Hi everyone! This is technically our second to last week of the session, but unless anyone has any objectives, I'm thinking to go on until the 21at on the assumption that many (most?) of us will still be working in the week leading up to the 21at and therewfore will have TLQ goals for that week and maybe even a bit of time to finish up session goals as teaching winds down, and also because it might be a nice idea to set ourselves some PERSONAL TLQ goals for the end of year vacation period that will help us rest and refresh actively rather than just hoping it will happen if we just go with the flow (one of the things I definitely learnt when I was on sick leave a couple years ago is that it's important to make getting into the restorative things like doing crafts, connecting with people, working on personal or house projects as easy, just as it is for academic stuff - we talk about parking on a downhill slope for our writing, so how do we downhill slope resting and self-care?
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| Shoutypants likes to try out every beverage. He's unreasonably keen on apple-ginger tea at the moment... clearly it's for him, it's in a cat mug! |
This week's stationary topic is a timely one, calendars/diaries - what's your system for keeping track of days and their obligations? or if that feels too daunting at this time of year, do you have an advent calendar? Or several? We'd love to hear about that too!
<b>LAST WEEK:</b>
Daisy
New/Old paper to coauthors
Review committee homework and meeting
Read grad student chapters (one for each would be good)
Data for students
Association proposals urgent
Keep practicing like maniac for upcoming shows
Dame Eleanor Hull
- at least 4 writing sessions
- finish final exam for grads
- add policies and send sample syllabus
- finalize PhD exam
- pay bills
- set December goals
heu mihi (carried over)
2. Write a letter of nomination for a teaching award for a grad student
3. Work out 3-4 times (including a yoga class)
4. Enjoy family
5. Read a little for research on a subject I'm just interested in, not planning to write about (what luxury!)
JaneB
a) intentional movement for at least 15 minutes three days
b) ring GPs to see if I can make a non-urgent review appointment
c) wrapping Christmas stuff, finishing Christmas shopping
d) making a couple of times a week
e) two gently social things (D&D hopefully)
f) keep up reading for pleasure
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT
a) 75%+ of the weekly list of chores
b) make a plan for the shelving in the living room
c) don't make clothes worse
d) set up advent calendar (I got a fancy one...)
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) mark late (extension) submissions for big assignment
b) limit teaching and admin to 5 hours at weekend
c) start on feedback for Senior MSc by Thesis student
RESEARCH
a) read revised manuscript from last autumn's visiting post-doc.
b) read chapter for meeting in December
c) work on outline grant text
d) work on modelling - check pilot results, plan next steps
Julie
2. Review an article.
3. Practice interviews for university applicants.
4. House/life admin: more Xmas presents, start on making calendars for parents, more financial stuff, get work done on car, follow up with plumber, book meetings with daughter's teachers.
5. Self-care/fun: exercise, read, sleep, journal, do something creative, book club, wander round local Christmas fair on Friday.
Susan
2. Read student piece before I meet her
3. Deal with questions for BIG COLLABORATION
4. Clear all the piles of paper
5. Draft Christmas letter (yes, I still send actual cards!)
6. Start planning party
7. Keep up with all the admin stuff and work
8. Make sure that I'm far enough ahead on anything I can do that when proofs come I have mental space and a clean desk
9. Keep up with exercise
10. Do something fun sometime (tonight I went to the Holiday Pops concert from our symphony, so progress.)
Calendars and Diaries: right now I use the outlook calendar, just because it's the easiest way for me to keep track of the various meetings I have, since they all come as calendar invites through email. But I'm thinking I'll go back to a paper diary once I retire and am less tied to the Outlook world! I used to have one of those filofax notebook type things, which was really handy, but also big, requiring a large-ish bag to carry it in. Hmmm. Things to imagine!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes for hanging in through the 21st!
How I did:
1. Read article from colleague YES
2. Read student piece before I meet her YES
3. Deal with questions for BIG COLLABORATION YES
4. Clear all the piles of paper YES
5. Draft Christmas letter (yes, I still send actual cards!) NO
6. Start planning party
7. Keep up with all the admin stuff and work
8. Make sure that I'm far enough ahead on anything I can do that when proofs come I have mental space and a clean desk MAYBE?
9. Keep up with exercise YES
10. Do something fun sometime (tonight I went to the Holiday Pops concert from our symphony, so progress.) YES
And also: dealt with car, went to dentist, bought Christmas tree and started to trim it, paid bills, planned end of year charitable gifts, met with realtor so cleaned house, dealt with remainders of the endless project about a stupid policy that I thought was done. It seems neverending.
So not a bad week, but I realize I'm running out of steam, and really eager for the end of classes (that's Tuesday for me), even though the week has events on campus 4 days, and I'm hosting my annual party on Friday, which is the official last day of classes.
Goals for this week: (beyond survive):
1. Get in expenses for events and travel
2. Organize Christmas presents that need to be ordered/shipped
3. Clear journals off desk by putting in zotero and recycling
4. Be kind to my students
5. Deal with the administrative stuff and budget mess with out completely losing my mind
6. Keep up with exercise, healthy eating
7. Get enough sleep
8. Draft Christmas letter (it would be nice to send out cards BEFORE Christmas for once!)
Sorry that the stupid policy is dragging on. Those things take up far too much mental space and energy. But a lot of yes.
DeleteI hardly sent any cards last year, as I was too exhausted and something had to give. Postal prices have really gone up in the UK, which I think has put a lot of people off. This year I have splashed out on some pretty cards from the British Library and am sending, but only to very close friends, a couple of neighbours (since I can hand-deliver!), and to older family members. I do think cards are a nice tradition, they just take so much time!
Well, of course all beverages are for Shoutypants. Who else could there be of any importance?
ReplyDeleteI am happy to continue until the 21st - we are heading off for Christmas on the 22nd, so that would be tidy. I love the idea of setting non-academic goals.
Diaries/calendars: these are very important as my brain is still too foggy to remember things. I have spent years experimenting with different formats and now have settled on one by a company called Mark's Inc - no idea if they are a US company. They do 16 months academic year format, and have space for weekly, monthly and daily to-do lists alongside a weekly schedule, which is perfect for me. And they come in different colours! This year's is mint green.
Last week:
1. Finish other chapter. - YES
2. Review an article. - NO
3. Practice interviews for university applicants. - YES
4. House/life admin: more Xmas presents, start on making calendars for parents, more financial stuff, get work done on car, follow up with plumber, book meetings with daughter's teachers.- YES, YES (and finished!), NO, YES (expensive!), NO, YES
5. Self-care/fun: exercise, read, sleep, journal, do something creative, book club, wander round local Christmas fair on Friday.- YES, SOME, SOME, NO, YES (an hour painting by numbers), YES, YES (mostly gifts for others, but bought an apple-scented candle and a lampshade for my study)
This week:
1. Review article.
2. Tidy study, organise papers and folders (paper and online).
3. Follow up a few references I found reading for the chapter.
4. Write reference for student.
5. Title and abstract for invited seminar in April.
6. House/life admin: more Christmas, financial stuff, plumber, organise cookery books when new bookcase arrives.
7. Self-care/fun: exercise, read, journal, something creative, sleep, catch up with friends.
Hi! Sorry that I missed last week. I kept meaning to check in, and then I...didn't. You know how it is.
ReplyDeleteCalendars: I finally converted to the calendar on my mac a few years ago, which I share with my husband, and we also have our kid's stuff plugged in in a different color. It's a life-saver, especially because it's phone-accessible. BUT I also must have a weekly planner. I've been using Moleskine weekly planner for some years; I like the kind with the open page on the right and a page divided into the seven days on the left. On the right, I write down all the things I need to do that week, and I also take notes on little things that come up. On the left, I keep track of appointments, meetings, classes, etc., as well as listing the tasks on the days on which I plan to do them. "TLQ" often has a place on that side...and moves from day to day until I do it! I don't really use the monthly calendar that's included in the book, but I like it in principle.
I never got around to goals last week, but it was busy: we had the "conference" for my junior-year writing class (which was very small, and so pretty manageable), plus another program-wide event (very poorly attended; clearly everyone is just busy at this point), and some meetings, and some crisis management, etc. I also got back into exercising after a break to help my back followed by the holidays, and it helped my mood SO much!
This week:
1. Finish miscellaneous grading to make way for final papers
2. Next big step in my knitting project
3. Acquire ingredients for cookies; bake cookies over the weekend, probably
4. 3 hours(!!) on the writing project that's due in July--I feel like I could start roughing in some sections, so I should do that!
It's a busy week, full of meetings and events, but mostly meetings, and my last classes are on Tuesday. Good luck to everyone with everything!
Calendars/diaries are something of a sore point with me. I have a large by-the-month one where I keep track of appointments and due dates, and then a small notebook where I keep lists and try to set up weekly goals, daily pages, and so on, but very often I wind up not really keeping up with the small one. I've tried pre-printed versions so I don't bog down on the step of actually setting up the pages, but even then I can sometimes go for weeks without doing very much on those pages so it seems like a waste. What I tend to do instead is write out things I need to do in my journal (which I type): somehow the narrative version gives me a better sense of what is realistic, what other steps have to be taken before I can finish a task, that sort of thing, whereas lists don't communicate that well to me.
ReplyDeleteI definitely like the idea of continuing to the 21st and setting some R&R goals---thank you!!
BTW, Google in its finite wisdom has disabled my new eleanor.hull account, so I am even more annoyed with Google than I was before.
How I did:
- swim x2, cardio x3, weights at gym x2, yoga x5: swam x1, cardio x2 if you're generous, weights x1, yoga x4 I think.
- at least 4 writing sessions: No.
- finish final exam for grads: No.
- add policies and send sample syllabus: Policies added, but now I have to do learning objectives. Gaaaaah.
- finalize PhD exam: YES! (finally, a yes!)
- pay bills: YES, except for one where the payment didn't go through last month so I'm going in person tomorrow . . .
- set December goals: Made a list--but I need to think about priorities.
ALSO: my undergrads had a terrific last class, and then they gave me a present! Two sets of whiteboard markers, very thoughtful and practical. I was glad I'd brought in candy so the gifting went both ways. Very much less delightfully, I was asked to take on a department admin position. I listened to the pitch and did not instantly say no, but I do not see myself taking this on.
New goals:
- swim x3, cardio x3, weights x2, yoga x5
- at least 4 writing sessions
- grade all papers that come in
- finish writing grads' final exam, grade it too
- write learning objectives
- order Xmas presents