This week's prompt is brought to you by Morgana: what do you know (or "know") that doesn't actually help, or could help only in different circumstances than the ones you're stuck with? Morgana knows that food comes from the refrigerator, and will jump in there when a human opens the door. Without opposable thumbs, however, she's stuck at this point, and has to go back to looking pleadingly at the human. Your answer could focus on writing, or you can take this as a more general question, as you please!
Goals from last week:
Daisy
Read completed thesis
Edit undergrad chapters
Two article reviews
Learn new music
Dame Eleanor Hull
--1-2 hours writing/research on each of 5 days
--prep for language groups
--write two letters of recommendation
--book April travel
--request money for one conference, along with some other administrivia
including reading grad applications
--find some reviewers
--replace at least one electronic device
--at least four hours on the garage or other household tasks
--bake scones and/or do some other creative things
--get a massage
--gym at least 5x, yoga at least 4x
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day
heu mihi
1. Draft second mini-talk
2. Italian
3. Don't drown
JaneB
SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
c) something gently social x2
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week IMPROVING MY
ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) prepare materials for experiment week for the first years (they design and
carry out their own experiment and if they take it seriously it can be a lot of
fun learning)
RESEARCH.
a) continue to progress modelling work
b) referee journal article
c) read paper draft for former senior PhD student
d) spend an hour on the revision for the revise and resubmit paper
e) finish and submit small teaching project grant application
Julie
1. Research and writing: finish reading book for Big Article
and organise some material, write two sections for book chapter, do one day on
review article.
2. Meetings about teaching next year - try not to use too much emotional
energy.
3. Review a postdoc application.
4. Book travel for conference and seminar next month.
5. House/life admin: Mother's Day gifts, meeting with financial advisor, book
flights for summer holiday, plan Easter weekend away, maybe find a chair for
spare room.
6. Self-care/fun: read, exercise, journal, Netflix (finish watching Bridgerton,
don't judge me), video call with friends, enjoy time with brother and family in
their new house this weekend
Susan
1. GRADE PAPERS I DON"T WANT TO GRADE
2. Finish stuff from office and room of doom
3. Organize garage so junk guy takes the right stuff.
4. Plant a few more things in the yard
5. Clear all counters in the kitchen
6. Organize packing for trip
7. Book hotel for trip
One thing I know about writing but can't do anything about, this semester: it's easier if I do it every day. But my campus days are really scheduled every minute, and if they aren't, something else urgent WILL happen that needs ME to do it right then (and I'm not even graduate director or something similar!). In general, I know that to get a Thing to Done, you have to Do the Thing, and, relatedly, that I'm more productive when I keep moving through a rotation of Things rather than focusing on trying to finish the one I'm perseverating on, but this seems to require the equivalent of opposable thumbs--great idea, but terrifically hard to make happen.
ReplyDeleteAnywho, here I am on the last day of spring break, thinking I still have a few more hours in which I might accomplish something, but I had better check in or I will be in the Thursday Club this week. (Unless maybe tomorrow is an at-home day: I'm in a chunk of the US where mild temperatures are about to plunge dramatically, with rain turning to ice and then snow, so . . . we'll see.)
How I did:
--1-2 hours writing/research on each of 5 days: 4x, I think, not too bad!
--prep for language groups: YES
--write two letters of recommendation: YES
--book April travel: in PROGRESS (ack! I did book a room for April and also a hotel for June conference, but I really do need a flight!)
--request money for one conference, along with some other administrivia including reading grad applications: YES: I did ALL the administrivia!!
--find some reviewers: NO (ack again--I even scheduled the time, and then Something Came Up)
--replace at least one electronic device: NO (see above!)
--at least four hours on the garage or other household tasks: MAYBE? I was thinking NO (unless you count totally ordinary laundry and cooking, whereas I meant the stuff that I don't normally get to) but as I work through the ALSO stuff below, I might have done this one!
--bake scones and/or do some other creative things: NO to scones (maybe later today) but YES to creative: I wrote a letter, by hand with liquid ink, on handmade paper, to my great-niece.
--get a massage: NO (I did have a short one last week, and it was so nice I promised myself I'd go back this week, but the time really went fast!)
--gym at least 5x, yoga at least 4x: YES! Swam 3x (total of 3 miles), plus two other gym sessions, yoga might have been x3 but good enough!
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day: YES
ALSO: wrote e-mail to an old friend, ferried BC to & from vet visit, got tax stuff together, read a book of short stories by Mercedes Lackey, changed the furnace filter, made single-serving microwave chocolate cake 3x, looked up some tradespeople so Sir John can get estimates, took down the wintertime fairy lights, re-shelved some books, went to a performance of the St Matthew Passion, helped Sir John do his birthday puzzle (this one: https://libertypuzzles.com/products/cosy-cat-puzzle If you look carefully at the picture, you can see some of the whimsy pieces, but I was amazed to find there are 14 cat-shaped pieces in it!).
And goals for the coming week:
Delete--1-2 hours research on each of 3 days
--prep for language groups
--book flight
--throw together two more sample syllabuses
--go to friend's lecture
--read for mystery group
--revise schedule if tomorrow's classes get cancelled
--enter some numbers on Blackboard
--try to stick to schedule I planned
--remember to look at calendar & lists every day
Love that puzzle!! That is a beauty for sure.
DeleteNot bad indeed with the research and all the other things you got done. Yay travel booking, I need to do some of that soon for conference season.
Did I remember correctly that you are going to be in my general neck of the woods in the summer? Send dates, can organize something fun :)
The conference is 6-8 August, so either before or after! It would be great to get together.
DeleteThat's a lot of also! And time spent doing puzzles is always time well spent.
DeleteWell, last week was... OK. It was a slower week with less people stuff so I got more things done that required thought. But I was stupidly stressed by life stuff - I took the car to the garage and a part is now being ordered in to solve the wiper problem properly, but there was a lot of uncertainty around that (booking mix up, waiting spaces, etc.), which was progress, then the next day a tooth filling fell out so now I have to go to the dentist... and drink soup and eat soft foods on one side carefully until then. SIGH. And I found myself agreeing to change up part of my administrative duties, and I'm not at all sure if that was a sensible decision!
ReplyDeleteLAST WEEK:
SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4 20x3
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2 no, tried to do some crochet but it refused to cooperate
c) something gently social x2 yes
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week yes - and a big chunk of the book on the Persians too whilst I was sitting in the car place waiting room
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores yes
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space no
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) prepare materials for experiment week for the first years (they design and carry out their own experiment and if they take it seriously it can be a lot of fun learning) haven't printed out the handouts, but otherwise prepared
RESEARCH.
a) continue to progress modelling work yes. another week, another problem. But it seems to be a not-in-my-control problem which is something?
b) referee journal article yes
c) read paper draft for former senior PhD student yes
d) spend an hour on the revision for the revise and resubmit paper yes
e) finish and submit small teaching project grant application yes
And I also read through and commented on another draft paper from a grad student at a different university who I've been giving some specialised support to.
COMING WEEK:
is already disrupted by the dental appointment - they are always exhausting and sometimes I react badly to the local, and I have to move some stuff to fit around the appointment (I'm very glad that the dentist could fit me in on Tuesday, but still) and try to make a bit of recovery time. And Thursday is a LONG teaching day (I get to teach 9-11, 1-3 and 4-6, and I will be on campus before 8am to get parking, and for my brain/nervous system that's a LOT for me). So I'm stressed already. Sigh!
SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2
c) something gently social x2
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT:
a) 75% of weekly list of chores
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) successfully rearrange stuff from Tuesday and get through Thursday's long day
b) work through discussion of the new administrative role
RESEARCH.
a) continue to progress modelling work
b) spend an hour on the revision for the revise and resubmit paper plus organise/lead meeting
c) start working on lots-of-pages grant review (sigh. necessary, but oh, a dispiriting prospect)
I'm thinking about the question - will try & come back later in the week!
DeleteGood luck with the dentist and the very long days this week.
DeleteYou got a ton of research things done, reading and commenting on drafts takes so much time...
Ugh, sorry to hear about the filling! And Thursday does sound very long and hard.
DeleteCar and dentist is a bad combination - sending positive vibes for a better week.
DeleteSome things that I know very well but does not help at all right now…
ReplyDeleteI know I should sit up straight in the proper chair to work at home, but somehow I keep ending up on the kitchen chair that gives me early-COVID PTSD flashbacks and a backache… WHY?
I know that once I start with exercise (or writing) I enjoy it, why can I not just start consistently?
I know the budget chaos and layoffs and protests and drama at work are not my fault, but I still feel guilty for having/liking my job.
It was an awful week… A whole collection of staff layoffs, massive student protests, drama of every possible kind, student emergencies, just a general flat-out hot mess. I feel awful for everyone involved…
Weirdly I got quite of lot of things done, even if they are all basically late, so I will take the win.
This week’s goals
Read completed thesis DONE
Edit undergrad chapters DONE
Two article reviews DONE
Learn new music ONGOING
This week’s goals
Grant report
Grant application to offset budget cuts
Student Q+A session about all the horrible things
Undergrad chapters
One concert and a few rehearsals
Something I know that does help a bit: this too shall pass and doing what I can to mitigate the general awfulness is locally and more widely is still valuable even if it is only a small drop in a big bucket…
Oh, I know what you mean about liking one's job even though there are budget problems and other chaos happening! You were somewhere else before, so you know things could be worse (or at any rate worse for you, not sure what the general situation is at Former Uni). I do think that doing things locally is very important, and often has much more wide-reaching implications than it may seem.
DeleteI hear you on all of this. It's so tricky: the emotional investment in our work against all the stuff locally/nationally/internationally that makes it so difficult.
DeleteSo sorry about the layoffs and the chaos. We've so far mostly avoided mass layoffs, but it's so hard when it happens, because the budget becomes people.
DeleteThings I know that should work but don't...I could echo Daisy here on all of them:
ReplyDelete- I know I should take the time to find a standing desk.
- I know I am lucky to have an academic job at all, especially one that is permanent and at an institution that still has some standards, even if those are fast being eroded, but I still feel anxious and depressed at how the sector is changing.
- I know I am lucky to have a job that indulges my passion and is, at my level, well paid enough for a decent life.
- I know I should write consistently, but teaching years that time isn't always easy to find and liable, as DEH says, to be swallowed up by emergencies
- I know I should write more at evenings/weekends, and if I don't, I can't complain that progress is slow BUT I am tired!
Last week:
1. Research and writing: finish reading book for Big Article and organise some material, write two sections for book chapter, do one day on review article. - YES
2. Meetings about teaching next year - try not to use too much emotional energy. - ISH (one meeting with one sensible colleague, so a lot of consensus, but still depressing)
3. Review a postdoc application. - YES
4. Book travel for conference and seminar next month. - NO
5. House/life admin: Mother's Day gifts, meeting with financial advisor, book flights for summer holiday, plan Easter weekend away, maybe find a chair for spare room. - YES except chair
6. Self-care/fun: read, exercise, journal, Netflix (finish watching Bridgerton, don't judge me), video call with friends, enjoy time with brother and family in their new house this weekend - YES except Bridgerton, waiting on daughter to have time in her schedule.
The weekend was nice: my son had a big race in the city where my brother lives, so I got to see their new house and hang out with my two year-old niece. And it was sunny, and the daffodils are out everywhere.
This week:
1. Research and writing: organise material for Big Article, one day on review article, write one, maybe two sections on chapter.
2. Book travel for conference and seminar next month.
3. House/life admin: sort out accommodation for part of summer trip (booked the wrong dates, now have to find somewhere else), finances, put dates in calendar and plan other stuff, orthodontist appointment for son, book a haircut.
4. Self-care/fun: exercise, read, journal, maybe plant some stuff if weather ok.
Lots of YES! That sounds like a good week. What is it with booking the wrong dates? That happened when I tried to do the hotel for June conference, but at least I could cancel and start over with the right dates.
DeleteLots done, hope Bridgerton was as fun as anticipated!
DeleteLots done, yay for all the research stuff and lots of life stuff too! Hope the travel planning is fun this week.
What an interesting question. I think, with Julie and Daisy, that it's always easier when I start whatever (writing, grading, etc.) but my skills at procrastination are HIGHLY developed.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
. GRADE PAPERS I DON"T WANT TO GRADE - ALMOST (have read and graded all, but I need to go back and make sure hte grades are consistent. The AI, it hurts my brain. I have never read so many grammatically correct BS papers.
2. Finish stuff from office and room of doom YES
3. Organize garage so junk guy takes the right stuff. YES
4. Plant a few more things in the yard YES
5. Clear all counters in the kitchen YES
6. Organize packing for trip YES
7. Book hotel for trip YES
AND also: made two batches of marmalade (see procrastination, above.)
Well, I'm writing this in the airport, so what's done is done, and stuff is generally neatly hidden. I think. The house goes on the market on Thursday. I couldn't sleep last night, and then had not set my alarm, so I overslept, and I got out of the house, and that's all I can say. The paper grading was depressing but once I figured out how to recognize the AI it was easier and faster.
On the nice end, one of my eager beaver students bought my book, and was telling me how beautiful it was, so. . .
The week ahead is travel, with some fun, and two presentations, one in a northern city and one in Jane Austen land. My sister is coming to London for a few days, so it will be nice to see her. And other friends. So very limited goals:
1. Harmonize grades and release them
2. Update syllabus to change assignments to counter AI (oral presentations, here we come)
3. Write up assignment and revise because the library no longer has two resources the assignment used.
4. Enjoy meeting my editor and others, seeing family and friends.
5. Keep up with email so I'm not drowning when I come back.
Look at all the YES! (and grammatically correct BS, what a good phrase for it--soon you'll never have to grade that again!) Fingers crossed for speedy house sale! I just booked travel to the UK in April, too bad we don't overlap . . .
Delete(hit publish too soon) . . . have a great trip!
DeleteWow, that is a lot of yes! Safe travels and hopes for sleep on the plane. Have just seen which northern city - hope the talk goes well and that it doesn't rain in the way that said city is famed for...If you have time to explore, and haven't been before, this is well worth a visit (https://phm.org.uk/).
DeleteHappy travels! Hope the rain holds off and all travel is smooth and trouble free!
DeleteAI papers are the absolute worts, sorry you have to deal with that. Had an interesting discussion in a grant committee today about that kind of thing in applications... just such a waste of everyone's time...