Hello everyone!
We have excellent collections of summer goals and wishes from last week. And we all like all the flowers! What’s not to like about flowers? Love them all.
I spent a lot of time last weekend digging up and moving plants, and doing all those garden preparation things like mowing, mulching, weeding, sowing, dividing clumps of things, and weed whacking. We’re planning to hire a tiller to pull up some grass and putting in new actual garden beds. The work is not the most satisfying because it does not look like much actually happened, but I know it is there, and I know it is important.
So, for this week’s prompt, here is a lovely unfurling baby hosta to inspire you to think about what invisible but important work you can do this week to set yourself up for success with your goals later in the session? Which project needs to mulched and protected? Which project is in need of a good pile of compost? What needs to be ruthlessly weeded out? What needs to be trimmed to make space for something else?
Good luck with your week!
This week’s goals:
DEH
-Write (or transfer) 3000 words for Overdue essay.
-Write 1000 words for First Conference Paper
-Contact 2 (or am I up to 3?) writers with reviewer comments
-regular PT exercises, otherwise rest cranky back (maybe try a short swim,
short walks)
-finish booking 3rd summer trip
Daisy
Get three talks ready for conference
Data processing for other people’s talks
Do a million interviews
Organize student assistant’s work for the next month
Three fun things with friends
JaneB
SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 2 x small things with people, reading every
day (with dinner, in waiting times)
* make a list of different making methods and projects I might play with this
summer
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores
* braindump the steps for the living room and clothes projects
* braindump smaller house and environment things I would like to get done this
summer
* braindump where I want to get to with my personal finances
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* last week of marking, I hope - finish the marking! And the reminding of
colleagues on shared modules!
* meet with the MSc by Research student who is furthest from submission
* start writing the summer block list for teaching preparation tasks
RESEARCH:
* submit small group paper
* check in with student author of the paper that got the horrible review (my
review luck continues to be bad. Former PhD student submitted their first paper
last week and got it desk rejected in 13 minutes - with a letter that began
"we have read your paper, and..." - I really don't think they could
have! Fortunately they are a very resilient person who said "they can't
have read it, and their reason is wrong. Oh well their loss!" and we
resubmitted it elsewhere the next day (same publisher so limited reformatting
needed)).
* continue calm systematic exploration of the laptop problem. No crying, no
suppressing the urge to throw the laptop out of the window!
*write a start of TLQ session list of writing projects and their status.
Julie
1. Finish 30,000 word chapter and try to draw a line in the sand with
editor.
2. At least one day on Big Article
3. Teaching prep: check draft timetable for next year has everyone's teaching
in correctly, suggest some seminar readings to rest of teaching team.
4. Plan archive trip for end of June ahead of funding deadline next week.
5. House/life admin: book trains for summer travel, sort out insurance, book
annual leave, optician's appointment, organise daughter's birthday party.
6. Self-care/fun: run x 3, read, journal, fill hanging baskets and patio pots
now it seems to have stopped hailing at random, enjoy surprise trip away with
friend this weekend.
I’m leaving for a conference and two different field trips this week, next week, and a good part of the following week, so thinking time is going to be in short supply… I think the best thing I can do this week is make a list of projects for the summer, and really think hard about what each of them have, and what they need, and then prioritize from that. Student projects need me to be really present and engaged, I have a pet project that I’ve wanted to work on for years and really need to focus on, beyond that I need to think hard. For things I can do, I suspect I need to set project work schedules and actually put them on my calendar as blocks, and specifically work on those things in the assigned blocks, otherwise the strangling vines of all the other things will take over…
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals
Get three talks ready for conference SORT OF…
Data processing for other people’s talks MOSTLY
Do a million interviews DONE
Organize student assistant’s work for the next month SORT OF
Three fun things with friends YES! MOSTLY BECAUSE ALL THREE HAPPENED ON THE SAME HOLIDAY MONDAY BUT WE’RE NOT PICKY HERE…
This week’s goals
Take time to do project planning
Polish and give talks and support students with theirs
Have fun catching up with people at conference
Keep admin work going while away
starting the summer with travel and a conference can be rejuvenating or can leave me feeling behind for the rest of the summer. Hope you have the former experience and fit in lots of planning, ready for a great summer, and have fun with friend-colleagues!
DeleteYes! Lists and blocks! Divide and conquer! And yes to not being picky about the fun! I hope you have a great time at the conference.
DeleteBorrowing the lists and blocks. And yay for fun stuff.
DeleteHave a wonderful time!
DeleteLast week was hard work, and culminated in a colleague insisting that content/facts are the bread and butter of what students need and all skills teaching is a luxury we can't afford, so the courses that take almost all of my time and energy are rubbish and should be scrapped. And in the meeting NO-ONE stood up to them. Of course afterwards some people were like, oh, yes, skills are what get most of our students jobs, and learning how to learn is far more important than what they learn. But others actively agreed with him. That was very upsetting! Especially as there are so few of us staff left, and our future is uncertain (thanks, person who messed up admissions this year and lied about it until it was probably too late, so we have even fewer students - and who was loudly agreeing that teaching skills is rubbish, students learnt stuff at school or can go to the library or use the extra resources online in their own time. Which makes me worried for their own children, and for the students in their tutor groups, because especially for the latter, they come out of school without HE skills (not the school's fault directly, they are constrained by national policy and having specific incentives too and being underfunded), they're often first generation so have no cultural background to support their HE journey, many of them have additional needs and almost all of them have the reduced attention span/retention/capacity to do dull hard things repeatedly that come with early exposure to social media. But sure, we can expect the weaker ones to just spend extra time doind self-directed learning about skills using generic materials not rooted in the discipline.
ReplyDeleteAnd the persons on the other side of this are all touchy/difficult/capable of double-think so there is no point trying to debate any of this calmly, it'll just make more trouble. SIGH. At least Monday is a bank holiday this coming week!
SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 2 x small things with people, reading every day (with dinner, in waiting times) moved 2x (it has been upper 20s hot this week (crazy weather!) and I slept badly for that and other reasons, and between those I'm in pain and Not In The Mood), made none, will do one thing with people this afternoon, did read every day
* make a list of different making methods and projects I might play with this summer not really but began to think about it
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores about 50%
* braindump the steps for the living room and clothes projects no
* braindump smaller house and environment things I would like to get done this summer begun
* braindump where I want to get to with my personal finances thought about but not reached pen to paper stage yet
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* last week of marking, I hope - finish the marking! And the reminding of colleagues on shared modules! finished my marking, held off on reminding because other stresses going on
* meet with the MSc by Research student who is furthest from submission she cancelled. Sigh
* start writing the summer block list for teaching preparation tasks done and nicely set out with tick boxes and washi tape
Oh, great Cat! While I do think that people need to know some stuff in order to have something to practice the skills on, the skills--and even more, learning how to work on skills--is much more important. I boo and hiss at your colleague, and also at the person who messed up admissions. But yay, you finished the marking! That will free up some energy for other things.
DeleteI can't believe your colleague is spouting stuff like that in 2026. Not only are skills what get people jobs afterwards - I remember very little of the content of my degree - but in an age of AI, knowing content is even more meaningless and skills, even if only the skill to know when the content is rubbish, even more important. Solidarity. Our jobs would be much easier with sensible colleagues.
DeleteUgh.... what an awful thing for someone to say about teaching!! The false dichotomy of having to choose one things and the other is not valued is ridiculous, they go together and mutually reinforce one another and build on a solid foundation.
DeleteYay for finishing your marking! Hope the planning this week is fun and rewarding.
What awful nonsense! I'm sorry. Skills are easily the most important things we teach. But I don't need to tell you that.
DeleteRESEARCH:
ReplyDelete* submit small group paper still waiting on three authors for the 100 word biographies the journal requires. GRRRR
* check in with student author of the paper that got the horrible review done - she's doing OK. And the bouncing paper has gone out for review from the second journal, so that's better than a desk reject!
* continue calm systematic exploration of the laptop problem. No crying, no suppressing the urge to throw the laptop out of the window! I THINK I have made progress. I think the ::insert crude adjectives here:: machine is DOING all the things, it's just not writing out that it has done the thing into the output file, so I can't see/find the information I need. I've worked out a different way of telling it to tell me what it did in the output file, and a four day run is going on on my worklaptop now - so next week I might have a temporary solution! We suspect it's a windows update problem...
*write a start of TLQ session list of writing projects and their status. yes! Always satisfying to go through the previous start of session list and realise the projects that have now left the list altogether!
GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
I think the obvious bit of mulching and clearing to do is to get all the lists written, even though that can be quite a daunting task.
SELF-CARE:
* 3x20 intentional movement, 1 x making, 2 x small things with people, reading every day (with dinner, in waiting times)
** make a list of different making methods and projects I might play with this summer
HOME AND ENVIRONMENT:
* 75% of chores
** braindump the steps for the living room and clothes projects
** braindump smaller house and environment things I would like to get done this summer
** braindump where I want to get to with my personal finances
TEACHING AND ADMIN:
* assessment-related bureaucracy
* meet with the MSc by Research student who is furthest from submission
* one block of summer teaching tasks
* one block of time on Icky Admin Task
RESEARCH:
* submit small group paper
* continue calm systematic exploration of the laptop problem.
* write draft text for first two sets of results from modelling problem
* schedule meeting for teaching related project
I hear you on the not-looking-like-much work: my husband mows the lawn, and it's clear that he's done something; I spend two hours weeding and it doesn't show at all (except for a heap of weeds or clippings, so in some ways it looks worse). Metaphorically I am not sure what invisible work I can do for myself, but I guess that would be planning when to do things.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
-Write (or transfer) 3000 words for Overdue essay. 1284 (all writing, no transferring).
-Write 1000 words for First Conference Paper. 1194 (more note-y than actual paper-y).
-Contact 2 (or am I up to 3?) writers with reviewer comments: 2, with one to go; am about halfway through a complicated response (disagreements between reviewers to reconcile; the good news is that they can be made to talk to each other in useful ways, the bad news is that this takes time).
-regular PT exercises, otherwise rest cranky back (maybe try a short swim, short walks): yes, no swimming, not so many walks, but rest and exercises are helping).
-finish booking 3rd summer trip: NO (but e-mailed Daisy about getting together, so progress of a sort!)
ALSO: about 4 hours in the garden, weeding, planting out lettuces and spinach (finally!), also tucked some sprouting potatoes into corners of the patch. Had an afternoon on campus doing various things. Made cookies. Returned an object that came out of the packaging damaged. Revised an abstract as requested. Did a teaching assessment task. Went to mystery group (for a book I didn't much care for, Christie's first Poirot). Read Madeline Blaess's diary (portrait of the medievalist as a young woman stuck in wartime Paris, pining for Yorkshire): https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/books/m/10.22599/Blaess
It's very much the kind of thing I like--not sure it would be everyone's cup of tea, but it's free to read online or download.
New goals:
-Write (or transfer) 3000 words for Overdue essay.
-Write or polish 1000 "real" words for First Conference Paper
-Contact last writer with reviewer comments
-regular PT exercises, gym x4 (swim x2)
-finish booking 3rd summer trip
-file travel voucher
-get mulch for veg patch
-review essay for journal
-make a cake
The Blaess sounds right up my street. I haven't downloaded it yet, but will do, though wondering if the French original is available also.
DeleteI don't think it has been edited in French (I had the same thought) but I think I saw somewhere that Sheffield has digitized the diary itself. Maybe start here? https://www.madeleineblaessproject.com/
DeleteGood luck with the reconciliation of reviewer comments--that's not much fun! Although it might be interesting, at least?
DeleteHope week and review comments went really well!
DeleteBig Article is definitely in need of serious mulching, compost, everything it can get. I've spent a lot of time this year working on the introductory/conceptual/method sections - which are all important, but I need to stop pruning those and do the heavy work of the empirical sections. I think the best work this week would be to (a) spend at least two days on it, (b) follow others' example and make lists/plans of what still needs working out/writing and break it down into manageable chunks for the rest of the session.
ReplyDeleteFittingly, I am writing this in the garden, after 8.30 in the evening our time. It has been the hottest day of the year so far. Enjoying the fact that it's now cooled down enough to be pleasant outside.
Last week:
1. Finish 30,000 word chapter and try to draw a line in the sand with editor. -YES (line seems to have been accepted)
2. At least one day on Big Article - YES
3. Teaching prep: check draft timetable for next year has everyone's teaching in correctly, suggest some seminar readings to rest of teaching team. - YES
4. Plan archive trip for end of June ahead of funding deadline next week. - STARTED
5. House/life admin: book trains for summer travel, sort out insurance, book annual leave, optician's appointment, organise daughter's birthday party. - SOME, NO, YES, YES, YES
6. Self-care/fun: run x 3, read, journal, fill hanging baskets and patio pots now it seems to have stopped hailing at random, enjoy surprise trip away with friend this weekend. - YES to all. Surprise trip was to her static caravan (much more luxurious than it sounds) with afternoon tea and brunch the following morning. My daughter came too, which was fun.
This week:
1. At least two days on Big Article - write one section, plan out the rest.
2. Final sign-off on PhD corrections.
3. Submit request for funding for travel this summer and book if possible.
4. Two teaching meetings (one on assessment).
5. House/life admin: book more summer travel, travel insurance, organise and post parcel for book club swap.
6. Self-care/fun: run x 3, find weights or Pilates class, read, journal, theatre trip Friday.
Your surprise trip sounds lovely! And you got a lot done last week. I hope this week goes well!
DeleteGlad that you actual garden is a pleasant spot to sit and think!
DeleteThat is a good week, hope the research plan and the rest of the words flow beautifully this week!
Wow, that's a lot of Yes!
Delete(I've entered some session goals at the end of last week's responses.)
ReplyDeleteAs an information update, I have moved out of my house, and the day before the movers packed everything up, I found out my offer had been accepted on the place I wanted to move to. I will move in in 2-3 weeks. I left my old home city with lots of stuff in my car last Sunday, and then Tuesday I flew to the east coast to see some friends, and also to attend the 50th reunion of my university class -- I went to a university where these are very much a cult. I got back to my brother's (where I'm camping) yesterday. I'm tired.
Anyway: what can lay the groundwork for success? I think just trying to stay focused... there's a lot happening.
Since I set no goals last week, I have nothing to report. I was AWOL! (But I saw many old friends, and my granddaughter, so that was good.)
Goals for this week (I'm heading to my old home both for research purposes and to empty (a) my storage unit and (b) my office. I think this is two trips.
1. Get through at least 3 microfilms
2. Empty storage unit / stop paying for it!
3. Attend meetings
4. Start on office clearout
5. Visit with friends
6. Deal with any lingering admin stuff on the condo purchase
7. Try to get more sleep
Congratulations on the new home! Sounds as if moving can happen much faster in the US, which is great but probably brings its own kind of stresses. Good luck with the packing, and the sleep!
DeleteEchoing Julie--congratulations and good luck!
DeleteYay for house!!!!! That is a huge load off, I hope every moving thing goes well. Good luck with all that, stressful but at least time-limited...
DeleteHope seeing friends counteract the going to meetings bits!
Congratulations! I hope that the move goes well and that you love your new place!
DeleteOh my! I missed the start of the session. I'm sorry! Will try to catch up today. May I still post session goals?
ReplyDeleteHere they are, in any case:
1. Writing for fun: Get to a point with a (creative?) project where it will be easy-ish to sustain going into the school year. In an ideal world, this would mean about 40k of a messy draft, but I'm not fixing a number on it.
2. New research: Read some primary sources to find another topic for a case study. (I have an idea for a very different kind of book that I might enjoy working on.)
3. Existing research: Complete and submit festschrift, which includes writing the introduction.
4. Home: Annual deep cleaning stuff (garage, windows), clean out computer files, get patch of ceiling fixed, scrub or otherwise deal with the stupid popcorn finish on the bathroom ceiling
5. Crafts: Finish knitting shawl, start sweater, anniversary book, new journal?
6. Italian: Make my way through a substantial part of this rather more difficult (and very long) novel that I've started
7. Habits: Add some actual sitting, maintain exercise
8. TLQ: Check in on Mondays at least 75% of the time!
This week (what's left of it):
1. Write 3000 messy words
2. Italian x 5
3. Sit x 3; exercise as usual
4. Start reading the Legenda Aurea (because why not?)
5. Catch up on some lingering leftover work stuff
Oh, good, you're here and okay--I was starting to wonder! Writing plans sound exciting!
DeleteYay, welcome back! I love the sound of your writing plans.
Delete