Well here we are… The end of another session! I think we’ve done some pretty great things in the last few months. We’ve definitely had lots of rough bits, but I hope the weekly check-ins and chatting has helped with those a bit! Logistics for the next session can be decided with new hosts, Julie is considering, thanks!
Below are our goals from last week along with our session ones for reflecting and celebrating.
One last positive prompt: tell us one or two things for which you are proud of yourself this session! Because you are all lovely and awesome and sometimes everyone needs a reminder of that…
Thank you to HeuMihi for excellent co-hosting, and thank you to everyone who keeps showing up (for all kinds of things!) week after week after week! It means a lot!
Last week’s goals:
Dame Eleanor Hull
- dead language group prep
- finish prepping the last two grad lectures
- more work on expanding article
- review copy-edited Other Article
- do some gardening
Daisy
FINISH revisions on accepted paper
Confirm summer field accommodations and timing (so much work in one sentence!)
Work on two conference talks
Use conference talks to outline paper
Read and edit many student thesis chapters
Finish all marking and grade submissions
Heu mihi
This week--must get back into
chapter 2, which is a bit of a hairy mess and nearly entirely unwritten:
1. Draft G section of ch. 2--this includes a quick lit review and rereading the
primary text, so this is my Major Goal
2. Read over any of the remaining 3 essays' proofs that come in (proofs are due
5/1)
3. Go to TWO MEETINGS, one of which is actually a 2.5-hour session of
interviews for a new Town Clerk
4. Revise short, low-pressure talk
5. Resume normal routines
JaneB
* do the everyday baseline chores when
they need doing, not when I've run out of stuff (we keep trying)
* eat more mindfully
* do paperwork for intake to try out ADHD medication (I am so scared about this
- but in the usual "meds are best" way, I have to try meds in order
to keep my referral for assessment for psychosocial coaching...)
* do some D&D prep, play D&D (because it's fun)
* read another book, do a little crochet
* prepare for staff-student committee, prepare for last week of teaching next
week, complete report on commercial project, peer review an article for a
journal, don't obsess about the whole union thing/marking boycott.
Julie
1. Finish reading thesis and write
report.
2. Two final exam preparation sessions for the modules I taught last term.
3. Meetings with 2 PhD students.
4. Plan this term's research, chase one archivist about visiting in May.
5. Do some minor house jobs.
6. Book dentist and hairdresser.
Susan – on the Camino!
Session goals:
Daisy:
Get my new lab completely functional and organized
Submit 2 papers that have been languishing for far too long
Get my library/music/games/craft space functional and beautiful
Try two 100-day projects (one with yoga, one with drawing)
Get back on the exercise wagon
Do one fun thing every week, bonus points if it is new
Dame Eleanor Hull:
- grade efficiently and return comments in a timely
manner
- make progress on book
- do some Responsible Adult tasks (such as get a new driver's license that
satisfies Real I.D. requirements, find a new doctor)
- make progress on unpacking and other House Tasks
heu mihi:
1. Encyclopedia entry due 1/31
2. Conference paper due 3/7
3. Book review due 3/25
4. Draft three (ha ha! Look at me being ambitious!) chapters
5. Do fun things, like seeing a friend, at least three times a month
6. Sit regularly, run regularly, get back into a steady yoga practice (at least
one lesson a week on average); keep track of alcohol consumption, out of
curiosity
JaneB:
1) Self-care - this comes first, and is about
making sure that when I don't have very many 'spoons', I don't automatically
throw them all into work. It's about maintaining the little habits and slowly
adding to them, finding the motivation to make a pan of soup on the weekend,
practicing saying "later" and "no" and "not
today."
1a) reclaim my immediate physical environment. October, I decided to take some
steps, and reached out to a professional declutterer plus researched and signed
a contract to get the house doors and windows replaced (original wooden ones
are close to 40 years old and have not been well maintained, plus drafty). In
November, my roof sprung a leak which ended up requiring a complete re-roof of
the house which emptied my accessible savings and beyond - but I do now have a
water-tight house. And I'm committed to the windows and doors, so they should
get done this month (all these expenses makes industrial action and pay
deductions scary... but the medium term will be OK, just got to get through the
next few months). After which, I want to work with the decluttering lady every
few weeks, until I get to a point where I can possibly feel OK having a cleaner
in once a month, and start saving again towards getting some redecorating done
by persons not me! (unlike the Dame, I am terrible at painting walls).
2) research stuff. This is mostly just "ticking over" - I have two
grad students at the moment, and several early career folks who I work with/mentor
in various informal ways at other places, plus am part of various collaborative
projects. Things which need to happen during this session:
2a) poor abandoned multi-author paper - needs to be revised using all the
comments I got 14 months ago and be resubmitted
2b) review paper - a collective effort, the journal wants it in March (already
about a 6 month extension).
2c) paper with senior grad student - their first manuscript, a little side
project of theirs which we worked on together - would like to get a full draft
by the end of the session
2d) consultancy - SGS and I have about a week's worth of computer modelling to
do which is applied work on an interesting problem, will provide SGS with a
nice bit of extra pay, and form the final section of a paper the scientist from
the commercial organisation is already writing, so low effort for a solid
reward
2e) wish-we-never-started project - has been and still is a nightmare but I
HAVE to start producing outputs, even through I still don't know how to pay for
stuff from the project (it's only been 18months of internal confusion...)
2f) what-do-you-mean-we-got-the-money project (I'm a minor partner on a very
off-the-wall sort of project idea which was thrown together in about ten days
for a cross-funding-body new horizons funding call, and, well, we were all
rather shocked and now something has to happen. Thank the good LORD the hiring
has worked smoothly and we have a great technical hire locally to actually do
the making things happen...).
3) teaching. I have three modules to coordinate (all team taught, all
non-standard in some way), a small herd of final year project students to
support, and a newish administrative role to navigate on top of the two I
already have. This is actually not only my light semester, but I have some
extra-for-this-year-only help with some of the in person teaching (for two
units, I do the writing/slides/ViLE setup/marking, and teach the virtual
repeat, but the in person classes are taught by other people which saves me
some commuting)... my main goal here is just survival, but to set something a
bit more measurable, I'm aiming to be at least 7 days ahead in terms of
prep/paperwork, and more once we reach March, the bulk of the content delivery
is over, and the focus is on workshops and projects and the like.
4) fun: this includes writing fiction or poetry, reading fiction or
non-work-related non-fiction, making things, and playing Dungeons & Dragons
with my nibling and their friends. I want to spend at least a couple of hours a
week doing FUN THINGS.
Julie:
Research:
Finish and submit the journal article I was working on last term (I came
so close before Christmas!)
Plan how to use research leave next term.
Teaching:
Keep teaching under control - do only essential prep/revisions, resist
the temptation to go the extra mile. Remind myself no one will
notice whether I do or not.
Home:
Try to tackle some of the projects on the list, but not beat myself up
about them.
Life:
Book holidays.
Regular exercise
Try to make some time for myself and use it mindfully.
Karen:
Research - have KL article ready for submission; be
on track with body project
Teaching - stay at least a week ahead on VILE; all marking done within 2 weeks
Self and home - keep up monthly and weekly planning in bujo, maintain an
intentional exercise schedule each week
Susan:
Research:
1. Actually finish Famous Author (with whom I am very bored) so I feel
free. Send to publisher. Get it done.
2. Get draft of Intro to Big Collaboration drafted. I'm not teaching this
term (lots of admin instead) so this should be possible)
Home:
1. This is the busy season for the garden: prune roses, pull up grass
while the ground is (VERY) wet. Put down weedblock and mulch.
2. Plant some low growing drought tolerant plants along the new
irrigation piping so the yard looks better.
3. Sort books that I don't want to keep and take them to various places
where they might find homes. (This is in preparation for moving/downsizing when I retire,
probably formally 3 years from now.
Life:
1. Make sure I do something social for fun every week.
2. Regular exercise. At the very end of this session I've signed up for
a 10 day walk along the Portuguese Camino de Santiago. So I need to be able to
walk 10 miles a day. Walking, riding my expensive bike, yoga etc. Something
every day.
May the spring and summer be a good change of pace and a beautiful season :)
Thank you both for some excellent hosting! It's been a very difficult trimester, and two things I'm proud of myself for is not 'giving in' and calling in sick for more than a day at a time (would have definitely happened if we'd been fully on campus, but being mostly work from home let me keep limping along) and for saying "no" to things - quite a lot of "later" to administrative things, and actual "nos" to requests to review etc., the things that good academic citizens do which don't actually "count". I have picked up two reviews this month because a couple of projects I am involved with submitted papers for review, and... I am already late with them. Oops!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to co-host with someone this summer, can be useful around annual leave etc., unless someone else does?
LAST WEEK:
* do the everyday baseline chores when they need doing, not when I've run out of stuff (we keep trying) mostly. Actually, this weekend is a bank holiday here for May Day, and it's going better in terms of doing a few chore like things... fingers crossed it lasts
* eat more mindfully ish!
* do paperwork for intake to try out ADHD medication (I am so scared about this - but in the usual "meds are best" way, I have to try meds in order to keep my referral for assessment for psychosocial coaching...) did paperwork. Have to take my own blood pressure and the readings have so far been a little too high, but that might partly be because a) overthinking the whole process and b) this has been a REALLY stressful week - long story short, uni has decided 100% in person on campus next year with no optionality (recorded lectures for those who can't attend one week, but otherwise, IN PERSON), my workload looks like 130% Fulltime (& I'm 80% contract) but Teaching Tsar "didn't think my teaching needed reviewing since it's just the same as this year" (when I was promised it would be reviewed because of New Admin Role which put me into overload this year AND we had a one year teaching fellow who helped out with my stuff a lot this year and won't be here next year) and Head of Department can't meet with me to discuss it until after the timetable paperwork all has to be in so I have to lead the planning of all those modules and there's the Union stuff and political stuff which is stressing me out. And bad insomnia. So.
* do some D&D prep, play D&D (because it's fun) we're playing tomorrow (Bank Holiday). It will be fun! :-D
* read another book, do a little crochet read two books, nothing that interesting. Did not crochet.
* prepare for staff-student committee, prepare for last week of teaching next week, complete report on commercial project, peer review an article for a journal, don't obsess about the whole union thing/marking boycott. yes, yes (in a scramble on Friday, oops, YES hence the scramble on friday, the post-grad got a little carried away and kept changing the analysis to make the report a little better, which it did, but also required rewriting bits - they need to learn that if they're paid for five days work and do seven days work the only person who will care is future them, who's now EXPECTED to do seven days work in five days. Which is... well, exactly where UK academe is right now. no (I'm late...) and no (I obsess. This is what I am very good at. Also lots going on at other unis and our local committee and HR are completely silent which makes me twitchy...
SESSION GOALS:
ReplyDelete1) self-care. I had very few spoons some weeks, but I did a better job than normal at ensuring they weren't all going into work. The little habits slipped a lot, but every week some of them got done, and I did a better job of not being so all or nothing as I can be (laundry isn't done - but I took the dirty clothes down & they're next to the washer? Laundry is now STARTED type reframings).
1a) reclaim my immediate physical environment. Some substantial progress here - the windows and doors were replaced, and I've had three sessions with the decluttering lady in which we prepared the house for the window people, transformed the upstairs landing and closet (which gives me a non-office space to do my workout tracks too - previously there was just a path around piled stuff from the stairs to the three rooms upstairs and the closet now has a much better system and a lot less rubbish), and we've decluttered and properly cleaned three sets of bookshelves, two of which were dumping grounds with a bookcase somewhere underneath). Work still to do (& the spaces we did in December/January are accumulating the domestic equivalent of spindrift and tumbleweed already) but definite progress!
2) research stuff. Well, it ticked over. This last week has actually been pretty busy as things start to pick up now teaching is ending... both grad students are progressing steadily (although both are having minor but work-slowing health issues following COVID infections... . One of the ECR informal mentees didn't get a grant but did get invited to resubmit, so I've been helping them write that, another DID get funding so we'll be working together formally next year (they are an international researcher and got funding to work in Europe next year with someone I know well, and they're going to come here for a couple of months of training/research nerdery as part of that project), and I've added another couple to my "roster".
Things which needed to happen during this session
2a) poor abandoned multi-author paper - needs to be revised using all the comments I got 14 months ago and be resubmitted . Did not get revised. But the lead author is now back from maternity leave, has agreed to take the lead, and we have a meeting in a couple of weeks to go over all the final jobs.
2b) review paper - a collective effort, the journal wants it in March (already about a 6 month extension). We needed one more short extension because the lead author had a family bereavement and had to return to their home country for a funeral etc., but we submitted it and it feels... decent. Not brilliant, but solid work. We'll see what the referees have to say!
2c) paper with senior grad student - their first manuscript, a little side project of theirs which we worked on together - would like to get a full draft by the end of the session. we had some problems with the modelling - not BIG problems, more "huh, that's odd" issues which led to us learning more about the system we're studying and creating better results in the end, but they slowed us down - we've got a solid outline and some words on paper, and as soon as the last figure is completed will get on to a draft. So solid progress.
2d) consultancy - SGS and I have about a week's worth of computer modelling to do which is applied work on an interesting problem, will provide SGS with a nice bit of extra pay, and form the final section of a paper the scientist from the commercial organisation is already writing, so low effort for a solid reward Submitted on Friday! We needed an extension because of SGS's sickness absence and my strike absences, but we got some solid results and will move on to work on the paper this summer.
2e) wish-we-never-started project - has been and still is a nightmare but I HAVE to start producing outputs, even through I still don't know how to pay for stuff from the project (it's only been 18months of internal confusion...) very limited process. HAS to be a TOP priority in May, because it officially ends at the end of May...
Delete2f) what-do-you-mean-we-got-the-money project (I'm a minor partner on a very off-the-wall sort of project idea which was thrown together in about ten days for a cross-funding-body new horizons funding call, and, well, we were all rather shocked and now something has to happen. Thank the good LORD the hiring has worked smoothly and we have a great technical hire locally to actually do the making things happen...). have made all the tiny contributions I've been asked for so far, and have also been able to bring in an old collaborator who has exactly the piece of equipment we need - and it's already in the country where we need it to be so we can borrow it without dealing with all the customs stuff, which is doubly excellent! And it's always good to have an excuse to call up someone you like who you haven't worked with for a while...
3) teaching. I have three modules to coordinate (all team taught, all non-standard in some way), a small herd of final year project students to support, and a newish administrative role to navigate on top of the two I already have. This is actually not only my light semester, but I have some extra-for-this-year-only help with some of the in person teaching (for two units, I do the writing/slides/ViLE setup/marking, and teach the virtual repeat, but the in person classes are taught by other people which saves me some commuting)... my main goal here is just survival, but to set something a bit more measurable, I'm aiming to be at least 7 days ahead in terms of prep/paperwork, and more once we reach March, the bulk of the content delivery is over, and the focus is on workshops and projects and the like. The one year only person is a STAR and has done a fabulous job which has been a great relief. I wasn't always 7 days ahead but I was always some days ahead and more importantly in control of what needed doing when and knew it would get done. Some of my project students were unusually good this year which was a pleasure. Some of them were... hard work and bad listeners. At least one is going to be very cross about their mark! I got to March and was feeling pretty dire, so as the pressure dropped a little so did my ability to do, but that happens. The marking and assessment boycott is a sour note to end with, but I did get quite solidly ahead over Easter so if/when it's called off, I won't have unmanageable amounts of work. I had to rely on colleagues for quite a lot of in person stuff but I definitely pulled my weight on the planning, slide preparation, ViLE set up, and marking side of things. Overall, I survived!
4) fun: this includes writing fiction or poetry, reading fiction or non-work-related non-fiction, making things, and playing Dungeons & Dragons with my nibling and their friends. I want to spend at least a couple of hours a week doing FUN THINGS. no writing, some reading (I had a block, which is slowly lifting), I did a little bit of crochet and some making e.g. birthday cards, Easter cards and novelty carrot packaging for mundane presents, plus I just wrapped some mini chocolate bars in "minor magic item" wrappers bestowing bonuses like "+1 memory" or "-1 nerves" and will be sending them off to nibling on Tuesday when the post reopens. So... not nothing, and although I wish I could make the space to write, this is still solid not-backsliding at least.
On your #1, here: Making The Task Smaller is always a good start!
DeleteI feel like you've beaten yourself up a lot on a weekly basis for not doing enough, yet when you set out session goals above, it becomes clear you've achieved a huge amount. I hope you can take comfort and pride in that. The boycott is a huge stress for everyone involved and yes, it's weirdly quiet at the moment. I think on both sides there's a lot of wait-and-see, though rumour has it senior management at our place are panicking. They have imposed 50% pay deductions, which is very punitive and unprecedented for our institution. So fingers crossed they are putting pressure on UCEA to make a revised offer - after all, it only needs to be good enough to get 7% of union voters to change their minds.
DeleteIt feels to me like I achieved just about the bare minimum (perhaps a better way to phrase this is that my goals were set appropriately), which is a win, but for a mid-career STEM person I'm really not firing on all cylinders and Teaching Tsar has made it very clear I cannot expect to carry on 'like this' and need to be fully back on campus next trimester not imposing on other people (she had the unmitigated gall to tell me it would be good for me and I was creating my own issues by not being around people enough at one point...). I take her comments with a goodly spoonful of salt, but they echo internal voices.
DeleteOur deductions are similar with a threat of 100% if the action starts to be properly inconvenient. Sigh! I HOPE the union are pushing hard behind the scenes but I find it hard to trust when there mostly seems to be this campaign against individual VCs in social media rather than making the argument that they need to get together with the union and fight for the sector/ What do I know though...
The University emailed the students when it started, but I'm pretty much having to explain one by one because the email seems to have had NO impact on their brain cells.
I agree with Julie that you have accomplished a lot, for a very difficulty term especially! You had concrete goals and did lors with all of them!
DeleteThe conditions in UK universities right now sound absolutely brutal, any goals met or worked on count as wins in situations like that!
You set your goals appropriately! That really should be enough, shouldn't it? To heck with the Teaching Tsar. We all need to move away from this culture of do-more....
DeleteTeaching Tsar is just someone who makes lots of pointed comments about how we have to all get back to normal, about how it's ridiculous to take precautions about COVID because everyone will get it, about how students with anxiety or ADHD or autism should suspend their studies until they can attend and work like normal students... it's never about me, directly (although when I have had to call out because migraine or car trouble I do get comments about needing to sort out my life, always politely phrased). And a lot of it is also in my head because _I_ feel like I'm letting everyone down - especially with the joint problems, because I am a Very Fat Person and therefore I have a huge amount of "all ills are due to weight" guilt (rationally, one of the things I've learnt about ADHD is that those with it are very prone to eating disorders, and the experiences of others I've read about ARE MINE - it's a huge relief in some ways and hopefully offers access to different ways to try & change). And hip pain/walking, sitting and getting in and out of cars problems are definitely harder to deal with in a larger body, and exacerbated by size (or by a world which does not accommodate all body sizes). It's just hard...
DeleteThank you to our hosts this session! You did a great job The reminders to be positive were very, very helpful.
ReplyDeleteHow I did (last week):
- dead language group prep: YES
- finish prepping the last two grad lectures: ONE, and started on the other
- more work on expanding article: YES (one session, but that's more than none!)
- review copy-edited Other Article: YES
- do some gardening: YES (a minimal amount, but some!)
ALSO: made another batch of carrot muffins, made chocolate cupcakes, had another medical appointment (I'm tired of this), went to a visitation.
How I did (session):
- grade efficiently and return comments in a timely manner: SO FAR SO GOOD (3 sets of assignments remain in the term)
- make progress on book: SOME
- do some Responsible Adult tasks (such as get a new driver's license that satisfies Real I.D. requirements, find a new doctor): DID BOTH OF THESE, plus a whole batch of medical appointments, also collected documents for taxes (we got an extension), bought software for making wills (but haven't done this yet).
- make progress on unpacking and other House Tasks: NO. I pretty much gave up on this one.
Things I'm proud of: getting all the medical stuff taken care of. There are two more appointments coming up, but I hope by mid-June I will be done with all of it. And I'll have two articles out this year, though most of the work on them was done in past sessions.
Sounds like a very productive session. The medical care is important: it always takes me so long to book appointments and then when I finally do, I wonder why I waited so long.
DeleteThe medical stuff takes SO LONG and so much attention even when each appointment is quite short - hoping it all concludes neatly! And it does sound very productive!
DeleteThat is a great record for the session! Book progress is fantastic, and you did lots of adult things, and also recovered from covid! Wins all round!
DeleteExcellent work, and congratulations on the forthcoming articles (whenever they were written)!
DeleteThanks to you both for co-hosting. I've found the positive prompts and comments from everyone to be really helpful over a difficult session. As I said, I'm happy to co-host if someone can explain how the logistics work - at the moment, I'm registered to post comments, but I don't know if that's the same as being registered to post? And do co-hosts agree a schedule between them?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'm proud of: like JaneB, surviving. Looking back, I did manage to do some things, and I got through the term without anything major breaking down. To borrow from one of last week's analogies, there are probably quite a few dropped balls gathering dust under the furniture. Maybe I'll manage to spring clean and find some, maybe I won't. But no one has so far demanded to know where they are and why I'm not still juggling them.
Session goals
Research:
Finish and submit the journal article I was working on last term (I came so close before Christmas!) - YES!
Plan how to use research leave next term. - Not really yet, but one trip to archives booked, vague ideas about when and where else to go.
Teaching:
Keep teaching under control - do only essential prep/revisions, resist the temptation to go the extra mile. Remind myself no one will notice whether I do or not. - MAYBE? I haven't opened my teaching evaluations yet, so no idea how well it went. I had so little energy, I just dragged myself through it this term, and some seminars felt very flat, and it was hard not to beat myself up about this.
Home:
Try to tackle some of the projects on the list, but not beat myself up about them. - Some progress, I'm in my new study, we have more shelves and cupboards, some stuff got decluttered. Still lots to do.
Life:
Book holidays. - YES
Regular exercise - MOSTLY
Try to make some time for myself and use it mindfully. - SOME
Last week
1. Finish reading thesis and write report. - YES
2. Two final exam preparation sessions for the modules I taught last term. - YES
3. Meetings with 2 PhD students. - YES
4. Plan this term's research, chase one archivist about visiting in May. - NO
5. Do some minor house jobs. - SOME
6. Book dentist and hairdresser - NO (former dentist has moved, practice is no longer accepting new patients, so I have to try and find another dentist. This is one of the many things that is collapsing in Tory Britain) and NO
JaneB left you a comment in last week's post about getting in touch to organize the details you're asking about.
DeleteI'm sorry about the dentist situation; that's the sort of thing I find terribly off-putting! It's not just "phone for appointment," but a whole long process.
And congratulations on not only surviving, but also on submitting an article, having a holiday, and being about to start research leave!
Ugh the state of the UK. The state of everything! Teaching Tsar was complaining about how most of the students seem to be anxious or pessimistic at the moment, and I tried to suggest that perhaps that's because they are actually looking at the news and the world around them, trying to pay for food or fuel or bus tickets in a cost of living crisis, or get medical care, or watching their family members try to keep small businesses going, and then being honest with us.
DeleteIt feels as if a goodly percent of my brain - of most people I work with or otherwise talk to - is constantly taken up with sitting on the many worries about the world and the future... so it's not surprising students do!
Congratulations on all the great goals achieved! So good to have the article done and some research leave plans! And the family trips are a huge win!
DeleteThank you, Daisy, for cohosting, and thanks all of you for bearing with me! Writing prompts makes me vaguely anxious.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
This week--must get back into chapter 2, which is a bit of a hairy mess and nearly entirely unwritten:
1. Draft G section of ch. 2--this includes a quick lit review and rereading the primary text, so this is my Major Goal
YES
2. Read over any of the remaining 3 essays' proofs that come in (proofs are due 5/1)
YES; proofs haven't been returned yet (waiting on my co-editor), but I've done everything that I can.
3. Go to TWO MEETINGS, one of which is actually a 2.5-hour session of interviews for a new Town Clerk
YES; new clerk accepted our offer yesterday!
4. Revise short, low-pressure talk
NO
5. Resume normal routines
YES, mostly, with some interruptions (e.g. car break-down, neighbor's car break-down requiring a ride from me; son's leaving school early because of allergies).
It was a bit of a hectic week and I felt sort of dissatisfied with everything, but at least I kept up with my writing, mostly.
Session goals:
1. Encyclopedia entry due 1/31 - YES
2. Conference paper due 3/7 - YES, don't you love deadlines
3. Book review due 3/25 - YES
4. Draft three (ha ha! Look at me being ambitious!) chapters
ACTUALLY, I was confused when I wrote this. My real goal was 2.5 chapters, with the third to be fully drafted by the end of May. I'm pretty much on track here, although the current chapter seems increasingly vast and complicated, and I can't guarantee a *quality* draft by the end of May. I will have something, though.
5. Do fun things, like seeing a friend, at least three times a month
SEE BELOW
6. Sit regularly, run regularly, get back into a steady yoga practice (at least one lesson a week on average); keep track of alcohol consumption, out of curiosity
YES - exercised a lot, sat daily (M-F) except when traveling, yoga is back, and tracking my alcohol consumption automatically makes me drink less, so that is good!
BONUS TASKS: -drafted talk for student organization; -edited proofs of essay collection; -article review.
On fun--I feel like this is the one that's really dropped out, and it kind of sucks. Part of it is just that my husband has been gone for these last four weeks, which means that--except for the five days that we spent visiting him--I am chained to house and family stuff. So I haven't spent any time with friends lately, or gone anywhere alone on a weekend, and making dinner *every* *single* *evening* takes up an awful lot of time. I'm not complaining, really, and I know that I have it very very easy on this front! I think it's just that, because this is a temporary situation, I haven't taken measures to live my normal life while he's away (with occasional get-togethers with friends, for example), so I'm feeling kind of out of balance in this area.
Also--and here's a much bigger thing that I need to work on--I am very strongly driven by checklists and the like. This is one reason that accountability groups work so well for me: I generally do all the things that I say I will do. Right now, I have like 5 different daily tasks that I make myself do: sit, exercise, stretch/yoga before bed (this is a new one), language study, write in my diary. Actually, I have *two* diaries, because my sister-in-law gave me a line-a-day diary in which I am now under a five-year compulsion to write. I don't write in both daily, but I feel guilty about not doing so all the time! And sometimes I just feel so...shackled...by my lists. But not doing them doesn't feel good.
So I'm beginning to think that this is something for me to work on. I'm not sure how, since all of the things on my lists are, like, objectively good, high-functioning things to do that make me feel awesome, but the *lists* are becoming a bit of a burden, and I don't have time for fun. Even on sabbatical. And that really seems off.
Anyway! It was a successful session in terms of Things Accomplished, though, right?
And now I should really go get ready for my run....
I *wish* I were more motivated by checklists! I tend to get overwhelmed by long lists of things. If we could only mix ourselves together! Clearly you need to schedule your fun and time off, because those are also necessary for mental/emotional health. I'm impressed with the book progress---well done! And at least your husband's time away is during your sabbatical, so you're not juggling teaching on top of being a single parent for awhile.
DeleteOh yes! One of the reasons he took the fellowship (or whatever it is--room and board, no pay; I guess that's a fellowship?) was that I was on sabbatical, so the impact was minimal. And honestly, I have it the easiest of anyone--*one* child, who's almost 11 and so fully capable of doing many things, and is also just one of the easiest kids on the planet in every way (e.g., he actually practices the piano and even does his homework without prompting). --Of course, he didn't sleep through the night until he was 4.5, so I feel like I did my time with parenting challenges early on!
DeleteI have a mixed relationship with check lists. Love making them, struggle to use them for very long because inner toddler resents being told what to do.
DeleteWhat has helped me is to have different kinds of checklists - number of times in a week lists, lists of options (so my goal is do three of these six habits every day, and one of those habits is something like read anything for half an hour so also sneaks into fun) - it leaves a bit of choice for the toddler brain so it feels less trammeled.
My usual "toddler brain" explanation to students is if you say to a small child in that striving for independence stage "put on your shoes" their instinctive response is "no" and they go into oppositional mode and it's bad for the vibe. if you say "red shoes or blue boots?" it increases the odds of getting an answer that leads to a shod child who feels like they were part of the process, and that is just nicer all round. And when it's your OWN BRAIN (well, the brain squirrels or brain monkeys, whatever your preferred analogy for having a dynamic fast-moving changeable mood or mind is), having it on side is MUCH nicer. I really hate those times when I get stuck e.g. on the edge of the bed arguing with myself about how we ARE going to put on clothes and go to work but not actually getting anywhere!
I failed one of the medical checks for ADHD meds by the way so now have to go into the process of getting a GP appointment and fixing that first.
Those are great ideas about the different kinds of checklists, and doing things only a certain number of times per week---thank you! So sorry to hear that you need another GP appointment; I'm sure you just want to get on with the ADHD stuff, not spend more time trying to see your GP.
DeleteThis was an interesting session for me. Some very nice things, lots of intense teaching that took quite a bit out of me, some massive disappointments (looking at you stupid big grant) and a few nice paper successes, so overall a very decent balance... Anyway, learned a bunch of things, and looking forward to a gear shift into field work and research mode... And hopefully actual vacation too!
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals
FINISH revisions on accepted paper DONE AND SUBMITTED
Confirm summer field accommodations and timing (so much work in one sentence!) DONE
Work on two conference talks WORKED ON THEM
Use conference talks to outline paper HAHAHA NOPE
Read and edit many student thesis chapters DONE AND ONGOING
Finish all marking and grade submissions DONE
Session Goals:
Get my new lab completely functional and organized
This worked reasonably well except for the equipment ordering form that drove me to frustrated tears… Apparently said equipment is on its way… But I have the space functional and organized and am looking forward to actually working in it soon! A- for results I think, marks off for not using it as much as I could/should have…
Submit 2 papers that have been languishing for far too long
One is done (that was the accepted one that just finished) and one has made decent progress, so I think I get a B on this goal…
Get my library/music/games/craft space functional and beautiful
It is definitely functional, and nice enough that I want to hang out there. Beautiful is going to take some time (or a major cleanout of other people’s stuff which is not on the cards) so I’m settling for pleasant and functional. It gets really nice afternoon sunlight so on winter afternoons it was a great bonus. A for actual success, so yay!
Try two 100-day projects (one with yoga, one with drawing)
Dropped the drawing one halfway through the session, but completed the 100 (more like 110) yoga days successfully. Verdict is mixed, it might have been good for me, but in order to really get the most out of it I would have to commit to more time (20 minutes was usually my minimum) and really strive to improve. I do not feel I need more striving in my life, I work my butt off on many other things, this could become one of those but I don’t need another thing to be intense about… It was kind of fun most of the time, and it did get me a bit more flexible. But I have to say the most visible impact was the increased frequency of vacuuming my bedroom carpet to remove the tortie cat fluff from the beige carpet. Now that I’m not spending as much time near the floor the vacuuming frequency has dropped back to adequate and nobody is the worse for wear because of it… A for effort definitely, B for results.
Get back on the exercise wagon
Not great with the yoga challenge, it definitely displaced other exercise because there is no way I was going to do two different sessions of “activity” in a day. I did some, just not enough to feel like it was worth it. On balance I definitely prefer more intense exercise for regular stuff and keeping yoga for light activity days… C+ probably…
Do one fun thing every week, bonus points if it is new
I feel like I really failed at this one. I managed a few things, but not really anything new and did not do anything regularly. That said, there were a lot of good things like regular kid activities that she loves and a big trip, I did two really fun concerts, and I definitely made a few new friends, so I do not feel like there were no fun things. I think summers lend themselves more to specific one-time activities, so maybe I will revisit this. B+ overall…
Thank you all for the excellent company!
I think the 100-day challenge is definitely worth trying! It might have been just the thing. And now you have more data about what works for you (or doesn't), w/r/t exercise and vacuuming both! So that's a win in my book. Similarly, having "fun" as a goal seems to mean that you had more fun than you probably would have without the goal, another win.
DeleteI LOL'd at this: (so much work in one sentence!)
First of all, I read your last week's goals and thought that they were your session goals, and I was impressed--so that says something!
DeleteAs for the yoga--yes to no more striving! I'm trying to add this to my daily routine, though, in part because I think that it would help with the creaky stiffness that middle age seems to be bringing on despite my best efforts, especially in my neck. I suspect that the stretching and stuff was good for you even if you didn't get "better at" yoga! So maybe you could nudge your results grade up a tick, even if you can't quite see them for yourself.
So much done! And hoping to live vicariously through a summer of fun field and lab work (I have creaks and a lack of funding, and will mostly be doing computer work, paper herding, and supporting a PhD student who is going to start writing up. And trying to write at least one grant. And remember why I actually LIKE this subject...)!
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