First order of business - wishing a very happy birthday to both Daisy and Heu Mihi for yesterday. I hope you both had a wonderful day!
Second order - building that writing toolkit. So far we've talked about what part of writing is most fun, inspiring writing/writers on writing, how to keep/restart writing in tough times, and fantasy writing retreats. I'm not feeling terribly inspired this week (my imagination is probably still on retreat somewhere, drowsing with the bees or gazing out to sea), so this week's prompt is more concrete - writing fuel! What do you like to eat or drink whilst writing, or in breaks during a long writing day? Do you have seasonal favourites (any summer recommendations?), or are you permanently loyal to one specific drink, "tea, Earl Grey, hot" or equivalent?
(xkcd of course)
Here are last week's goals:
Daisy
1. Continue work with samples
2. Continue lab set-up and purchases
3. Teaching planning meetings for next year
4. Take one day for writing a couple of paper sections
5. Three reviews, only one of which is overdue
6. Do garden work four times
7. Exercise in the morning, do something every day
8. Plan field work, but do back-up plans of literally everything because everything changes every time I write something down…
Dame Eleanor Hull
1. Observe principle of 10-3 as "work hours"
2. Create PowerPoint for conference paper
3. Return to work on Alms chapter
4. Continue reading through tenure-review file
5. Aim for one creative, one house, and one garden task from Summer Lists
6. go through the proofs for an article coming out this fall!
Heu mihi
1. READ. For work and pleasure. The stack of books to be read is getting too big.
2. Read and take notes on two articles for promotion review.
3. Make 10 pages.
4. Comment on grad student's job materials.
5. Prepare for and enjoy my birthday, which is on Saturday.
JaneB
1) Self-care: baselines, sort through the Combined Pile
2) Researcher: Wish-we-never-started project - at least 5 hours of work. Any new action steps on returned paper. Two "small jobs"
3) Teaching: More marking (a few late pieces, bureaucracy - we're into the complaints and paperwork part of the process at least). Meet with all new MSc students again (they have a really poorly planned out, tight schedule this year). Summer list.
4) Fun. Play D&D or do some D&D planning. Read something. Do some thinking about the next large-and-simple blanket crochet project (& estimate how much the yarn will cost...). Plan out and book annual leave this summer.
Julie
1) Claim expenses
2) Upload photos and write up notes before I forget what everything is.
3) Read Bright but Anxious PhD student's chapter ahead of a meeting.
4) Finish a database/spreadsheet of rural charities for Burgos
5) Schedule coffee with a friend and colleague to talk about research.
6) Keep email catch-up brief
Susan
Research:
1. Finish 2 article reviews
2. Read 3 more books for book prize
3. Start writing introduction to Big Collaboration
Administrivia:
1. Finish summer schedule/ contact people
2. Contact people for limited fall jobs
3. Draft budget for next year
4. Submit spring schedule
Life:
1. Pick up all stuff from Funeral Home (photo, ashes, death certificate) so I don't have to deal with them any more.*
2. Start filing for life insurance and other stuff
3. Contact attorneys for probate.
4. Have fun in the big city, enjoy the kids and the family.
My refreshment choices are pretty dull - I always like to have water, sometimes with a splash of fruit juice or squeeze of lemon or splash of some sort of soft drink. Tea or coffee is more of a break in sessions thing, and so are snacks (because I eat them mindlessly otherwise - and because there have been a couple of Incidents when I snacked on a cat treat not a JaneB treat - there are cat treats on my desk because a) I groom Fluffball on my desk (better ergonomics) and he gets a reward for letting me do that and b) sometimes he needs removing without drama due to work stuff and getting a treat out, showing him, then lobbing it into the hallway works very well). Snacks I constantly return to are dried apricots, roast almonds or cashews, and very dark chocolate (currently with sea salt) broken into tiny chunks so they melt slowly in the mouth rather than being gobbled...
ReplyDeleteLAST WEEK'S GOALS
It just wasn't a very good week. A few weeks ago my GP changed my anti-depressant dose and whilst I am feeling a bit less anxious I am also very tired, my sleep is even more messy, and I can't be bothered to do things. Any things, fun or necessary or work or whatever. Hoping it's just end of term itis, being fed up about how unuseful my appraisal was when I finally had it, plus it's getting warm here again and I like to aestivate!
1) Self-care: baselines, sort through the Combined Pile ish, no
2) Researcher: Wish-we-never-started project - at least 5 hours of work. Any new action steps on returned paper. Two "small jobs" no - barely one. Yes. Yes, just
3) Teaching: More marking (a few late pieces, bureaucracy - we're into the complaints and paperwork part of the process at least). Meet with all new MSc students again (they have a really poorly planned out, tight schedule this year). Summer list. I've done all I can (more to come) on the marking. Met all the students again. Did not make the summer list (stupid brain does not want to face up to lists
4) Fun. Play D&D or do some D&D planning. Read something. Do some thinking about the next large-and-simple blanket crochet project (& estimate how much the yarn will cost...). Plan out and book annual leave this summer. yes, played. Did not read anything (sigh). Did order a lot of yarn. Did plan and book annual leave - ended up booking a longer block in July (a fortnight, but it's Tuesday to Wednesday because of work stuff) and a day or two every week in July and August because it's really hard to find a ;long enough clear block to use most of the days I have, plus having MSc students doing summer projects it's hard to be truly away. So, we'll see how it works out. I did some drawing/painting, including making a Father's Day card, which wasn't on the list.
Next week all the marking will have to be wrapped up as we have the first of the formal meetings at the end of the week, and I also have a fair bit of student support to do because several are just now realising that they are in a big mess... sigh! I've got what I hope is the last meeting before submission for a paper that has been going on forever, and have to do things for Project I Wish We Never Started (which are now late). Sigh.
NEXT WEEK'S GOALS:
1) Self-care: baselines, sort through the Combined Pile, book the Decluttering Lady for sometime soon
2) Researcher: Wish-we-never-started project - at least 5 hours of work. Final action steps on very overdue paper. Two "small jobs"
3) Teaching: responding quickly to requests (for late marking, mark checking, bureaucracy etc.). Feedback to all new MSc students on their project paperwork). Make a summer list.
4) Fun. Play D&D or do some D&D planning. Read something. If the yarn arrives, start the next blanket. Make a summer wish list for non- work days.
Hope they find some meds that work for you, or that the messy sleep and exhaustion are just temporary. Mmm, dark chocolate with sea salt...that has to be good for exhaustion, right?
DeleteLove the vignette of getting Fluffball out of your office! So often I don't even realize I have cats in my study (because they hide behind the books) until one of them wants out and/or cat-bombs a Zoom meeting. Basement Cat would respond to treats but Reina wouldn't move unless she felt perfectly safe to do so. I'm glad you got to play D&D, and ordered yarn---that's fun in the ordering, in the anticipation, in the receiving, and in the making!
DeleteGood luck with all the marking and meetings! Hope the forever paper gets out the door, that would be a good thing to celebrate with non-cat treats!
DeleteWriting fuel: I have quite set habits. It has to be coffee in the mornings, and strong coffee, Espresso with just a little milk (a cortado in Spain, less milky that what gets called a cortado in the UK). At home I make it with a proper Italian-style cafetiere. My dad is Spanish, so I grew up with this kind of coffee maker, and it's just one of those soothing rituals, putting coffee on. If I'm in the department, I end up spending a fortune on takeaway coffees from places with proper coffee machines, since none of the kitchens in my department have hobs, just boiling water taps and microwaves. Stupid Health and Safety. In the afternoons, I drink tea, since coffee after about 2 pm is heading into insomnia territory. I like different kinds: Earl Grey, roiboos, jasmine, but also whatever is available.
ReplyDeleteFor snacks, I prefer savoury in the mornings, sweeter in the afternoons. No idea why. Ideally savoury snacks would be cheese, but I need to lose weight and now bring my cholestarol down, so my alternatives are fat-free cottage cheese, salt and vinegar flavoured rice cakes, or low-fat hummus with crackers or raw veg if I've been organised enough to prep the veg. Sweet snacks would ideally be cake or dark chocolate, but I am very bad at rationing myself to just a couple of squares. I try to stick to fruit. In summer it's easier, as a handful of strawberries or cherries does work for sweet cravings with me in a way that an apple doesn't.
Last week
I was a bit distracted by back pain which flared up again, and has made sitting for long periods awkward. But I did do bits of writing I hadn't planned to, and found an article by chance that was really useful, so some wins.
1) Claim expenses - YES
2) Upload photos and write up notes before I forget what everything is. - YES
3) Read Bright but Anxious PhD student's chapter ahead of a meeting.- YES
4) Finish a database/spreadsheet of rural charities for Burgos - NO (taking too long and not sure it's as relevant as I thought it was, but it's half done now...)
5) Schedule coffee with a friend and colleague to talk about research.- YES (need to do this more often)
6) Keep email catch-up brief - ISH
This week:
1. Finish the spreadsheet
2. Follow up on references from unexpectedly useful article
3. Research French archive catalogues
4. Read book on one of my French case studies.
5. Read Difficult PhD student's chapter ahead of meeting IF he sends it through.
6. Do some gardening
7. Ring someone about a couple of medium to large house & garden jobs.
8. Book overdue blood test (I don't want my high cholesterol confirmed).
9. Enjoy quality time with daughter while son away on school trip (= watching Queen Charlotte on Netflix)
I'm sorry to hear about your back pain, but it sounds like you got quite a bit done anyway! I love the smell of coffee and like hearing about other people's coffee rituals, even though I have to avoid drinking it, so thank you for those insights!
DeleteYour coffee sounds really good!
DeleteLots of things done, hope this week was good too!
Berries and cherries are perfect for snacking!
DeleteOnce again, I'm signed in but unrecognized. Hang on . . .
ReplyDeleteHere we go! I usually have a flask of tea at hand when I'm writing, either decaf green or rooibos, or maybe mint. I've minimized caffeine since I was sick last winter, but I miss the flavor of real tea; even green tea, or maybe especially green tea, has more flavor when it's "full lead."
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
1. Observe principle of 10-3 as "work hours." NO. Totally in the breach, not at all in the observance. Things kept coming up, or taking longer than expected, or I was just dithering around not getting to things, because I am now away at a conference and knowing that was coming threw me off.
2. Create PowerPoint for conference paper. YES.
3. Return to work on Alms chapter. NO.
4. Continue reading through tenure-review file. YES but only a couple of pages!
5. Aim for one creative, one house, and one garden task from Summer Lists. I need more categories! One house task, two social events (one was a book group meeting---I'm trying out several this summer), and one purchase completed.
6. go through the proofs for an article coming out this fall! YES.
So it wasn't such a bad week as it felt at the time. I mean, it was a pleasant week, but I felt like I was just screwing around and not getting much done. That's one thing I love about this group! I don't capture my full list here, just a few things, but then I can see that either I did those things, or I did other things instead, and that is encouraging.
New goals:
Have fun at conference!
File travel claim as soon as I get back.
Read book for book group #2.
Do another 1-2 things from Summer List.
Hope the conference is fabulous! A change of scene and some like-minded people is such a tonic.
DeleteAgree that seeing even a few things checked off on our lists here every week is a nice reminder of things that do get done even if they don't feel momentous when they happen...
"Have Fun At Conference" is such a great goal!
DeleteCoffee… In the office it is always coffee! We have a lovely coffee collective in my shared lab space, and an excellent fair-trade local roastery for beans. At home it is always tea, builders tea, none of the fancy flavours and things… For serious writing I tend to listen to music with headphones, so no snacks because that is loud and distracting.
ReplyDeleteThat was a decent week for getting lab stuff done, I solved a few problems and a few of the rest might be solved this week. I hope so! If the customs fairy smiles on me I might even have some new gear… My kid made me an excellent birthday cake so that was nice!
My undergrad student this summer is absolutely stellar and a joy to have around, very efficient, very good with lab stuff, so I’m thrilled. Field plans are coming together, but I have a feeling that there may be changes of plans along the way…
Not much for garden got done, but what did get done also counted as exercise because mowing was a ton of work, hours and hours... I have started digging up large areas of lawn that will all become garden beds, I want the lawn to be about a quarter of its current size eventually. Started a bunch of rudbeckias and lupins from seeds for planting on all the sloping bits and will fill in as much as possible with hostas and echinacheas of all colours…
Last week’s goals
Continue work with samples ONGOING
Continue lab set-up and purchases ALMOST DONE
Teaching planning meetings for next year DONE
Take one day for writing a couple of paper sections NOPE
Three reviews, only one of which is overdue DONE
Do garden work four times NOT QUITE 4
Exercise in the morning, do something every day NOPE, BUT GARDEN COUNTED FOR SOME
Plan field work, but do back-up plans of literally everything because everything changes every time I write something down… ONGOING AND EVER-CHANGING…
This week’s goals
Get fancy machine working with help of friendly physicists
TRY AGAIN Take one day for writing a couple of paper sections
Write outline for joint student paper
Write promotion review
Write association report
Get myself and students ready for field work….
I hope to hear more about your garden plans! I would also like to have more beds and less lawn, but haven't decided how I want to do this, and also I want to do a little at a time so I don't wear myself out with digging. Probably I should put some "plan garden" type tasks on my Huge List. Since I remember when your kid was very small, it seems amazing that now you have a kid-made birthday cake---that seems like an accomplishment right there!
DeleteRight? From not-even-toddler when I found this group to fully functional high school human with actual skills... In what feels like a very short time but I guess really isn't... Pretty fun to see!
DeleteGood luck with customs!
DeleteAnd yes, hearing about children's changes really brings out the passage of time doesn't it? My nibling goes to University in the Autumn! Where has the time gone since I first met that tiny premie baby??
If I'm snacking, it's usually cashews, or maybe Wheat Thins, the cracker for which I have a terrible weakness. But if I do have a snack, I typically plow through it pretty quickly, so it doesn't last me for much of my work time and is better for a break. Drinks: Water, herbal tea, Earl Gray if I'm sleepy. That's about it.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. READ. For work and pleasure. The stack of books to be read is getting too big. - YES, although the stack is still huge. I reread one primary source and finished a very long novel. Now I'm reading Tracy Deonn's *Legendborn*, which is good fun if anyone out there hasn't read it yet. (A modern Arthurian retelling featuring a young Black woman at UNC-Chapel Hill; its handling of race and the legacy of slavery is particularly excellent.)
2. Read and take notes on two articles for promotion review. - YES
3. Make 10 pages. - NO
4. Comment on grad student's job materials. - YES
5. Prepare for and enjoy my birthday, which is on Saturday. - YES; it was pretty quiet, which is what I wanted.
This week:
1. Read more!
2. Get caught up on some journal stuff: proofs of one article, check in with co-editor about proofing the others and a questionable review
3. Read 3 articles for promotion review
4. Two yard tasks
5. Make summer list(s)
6. Make 10 pages--I would really like to make time for this!
7. Prepare for and enjoy my son's birthday, which is on Wednesday (party scheduled for Friday, weather permitting)
I was just at a conference where one paper was on Deonn's book; I'm going to need to read that and add it to the outside reading list for my Arthurian lit class. I hope your week has gone well!
DeleteAlways enjoy the book recommendations from everyone, I've definitely found a few new highlights through everyone's comments over the years!
DeleteAdding Legendborne to the list...
DeleteAnd yes, one of the things I LOVE about this group is that we have similar-but-NOT-the-same reading tastes for the fun stuff. And having more Murderbot fans to fan with - next book November, already on pre-order... (I have just found some "Sanctuary Moon" publicity material some people have made, and bought some for Nibling's upcoming birthday as they like sideways nerdery (and still claim "I AM Murderbot"...))
DeleteOh, interesting question. I don't usually eat or drink while writing. I may start still finishing my morning tea (builders); I have a cup of coffee after lunch, and sometimes a cookie/biscuit of some kind. I might have some Earl Grey at 4 or 5, but I'll often work through until 7. I rarely eat at my desk... But I'll have a piece of dark chocolate with sea salt as dessert after dinner.
ReplyDeleteHow I did last week:
Research:
1. Finish 2 article reviews NO
2. Read 3 more books for book prize READ 4, so that's good
3. Start writing introduction to Big Collaboration NO
Administrivia:
1. Finish summer schedule/ contact people MOSTLY
2. Contact people for limited fall jobs SOME
3. Draft budget for next year NO
4. Submit spring schedule NO
Life:
1. Pick up all stuff from Funeral Home (photo, ashes, death certificate) so I don't have to deal with them any more.* YES
2. Start filing for life insurance and other stuff YES
3. Contact attorneys for probate. NO
4. Have fun in the big city, enjoy the kids and the family. YES
It was a so-so week. Just slowly chugging through all the stuff, and more to go. I couldn't concentrate on the article reveiws, but that's getting important. Lots of little stuff, but also learned that I have been promoted to being a "distinguished" professor, so that was nice!
Goals for this week (short week, as a friend is coming to visit on Friday.)
1. Do article reviews
2. Read 2 more books
3. Write a paragraph of Big Collaboration Intro
4. Confirm last bits of fall schedule
5. Budget for next year
6. PEOPLE FOR JOBS
7. Spring schedule
8. Contact attorney
9. Fill in many forms
On Friday Mr. Ginger George goes in for surgery for what appears to be a tumor, so I'm a bit worried about that. But many of these are tasks that will only take 15 minutes or so, so it looks more daunting than it is.
Congratulations on being a 'distinguished' professor! Sounds very impressive. And fingers crossed for Mr Ginger George.
DeleteI hope things go well for Ginger George today! And congratulations on becoming distinguished!
DeleteGood luck for Ginger George, and congratulations!
DeleteSending good thoughts to Ginger George, and yay for public status of "Distinguished"! Our profession does have some great job titles (it would just be nice if "Reader" involved more protected reading time...)
DeleteI remember when I started reading British novels that featured academic settings, in my teens, I thought being paid to be a Reader would be my ideal job! Later C. P. Snow set me straight. But it is a joy to me that nearly anything I read can be justified as contributing to my job, one way or another, even if only as a potential way to relate to students or understand what colleagues in other departments are doing.
Delete