Now that we are attired for dinner, I wonder if we might like some hors d'oeuvres? What delectable delights might tempt us?
Or translating that to work, how can we break down tasks into smaller pieces that we can bite off? In what ways can you make this week more palatable?
Daisy
1) Write 2 sections of original text for new local paper
2) Do modelling work for new local paper
3) Ongoing grad student feedback
4) Read a selected pile of literature on new-to-me technique
5) Fun patio visit with friends
6) Attend all the appointments I so dutifully set up
7) Field trip on weekend! Yay!
Dame Eleanor Hull
*Keep working on chapter, send some part of it to RL writing group
*Correct Johnson's exercises
*Regular language study of my own (3-4x)
*Regular scholarly reading (3-4x)
*Filing
*Arrange tickets
*Usual resolutions about sleep and exercise
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
2 pages per day on the French drama guide.
Read 3 articles.
Clear one square foot x 3 on campus desk surface.
heu midi
1. Keep up usual exercise, sitting, self-care. Go to the woods at least once.
2. Catch up on my (soi-disant) "research plan" and figure out what I need to do next; do that thing.
3. LORs for two grad students
4. Photograph house to seek renter for next fall's sabbatical
5. Apply for small internal grant
6. Work through 3 WH essays
humming42
1 submit now late book review
2 write remaining assignments for 7 week class*
3 present at photos conference
4 submit proposal for teaching class
Jane B
1) self-care: do 3 songs worth of exercise each day, clean out the flipping "basket swap", clear off the reading chair in my work area
2) teaching: get week 1 materials prepared, fix all the "list items" for my VLE sites (6 sites), start on week 2
3) admin: get caught up on stupid CPD videos and things (1 to go if I can find it). Send email to sort out local chatty group.
4) research: read over what we said we'd do for the grant that got funded, and make some initial notes. decide whether to submit possible PhD idea for internal competition. finish details & submit Ferret! Please let Ferret get submitted...
Karen (carried over)
- Teaching: record next week's lecture, get assessment FAQ page done, send around marking instructions for the upcoming round
- Research: feedback to O, chase P for writing/meeting; 3 pomodoros on SoTL and finish abstract
-Self and home: 3 x pomodoro on home office, 3 x yoga/online exercise thing; increase weekly steps average, be kind
Susan
1. 2 sessions on Famous Author
2. Get as much of self-study done as I can without the relevant information (3-6 hours)
3. Read two journals
4. Schedule guests for graduate class
5. Schedule duct cleaning, call about yard and floor refinishing
6. Do work in garden (take Saturday off work for home & fun)
7. Read for pleasure
8. Keep up with exercise/healthy eating
I love hors d'oeuvres! I'm a sucker for the university reception classics--artichoke dip, a baked brie--but perhaps something a little lighter is in order. I made tapenade on Sunday for my olive-loving child; any takers?
ReplyDeleteBreaking work down into smaller pieces is a good idea.... With the advent of the semester (4 weeks ago, so it's not exactly new), I became disconnected from my research again. I need to bring it back in! I'm trying to think in terms of discrete, small, manageable reading tasks, but I also need to WRITE THINGS DOWN, so that needs to be on the menu.
Last week:
1. Keep up usual exercise, sitting, self-care. Go to the woods at least once.
Mostly good. I did manage a nice walk in the woods. Missed one yoga class. But I also went for a 6-mile run--my longest run ever! I did have to walk a bit of it; I wound up on the other side of a mountain from where I'd meant to be, and my "short cut" went straight up and over.
2. Catch up on my (soi-disant) "research plan" and figure out what I need to do next; do that thing.
Sort of. I mean, I kind of did, but my research plan is so shoddy and vague that this didn't do much for me (or require much of me, either).
3. LORs for two grad students - Yes
4. Photograph house to seek renter for next fall's sabbatical
Mostly. The loft/study and kitchen remain to be done. This is a project!
5. Apply for small internal grant - Yes
6. Work through 3 WH essays - Yes
This week:
1. Usual exercise, sitting, self-care
2. Sabbatical prep: Email French university, finish photographing house, list house on short-term rental website
3. Re-revise larger grant application, incorporating second reader's suggestions
4. 3 more WH essays; writing session with co-editor
5. Read short book for research; read a bit of much longer book; write something down
6. Grade 1st batch of papers (25)
Yum, olives - I'll certainly have some of the. tapenade (and if you have a good recipe, do share? My olive-loving child might like it as well). Our university function food seems to have distinct regional variations - always worth a trip to the inner-city. cool vocational hang out, but the repurposed teachers college tends towards the rubber mass produced muffins and variations on the theme of sandwich.
DeleteGood luck with the house photography project - sabbatical prep, for all the hoops, must be exciting!
Would it help to set a daily goal in terms of text, time or word count? Ten pages read, or 30 minutes, or 200 words of notes . . .
DeleteHmmm… I recently had crostini with roasted beets and goat cheese as a topping, that was fantastic and I’m a sucker for anything with vegetables and cheese. But honestly, anything that I don’t have to make is extremely appealing so I’m not picky!
ReplyDeleteWorking in small chunks can be really effective, but I’m really struggling with the incremental bits because it so often feels like one is busy and working and doing the right things but progress is barely visible. I don’t know where the optimal point is for dividing tasks, the sweet spot would be small enough to be achievable but big enough to look and feel like progress when it is done?
Reasonable week for goals last week. This coming one is a very short one because field trip also had two days with grad students so I won’t even be home till mid-week. So no brand new goals, just more of the same…
Last week’s goals:
1) Write 2 sections of original text for new local paper SOME
2) Do modelling work for new local paper SOME
3) Ongoing grad student feedback DONE
4) Read a selected pile of literature on new-to-me technique SOME
5) Fun patio visit with friends DONE
6) Attend all the appointments I so dutifully set up DONE
7) Field trip on weekend! Yay! DONE
This week’s goals:
1) Continue writing original text for new local paper
2) Finish modelling work for new local paper
3) Do grad course prep and organize readings for students
4) Get a few early nights to make up for lack of sleep while traveling
I hear you on incremental progress being a challenge in maintaining motivation. For me, I find that having realistic expectations for myself for the smaller sessions/goals is key - which usually means stepping outside myself and asking what I would expect a colleague or student to do in that time rather than being overly and unrealistically demanding of myself.
DeleteGood luck for the field trip!
Great idea about thinking what you would expect of a student or colleague! Hmm, maybe we should set goals *for each other* instead of our own!
DeleteI'm not great on small bits of work, but I actually do them inadvertently!
DeleteI do love fancy snacks, but can very rarely be bothered making them myself. Must speak to Cook about the menu, I expect!
ReplyDeleteFirst local asparagus of the season at the farmer's market this weekend, so maybe something using that.
I'm using pomodoros for most things at the moment, mostly to get over the dreaded hump of getting started. And trying to use the small satisfaction of ticking off pomodoros as motivation rather than snack foods :)
- Teaching: record next week's lecture, get assessment FAQ page done, send around marking instructions for the upcoming round.
End is in sight! Just about to record the final formal lecture, marking just needs comments written up and then released (moderation done).
- Research: feedback to O, chase P for writing/meeting; 3 pomodoros on SoTL and finish abstract. Postgrads are mostly on track, though I feel like the comments I'm giving them are getting blunter as my patience runs out. But they are all seeming to be moving forward at the moment, which is nice. SoTL just didn;t happened, abstract deadline whooshed by, will make this more of a summer project as teaching clears.
-Self and home: 3 x pomodoro on home office, 3 x yoga/online exercise thing; increase weekly steps average, be kind.
I think I've mostly done this.
Next week
(noting that school holidays mean I'm down two working days)
Teaching - find kindness when chasing up missing students/assessments.
Research - put together the big end of year timeline so I know when will be peak periods for postgard feedback.
Self & Home - op shop drop, 2 x pomodoro home office clean up, enjoy school holiday time.
Definitely speak to Cook! Seriously, I find it helpful to imagine myself switching from being the scholarly Dame Eleanor to being Cook (or Morrison, or the gardener).
DeleteOn the hors d’oeuvres front, I fall in company with heu mihi’s taste for the baked brie. I do like a plate of hummus and pita as well. And back in my graduate student days, the artichoke and spinach dip from some department late afternoon do was often my dinner, I blush to admit!
ReplyDeleteMoving to the writing front, I have been focussed on things that I’m enjoying, but that will not necessarily lead to peer-reviewed articles. Sigh. However, digging into the provenance of one of our collections of 17th-century books has led to some very interesting 18-century collectors, so there might be something there.
I also need to swoop down from my thousand-foot view and list the small things that need to get done on some of my neglected projects. Maybe I should put one or two on this week’s list....
Last week’s goals:
2 pages per day on the French drama guide. Yes, often 3.
Read 3 articles. Only two. I will try again.
Clear one square foot x 3 on campus desk surface. Yes. The irony is that I was approved to telecommute 2 days a week, so the home office desk needs the attention now. Not complaining, mind, just pointing out the irony.
Next week’s goals:
2 pages a day on the French drama guide.
Prepare for class session 1 hour x 3.
Read two articles.
Pick one languishing project and do a reverse outline for the hors d’oeuvres.
I see leaves changing when I look out either my home or campus office windows. I like fall, so I am rejoicing at the red and gold leaves peeking through the greenery. Float like mist, everyone!
I'm glad to hear you got your WFH request approved. Reverse outlining can be a great help, so I hope that goes well.
DeleteYes, good to hear that you have wfh confirmed. I've actually found moving between home office 92-3 days per week) and on campus office means I keep them both tidier, so that I can more easily take crucial bits with me - but I do still have 3 boxes worth of hurried campus office pack up to deal with at home.
DeleteI am a huge fan of all things snacky and hors d'oeuvres. I will join the brie celebration and will request hummus and pita chips as well. Spinach artichoke dip will be added to my plate as well!
ReplyDeleteBreaking down tasks to bite-sized is appropriate for me this week. Traveling this weekend means trying to get everything done before Thursday, so I have just made the most detailed list of tasks that I can finish in the next 36 hours.
Last week:
1 submit now late book review: not yet
2 write remaining assignments for 7 week class*: not yet
3 present at photos conference: yes
4 submit proposal for teaching class: yes
This week:
1 submit now late book review
2 write remaining assignments for 7 week class
3 submit abstract to spring conference
4 write and submit other book review
I hope you manage to get everything done that has to be done, and then enjoy the travel!
DeleteDelightful! The olives remind me of the summer I spent with Sir John on Crete, just after we eloped.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I will put aside the persona to think about breaking down tasks. I'm finding it amazingly motivating to have small classes this term. My grad class turned in papers last night and I have already finished grading them. I do not recognize myself! When I know I can finish in two hours---as opposed to barely getting started (so why bother when I could use that time on something I could finish?)---it helps so much. I suppose the lesson is that I need to break down bigger tasks this way.
How I did:
*Keep working on chapter, send some part of it to RL writing group. YES.
*Correct Johnson's exercises. YES.
*Regular language study of my own (3-4x). YES---finally!
*Regular scholarly reading (3-4x). x2, much better than nothing.
*Filing. NO.
*Arrange tickets. NO. In theory, Sir John and I are going to tackle this together sometime today.
*Usual resolutions about sleep and exercise. About a B or B+ here, I'd say.
New goals:
*language study and scholarly reading, x3-4 each.
*500 new words in the Households chapter
*mark exercises from both Johnson and Miss Baddesley
*tidy up the garden
*some other Useful Life Thing
Small classes are wonderful, aren't they. I love also being able to see how feedback on work actually gets noticed and applied in the next task (at least some times) where in big classes, and especially online ones I can;t mentally keep track in that way.
DeleteAnother entry into the hors d'oeuvres fan club. In the before times, I often hosted a Christmas party that was all hors d'oeuvres. Yes to the spinach-artichoke dip, tapenade, and hummus/pita (our catering department does pita chips that we all think have crack in them because you can't stop eating them.) I'll add to the menu the little thing they did for our former chancellor, who has celiac disease: little rounds of cucumber with some herbed cream cheese and smoked salmon. Who needs dinner?
ReplyDeleteAnd breaking it down into small blocks: interesting process. I'm working on doing things in small chunks, breaking out of my "I need a whole day to get my brain in" mode. And teaching and service stuff almost always is small chunks. I've definitely been working on the program review in small chunks!
Goals from last week:
1. 2 sessions on Famous Author YES, in 3 sessions, kind of?
2. Get as much of self-study done as I can without the relevant information (3-6 hours) - made progress
3. Read two journals NO
4. Schedule guests for graduate class STARTED
5. Schedule duct cleaning, call about yard and floor refinishing MADE CALLS for 2
6. Do work in garden (take Saturday off work for home & fun) NO
7. Read for pleasure NO
8. Keep up with exercise/healthy eating YES
The week disintegrated. I'm not entirely sure why, but there was a night of insomnia that wrecked the next two days, andthen there were long phone calls from various people, and the friend I was going to go play with couldn't do it on Saturday, so instead I did some work.
I feel like it was OK. I made two phone calls, because the third was dependent on getting a response from one of the first two, and I didn't get that done until today. I still haven't heard from call #2. I'm late reporting in because I got vertigo on Monday morning, and it really wiped out Monday, and a bit of yesterday. And I bought my mother a new TV and setting it up has been an adventure.
The first of the house things is happening Friday, and I have no idea whether I'll be able to do anything constructive while they are cleaning the ducts, but we'll see.
So: goals for next week:
1. One session on Famous Author: session 2 will be bonus depending on how the duct cleaning goes.
2. Get assessment information & section sorted out for self-study
3. Read two journals
4. Get first essay prompt posted for undergraduates
5. Get another speaker for grad class
6. Make next 2 calls related to house
7. Have fun on Saturday
8. Keep up with exercise & healthy eating
What a week! Hope you are feeling a bit better now, and that you can re-adjust plans to look after yourself for the rest of the week.
Delete