Toads.
What toads have you dealt with in the past week? Have they dropped from your lips, or from someone else's lips in your presence? Have they been serenading from the damp patches around campus, or invading the damp patches in your house? Are they falling from the pages of books, or looking up at you out of cereal bowls? Do you see more of them at work, or at home? Do they ever turn into anything else? And if so, is the something else nicer, or nastier, than the toad was?
Susan
1. Read last two essays for Big Collaboration
2. Finish Epilogue on Famous Author and send to editor: I just need two or three hours
3. Deal with data
disjunction with colleagues so it's not just me
4. Don't let
administrivia overwhelm me. There will be meetings. There will be many
meetings.
5. Three more
journals/ enter readings in Zotero with notes
6. 15 minutes
decluttering
7. Take stuff to
Goodwill, take stuff to dump
8. List ramps on
facebook marketplace
9. Move / Eat /
Sleep
10. Do something
fun
Julie
1. Teaching prep,
keep to minimum.
2. Write new
lecture for Monday.
3. Email backlog.
4. Write reference
for student.
JaneB
1a - move
intentionally three days
1b - do seven
household tasks (check list in my bullet journal)
2a - buy, wrap
& post birthday present for male parent along with the now very overdue
urgent letters
2b - do some
D&D preparation for a game I run, play D&D
2c - spend a chunk
of time on some sort of art or craft - make a card for my Dad
3a - be
professional in check-in with Interim Head of School and maintain boundaries
3b - do 8 hours,
not more than 20% over; call GP practice to set up an appointment to review the
phased return
4a - comments on
Many Author R&R
4b - set up a
meeting to go over edits for Never Ending Paper
4c - do whatever
urgent things have come in in relation to the PhD selection processes (this
week that will be related mostly to Exotic and to timetabling)
Heu mihi
1. Review four
grant applications--I've been a grant reviewer for this organization for about
6 years, during which time there has been one application, total, in my field.
Well, apparently this is The Year for Medieval Studies, and I have four! Due
next week!
2. 1 hour a day on
my actual research and writing
3. Reread article
with diametrically opposed reviews
4. SCHEDULE TAX
MEETING
5. Read ahead for
class
6. Schedule yet
more meetings
7. Get caught up
on non-university volunteer service work
Dame Eleanor Hull
Exercise: swim x2
or x3, cardio + weights x3, yoga at least x4
Work: sample
syllabuses for 2 course proposals; ~3-4 hours/day on research (reading,
translating, outlining, writing); prep for Latin group.
Social: make
reservation for a birthday dinner out
Creative: write
out story climax idea/scene
Planning: 2024
planning; make appointments for feline check-ups; make eye exam appt for me.
Daisy
Record and post
lectures for snow days
Drive home and not
end up in snowy ditches
Dust off old paper
and do revisions
Paper review for
nice journal
Read and comment
on student thesis draft
Contact coauthor
on other old paper and light fire under collective backsides to do something
about it
Contingent
Cassandra
--Begin taxes
(putting research work on pause this week to try to forestall an April
trainwreck by getting this done earlier than usual)
--Engage in some
sort of purposeful movement – short or long walks, stretching, weight-lifting,
and/or stair-climbing – at least 5 out of every 7 days
My toads are directly related to insomnia. It has not been a good week, and in addition to the efforts it takes to get any work done, I feel that I expend energy I can ill afford in keeping toads from dripping from my lips with every word. How much more useful, productive, and pleasant could I be if I slept like a normal person? I think I'm going to resort to xanax for a few nights and hope that will help me associate bed with sleep again.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
Exercise: swim x2 or x3, cardio + weights x3, yoga at least x4. YES (x2, x2, x3: I'm calling it close enough).
Work: sample syllabuses for 2 course proposals; ~3-4 hours/day on research (reading, translating, outlining, writing); prep for Latin group. PARTIAL: about 1.5 hours work on one syllabus; 3 good work days; prep done.
Social: make reservation for a birthday dinner out. YES.
Creative: write out story climax idea/scene. NO (and discovered that the files for this particular group of tales apparently exist only on the desktop I haven't turned on in months, b/c I need to back it up thoroughly and then set up the new one, and I dread the whole process even though I got fed up enough with the slowness of the old one that I did go out and buy a new computer at the end of August---but since then I have worked on my laptop, b/c dread, and time).
Planning: 2024 planning; make appointments for feline check-ups; make eye exam appt for me. SOME, ONE, NO. Basement Cat has to be sedated for his exams, and the vet tech who had to call back called Sir John instead of me even though I specifically left my number, and he was busy with his mother's move, so . . . I said if they call him back on Monday, to tell them to call me, but they'll probably call while I'm in the pool or driving to campus. Toads.
ALSO: lots of errands including renewing a library card and buying some new gym clothes; three visits to my MIL including dinner deliveries for her and my husband on his days with her; fun reading including Jo Walton's Among Others, which I am now re-reading.
New goals:
Exercise: swim x2 or x3, cardio + weights x3, yoga at least x4
Work: sample syllabuses for 2 course proposals; ~3-4 hours/day on research (reading, translating, outlining, writing); prep for Latin group including setting up documents.
Social: birthday dinner out; make cake for post-dinner celebration with friends.
Creative: write out story climax idea/scene
Planning: 2024 planning; make appointment for BC check-up; make eye exam appt for me.
Technical: turn on old desktop, look for creative files and tax-related stuff.
I am certain that computer is full of toads. And while I am procrastinating most epically on the back-up-old set-up-new process, I'm sure this is not one of those "oh gosh it only took 15 minutes after all" situations, but the kind where it's clear that the task got put off b/c it would turn out to be complex and annoying and turn me Irrationally Tetchy.
I'm sorry about the insomnia. I decided some years ago that I'd rather used drugs occasionally than get totally wrecked by it. I can tell my level of stress by how often I need to take Ambien. (Right now, once every few weeks, when things are bad, twice a week.) But Susan who has slept is so much better than Susan who has not slept.
DeleteOtherwise, a pretty good week. And now your MIL is in assisted living and you (or Sir John) can worry a bit less.
I'd be much more willing to take drugs if I were sure I could maintain access to them! Since I just got a new doc last year and I'm not entirely sure of her attitude, I tend to hoard my supply just in case. But yes, a rested Dame Eleanor is a different person from the sleepless wreck.
DeleteSleep deprivation is awful. Hope it improves. Glad that things seem more settled with your MIL.
DeleteMy sleep is a complete mess and always has been a bit problematic. But having been on sick leave and now phased return, I am sleeping an hour or two at least during the day almost every day and it does help - my brain only seems to really want to sleep in daylight/half-light, not at night, and whether that's a sleep disorder, anxiety, neurodivergence (I discovered that many ND people tend to want to be awake at night because there are less sensory stresses, and want to sleep during the day partly to reduce the amount of noise/light which causes sensory overload, and that does feel possible), menopause, or just late state capitalism and Revenge Bedtime Procrastination, it's Not Helpful!
DeleteGlad to hear the MIL matter is at least progressing.
Aaaand I just bought some more Jo Walton books for my kindle. I have NO SELF CONTROL.
Ohhh technical problems are the worst. My condolences! I hope that it is at least manageable and not too tetchy-making.
DeleteToads? The toads have been mostly under control, but a few surfaced at the faculty meeting I ran last week. I don't think the adminicritter who is co-chairing a committee I am on is a toad, at least not yet. That may change over the next few weeks, since this committee meets weekly.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
1. Read last two essays for Big Collaboration YES
2. Finish Epilogue on Famous Author and send to editor: I just need two or three hours YES - and got files back on Saturday
3. Deal with data disjunction with colleagues so it's not just me YES
4. Don't let administrivia overwhelm me. There will be meetings. There will be many meetings. MOSTLY
5. Three more journals/ enter readings in Zotero with notes NO
6. 15 minutes decluttering YES
7. Take stuff to Goodwill, take stuff to dump YES/ NO
8. List ramps on facebook marketplace YES, and both are GONE!!!
9. Move / Eat / Sleep YES
10. Do something fun YES
Also, discovered an admin task I'd postponed in the fall, did it. And while waiting for people who came to pick up wheelchair ramps, did some garage cleaning!
The fact that my awesome editor got my chapters back to me so quickly was great, and even better, her comments were focused on two chapters in ways that I think I can address relatively easily. We're still dealing with the fallout from student crisis, but it's now moving forward in constructive ways.
Goals for week ahead:
1. Revise 2 chapters that need some work for Famous Author
2. Re-read and comment on article for journal
3. Organize events for graduate visitation
4. Deal with graduate admissions stuff
5. Keep up with students in crisis
6. Meetings. All the meetings.
7. Make up lease for people who will rent my house/ care for my cat when I'm on sabbatical next year
8. 3 more journals
9. Eat/ sleep/ move
10. Get ready for trip to wintry climes next week.
What an excellent Week of YES! It's great to hear that you've got good feedback on your chapters and that the student problem is moving toward resolution. And you have made progress on decluttering! Well done! Um, hand the fairy godmother's wand on to someone else this week?
DeleteSounds like a great week. Getting rid of bulky items is always hugely satisfying! And helpful peer review makes such a difference,
DeleteWhee, lots of yes! And the satisfaction of seeing things leave the house, especially to new homes where they fit better, is huge
DeleteWow, that's great! Excellent news about the editor's report!
DeleteLike Dame Eleanor, I am tired, so toads may spill out at any time. There was definitely a toad in the computer in one of my teaching rooms last week - luckily one of the nice adminicritters found us another room. My force field is also not working yet, since I had two people today refuse to take no for an answer. More toads.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Teaching prep, keep to minimum - YES
2. Write new lecture for Monday. - YES (finished 11 pm last night, gave it this morning).
3. Email backlog - MOSTLY
4. Write reference for student. - NO
Also: drove in pouring rain one day, fog another to ferry kids to various things. Sat through a very toady research seminar (can we find a charm that lets you get back time wasted?). Reviewed grant application I'd forgotten about (more temporal dysfunction).
This week:
1. Teaching prep - keep to minimum.
2. Feedback to students on oral presentations from last week.
3. References for two students.
4. Second round of article revisions.
5. Exercise - run x 2, Pilates x 1, more if possible.
6. Life admin - book trains for trips away, new football boots for daughter, open bank account for son.
Ugh toady seminars are SO BAD. Empathy...
DeleteOh my gosh, I so want the charm to get back wasted time.
DeleteOh my goodness. I'm sorry. If it helps (??), I was in meetings from 2-6 on Friday afternoon last week. --I enjoy shocking people with that bit of toadiness.
DeleteI am tired, cynical and burnt out, but at least I'm remote so mostly controlling toads-from-lips. Just very very aware of the toad Squatting On My Life and the internal one whose "hunkers are heavy as hard luck/and cold as snow" whilst it worries loudly about pensions. Here are a few "Northern Uni is Stressful" bullet points from my week - thank you for listening!
ReplyDelete** We do now know who our new Head of School will be. We found out via a "news you might have missed on the very confusing internal file system" email. No email directly to the School, or even to the Faculty - that happened a couple of days later. Apparently not only did we have no reason to be involved in the hiring at all, not even our most senior leaders, but we also had no reason to want to know the news... The new person has a background in the smallest group in the School, the one which is full of "management challenges" and has very small student numbers so does more research than the rest of us, and has been a Deanlet for the last four years so has minimal direct experience of what a rollercoaster that has been (my experience so far has been that anyone who did not teach through this period is almost offensively blind to how exhausted everyone is and how changed the student body - one day I might meet an exception, I hope...).
We're told he's "nice" (he is of course white/cis male/etc.) and "you will like him" by the Dean, but how the heck would the Dean know what we need? He's shown no signs of knowing ANYTHING and as mentioned before has already over-ridden the given word of the Head of School over a matter of a few hundred pounds at most
** a colleague has serious memory issues following on from COVID to the point that he keeps mixing up modules, denying that emails were sent etc. (and apparently can't remember to search stuff, remember how the VLE works, remember how another colleague who is in plaster broke his hand...). Needless to say, this person is allocated to the two modules where I normally coordinate the whole team, has never taught in either of them before, and is being a nightmare/stress-source. He's not a toad (although when I last co-taught with him he was patronising and patriarchal/parental whenever possible because he is a Full Professor and He Knows Best - he's been a Deanlet then on research leave for the last six years so... sigh...) but he's not anything pleasant either! And it's also another stressor for the third person in both those teams, who is desperately overloaded, has a broken hand which is not healing well, is struggling with fatigue issues after several rounds of COVID and is just being such a lovely kind person despite my sick leave and slow return imposing a lot of extra burdens on them. At least I now know why the first colleague is being such a disorganised, confusing pain to work with and it does help me practice kindness and reduce ruminating over what I did to create each new micro-problem
** the university has announced another round of Voluntary Severance - not a very well funded one, but if I was within 3 years of retirement or had paid off my mortgage (five years or so to go) I would be SO TEMPTED - which probably means ANOTHER financial crisis (although the language is all about being top heavy - again. Which means the usual lack of respect for experience/institutional knowledge), but the weird bit is that the exit date is in mid-April - which would leave us all in a terrible mess in terms of getting modules finished and marking done as that is about three weeks before finals dates so people going then would be a nightmare. oh, and we'll only be SURE who is leaving AFTER all the decisions are made about what will be taught by whom next year...
** oh, and after all the time that's gone in to the Exotic PhD funding, there's been a cock up where multiple people including me dropped balls and missed deadlines and got confused about time zones, and that one is 99% certain not to come off. SAD as that is the best chance of having a student who has both the background and work habits to hit the ground running, and also is the project which would help me get some innovative papers and build on existing collaborations in Exotic Country, which I greatly value, but... oh well. That's life.
DeleteLAST WEEK'S GOALS:
1a - move intentionally three days yes, although the third one was only a few minutes
1b - do seven household tasks (check list in my bullet journal) haha no
2a - buy, wrap & post birthday present for male parent along with the now very overdue urgent letters YES! All done!
2b - do some D&D preparation for a game I run, play D&D yes and yes
2c - spend a chunk of time on some sort of art or craft - make a card for my Dad yes and yes
3a - be professional in check-in with Interim Head of School and maintain boundaries not as much as I hoped. WHEN will I learn not to just RABBIT ON?
3b - do 8 hours, not more than 20% over; call GP practice to set up an appointment to review the phased return did 13 hours (sigh. The trend is Not Good), did get an appointment at the end of this week
4a - comments on Many Author R&R done
4b - set up a meeting to go over edits for Never Ending Paper yes. Which is part of the extra hours, but it needed to happen. & pleased to say the ECR who is co-authoring it has got a permanent job, although moving & starting teaching from day one is probably going to mess up the timescale even more...
4c - do whatever urgent things have come in in relation to the PhD selection processes (this week that will be related mostly to Exotic and to timetabling) yes, but as mentioned, Exotic has almost certainly now fallen through...
THIS WEEK'S GOALS:
1a - move intentionally three days
1b - do seven household tasks (check list in my bullet journal)
1c - quit refined sugar for Lent (other than 80%+ cocoa dark chocolate, because it's hard this year...)
2a - spend some decent reading time (new Jo Walton purchase...) and do some doodling
2b - do some D&D preparation for a game I run, play D&D
2c - write at least one note/postcard to a friend
3a - be professional in check-in with Interim Head of School and maintain boundaries
3b - do 8 hours, not more than 20% over; advocate for myself and for my ongoing issues when I talk to the GP - maintain phased return, NO going back to full hours...
4a - set up meeting with Senior Grad Student (who is returning to work from 2.5 months of burnout related sick leave) to discuss thesis and publications
4b - if possible spend 1 hour on the paper I forgot we were working on
4c - do whatever urgent things have come in in relation to the PhD selection processes (this week that will be emails related to Consortium and any fallout from Exotic)
OMG. I can't even with the appointment of the Head of School. And I get memory issues post-covid, but you figure out how to manage them. I am glad you have one kind colleague. (We're searching for a new dean and there would be a huge fuss if we didn't meet the candidates before an appointment.)
DeleteI'm sorry you're going over time, but it actually sounds like a pretty good week!
I agree with Susan both on the Head of School thing (WTF???) and about it being a good week overall. I'm sorry you're not in a position to consider the severance, because the place sounds like such a clusterfudge. As to Jo Walton, there are far worse things to binge on than books! Enjoy!
DeleteUgh, that is all such a mess. It sounds like you should distance and distract yourself as much as possible! Well done on the three days of intentional motion--doesn't matter if the third was only a little; it's the starting that's hard (and important).
DeleteMy toads are...well, they are uttered by another person, a person who works hard for the program but just has a weird personality, and they have offended a number of students and now I have to try to get this person to stop it with the toads. Meeting with them tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Review four grant applications--DONE
2. 1 hour a day on my actual research and writing--DONE, although they were sort of spread out and became half an hour here, half an hour there--but that's fine
3. Reread article with diametrically opposed reviews--DONE; decision made
4. SCHEDULE TAX MEETING--No, but TM sorted this one out
5. Read ahead for class--YES, well, I read for class, so class is read-for, but I'm not sure whether that counts as "ahead"
6. Schedule yet more meetings--PROBABLY
7. Get caught up on non-university volunteer service work--NO, but I was forgiven
This week:
1. 1 hour a day (average) x 5 on research and writing
2. Finish current round of website edits/updates, since I am now apparently a webpage manager
3. Find reviewer for article
4. Read for class by end of Saturday
5. Figure out graduate student workshop; send out poll re. subsequent workshop
6. Set up sleepover for kid
OMG, weird personalities. They live in universities! I'm sorry you are dealing with the ways they have offended students.
DeleteBut that's an impressive week. I admire your ability to work in short bursts, because that's what I struggle with.
That's an excellent lot of "done" and particularly good work on delegating the tax appointment! I'll ask Dean Tabitha to talk to her counterpart in Magineering about letting you use the toads-to-pearls amulet for your meeting tomorrow.
DeleteSo I had my meeting, and the person in question roundly denied the types of statements that the student claim (in very abstract terms; I did not solicit details) them to have made. I have done what I can do. I think that I'll need to collect details next time that they have a complaint--I'm starting to suspect that it's a couple of malcontents with years-old gripes who are stirring the pot....
DeleteToad report:
ReplyDeleteOh my stars, how behind can I get?? I’m trying to find out. Would love the charm for getting time back… Also, thought of animal for magineering… Can I submit late? It is a feline (of course) and if you get it to sleep on top of you it makes time slow down around you. So you can get an hour of napping squeezed into 10 minutes, or if you can get it to sleep on your lap you can have an extra hour of work time with a napping critter!
Last week’s Toads: mostly associated with giant storm… ‘nuff said… Toads all round but also lots of fun so balanced out nicely! This week is shaping up much toadier… Started with the Monday Morning Toad that showed up when I woke up and realized I had two exams scheduled that morning and had not actually set either of them… Followed by a Monday Lunchtime Toad in response to some massively underhanded unethical garbage by conference committee straight out of hell. I spent today hiding in my lab, training a student in lab techniques, so the toads were all his because those are all brutally hard to learn.
Last week’s goals
Record and post lectures for snow days DONE
Drive home and not end up in snowy ditches DONE, YAY!
Dust off old paper and do revisions NOPE
Paper review for nice journal STARTED BUT NOPE
Read and comment on student thesis draft STARTED BUT NOWHERE NEAR DONE
Contact coauthor on other old paper and light fire under collective backsides to do something about it (we may need to borrow the flatulent dragon for this one) DONE
This week’s goals
Lots of lab work for student analytical trip
Paper review for nice journal
Read and comment on student thesis draft
Set and grade three exams
Keep fire lit for new paper
Trip accounting
Must speak to my felines about this time-slowing thing: they do try, but I have not experienced the extra time. Not that I want to let them be experimented on by Magineering.
DeleteI hope your Monday toads are the full allotment for the week and that after this it will be cats all the way!
We do what we can do. You survived the massive storm, and got yourself (and students, I assume) home safely. And it seems like you had an okay week, even though things were not all finished.
DeleteVery sorry so many toads showed up this week. Your feline time compressor sounds very useful, especially for those of us who are always in need of more sleep. I hope the toads will now disappear so that you can focus on what you want to focus on.
Oh, what a mess!
DeleteI wish we'd had a snowstorm. My kid's school was canceled because they were calling for 11 inches, but we ended up with only the slightest dusting. Sigh.
To counteract the toads, I would like to share a very short (5-second) video that my Italian professor played for us as a Valentine's day gift yesterday:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl3ZGGJmLNM
This particular class is collectively obsessed with cats, so it was a big hit. Enjoy!