And here we are in March, with meteorological spring beginning now, and astronomical spring coming in a few weeks! I particularly want to hear about the fun things or travel you did last week, OK?
I'm cheating a little with this week's quotation: it's something I planned to use in class and then didn't, so you get it instead.
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird, 25:
"You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the down draft—you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft—you fix it up."
I feel that rather a lot can be covered by that "anything," including outlines, notes & quotes, list & gist, or free-writing of the sort that JaneB and I practice. Sometimes just opening a file and naming it can be a good first step. How do you get started?
Goals from last week:
Daisy
Adjust course plans for yet another snow day
Read and edit student chapters
Process data
Write abstracts
Catch up on marking
Awkward conversation
Dame Eleanor Hull
--1-2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days
--prep for language groups
--second round of grading
--book some travel
--find some reviewers
--2 meetings (which have to happen, but I want to claim credit)
--gym at least 3x, yoga at least 4x
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day
heu mihi
1. Draft mini-talk #1.
2. Write 5 pages of nonsense.
3. Request funding for event(s)
4. Review grant proposals
5. Exercise & Italian
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) deliver week 5 of teaching
b) prepare materials for the "guest slot" I have in some one else's
module, and draft the using AI session I have to run
RESEARCH. This all feels very repetitive but I AM making small bits of progress
each week, not just listing-and-ignoring!
a) finish and submit the larger outline grant application
b) check the modelling outputs, make a plan for the next few weeks whilst my
collaborator is away on fieldwork
c) finish read and comment on fifth draft of paper from Foreign PostDoc
d) schedule a meeting for revise and resubmit paper; spend an hour on the
revision
e) work on small teaching project grant application
And sort out presents and a card and mail them to my sister
for her birthday!
Julie
1. Enjoy the break!
2. Meet with mentee on Friday.
3. Finish some primary source analysis.
Susan
1. Get things organized for Graduate Visitation Day, which
is a three alarm fire right now.
2. Finish Review
3. Finish ms. proposal review that I promised for January 31. Only a month
late.
4. Syllabus revisions
5. Read student essay that still needs lots of work.
6. Take time for clearing last bits of Room of Doom
7. Keep up with exercise and healthy eating
8. Do something fun at the weekend
If I don't check in now, it'll probably be Thursday before I do! I'm still at the take-notes-and-comment on them stage for the next 3-4 things I have to finish (mostly conference papers, plus a draft for a festschrift; the first paper is Not Like the Others, which all overlap a bit). But I'm definitely relying on the idea that some words are better than no words, and the more I have, the more I'll be able to work with later.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
--1-2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days: YES, mostly reading, but I'm counting it
--prep for language groups: YES
--second round of grading: IN PROGRESS
--book some travel: NO
--find some reviewers: NO
--2 meetings (which have to happen, but I want to claim credit): YES
--gym at least 3x, yoga at least 4x: YES, x3
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day: YES
ALSO: worked extra fundraising event, fussed over poorly Basement Cat, visited new local bookstore.
New goals:
--1-2 hours writing/research on each of 3 days
--prep for language groups
--finish second round of grading
--book April travel
--request money for one conference
--find some reviewers
--work Admitted Student event
--gym at least 3x, yoga at least 4x
--remember to look at calendar/lists every day
Sorry to hear Basement Cat is doing poorly... Hope there is some comfort you can give.
DeleteLots of things done, yay for reading and gym and extra stuff!
Poor Basement Cat! Hope the bookstore was good. There can never be too many bookstores...
DeleteOh, kitty! I hope he's doing better. It sounds like you had a good week otherwise, though!
DeleteAwww, extra love to Basement Cat. And cheers for a new bookstore!
DeleteHello! Last week was OK for work, but it didn't end well with the car wipers deciding to only work when THEY felt like it (in heavy rain, of course), a clogged toilet and dropping an entire box of paint pens into an unreachable-without-moving-loads-of-stuff corner when I decided to do some Calming Colouring (and yes, the lid came off the box as it dropped so there are 24 pens, a lid, a box and a label to recover individually).
ReplyDeleteHow do I get started? With a document entitled zero draft (which is a term I got from a book called something daft like how to write your dissertation in 15 minutes a day) into which I just throw things - the skeleton of the piece and any rules e.g. the key information from the call for papers, the major headings of the article type, the section headings for a grant, some badly edited text about the why of the piece, and bits and pieces of relevant notes and ideas, maybe some key references or links to key references. Going into this document and fleshing out the outline with more and more detailed bullet points and paragraph ideas and sentences when I only have smallish chunks of time gets me pretty easily to something that can be the basis for a proper first draft once I have a larger block of time. So just write anything - even if it's "I can't do this because..." - is definitely where I start everything.
LAST WEEK:
SELF-CARE: all process goals, for three term time months:
a) intentional movement 20x3 or 15x4 only 2
b) some kind of making (art or craft) x2 yes, a card for my sister and experimenting with paint pens (before the dropping incident)
c) something gently social x2 yes
d) read at least one chapter (of fiction) every day this week yes. nothing GOOD but still escapist and that's what we need at the moment
e) card and gifts for sister yes - were duly dispatched, arrived on time, and were appreciated
IMPROVING MY ENVIRONMENT: goals carried over!
a) 75% of weekly list of chores 67%
b) make a sketch for the new idea for the shelving in living space haha not yet
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
a) deliver week 5 of teaching yes
b) prepare materials for the "guest slot" I have in some one else's module, and draft the using AI session I have to run started both, did not get that far, but it's a start
RESEARCH. This all feels very repetitive but I AM making small bits of progress each week, not just listing-and-ignoring!
a) finish and submit the larger outline grant application YES SUBMITTED so that was a BIG bit of progress!
b) check the modelling outputs, make a plan for the next few weeks whilst my collaborator is away on fieldwork yes. We don't THINK anything went wrong this time
c) finish read and comment on fifth draft of paper from Foreign PostDoc yes. Discussion Needs Work. How often do we write that?
d) schedule a meeting for revise and resubmit paper; spend an hour on the revision scheduled, but no time spent
e) work on small teaching project grant application yes, some
THE COMING WEEK:
DeleteSELF-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) deliver week 6 of teaching
b) finish preparing materials for the "guest slot" and the AI session and review materials from last year for other class, sigh
c) read methods/results chapter draft for Junior MSc by Research thesis
RESEARCH.
a) continue to progress modelling work
b) referee journal article
c) spend an hour on the revision for the revise and resubmit paper
d) work on small teaching project grant application - get peer review done, start actual online system (sigh)
That is a lot of research work done! Even with lots of things going on.
DeleteFor good escapist reading this week I got a new Vivian Shaw - she does very intelligently written sci-fi with monsters in modern-day London, main protagonist is a doctor with paranormal practice, there are four full books and a novella in the series, can definitely recommend.
Well done on submitting the grant outline! And a lot of yes.
DeleteI love Dr Greta Helsing! SAdly I already read them all but maybe its time for a re-read...
DeleteYes, congratulations on getting that big piece done! And I like your way of assembling bits of writing.
DeleteHow to start? I find an organization session with pen and paper really helps me to think through what I have for any given thing that I have to do, and then I have something to start from. I usually write from the results section outwards, that way the basics are solid. Doing necessary figures or at least drafting things by hand is also helpful for thinking.
ReplyDeleteFun things I did this week… First was a lovely coffee morning with two friends/colleagues even though we were too busy to do it. This week I have two friend dates planned, one postponed from snow days, one a monthly thing.
Most important thing of the week was the final weekend of theater shows. It was lovely, the kids were amazing, and it was just a joy to see them all working together and being kind and supportive of each other, and loving every moment of it. End of an era for me and kid, the last school musical. There were lots of happy/sad tears…
Last week’s goals
Adjust course plans for yet another snow day DONE
Read and edit student chapters NOPE
Process data DONE and ONGOING (possibly forever…)
Write abstracts DONE
Catch up on marking NOPE
Awkward conversation SCHEDULED FOR ANOTHER WEEK
Outside of the musical it was a really crap week. Additional time-sinks: government cancellation of all our graduate student funding with ensuing chaos and meetings, things of fire in committee which needed lots of meetings, many scholarship interviews with great students (this was fun!), typical February nonsense, snow days make-up work, and lots of department work that was time sensitive…
This week’s goals
Read and edit student chapters
Help with accepted paper revisions
Do the marking dammit!
Article review
Go for at least 3 walks
So sorry for the crap week. Government caused time-sinks are particularly annoying because they have no idea the chaos they are causing by making some stupid decision that no one thought through. I hope the week ahead is a bit better!
DeleteThat sounds like an overwhelming week. Glad you had the musical at least.
DeleteHow awful about the grad funding!!! Ugh. And I cannot believe how old your kid is now--that really is a huge change. I'm glad the musical went well, though, so at least (as Julie said) you had something fun in that week.
DeleteHow I start? I rarely feel as if I'm starting from scratch, but picking up a train of thought I've been working with for some time. But I live by Anne Lamott's "shitty first drafts" idea, so I just write. I especially start with an introduction, even if it doesn't survive. It gives me a sense of direction. And I might outline, but the outline never survives more than a couple of pages of writing, as my train of thought takes over.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
1. Get things organized for Graduate Visitation Day, which is a three alarm fire right now. YES, it happened
2. Finish Review YES (just emailed it)
3. Finish ms. proposal review that I promised for January 31. Only a month late. YES
4. Syllabus revisions YES
5. Read student essay that still needs lots of work. YES
6. Take time for clearing last bits of Room of Doom MORE PROGRESS
7. Keep up with exercise and healthy eating YES
8. Do something fun at the weekend YES, dinner with friend
AND ALSO: did my taxes (just got stuff from the accountant, and the deadline was March 1, so...) and made grapefruit marmalade. I got a ton of stuff to the charity shop, and even emptied out file drawers that no one will see.
The Graduate Visitation day went well, and there was only one problem with my abandoning the potential students to go chair a meeting. And the meeting went well, and ended an hour early. But I was SO tired afterwards, I slept until 6:30 Saturday morning. Otherwise, I feel as if I've cleared the decks so I can really finish all the clearing. I've decided right now that I only care about what people can see, so there will be hiding, and stuff will go to the storage unit so it's not out there.
Goals for this week:
1. Keep up with teaching
2. Grade papers that come in tomorrow
3. File expenses for two recent trips
4. Email institutions about papers that should go into an existing collection.
5. Figure out good hiding places for things that need to be hidden.
6. Get rid of some of my hats :(
7. Keep up with exercise
8. Have some fun.
I'm hoping the grading does not take too much time, but I'll have time. On Friday and Saturday the window cleaning people are coming, so that will be useful. A friend was supposed to be visiting this weekend, but she tore various tendons, and can't do much. So it'll be quiet, but I probably need the time.
Hiding stuff is the way to go. I love the sound of grapefruit marmalade.
DeleteSometimes it's easier to get rid of things when you're not under pressure! Storage units exist for a reason. I hope you enjoy your quiet week.
DeleteLots of things done, yay for taxes and clearing out things too! Marmalade sounds really good, I think grapefruit are probably improved by being turned into marmalade...
DeleteHow do I start? If there's a proposal for a conference or similar, then I go back to that, remind myself what I had in mind and start writing down ideas. Otherwise, as Susan says, it's more picking up a train of thought and working out what evidence I might have to develop it. I tend to write down ideas, usually pen and paper, just as they come, and then decide how to organise them. I usually have an outline but, again, it doesn't always survive the writing process.
ReplyDeleteFun stuff last week - Malta! We did Valletta very thoroughly and managed a trip to Mdina (medieval walled town, very touristy, but pretty). Cloudless blue skies every day, soaked up sunshine and it was just about warm enough to have lunch outside. And nowhere in Valletta is more than a few minutes from a sea view. It was the cure for dismal February blues that I hoped it would be. Now back to grey skies again, but at least all my crocuses are out.
Last week:
1. Enjoy the break! - YES
2. Meet with mentee on Friday. - NO (she cancelled bc of illness)
3. Finish some primary source analysis. - YES
This week:
1. Research and writing: one day on each project, fourth day to whichever needs the attention most.
2. Seminar and meeting.
3. House/life admin: son's physio appointment, try to get him a hair cut, plan and book some more summer travel, book a family event for Easter, book some conference travel and accommodation, finances, decluttering, return library books.
4. Self-care/fun: read, journal, exercise, Netflix, dinner Friday and Saturday night with different friends (Saturday is a cookbook club I'm doing for the first time), video call with other friends.
Thank you! I am vicariously enjoying your trip to Malta, I assure you!
DeleteNow I want to go to Malta! Sounds like a lovely week. And I love the idea of a cookbook club!
DeleteSo glad the break was good and provided a sunny change of scene!
DeleteI think we need to hear more about the cookbook club!
It's 9 degrees F this morning, but he birds are singing and the sun is shining on the snow, so I can almost believe in spring!
ReplyDeleteThis week's writing quote is very good advice for me right now, as my writing energy seems to have dissipated into emails and other junk. I did do a little bit of writing this past week, but not much, and I think now that I need to try to do some every day--either academic or creative, both is too much. I do write in my journal almost nightly, at least!
Last week:
1. Draft mini-talk #1. - Most of it! I haven't finished it or reread it, but something exists where nothing existed.
2. Write 5 pages of nonsense. - 4 double-spaced; I'm going to revise these goals to single-spaced, which is my preference. Goal: 2.5 pages; achieved: 2 pages.
3. Request funding for event(s) - Yes, although one program has a lot of hoops for me to jump through just for $100.
4. Review grant proposals - Yes; was that just last week?
5. Exercise & Italian - Yes.
This week:
1. Finish mini-talk #1 (revised and everything)
2. Write 3 pages of nonsense, bringing me to a total of 5
3. Write academically or creatively x 5
4. Deal with various journal-related issues
5. Plan summer travel!
6. Italian and exercise.
I have a million meetings and time-sensitive things this week, as always, but the Big Conference is only 2.5 weeks away, and then that will be a huge task accomplished! (Even if it falls apart catastrophically, it will be over!) Have a good week, everyone....
That sounds like an excellent week! (But I hear you on 'was that just last week?') You're doing a great job of keeping on keeping on.
DeleteHave fun with the summer planning! Hope that offsets the million meetings a little bit at least.
Delete