Hi all. I dithered about whether this week or next was supposed to be midterm check-in, but decided it might as well be this week. So a time to look back at session goals and reflect on how they are going. Are there any you want to drop? Anything new to add? And how have you been doing with gifts to yourself this session? I need to work on sleep still, and am going to buy myself more candles just as soon as I'm somewhere that sells nice ones. Last week's goals also posted below.
SESSION GOALS
JaneB
1)
SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
* Maintaining good habits - something creative every week, D&D related time
every week, reading regularly, intentional movement, something social with a
non work person even if it's a typed conversation.
* Specific things - reading & journalling through the "self care for
autistic adults" book I didn't do last session.
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
* Habits - 75% or more of the weekly minimal chores, 1 small additional
environment thing a week
* Specific things - researching for the changes I want to make to my downstairs
living spaces this summer, keeping up with garden trimming as and when spring
comes along, creating some better financial habits
2)
TEACHING AND ADMIN
* successful teaching delivery (which has to happen, but it will take a good
chunk of time each week so it's going in...)
* productive engagement with teaching redesign process (whilst pushing for my
needs to be met e.g. being allowed to take time to think about decisions not
make them on the fly, information in writing, etc.)
* stay in my lane! (especially with the further reduction in hours and the big
research project having finally started).
* support senior grad student - submission is early March - and external
Research Master's student - submission is mid March - plus other students, but
these two are the priority until late March.
4) RESEARCH
i) measurable progress on at least two papers - two, because this session is
almost 100% teaching weeks for me (there is the inter-semester marking week,
and the week when the second years are on their overseas trips, but those are
realistically going to also be structured by teaching-related needs.
ii) find out my commitments in the small cog in a big project situation and
meet them as I can around my own capacity
Julie
1. Research (TLQ)
i) Write article for end of January deadline.
ii) Write longer version of grant application for 1st March deadline.
iii) Spend remaining small grant money.
iv) Figure out some research for after 1st March.
2. Teaching
i) Marking: finish current batch, do next batch mid-February.
ii) Keep teaching prep as minimal as possible.
iii) PhD students: R has submitted, so just viva guidance; I is writing up,
needs carrot; M has extended yet again, needs big stick.
3. Admin
i) Usual round of moderating other colleagues' marking, being a good citizen
etc while also saying no as much as possible.
4. Kids
i) Meet with teachers, advise on subject choices, try not to lean too heavily
on them.
ii) Usual ongoing work of parenting - try to do this with minimal
shouting/resentment.
iii) Encourage family time: films, reading together, make travel plans.
5. House
i) Essential financial stuff
ii) Small jobs, but no impossible goals.
6. Fun stuff/self-care
i) Sleep!
ii) Exercise
iii) Healthy eating.
iv) Read.
v) Creative stuff
vi) Make travel plans for Easter and summer.
Daisy
Exercise regularly
Finish one new paper, one old one (feels like there should be a borrowed one
and a blue one too…)
Shepherd department through hiring process for critical position (more than one
if we get lucky)
Get my lab and sample archive organized
Teach well and refresh key lectures
Support grad students to finish projects
This week’s goals
Exercise 4 times
Start sample archive project
Sample processing
First week’s lectures and labs
Meet grad students and make term plans
Susan
1. Polish and give big public lecture on January 15
2. Submit almost final text of Famous Author to press on Feb 1, and do whatever
further edits are needed after my editor and reviewers read it.
3. Get maps done for Famous Author
4. Get image permissions for Famous Author
5. Take care of whatever I need to do on Big Collaboration (we're waiting on a
few more contributors to cut their essays to the required length, and then it's
in production, so it will be dealing with the copyedited ms.
6. Pick up work on the Rest of My Life project when i recover from January.
7. Keep up with exercise, do more walking
8. Read for pleasure
9. Do fun things
Heu mihi
1. Good habits: Continue with exercise regimen; practice
inversions three times a month; reintroduce meditation into my life to any
extent
2. Read 1 Italian book (I've just ordered "L'amica geniale" from our
local bookstore!)
3. Finish reasonably polished draft of article due in April (for workshop)
4. Final revisions to book manuscript
5. My actual job: Create online teaching supports for grad students; work on
data to advocate for an administrative change
6. Finish two in-progress knitting projects and make progress on my big new fun
one
Dame Eleanor
- make measurable progress on two research projects
- manage teaching and GTAs effectively
- gym and yoga 5x/week (each)
- be adequate at committee assignments
Contingent Cassandra
--Make substantial progress on Study Leave project (which
has multiple components and possible outcomes, so one of the things I need to
do soon is some more detailed prioritizing and planning)
--Continue exercise habit
--Work on other self-care activities, especially identifying leisure activities
that are truly restorative
--As time allows, make progress on making my home more livable for me, and
workable for having guests over (I've lived in a one-room apartment for the
past 17 years, and, while it has its attractions, and at this point feels like
home, it's also both overcrowded with stuff and in need of some repairs,
replacements, and updates, starting with the fridge and stove).
Contingent Cassandra
--Work out the one thing that still needs to be solved
before I can begin adding documents to study leave site and add at least one
document.
--Assuming that adding a document doesn’t reveal additional issues to be solved
(e.g. with display of files), begin setting up/testing transcription function,
including creating test user account(s).
--Attend virtual transcription event
--Contact friends in conference city; make train reservation; make historical
society reservation
--Get back into pattern of movement: lift weights 3x, regular stretching/body
weight exercises, walking and/or stair climb as weather allows (apparently
we’ve got another spell of stormy cold weather coming)
--Continue trying to figure out workable daily/weekly routines, starting with
establishing an end of day/bedtime routine.
--Mail things I’ve packed; pack some more
--If at all possible, do some work on taxes
Dame Eleanor
keep working on revisions to a chapter
- continue work on slides for at least one conference paper
- do some scholarly reading, take notes on the last book
- process at least 4 grad applications (maybe finish?)
- student conferences
- meet with grads
- gym x4, swim x2, yoga x5
- start putting together materials for the Revised Thing
Heu mihi
1. Research: Finish reading that book (1 more chapter!);
reread chapter 1 edits and enter them into the document (also enter Intro and
Preface edits)
2. Finish scheduling online teaching workshop (finding a date is proving
difficult)
3. Process journal revision #2
4. Work on organizing Big Giant Event with Famous Writer (happening in April)
5. Two sets of inversions????
JaneB
1)
SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
* habits: something creative, D&D, read a novel, intentional movement 15
minutes x 3 days, a social thing
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
* 75% or more of the weekly minimal chores, tidy up the upstairs landing -
these should be this week's top priority as it's a lighter work week...
3) TEACHING AND ADMIN
* prepare teaching for next week & do ViLE stuff
* comments on Very Long chapter for senior grad student
* planning meeting with new MRes student
4) RESEARCH
* read/comment on latest version of the paper that never, ever ends
* if possible, spend an hour on reading/writing for vague grant idea
* be on the ball for grad student meetings
Daisy
URGENT Student thesis stuff continued…
Midterms, set/give/mark…
Review
Visit
Exercise twice maybe?
Susan
-Catch up with email and everything that slid last week
-review ms for journal
-plan for next month or so of work
-figure out paper that was just accepted for March conference
-get back into exercise pattern
-return to healthy eating
-get good sleep
Julie
1. Teaching prep, keep minimal.
2. Work on grant for at least a day.
3. Write abstract for contribution to edited volume.
4. Admin stuff.
5. Feedback on two grant proposals.
6. Read book for book club on Friday.
7. Small house jobs: clean nesting box and buy new bird feeder, clear out some
drawers.
So most session goals were things that have to happen, so keeping them. Grant deadline turns out to be 21st March, not 1st, so a bit more time there. The article is now done, I still have to spend the grant money! Other goals: one PhD student has her viva next month, another has just sent over drafts of most chapters, the third is a worry (he's back home in India, so hard to chase). I could do with adding more creative things to my life, along with the sleep (I have been a bit better at getting to bed earlier, but tend to wake up early, which is irritating).
ReplyDeleteLast week:
1. Teaching prep, keep minimal. - YES
2. Work on grant for at least a day. - YES (just about)
3. Write abstract for contribution to edited volume. - YES
4. Admin stuff. - YES
5. Feedback on two grant proposals. - YES
6. Read book for book club on Friday. - YES
7. Small house jobs: clean nesting box and buy new bird feeder, clear out some drawers. - SOME (about to go tackle the nesting box now).
This week:
Wednesday will be the fourth anniversary of my husband's death. As many of you know, these anniversaries get easier with time, but never easy. So this will be a week to go gentle. Luckily, I have a window between seminars being done, no lectures for a while (I swapped a couple of weeks with my colleague while he was on paternity leave) and the next batch of marking landing at the end of this week.
1. Write full draft of grant proposal to send to colleagues.
2. Exercise, sleep, healthy eating.
3. Trip to farm shop (they sell fancy candles).
4. Be kind to myself and focus on the kids.
Lots of "yes" last week---that gives you a good base for having a week in which you focus on being kind to yourself and children, and giving suitable honour to your memories and feelings.
DeleteI'm keeping on keeping on which, honestly, is all I could hope for this trimester. My Aunt's funeral is soon, and my poor Uncle has been in hospital with serious back problems but is determined to be able to walk at the funeral. Colleagues are variously being amazing and not rising to the new demands, just as predicted, and my personal battery definitely fails to hold a charge at the moment! But all my marking got done on time (that was January's main duty) and we are 3 weeks down on a 12 week teaching trimester (14 weeks with Easter break in the middle). progress...
ReplyDeleteSESSION GOALS:
Are mostly necessary, but also more of the "keep doing baby steps" type than the tick off type. So probably all stay.
1) SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
I'm struggling with the habits, but that's always a process for me, I have a brain like a thick rubber mat, habits DO NOT FORM TRACKWAYS which I can easily follow (yet another thing I used to see as a personal weakness which is just part of being neurodivergent). But the list of things remains the same, and I'm doing SOME every week. Still haven't tackled the book, but that might come. I'm not using my journal much - so that's something I'd like to do more of.
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
Struggling here, but the house hasn't fully descended into chaos, so hopefully things will at least keep ticking along. All goals to stay.
3) TEACHING AND ADMIN
mixed on the teaching delivery - I've let several really dumb mistakes get through into handouts, but so far I'm still delivering things! The first part of the redesign process happened in January and I think I was useful and positive (I did not get what I wanted but what I got - not that anything is guaranteed - meets my needs at the moment. I'm not finding staying in my lane entirely easy! But it's a good goal! SeniorGradStudent is well on course for submission, and will have a PhD's worth of thesis, which is all that really matters, and I've done my last round of feedback for the MScbyResearch student too.
4) RESEARCH
as usual, the lack of control over what I work on when and what progresses in team work makes paper-writing goals nebulous, but I've managed to keep in touch with a couple of projects despite being very short on spoons and am on course to have declarable progress by the end of session. And I have a meeting to discuss small cog in big project activities next week, so that is slowly going somewhere too.
LAST WEEK:
Delete1) SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
* habits: something creative, D&D, read a novel, intentional movement 15 minutes x 3 days, a social thing knitted some, two D&D games, read parts of a novel (it's good but also capable of being read slowly which is all I have time for), 5 days, nothing extra
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
* 75% or more of the weekly minimal chores, tidy up the upstairs landing - these should be this week's top priority as it's a lighter work week... almost, no - it's actually worse than it was because I brought several weeks of post up as the first step of dealing with that chore.
3) TEACHING AND ADMIN
* prepare teaching for next week & do ViLE stuff mostly
* comments on Very Long chapter for senior grad student yes - and it's solid, no major edits needed thankfully
* planning meeting with new MRes student yes
4) RESEARCH
* read/comment on latest version of the paper that never, ever ends yes
* if possible, spend an hour on reading/writing for vague grant idea no
* be on the ball for grad student meetings mostly. And I used the "start the meeting by writing up a shared agenda" method to try and keep myself on track
This coming week doesn't have much special about it - just on campus different days of the week, which sometimes throws my brain off, and the decluttering person is booked for Friday but I will decide tomorrow - I'm not sure I have the need or the right mindset for proper decluttering, and the mess I kind of need help with is actually the kind that's hard for anyone else to help with until it gets worse if that makes sense! And whilst on the one hand I feel like a complete wimp for needing so much weekend recovery time, I do still seem to need it (I am veeeerrrry slowly improving, I think. But slooowly).
Delete1) SELF-CARE (recovery and self-kindness)
* habits: something creative, D&D, read a novel, intentional movement 15 minutes x 3 days, a social thing
2) HOUSE-LIFE CARE
* decide about decluttering & communicate early
* 75% or more of the weekly minimal chores, tidy up the upstairs landing (one day this WILL happen)
3) TEACHING AND ADMIN
* prepare teaching for next week & do ViLE stuff
* schedule individual meetings for all tutees
* write applicant letters
4) RESEARCH
* if possible, spend an hour on reading/writing for vague grant idea
* if time, look at the Consultancy Paper that is back on my plate, sigh. I am so fed up with this paper...
It's good to hear that you think the burnout is receding, even if slowly: slow and steady(ish) is probably the best way to keep it at bay. If it would help, you have my permission to cancel the declutterer! It sounds like your students are making good progress; I hope you give yourself credit for that, and that your colleagues recognize your support of your students.
DeleteWell, wow, look how restrained I was with those session goals! I'm doing well with all of them. I think I will keep them and not add anything. Whatever else I do, like applying for Revised Thing, can be an ALSO that makes me feel good about doing more than I planned. (Cat knows I spend enough time feeling bad about being barely adequate when it comes to teaching, this term. But as I said last week, 'barely' counts.)
ReplyDeleteSo how did I do last week (if I can even remember a thing about last week)?
- keep working on revisions to a chapter. NO, but agreed with a friend that we'll exchange chapters next Friday.
- continue work on slides for at least one conference paper. YES, added two more.
- do some scholarly reading, take notes on the last book. YES, one article, notes on the book I think I meant (except for some references for the class I'm teaching).
- process at least 4 grad applications (maybe finish?). SIX, but not done yet . . . people keep applying!
- student conferences. YES, with 3 more tomorrow for people who were ill last week.
- meet with grads. YES
- gym x4, swim x2, yoga x5. Cardio once, swam once, yoga x5 I think; also an hour or so shoveling/sweeping snow. I have enough hurty bits that I think taking some time off would be a good idea.
- start putting together materials for the Revised Thing. YES, wrote 500 words.
ALSO: read 3 fun novels, had another dinner out with friends, made another cake, did a lot of e-mailing about various projects, some at LRU, some outside. I think I have not yet mentioned that I have taken on editing a proceedings volume, along with a co-editor (because obviously I don't have enough to do . . . ). Most of the work won't happen till next year, but bits and pieces are already underway.
New goals:
- tidy up the chapter and send to friend
- continue work on slides for at least one conference paper
- do some scholarly reading, take notes on HJ essay
- process at least 6 grad applications (this will not be the end)
- catch up with ViLE stuff
- yoga x5, swim 1-2 times, show up for trainer but try to take it easy
- continue work on application for the Revised Thing
- one appointment; visitation for former colleague; get birthday cards for two friends
I need to think seriously about when I am going to do all these things! The week will contain a lot of driving around, attending meetings and whatnot, and it's already late enough tonight that I really don't want to start tackling the ViLE work. OTOH if I'm deliberately skipping the gym, that gives me back some time.
I'm impressed by your energy! And on some stuff, just doing what needs to be done seems more than enough.
DeleteMid-term check in? Already? Anyway, I think I'm keeping all my goals because. . .
ReplyDelete1. Polish and give big public lecture on January 15 WRITTEN, POSTPONED TO MARCH 5
2. Submit almost final text of Famous Author to press on Feb 1, and do whatever further edits are needed after my editor and reviewers read it. YES
3. Get maps done for Famous Author IN PROGRESS
4. Get image permissions for Famous Author IN PROGRESS
5. Take care of whatever I need to do on Big Collaboration (we're waiting on a few more contributors to cut their essays to the required length, and then it's in production, so it will be dealing with the copyedited ms. SO FAR SO GOOD
6. Pick up work on the Rest of My Life project when i recover from January. STARTED
7. Keep up with exercise, do more walking SOME
8. Read for pleasure YES
9. Do fun things YES
I mean, nothing was really optional there, though the postponement of the lecture due to fires was not on my bingo card. I feel so lucky to be where I am where people want to make my life easier. That is not true at my home institution!
LAST WEEK
-Catch up with email and everything that slid last week YES (cleared out about 400 emails on Friday!)
-review ms for journal YES
-plan for next month or so of work NOT REALLY
-figure out paper that was just accepted for March conference STARTED
-get back into exercise pattern YES
-return to healthy eating YES
-get good sleep MOSTLY
Getting back into the rhythm of work has been hard, and I've had a bit of intellectual ADHD. Oh, this needs to be done. Oh, that needs doing! I should check this... not very coherent. But it's coming together. I spent this afternoon trying to organize piles of paper (bills etc) and catch up with life. For fun, yesterday I went to a concert of the Dvorak Cello Concerto... who knows tomorrow (a holiday here)
NEXT WEEK:
1. Actually get to work on moving forward on Rest of Life
2. Finish working on maps
3. Do the easy permissions
4. Clear out more email (it's very satisfying)
5. Start filling out tax information for accountant
6. Exercise: weights x3, walk to work once, 1 yoga
7. Healthy eating and sleep
8. Enjoy being Auntie next weekend
(It's a short week, and since my brother is away next weekend, I'm helping my SIL a bit as an extra adult.)
Oh boy does time fly… Session goals seem ok, most of them do have some progress made, so I will keep most of them. I do not have much hope for the papers, but one of my lovely coauthors submitted a paper this week using a bunch of my work so I’m on it, counting that as a win through collaboration!
ReplyDeleteExercise regularly KEEP, SOME PROGRESS
Finish one new paper, one old one (feels like there should be a borrowed one and a blue one too…) HAHAHAHA KEEP FOR COMIC RELIEF
Shepherd department through hiring process for critical position (more than one if we get lucky) WORKING ON THAT
Get my lab and sample archive organized FORGET IT… NOT A CHANCE
Teach well and refresh key lectures KEEP, GOING WELL
Support grad students to finish projects WORKING ON THAT
Last week’s goals
URGENT Student thesis stuff continued… IN PROGRESS…
Midterms, set/give/mark… DONE AND MARKED, YAY!
Review DONE
Visit DONE
Exercise twice maybe? NOPE, BUT COUNTING THE SET-BUILDING, LUMBER-HAULING, SANDBAG-CARRYING, AND INSTRUMENT-CARRYING/MOVING THAT COMES WITH THE MUSICAL….
This coming week is probably the busiest one of the whole year. I’ve designated this month “find-your-own-food-February” in my house, I’m giving up on everything that is not work or musical… But it is all for a good cause, loving that I get to spend a lot of time with kid and assorted friends working on a big production. Mind you, the scaffolding was pretty terrifying, they prefer to send parents up on the high ones for painting and construction rather than actual kids…
This week’s goals
Student thesis stuff
Grant application
All musical, all the time…