We have artificial light, temperature control measures to warm or cool our indoor spaces (and even, sometimes, our outdoor areas), and office/classroom jobs with their own termly rhythms and deadlines. We don't have to take much notice of changing seasons, except insofar as they offer more or different work (plant, weed, rake, shovel, put up or take down decorations) that gets added on to our 'real jobs.' And yet most of us do notice and respond to the length of days, the weather, the flora and fauna that bloom and reproduce, or die back and re-focus activity.
What is your energy like, this November? How would you organize your time if you could go with the flow, adjust your life to the changing season?
Here are your last goals; let us know how you did, and what you'll tackle in the coming week.
Daisy
1) Continue with revisions for paper related to poster.
2) Road trip to go see co-authors and grad students, 4 days away in total
3) Association meetings and letters
4) Small online conference
5) Enormous pile of grad student feedback
Dame Eleanor Hull
Health: yoga x6, weights x3, very short walks, bed by 10:30 at least 5x.
Research: finish topic sentence outline of chapter; study both dead languages; read a book; scan some essays.
Teaching: grade undergrad papers.
Admin: find a piece of paper I need to claim some $.
Life Stuff: write to my dad, renew car registration, joint account admin, Scotchguard suede boots, finish pockets.
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
Pack for the trip.
Make a list of what we will need to get for the puppy, both for the drive home, and the first couple of days at home.
Pull together a list of next steps for the AYU (as-yet-unnamed) article.
heu mihi
1) Conference paper
2) Submit WH manuscript!!
3) Review 2 Gen Ed proposals
4) Record lecture for next week
5) Read 2 articles
6) Exercise
7) Celebrate husband's birthday!
Humming 42 (carried over)
1 submit three book reviews
2 submit article review
3 work on mentoring program application
4 catch up on grading
5 as noted, draft some lines every day
JaneB
prep for as much of the next two weeks of teaching as possible
Karen
Teaching - get exemplar page prepared for review
Research - get 2 postgrads through milestones and celebrate!
Self and Home - yoga x 3, music practice, keep up good sleep habits.
Susan
1. Read ms for blurb
2. Read material for promotion case
3. Grade papers (batch #2)
4. Submit Program Review
5. Start planning Thanksgiving
6. Reorganize bedrooms for visitors
7. Work on things for symphony fundraiser
8. Enjoy concert on Sunday
Normally I'd be enjoying the flow of November. The energy in October-November usually suits me very well - a time to write, to think, to word-smith, folding myself indoors and wandering around in my brain as the world outside gently folds itself away for winter, cooling and slowing and calming down. Becoming spare and full of space, becoming less demanding and more cradling. This year - this year is PANTS. Baggy ones which have gone rather grey, the elastic is wearing, they wriggle around and peep coyly over your waistband sometimes or explore the leg of your tights, and they haven't even got the courtesy to be comfortable. I am IN A MOOD which feels pretty long lasting, but eh. Pandemic life, living in a time of crisis life.
ReplyDeleteMore senior colleagues had to meet with BigWigs last week, and were told that as a department we "did not do enough during digital". With no actual answers of what we didn't do - the "proof" is that our students were less happy than other university's students in a national satisfaction survey. The only written comments referred to specific known issues which apply to one section (one PERSON) only, and to the wider university, but it's our fault, we didn't do enough. Combine that with students who a) complain we ask them to do too much b) complain they are bored c) complain when we teach them how to do things that its patronising and repetitive d) complain they are not getting enough help e) demand in person f) choose not to attend and complain about lack of virtual options g) attend, and complain that we didn't make everyone else attend h) share their very real problems, like being sick with Covid, mental health crises, childcare problems, housing crises etc. and need individual support i) ask things like "when the handout says do x does it mean do x?" or "why did we do y" when the assignment specifically says, using the results of doing y, write... etc. etc. etc.
Nothing new, basically. I'm tired, I'm fed up, so is everyone else, and the university is sending the message that both of those things are clearly the fault of us academics. We are not good enough.
I did get all of next week's prep done and some of the following week. So, you know.
Goals for the coming week: once my grading arrives, do a little grading every day. Be KIND - to students, to myself. Drink more water, move some more, take time to breath. try to work out what is going on with the grant we actually got, but can't start due to paperwork issues.
I think if I could just yield to what you call the usual October-November energy, I'd be fine. The difficulty is that the work world seems to want a higher level of energy and involvement, which I just can't muster.
DeleteYour BigWigs suck. Those surveys are so useless, and intelligent people know that; I'm convinced that most of the time they are just CYA exercises so admin can claim it's doing something. But pointing fingers instead of just filing the results (preferably in the nearest bin) = bad management. Staff morale ought to be on their radar somewhere.
But yay getting ahead on the prep!!!
I'm so sorry your BigWigs are so awful. And the feeling that you can't win is exhausting.
DeleteMy energy is surprisingly good this November. I think I am taking better care of myself than I usually do; my diet suits me better, and better hydration is helping as well. The only downside to my diet is the toll on my fingernails, which are breaking with mad abandon.
ReplyDeleteIf I were able to configure my life to the seasonal darkness and light cycle, I would sleep when it's dark and be awake when it’s light. I live too far north to sleep the whole time it’s dark, but I don’t like waking when it’s dark. I’m happy to stay awake when it’s dark at 4:30pm, however! I’m happiest with a schedule that accommodates that circadian rhythm. As for writing, I work best when I’m first awake, and slow down appreciably in the late afternoon.
Last week’s goals:
Pack for the trip. Yes.
Make a list of what we will need to get for the puppy, both for the drive home, and the first couple of days at home. Yes.
Pull together a list of next steps for the AYU (as-yet-unnamed) article. Began a list, but did not finish.
Analysis:
A few things cropped up that meant I had to shift focus. It may be snowing in northern Indiana, so I had to unearth gloves and hats, which led to other winterizing of the house. I’ve also been trying to continue cleaning out the room in which my home office occupies a corner, which involves scanning old files that I don’t need immediate access to, but want to keep around, as well as donating clothes I won’t fit into anytime soon. Finally, we have a P&T meeting coming up in a week or so, so there was a flurry of things to do, setting up a virtual meeting and secure virtual voting.
Next week’s goals:
Enjoy the drive as much as possible.
Eat better than I’m tempted to do, sleep more, relax, and enjoy the family time.
If there is down time, continue the list of next steps for the AYU (as-yet-unnamed) article.
I hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving have a lovely holiday break. I also hope that those of you facing a normal week (whatever that may mean), have a pleasant one. Float like mist, everyone.
Winterizing the house would have to be done anyway, so it's very good to get that done. I hope you have a wonderful trip!
DeleteWorking with the season… Never really thought about it that way… The seasons I feel like I can work with are Summer and Winter. Either it is warm (never really “hot” where I am which makes me truly sad) and I go outside for field work and beaches, or it is cold and I go outside for skiing… I feel like instead of working with this season I’m fighting with it, getting dragged along kicking and screaming… I like early Fall with the pretty leaves, but the dark part of November is hard. And running in the cold wet wind is just not much fun! But, in one month the light comes back and that little bit extra light every day makes me extremely happy!
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals
1) Continue with revisions for paper related to poster. FOREVER apparently… YEP, FOREVER SEEMS RIGHT, ONGOING
2) Road trip to go see co-authors and grad students, 4 days away in total WONDERFUL!
3) Association meetings and letters MOSTLY DONE
4) Small online conference GOOD
5) Enormous pile of grad student feedback, they’ve been busy! DONE
This should be an ok week for getting research writing done, seeing my coauthors was extremely helpful as always so I have lots of new enthusiasm and some very good advice to work with!
This week's goals:
1) Continue with revisions for paper related to poster. FOREVER apparently…
2) Catch up from being away with life stuff and doctors and vets and things
3) Go through Albatross paper material and send things to coauthor for help
4) Plan grad classes for rest of term and early January
5) Catch up with Baby Albatross coauthors and talk about plans
6) Do something fun with friends
A road trip! What fun! I'm glad you had a good time. There's a lot of "done" on your list, which I hope counteracts the "forever" project. Even that one will get done eventually; just keep chipping away. I hope the good energy from your trip and conference imbues everything this week!
DeleteAt this time of year, I get very sleepy when it gets dark: before dinner time. I keep trying to go to bed early (after dinner, though, not at tea time), but somehow I always get sucked into doing something in the evening that keeps me up. The best hours of the day are in the middle, when the sun is as far up as it's going to get, and I wish I could manage to concentrate work and exercise in the hours between 10 and 3, and spend the morning waking up and the late afternoon winding down. At this point in the semester, apart from one more night class, I could almost do that, and I may give it a shot. After all, considering the difficulty I have sleeping much of the time, if there's a season when what I mainly want to do is go to bed, I think I should take advantage of that!
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
Health: yoga x6, weights x3, very short walks, bed by 10:30 at least 5x. x5, x2.5 (only one set on the 0.5 day), yes, yes. And my foot is doing much better, so the walks can get longer.
Research: finish topic sentence outline of chapter; study both dead languages; read a book; scan some essays. Yes, yes (for low values), no, no.
Teaching: grade undergrad papers. YES: as of Monday morning, I am ALL CAUGHT UP on grading!
Admin: find a piece of paper I need to claim some $. YES.
Life Stuff: write to my dad, renew car registration, joint account admin, Scotchguard suede boots, finish pockets. YES, NO, SOME, YES, NO.
OTHER: starting prepping for spring classes! Mostly this was reviewing previous syllabuses and collecting links that will be useful, but anything is helpful, and makes the winter break a little easier.
New goals:
Health: yoga x6, weights x3, medium walks, bed by 10:30 at least 5x.
Research: start putting together chapter; study both dead languages; read a book.
Teaching: do some spring prep.
Life Stuff: renew car registration, finish joint account admin, finish pockets and replace buttons on a cardigan.
Hmmm. Working with the seasons. I'm still not adjusted to the seasons here, where winter is basically like October in the northeast. So temperature and light don't seem aligned properly. But I do slow down, and just want to sit inside and be warm.
ReplyDelete1. Read ms for blurb STARTED
2. Read material for promotion case NO
3. Grade papers (batch #2) YES
4. Submit Program Review YES!!!!!!!!!
5. Start planning Thanksgiving YES
6. Reorganize bedrooms for visitors MOSTLY DONE
7. Work on things for symphony fundraiser YES
8. Enjoy concert on Sunday YES
I did lots of procrastination on the grading last week (planning the menu for thanksgiving, looking at recipes), but finally got it done. The fundraiser and hte concert took a lot of time, which also slowed me down. But the self-study is DONE DONE DONE. (Well, there's one appendix I have to finish getting information for but that's maybe 15 minutes of work including emailing people I need information from.)
The thing I haven't put into my planning adequately is the time I need to spend with my mother. She's getting better, but is very weak and still confused, so I need to visit her pretty much every day. And even a short visit is 45 minutes to an hour of my time. Which is fine, but I have to adjust my expectations of myself.
My brother, SIL and the almost 8 year olds arrive tomorrow for 2 days, so. . .
Goals for the rest of this week:
1. Enjoy family time
2. Finish Book for blurb
3. Grade next batch of papers
4. Eat well
5. Sleep
My comment just got eaten. Boo.
ReplyDeleteSo: I have not adjusted to the seasons in California, where the winter is like autumn in the northeast where I lived most of my life. But as the days close in and it gets colder, I hibernate. I just want to sit inside. Sit being the operative word!
How I did last week:
1. Read ms for blurb STARTED
2. Read material for promotion case NO
3. Grade papers (batch #2) YES
4. Submit Program Review YES!!!!!
5. Start planning Thanksgiving YES
6. Reorganize bedrooms for visitors YES
7. Work on things for symphony fundraiser YES
8. Enjoy concert on Sunday YES
Actually, a pretty good week. The symphony stuff - a fundraiser and a special reception for our big donors -- were a big time suck, but the concert was good, so there's that. I did lots of procrastinating on the papers (planning menus, reading recipes, etc) but got them done. I even finished the drafts they submitted yesterday by mid-afternoon. And the self-study is done, except for one small appendix for which I am waiting for information from colleagues. Phew!
The one thing I haven't adequately adjusted my goals for is that I need to spend time with my mother, probably every day. She's better, but much weaker and also confused, so she just needs to see people. It's hard.
Anyway, I have my brother & his crew starting tomorrow, so it will be two days of chaos but fun.
Goals for hte week ahead, minus all the cooking that's going on.
1. Finish blurb book
2. Grade new set of papers (paper #3)
3. Have fun with family
4. Eat well
5. Relax
Looks like both your comments came through eventually . . . I did notice Blogger being weird when I was putting the post together.
DeleteI'm sort of the other way around: when October comes, I feel like it should be winter already, because it is like the winter weather I grew up with on the west coast, but I know there is much worse to come, which is depressing. At least by the time the snow really sets in, the days are getting longer, so that's something.
Congrats on finishing the self-study! And I hope you have a great time with your family.
Jumping in here (despite having posted the next week's prompts to think about the two directions I feel like I'm being pulled in iwth seasons and energy. One direction is the increasing light and warmth - I'm waking early regularly now (unsurprising when the sun and birds are up by 6am) and gettign surprised by the time at the end of the day when looking at the sun, not the clock - the feeling of summer expansiveness unfurling. And for me, normally, that time feels like taking it slower, being leisurely and recovering from teh drain of the year, but this year the work pace isn;t relenting at all and it feels like the sytem wants to wring every last drop of energy from us before letting go, and no one has much left to give. Ah, higher ed in 2021.
ReplyDelete