. Very happy with this!
b) add some consistent creative activities that will keep through the coming sabbatical year. NOT MUCH DOING but definitely some good thoughts. Meanwhile read lots and lots of books…
1) For research I have four papers in various stages, I would like to finish and submit at least three of them.
a) The Albatross - it has been far too long, but this one is the furthest from being finished so it is by far the scariest. It is also the most difficult of the lot, so will take serious effort. DIDN’T TOUCH THIS ONE BUT WORKED ON AND MOSTLY FINISHED CLOSELY RELATED BABY ALBATROSS SO NOT A DEAD LOSS…
b) Problematic local project - was submitted and pulled back last session, did more analysis, and the answer is exactly the same as before but with better documentation. The good part is that the paper is 90% written, so once the new analyses are complete it should be an easy win. ORGANIZED AND VETTED NEW DATA, UPDATED FIGURES, THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT STRUCTURE, SHOULD TAKE ABOUT A WEEK OF CONSISTENT WORK FOR WHAT IS LEFT.
c) Fun new local project with new co-author - this one is a completely new one for me, and the co-author really needs it to be done so it will be a great chance to "do something nice to help an ECR" type submission. DID LOTS BUT NOT ENOUGH ANALYSIS TO BE DONE YET, ON DECK THIS WEEK AND NEXT…
d) Cool very old thing - paper is written but has revisions to do and first author switched to a new job and will never have time for this. I am taking over the revise/resubmit job to get it going again. HAVE SADLY NOT TOUCHED IT…
BONUS RESEARCH THING: paper I kind of forgot about got accepted with some of the nicest reviews I’ve ever seen, and very minor corrections, so yay!
Overall I’m pretty happy with the summer. Counting field work and vacation as “away” I was out for about 7 weeks, which makes me feel a great deal better about the “where did the summer go???” feeling, and the distinct lack of progress on some areas… There was lots of worthwhile other stuff that happened (professional society and conference organizing stuff mostly, also some good friend time), and I definitely did get a reasonable amount of space from work and feel recharged after the last two weeks of being away.
For this coming week I will haul out ALL the in-progress papers and do an inventory of what needs to be done next, and pick one from each and just do it!
Thank you to our lovely hosts for keeping us on track and motivated and in good company!
I love to hear that you were out for 7 weeks! Yay!
DeleteMantra: Evaluate
ReplyDeleteResearch: Finish a polished draft of Illuminated. No.
Begin the process of turning Prudence from a dissertation into a book. No.
Outline the last of the three translators to finish up Translators. Yes.
Contact Co-editor. Yes.
Health:
Make medical appointments, especially with those doctors with whom contact was lost during 2020. Yes.
Walk in the stacks 3 times daily as well as the early morning and evenings during the hot days. Yes, since July 5th.
Be more mindful about eating. Yes.
Meditate at least three times a day.Yes.
The way I interpret my mantra is "do not agree, without extremely careful thought, to do anything that will impact my research time."
By the end of the summer, I want to have a finished draft of Illuminated, and a rough draft of the early translators article. Finally, I have to reconnect with my co-editor, because we need to start pulling things together. No, yes, and yes.
Rather than call the summer a failure, I prefer to see it as a time I spent a lot of time on my health (and the beginning of the fall will be more of the same). There was a lot more uncertainty about where I would be working than I’m used to: “Everyone has to come back July 5th”; on July 11th: “Some of you can work from home until August 2nd”; on August 4th:,”Well, some of you can work from home until September 2nd”; and then last week: “Well, we’re working on a plan that will go into effect on September 2nd.” I don’t do well with this sort of uncertainty, and the frustration of looking for a book at home to realize it was in my campus office, or vice versa.
So, on research, I did some work on Illuminated, and really want to get that off my plate. I do have a very rough draft of the early translators article, and I did contact my co-editor.
Invoking my mantra, I decided service on the college P&T committee was intense, but interesting. I dropped out of all of my national committees, because they had to do with the old job, and I wanted a break before I dove into the ones for the new job.
Thank you for hosting, heu mihi and humming! I look forward to the next session. Float like mist, everyone.
Health has to take priority! I hope everything works out well.
DeleteHello! Well, that was a summer, was it? Wow. I could use another one (but I do feel more collected than I did in May, so that's something).
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Finish anniversary book (an annual project, due August 15)
DONE
2. Draft another lecture for Fall class
DONE
3. Car upkeep
TM took care of one of them; the Subaru still needs to get inspected, but I have until the end of August, so....
4. Yard upkeep
The most urgent stuff was accomplished. The less urgent will continue to be neglected.
5. Read/write for 5 hours, minimum
No! Not even close. Ha ha!
6. Exercise as appropriate
Sure?
Session goals:
1. Writing: Book review; Death article; plan for next big project; grant proposal; submit manuscript for edited collection. Ideally start on another piece of next big project.
Book review - Yes
Death article - Submitted
Plan - I do have a plan, yes
Grant proposal - Drafted and sent to friend for feedback
MS for edited collection - NO, this will never ever be done
Another piece of big project - Not sure what the "another" is doing there, since I don't have any real pieces of it yet--just preparatory articles that I don't plan to put into the big project. But I do think that I at least know what I'm doing for the next few months, research-wise, so I'll call that a win.
2. Teaching: Prep lectures for two new books in fall course; read difficult stuff for spring graduate seminar.
9/10 lectures have been prepped; the most difficult stuff has been read.
3. Exercise: Stick with the exercise regime and run more than 3 miles at least 10 times.
Pretty much, with substitutions (swimming!). I've run more than 3 miles 9 times, but I thought that I still had this week to get the last one in, so I'm okay on that front--I *will* do the 10th run soon, probably tomorrow.
4. Self-care: Eat two vegan meals per week; stretch most nights before bed; take periodic Forest Days.
Vegan: Much better in the first half of the summer. I think that I averaged close to two per week, at least. Forest days: A few. The weather wasn't very cooperative (too cold/wet or too hot/humid). But this is something that I should be able to keep up through mid-fall.
5. Reading: as many books as I can.
An unassessable goal! Awesome. Sure? I mean, I could have read more books, but I could have read fewer, too.
Thanks, humming42, for the excellent co-hosting!
You are, as ever, an inspiration!
DeleteLast week's goals:
ReplyDelete1. Finish syllabi for fall classes YES, drafts up on website
2. Two writing sessions of 2 hours on book No, maybe 1 hour?
3. Make progress on self-study and survey NO, haven't touched
4. See friends Yes
5. Resume exercise/healthy eating Yes
6. Get regular sleep (big challenge is that the cats seem to think my wake up time is 4:30 AM. Somehow that's worse than 5.) Mostly yes
Partly, I forgot to put on that list all the reading I'm doing:it's a book a day for the next 8 days. (This is for the book prize committee I'm on. It's like studying for general exams.) And then got caught up in campus drama with our admin's constant insistence that we will be in person no matter what because a vaccination and mask mandate means it doesn't matter than our county is 1/3 vaccinated. And then a housing crisis for students caused a delay in in person teaching, and they told us any teaching next week (first week of classes) had to be asynchronous, so I have to think that through. But I did drive up to the metropolis to see old friends, and I had a friend for dinner, so very sociable.
SESSION GOALS
1. I'm on a book prize committee for the major professional organization in my field, and I have about 80 books now sitting in my office which will have to be read over the summer. (And in answer to last week's questions, my guess is that I will in fact read seriously 10-20 books: in the first read, the only question is whether it's a serious contender, and that becomes clear pretty fast)
-- Now in the middle of the final read (see above), and it's interesting but a bit exhausting!
2. Get class prepared for fall. Still need to do book orders, and then get a syllabus done. (Classes start right after this session ends.) YES
3. Start working on the next (last big?) chapter of Famous Author, a book I'm envisioning as short but which is turning out to be much harder to write than I'd like. I finished chapter 2, the chapter which would not end, last week. I'm not going to set big goals, but I'd like to feel as if it's underway before the semester starts.
YES - There's a direction, and I think I can do it.
4. Draft part of the self-study for the program review of our graduate program. Why did I say I'd do that (I know - so that it didn't land on an assistant professor with a 2 y.o.) Most of the hard part will be done when school starts up again, but there's a lot that is formulaic and/or straightforward that I want to get done this summer.
YES - but not as much as I wished.
5. Odds and ends: I have a book review to finish, and am - in addition to the book prize -- on an article prize committee (but it's only 8 articles, so not onerous)
BOOK REVIEW DONE, NOT ARTICLE PRIZE
6. Admin fragments for professional organization of which I am president, but that should be pretty manageable.
DONE
7. I have the fancy bike and its exercise programs, and I want to just keep working out so I stay healthy.
YES
8. Read for fun YES
9. Get good sleep YES
All in all, a good session - I've mostly met my goals, and it feels manageable. A reminder that it's better to be realistic!
Thank you, Heu Mihi and Humming42 for hosting!
What a great summer---travel and meeting goals!
DeleteNot stellar work on the summer goals. I haven’t had the “time to write a paper so I’m going to clean my house” plague since college, but with classes starting Monday I am suddenly compelled to do the recycling and clean my office. Unfortunately, I am basically out of time. I did a lot of creative work this summer but since I have dozens of drafts and only a few finished pieces, I’m not sure how many submissions will be completed. As I’ll report in next session’s goals, I have two conference papers to present on topics I have not yet researched extensively. Promises to be an interesting fall. Reporting on session goals:
ReplyDeleteTeaching
Clean up and add content to summer online class before mid-June: no, but it was fine
Finish edits and get approval for online class: yes, finally
Draft curriculum proposal for new academic minor: no, but I think about it endlessly
Research
Enjoy summer batch of book reviews: 4 for online journals, 2 for academic journals: not quite
Draft DQ book proposal: no
Create PowerPoint for virtual conference presentation: yes
Creative
Write and submit gun violence piece: no
Submit to EK competition: yes, was a finalist & piece was published (yay!)
Write enough of tiny project to send to manuscript editor before end of July: no
Organize existing drafts of poems and flash nonfiction: somewhat
Create a submission plan: no and I feel like I have to put that all aside for now
Domestic
Finish cleaning office: no
Build and fill bookcases: no
Clear all recycling from house and garage: no
Pleasure cohosting with you, heu mihi!
I'm only not painting the deck because thunderstorms are predicted . . . I hope the fall is interesting in a good sense!
DeleteThe pleasure was all mine!
DeleteCongratulations on the published piece--that's wonderful!
Thank you, heu mihi and Humming42, for a very helpful session that kept us on track!
ReplyDeleteAs I said in a comment above, I'd be willing to co-host with Susan for the next session. We can communicate separately about when to start/end, and put up a post advertising the next session soon.