Hello all,
I apologize for getting this post up a little late; my dad was visiting this weekend, which was great, and meant that I didn't touch my computer for two days. This was not at all a bad thing, but I'm a little behind here!
So this week I'm going to continue with the Relentless Positivity, but if that's just annoying, I'll give you an alternative prompt. Of course, all prompts are optional, anyway.
When my son recently had to go to the doctor, he insisted on knowing how many shots he was going to get so that he could prepare himself--which also meant dreading the shots well in advance. (Also, although I told him repeatedly that he would get two shots, he insisted that he didn't know this and refused to get a second shot, meaning that we had to schedule a follow-up appointment--I was not present at this refusal, I'll just note--but this isn't really germane to my point here, so I'll let it go.) In a related conversation about the dentist, I tried to persuade him that actively dreading these appointments makes them much worse, but I didn't get anywhere with that.
And the fact is that I dread things as much as the next person. But it doesn't have to be that way, does it?
For this week, tell us something that you're NOT looking forward to in the coming week--and then try to find something about it that you can actually look forward to (and yes, being done with said thing counts!). I don't expect that we'll all start blithely looking forward to everything that's coming up, but maybe this exercise can help to at least mitigate the dread. Right?
Or, if that's just irritatingly positive, you can simply vent here about the annoying/scary/boring/tedious thing that you have to do, and we will lovingly support you through it!
--And on to the check in. Here are last week's goals:
Daisy:
Submit giant paper when it comes back from co-authors
Read and comment on students’ thesis chapters
Do organizing and scheduling for upcoming conference
Set up new thesis student with office and material
Read some of the new 8 library books that appeared off my hold list this week…
Do ALL my physio exercises all the time…
Dame Eleanor Hull:
- finish revisions to F article
- make more progress with grad readings and both VILE sites
- read at least 500 lines of Irrelevant Romance
- scan stuff for grads
- write a letter of recommendation
- write up my annual review documents
- put up the grow lights
- pay a bill, do some other Life Task
heu mihi:
1. 10 hours on ch. 3
2. Finish book and draft review
3. Language x 5 (15 minutes a day is fine for now)
4. Admin: Complete university credit card application, work out some travel plans for two trips in May
5. Routines: Sit x 5, yoga x 1 or 2, run x 3
6. Fun: Cook at least 3 things, play some games, schedule lunch with former grad student
JaneB:
1) self-care: this week is going to be stressful. Be kind to myself.
1a) environment: do the small chores this week, and aim to hoover/sweep every floor surface once (there's still dust and stuff from the windows, since they aren't quite finished until tomorrow...)
2) R - do something concrete towards the teaching-related R project, respond to the email that asked for money information, respond to the email about the conference session in March.
3) T - mark the third year essays that arrived this week (lots of same, sigh). Get first week materials onto all the ViLEs.
4) read a bit; post the letters; play D&D.
Julie:
I have 15 hours of lectures and seminars, plus three meetings with dissertation students, and two office hours (which hopefully no one will show up to). So there is going to be minimal time for anything else...
Survive teaching!
Read drafts of dissertation chapters before meeting students
Revise one of the lectures.
Organise food for son's birthday celebration
Bake birthday cake
Self-care - try to get out for walks even if only 10-15 minutes, theatre trip with friend.
Karen (held over):
-have week 2 & 3 of VILE content done minus a/v
-KL draft to 4000 words
-one yoga class, final beach swim for this trip
Susan:
1. Comments on 3 more draft chapters of Big Collaboration
2. Get going on revisions to the last chapter. I think I can do them in a few days of focused work, but I need to spend those days.
3. Financial stuff for overseas
4. Do something fun
5. Keep working out
Ah, but some of us need to think through every possible configuration of the appointment and how we will handle it, it takes away some of the dread to have some sort of plan. Plus I'm always terrified of forgetting things like that (not an issue for your son, at his age)...
ReplyDeleteWhat am I not looking forward to - well, it's the start of the new trimester, and there's LOTS of paperwork from last trimester still to do, so that's just dandy. And the strikes are starting with one day (which is NOT a dread entirely as it enables a lie-in...). But the week is actually quite quiet compared to previous ones and I am definitely grateful for that (even though I'm going to find things to worry about!).
Last week I did go to the Away Day because it was MANDATORY (the caps are entirely justified by the amount of pressure there was). I coped. I took a walking pole and used it a lot, stood up every twenty minutes, went out to the smoking area for every drink/break (it was a nice smoking area at least - a paved yard with shelter fences, a picnic table and a nice view over some fields, and directly behind the room we were meeting in). Only two other people wore masks and they both decided to eat/drink coffee with everyone else (one brought a carbon dioxide monitor and levels weren't too bad, but I personally think if I'm sitting and talking within sneezing distance of other people, frequent air exchanges are not enough protection). But it took three days to get over it in terms of extra aches and brain tiredness/overwhelm, and I'm not sure what I/we got out of it was worth that. Two positives, in light of our prompt:
** got to speak to the person who wrote the University Inclusion Strategy for teaching, and they agree with me that insisting everything should be on campus is totally counter-productive, and they are very fed up with trying to explain this in every meeting. Good to know that at least someone is TRYING to support diversity!
** The afternoon research strategy discussion involved us being told we need a new plan to achieve a step change in research productivity before we can have any more staff or support of any kind. The discussion group I was randomly allocated to agreed in the first five minutes that we were too tired and overwhelmed and under-resourced to even recover from COVID-damage to our research, never mind be Innovative and Original and More Productive, so we used our group time to grade (people who had brought lap tops) or chat about canals (the rest of us - basically the newest fixed-term lecturer in our group started telling us about their research and we were all most interested in the canals bit, so...).
LAST WEEK GOALS
1) self-care: this week is going to be stressful. Be kind to myself. kind of. still having lots of hip ouchies and feeling done in
1a) environment: do the small chores this week, and aim to hoover/sweep every floor surface once small chores yes, and I swept one floor. One small floor. More than none?
2) R - do something concrete towards the teaching-related R project, respond to the email that asked for money information, respond to the email about the conference session in March. No, yes, yes, and did have a discussion about a paper due after Easter as well
3) T - mark the third year essays that arrived this week (lots of same, sigh). Get first week materials onto all the ViLEs. Yes - some of them were so bad. SO BAD. and almost yes (and the missing bits are where I am waiting for other people)
4) read a bit; post the letters; play D&D. Yes, no and no - but my nibling and I hung out on a call anyway for an hour, just to be social
DeleteNEXT WEEK'S GOALS
1) self-care: this week is about getting back into better food habits. I kept up the stretching and mostly the water drinking, but I have (no surprise) got sloppy around the food and my sleep is all over the place.
1a) environment: do the small chores, 1 lot of linen laundry, and aim to hoover/sweep every floor surface once
2) R - do something concrete towards the teaching-related R project
3) T - Get second week materials onto all the ViLEs and start third week. remember to look out for work with extensions from last trimester! Sigh...
4) read a bit; post the letters; play D&D.
Sorry you had to go to the away day, and well done for not playing ball with stupid sessions. We thankfully haven't had any for years, just staff development sessions which are quite frequent, but only a couple of hours at a time and sometimes useful. When I joined the department, the then head was very into corporate-style away days, which were predictably awful, but his successor quickly got rid of them, and decided we could have a trip to Hadrian's Wall instead, which was much, much more fun.
DeleteThose positives do sound useful, though I agree, not worth paying for in three days of discomfort! And any forward progress, like sweeping one floor, is good, as is hanging out with the nibling.
DeleteI wish we had something along the lines of Hadrian's Wall for an away day---that does sound like an excellent idea!
I am so happy your small group collectively rebelled against bright ideas. I hope this week is a little more restful!
DeleteIt looks to me like you did a LOT! And more than none is good enough, I say.
DeleteHmm, interesting prompt. I tend to tell myself that I'll get through things or promise myself a treat for when they end. I don't know if it helps or not, but the build-up to awful things is usually worse than the things themselves. (Except for childbirth.) For this coming week, I'm aiming to finish the journal article i.e. all the style guide stuff and finishing the tables, which is just boring and fiddly, and also prep some lectures so the next few weeks are less of a nightmare. I can look forward to submitting the article finally, and I suppose future me will be grateful to this coming week me, so long as this coming week me does actually do what she's optimistically proposing to do.
ReplyDeleteLast week
Was as awful as predicted - I was drained to the point of feeling sick by Friday. But it's done, and I only have one other week this term with quite so much teaching (and strike action may mean I don't do all that week).
Survive teaching! - just. Very, very burned out.
Read drafts of dissertation chapters before meeting students - yes, thankfully they were good
Revise one of the lectures. - minimally, but enough
Organise food for son's birthday celebration - yes. Not as elaborate as it sounds - I bought pizzas and other junk food. They were all happy.
Bake birthday cake - yes. It's not winning Bake Off any time soon, but it fulfilled my son's only requirement, which was to be made with chocolate.
Self-care - try to get out for walks even if only 10-15 minutes, theatre trip with friend. - A couple of walks. Theatre trip (technically cinema, live screening of the Crucible) was amazing, although not the best week for a late night.
This week:
Do all the boring stuff and submit journal article
Catch up on tedious admin
Prep some teaching to make coming weeks lighter
Declutter ahead of carpenter coming to fit new shelves and cupboard.
Have fun arranging new shelves and cupboard.
Self-care - exercise, batch cook soup for healthy lunches, book rest of Italy trip, catch up with friends on Zoom.
It's a four-day week for me as well with strike action, but means I can be home for the carpenter and get the decluttering done.
New shelves and cupboard sound like things that will improve life significantly! It's amazing what a difference even small fixes can make. And any chocolate cake is a happy thing, IME.
DeleteI stopped on your earlier comment on going to Hadrian's Wall instead of an away day, and I'm just jealous. But I'm glad you survived the heavy teaching, and have a slightly more manageable week ahead. Also, new shelves and cupboard sound great!
DeleteI'm sorry that last week was so rough, but it's very good news that you only have one more of those ahead of you this semester. (Ditto on the childbirth comment, by the way.)
DeleteThis week is week 1 of high school (new school) for the eldest kiddo, plus intensive rehearsals for a performance, so I am dreading the logistical and emotional load. The positives are easy to see - growing independence, new opportunities, bigger horizons, expressing creativity - but hard to hold onto. Still, this prompt is a good reminder to show and share that positive perspective rather than just being a grump about it.
ReplyDeleteLast (two) weeks:
-have week 2 & 3 of VILE content done minus a/v - roughed in, at least
-KL draft to 4000 words - did some writing and reading, now close to 3000 words
-one yoga class, final beach swim for this trip - yes (now I really miss the beach)
This week:
KL draft pushed to approx 5000 words, coherent enough (or leave notes in) to share with writing group
Intro/Week1 VILE fully polished, Weeks 2, 3 finished off minus external a/v and interactives, Weeks 4, 5 roughed in.
Get some time away from kids each day (ideally, yoga or walk)
Start winter seeds
Sounds like a lot of YES from last week! I hope this one goes just as well.
DeleteGood luck to the kiddo, and to you--that's a big change--I hope that it all goes well!
DeleteGood luck to you and your kid. Their transitions are harder to go through than our own. Though there are lots of positives, as you say.
DeleteI'm not looking forward to a meeting tomorrow. It may be only stupid, it may be hopelessly horrible, but I think there's little chance of it being actually useful. But I do want to know what's coming down the pike, so I think I will be at it, though I have been considering staying home and having class online. (I continued to feel fairly unwell all of last week, and put classes online one day; also it's going to be very cold tomorrow which makes me want to stay home.) Anyway, I guess I'll be glad to know what's going on, though I doubt there will be anything much I can do about it. What I dread even more is things like making doctor appointments and dealing with taxes. But I guess I like looking like a responsible adult.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
- finish revisions to F article. YES! Sent it off!
- make more progress with grad readings and both VILE sites. YES---one week's worth. But I only said "progress."
- read at least 500 lines of Irrelevant Romance. YES: 700.
- scan stuff for grads. NO (forgot book one day, then taught online the other day)
- write a letter of recommendation. NO (but I found an e-mail I can use as a base for it)
- write up my annual review documents. YES
- put up the grow lights. NO
- pay a bill, do some other Life Task. NO. The only Life Tasks I managed this week were cooking and laundry, since if I wasn't doing essential tasks I was resting. I am unbelievably tired of not feeling well.
ALSO: did some dead-language prep and finally took notes on one of those books I kept not taking notes on last fall, since ILL caught up with me and refused to renew it again.
New goals:
- start work on expanding F into book chapter
- make more progress with grad readings and both VILE sites
- read at least 500 lines of Irrelevant Romance
- scan stuff for grads
- grade 1 undergrad assignment
- write a letter of recommendation
- pay a bill, do some other Life Task (like put up grow lights)
I find that praising the heck out of my adulting skills (only to myself; I'm not that obnoxious) helps me get through a lot of the appointment-making &c. If it involves a phone call, though, that's a whole other ballgame. I have to reschedule a PT appointment and I just can't seem to bring myself to do it....
DeleteCongratulations on F and I hope that you feel better soon!
Congratulations on submitting the article - that's great. Hope you feel better soon. I had to do my tax return yesterday and it was a nightmare, though I get the sense that it's even more complicated in the US. I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds financial stuff and making appointments over the phone a challenge. I can book stuff online no problem, but ask me to talk to a disembodied voice and I lose the plot. I have no idea why.
DeleteWhat an interesting question. I'm not looking forward to Wednesday, which has lots of stuff that won't accomplish much. That includes a meeting of all of us who chair grad programs, which is likely to demonstrate that directive 1 is telling us to do something, but directive 2 is telling us something else which makes Directive 1 almost impossible. The Catch-22 is frustrating, especially since accompanied by threats from the Powers That Be. BUT Wednesday also includes a visit by a potential job candidate. So there will be a talk (I hope interesting,) and lunch, so some sociability. (More than I wanted because our department chair has COVID and everyone is trying to fill in the gaps. )
ReplyDeleteAnyway, how I did:
1. Comments on 3 more draft chapters of Big Collaboration: 2, but I also had a great conversation with an author of another chapter, about how to focus it.
2. Get going on revisions to the last chapter. I think I can do them in a few days of focused work, but I need to spend those days. YES, started, just need more TIME.
3. Financial stuff for overseas YES< UK tax return submitted
4. Do something fun YES, cooked for a friend from a new cookbook!
5. Keep working out - YES
So mostly good. The day that did me in was Friday, which ended up getting eaten up in lots of picky admin stuff, all of which was important, but at the end of the day it felt very amorphous. Also, I stopped to visit my mother on Thursday, and discovered she had a dr. appointment; that led to followup work that had me doing things on Friday, Saturday, and today. I love her, and enjoy being with her, but the random interruptions are hard.
Goals for this week:
1. More work on chapter
2. Review 2 more chapters of Big Collaboration
3. Survive Wednesday
4. Do something fun at weekend
5. Keep exercising; include one 5 mile walk.
Do you have a friend with whom you can exchange knowing glances when Directives 1 and 2 inevitably conflict? That kind of thing really makes meetings worthwhile, in my view.
DeleteLots of YES last week!
A lot of yes. And sympathies on the UK tax return. Hope the job talk and the lunch are good.
Delete@ heu mihi, we all think it, and since our new grad dean is someone we've all known, we have no trouble telling him, and even he rolls his eyes!
DeleteThis one is a little retroactive, since I'm posting on Monday night: I was dreading writing a book review, but I really liked the book and it's a pleasure to write Glowing Praise. It's not quite done, but the intro and conclusion (where you get to say how awesome the book is) were fun to write and I'll enjoy polishing them. Right?
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. 10 hours on ch. 3
Still only 9 hours! What's with this? Why can't I manage 10? I'm on sabbatical, for Pete's sake!
2. Finish book and draft review
Finished book, did not start review.
3. Language x 5 (15 minutes a day is fine for now)
x4. Not sure it was legitimately 15 minutes. I've decided to change my approach in the coming week (to reading a short, easy novel along with the vocabulary book I'm studying) to make the language stick a little better.
4. Admin: Complete university credit card application, work out some travel plans for two trips in May
Yes; some. I can't really figure out my college reunion plans because they don't have the schedule up yet (and the four days that they're telling us it'll last just seems too long, frankly).
5. Routines: Sit x 5, yoga x 1 or 2, run x 3
x5, x1 and a bit, x3
6. Fun: Cook at least 3 things, play some games, schedule lunch with former grad student
YES, cooked way too much. Played a round of Skip-Bo and some marbles with Son. Forgot to schedule lunch. But my dad visited for the weekend, which was nice.
This week:
1. Research: Read/write 10 freaking hours, please.
2. Routines: language x 5, keep up the rest.
3. Write book review.
4. Read dissertation chapter.
5. Other stuff that needs to be done, getting urgent: Pick a cover image for edited book; send out invitation for journal special issue.
6. Schedule lunch with grad student.
9 hours is nearly 10! And book reviews in which you can be nice are so much easier to write. Bonus when they are really close to your research, and you can feel you've done someone a favour and can call it research at the same time.
DeleteWhat Julie said. Also, taking 2 days with your father is important, even if you didn't get that 10th hour. I always remind people that the root of sabbatical is sabbath!
DeleteThe current one definitely sounds like a Too Much week, but I hope you have a great time with people once everyone is checked into the conference and you can focus on people and papers rather than on background logistics! Congratulations on getting the giant paper submitted! And good job doing something toward other projects when you have so much going on---a little is definitely better than none.
ReplyDelete