Hello everyone!
Hope the May flowers are continuing to provide little spots of beauty and joy!
Our session will officially start next week. I thought we might like to take this week to think about what our ideal summers would contain, and do a little bit of ruminating on how we can make the reality and the ideal come a bit closer together before we start off with goals next week...
Are there non-negotiable fun things you want to do this summer? Are there restorative practices that you want to put in place?
For this week... Let's think about what we want... Not what we "should" or "could" or "have to"...
Just what we want :)
Nice prompt! I want peace. No administrative chaos or Change Programmes, no colleagues not doing their jobs, no having to do difficult undesirable tasks in hot, stuffy places. Nothing fancy - just peace. It's been a chaotic and difficult few weeks all around, with an attempted medication change making everything more challenging, and it's not getting better yet! Last week our ViLE was struck by a global cyperattack (along with many other universities) which has been pretty stressful - and has led to students being given extensions for affected course work and exams (very reaonable) but the marks-due date not being adjusted for staff (which feels unfair). Today I went to a meeting about part of the work on the big project and discovered that multiple decisions had been made and not communicated to me... by being argued with about a suggestion I made because it didn't fit in with those decisions. Which I didn't know about. I THINK my simple solution to the topic was adopted, but no-one would commit to actually writing down the methodology so who the heck knows what will have happened by the next meeting. I am trying very hard to Not Care, but these are Monkeys which are maybe not IN my circus, but my circus is collaborating with their circus and those Monkeys are laughing at and potentially about to sabotage my Monkeys so I do need to care to some degree! So just... peace. Stillness. Carefully practicing all different sorts of rest to see what might be most sticky. It feels like both an impossibly large ask and a small and unambitious one, but reality is probably somewhere in between as usual!
ReplyDeleteLAST WEEK:
1) at least 3 x 20 minutes intentional movement 2 sessions. I wasn't feeling great and, sigh. More than none.
2) 75% of chores list more than 50% at least
3) start making a summer list of house/life stuff, personal stuff and fun stuff well, I put some washi tape and fancy lettering on a journal page! That's a start, right?
4) ensure all timetable plans are checked and submitted centrally yes. Despite the many, many ways colleagues found to make mistakes all over the forms! Including submitting the three years ago version. le big sigh!
5) draft kill-them-with-kindness response to hostile reviewer and to the editor of the journal who really should know better (as they DO use the methods in question). we have a plan...
6) try to sort out the problem with all the laptops Still. Not. Working. I have cried, cursed, kicked a cushion and hurt my toe, and come up with several new things to try. But they are Still Not Working! Thankfully things are still working on my colleague's set up so that's something...
COMING WEEK:
1) at least 3 x 20 minutes intentional movement
2) 75% of chores list
3) start making a summer list of house/life stuff, personal stuff and fun stuff
4) take some time to think about summer goals for TLQ
5) Submit two manuscripts (one we;ve been working on on and off since 2017, the other I need to do the submission stuff to get a discount on the publication fees but it's my former grad student's paper, so these are smaller tasks than they might seem, but they have a lot of scary-barrier-feelings because of the recent really bad reviews)
6) comment on complete draft for Research MSc student
7) write some text about output from models so far
8) if time, mark some undergraduate project plans.
Washi tape and fancy lettering totally count! They get you started and create an attractive environment you want to come back to! So sorry about the laptop problems. And on the exercise, two out of three AIN'T BAD.
DeleteSorry collaborators are being difficult. I love the idea of making your list fancy - that is absolutely a start.
DeleteUgh. We were affected by the cyber-attack too, at the end of the last week of teaching, right before exams. And of course for many, everything is on the LMS (though I like the term ViLE much better). And we could all use peace.
DeleteRest and peace seem to be the hardest tasks of all... I hope the computer chaos calms down this week and that the coauthors get their nonsense sorted out!
DeleteGood luck on the submissions!
The things I want are not within my control, and probably impossible anyway, but since you ask, the #1 thing I want is for some anecdotal One Weird Trick to make it possible for me to eat a little more normally (I know there is no cure for IBS and the goal is just to manage symptoms, and my limited diet works fine when I am at home but it takes an enormous amount of time and energy when I travel. And I like going places!). I want my husband to get inspired to Do Something about our yard, apart from letting it turn into a maple forest. I want Tadei Pogacar not to compete in the Tour de France (but not for reasons of serious injury), so it would be more interesting. I want all the travel arrangements to work out smoothly and for the cats to eat well while we're away.
ReplyDeleteThings I might actually be able to do something about: I want to swim three miles a week (when at home), enjoy the scheduled travels, enjoy time outside without getting Lyme disease (ticks seem to be bad this year), expand my social network (maybe have some parties), and do some jigsaw puzzles.
How I did last week:
--grade final projects, update gradebook with odds & ends, work out & post semester grades: YES! That is, just now finished, but whatever, I am now DONE! Some of the final reflections were really touching--students learned and grew a lot.
--make substantial progress on W by working on it every day: 1000 words. I shall call that substantial (but I think it was 2-3 days).
--send PR comments on essay, plus other editing-related work: NO
--exercise x5: I think it was x3, good enough.
--back exercises daily: x5, pretty good.
--start making Big Summer List, also Big Summer Schedule: barely
--2 more academic meetings (at least), dentist: YES. They had to happen, but I like acknowledging that they took up time and energy.
Goals for this week:
--gym x4 or even x5, of which swim x2
--yoga/back exercises daily
--work on W x4, M1 x2 (30-60 minutes each session)
--get PR and some other editing things out of the way
--book last bits of travel (for August trip), file travel voucher for April trip
I hear you on Pogacar! Hoping there will at least be some serious challenges this year, though not sure from whom.
Deletealways good to give energy-using things attention - doing them counts even if one "has" to do them!
DeleteLove the summer wish list! I hope travel and food and cats all go very smoothly... Maple forest sounds better than dandelion patch, so maybe?
DeleteGreat prompt. I want all the travel I am organising to go well and not be disrupted by orange fascists and their wars, or forest fires, or anything else. I want my daughter's exams and her last summer before university to go well. Like JaneB, I want peace and for teaching preparation not to eat up my writing time.
ReplyDeleteAs for what I can do, I can prioritise writing and Big Article in particular over this session. I can be ruthless about teaching prep and delay as much of it as possible until September (some stuff will have to be done collectively). I can leave my laptop at home on the fun trips and pack books instead.
Last week:
1. Make notes from seminar before I forget all the questions and comments. - YES
2. More (!) revisions to 30,000 word chapter (see above on demanding plants - editor came back to me with further additions, which he could have mentioned last time). - SOME
3. Start reading thesis I need to examine. - YES
4. Write bid for small pot of money for a workshop. - NO (met with colleagues, decided none of us had the time or the energy, agreed we would do it next year instead)
5. Reference for a former student. - YES
6. Expenses claim - YES
7. House/life admin: financial paperwork, visit from engineer to upgrade broadband, optician, try to get son a haircut. - YES except haircut
8. Self-care/fun: birthday dinner, read, exercise, video call with friends, make plan for weekend away. - YES
This week:
1. Finish reading thesis and write report
2. Revisions to chapter, finish if possible (editor needs to send me scans of references I can't get here)
3. Big Article: rework structure, write one section.
4. House/life admin: daughter's birthday plans, book more summer travel, book annual leave, get son a haircut
5. Self-care/fun: exercise, read, cookbook dinner club, plant some stuff if weather ok.
All the good wishes for smooth travel with no disruptions, and all the good luck for your daughter's exams and end of school! I'm wishing the same for mine, she's got the graduation countdown going pretty hard, and it is scary/exciting and all those things...
DeleteWishing the best of summers to both the graduate and her parent!
DeleteI've been invisible for a few weeks, but it's been challenging. What I want for my summer is a place to live so I can pick up my research and also read for pleasure, do some travel, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo the short version of the story is that I still have not found a place to live, though I've just made an offer on a place I would love. Fingers crossed, and I should know tomorrow. When the movers are coming to pack my stuff.
Anyway, last week I taught my last class(!), then flew to the UK for the weekend for my god-daughter's wedding. The sun shone on Saturday, so I could even wear my garden party hat that took up half my suitcase! And I've done a lot of packing.
Goals for this week:
- survive the packing and moving
- do expenses that are overdue
- figure out if retirement paperwork is on track
- Finish grades
- Get rid of furniture I'm not moving
- Sleep
I'm just hoping the universe is on my side right now.
Sending all good wishes and luck and positive vibes for the place to live!!!
DeleteGood luck!!!! So stressful, but hopefully resolving soon...
Also, wow, last class...
Wow, that's a lot. Crossing all appendages for the place to live...
DeleteI hope you get good news and that the mover-packing goes well!!!
DeleteAll the luck there is - so stressful! And yes, wow, last class. Hope you feel you ended on a high, though you might be too exhausted to notice...
DeleteI just got back from giant European conference, it was fun. The pastries and music and sightseeing was a very nice bonus too, I decided to take a couple of days off and called that my vacation… Because it does not look like there will be a whole lot of that in the foreseeable future!
ReplyDeleteSummer… What do I want?
Time and space to think about research instead of just putting out fires
Days with kayaking
Consistent exercise
A small trip with kid
A little bit of time off
Doesn’t sound so impossible, right???
It sounds absolutely lovely! Schedule those things first, and fit the fires in around them . . . oh wait, fires . . . sigh.
DeleteAh yes, the joy of thinking time...
DeleteThinking is such a luxury. Alas that we would all agree.
DeleteHope some of the lovely stuff can happen!
DeleteI admit I spend a lot of time wandering around through defunct blogs, and that this might not be the best use of my time--but sometimes it really pays off. Here are two excellent old posts to do with writing and time management:
ReplyDeletehttps://fumbling-towards-geekdom.blogspot.com/2006/04/most-fun-you-can-have-with-2-pencil.html
and https://sleepingintheforest.wordpress.com/2007/02/09/dissertation-tips-part-1/