End of the Session

This is our last check-in of the winter-spring TLQ session.  It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster for all of us, I think – as life usually is.   For our closing topic, I thought it would be useful to do some reflection on the past three months focused on two questions:  what worked for you?  What helped you succeed?   And where did you find joy in TLQ?   While of course we can learn from what doesn’t work, I find that paying attention to the positive (what does work) is more useful.

 

The next session will begin some time in May, hosted by JaneB and Contingent Cassandra (and maybe Daisy?)

So please, reflect on the question, and both your session goals and your week’s goals!   

Last Week’s Goals

Allan Wilson (from 2 weeks ago)

complete new draft ms WHK that incorporates co-author additions, and send back out to co-authors.

Amstr

1) exercise 4x
2) journal 5x
3) write 3x30 min

Contingent Cassandra

1) better self-care: sleeping, exercising (weights if I don't have time for a walk), eating good food (and getting to the grocery store to buy it).
2) (TRQ-ish, but especially relevant to the DH class, which, as I've noted before, has TLQ elements): catch up on grading, especially for DH class.

Daisy

Finish poster and paper
Run outside because it is only mildly crappy outside instead of thoroughly miserable

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell

1) Read the 46 applications for a scholarship committee decision.
2) File into paper files for a half hour three times.
3) Revise the last article according to the suggestions of a colleague who has written a lot in the same field.

Good Enough Woman

1. Make one more doctor's appointment for me and a dentist appointment for the kids, and go to the appt on Wed.
2. Two times to fancy club.
3. Spend 30 minutes on speech.
4. Read 30 pages related to thesis.
5. Lights out by 11:30

Humming42

1 Manage obligations graciously and hold things together.
2 Continue progress on grading, as the end of the semester nears.
3 Organize research projects for the coming several weeks.

JaneB

1) 5 hours of research writing

 2) write DOWN some plans

3) draft a proposal for a workshop at a conference

4) 30 minutes on each of 5 days on decluttering

Kjhaxton (from 2 weeks ago)

2) plan the two articles that I will write
3) plan publication/presentation around small aspect of current teaching so that I can put an evaluation plan in place to get a good paper
4) make figures for the paper

Matilda (from 2 weeks ago)

1) Write the draft of the article, the deadline coming soon.
2) Reset myself. I want to start afresh - in some way.

Susan

1. Finish the grant
2. Walk four days
3. Get back to the book, and read the whole draft for continuity etc.

Session Goals

Allan Wilson:  A long list is possible here, but I am going to treat these serially. Work goals: first, to complete a data spreadsheet for the project where my loved collaborator is leaving town for good in around 6 weeks, so we can draft the first paper before he leaves. Second, to do one piece of data analysis (that I have been avoiding) so I can submit the paper FS, a hangover from previous writing groups and a previous postdoc. Third, to submit a long overdue paper with a motivated student – the first task here is to write and revise the first complete draft. Other goals: to exercise regularly, and to eat healthily.

Amstr

1) dissertation to book draft complete

2) exercise regularly, eat healthfully (track these)

3) declutter 4 rooms of the house (one a month)

Contingent Cassandra

--use lit class to experiment with digital-humanities teaching/analysis techniques; produce at least some materials (assignments, activities, student/class projects) that can serve as models that might be applied to other classes, and/or material for presentation/reflection (at least on the professional web page I’m developing, perhaps also in a conference presentation or article).

--continue developing a daily/weekly routine that includes healthy eating, regular exercise, and regular sleep patterns.

--make substantial progress on getting financial matters in order

--accomplish enough at the community garden to satisfy the powers that be; get as many project materials as possible out of apartment/car.

--as possible, work on getting apartment in order (in particular, building/painting/installing shelves, because that will facilitate a return to research and writing by making materials more visible and accessible).

Daisy

3 submitted papers, 2 (B and C) from thesis and one new project one (D).

Earnest English:

-think ahead in my classes and grade on a regular basis (which I've calculated means 4 projects or so per day).

-write scholarship for 1-2 hours per week to get the conference paper I have due in March done with as little panic as possible

-write on my project regularly, which means about 4/week and entails getting some kind of draft from my notebook to the computer each week

-develop a meditation habit

-develop a work out or yoga habit

-keep on top of gardening projects

-maintain personal and family happiness through downtime, reflection, and making time for fun

Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

I plan to catch up with all the doctors’ and dentist appointments I’ve let slide for the past year.I want to be mindful about stress and stress-related eating, hoping to exercise to reduce stress and, as a byproduct, become more fit.

For sanity, I want to reduce clutter, both in paper and electronically, to be better organized and spend less time frantically searching for things.

Good Enough Woman

1) Work 10 hours per week on PhD thesis

2) Revise two PhD chapters

3) Write and present conference paper

4) Pursue various 30-day challenges (see below)

5) Declutter my clothes, kids closet/toys, linen closet

6) Maybe additional family goals (kid dates, etc.), but not sure yet

Humming 42

My goals are going to be process-oriented rather than product-oriented for a change. I have a lot of projects I would like to work on and with hope complete this year. Rather than saying I’m going to finish that manuscript or that proposal or that article, my not-urgent approach is to say that by April I’d like to have a firm habit of writing every day. My second goal is probably best articulated by saying I want be more active, less sedentary. So getting there will mean a bunch of small weekly goals like walking all the stairs to get to my office and going to yoga. Setting those goals and sticking to them is what can make the difference.

Jane B

* get at least two of the papers I faffed around with in the last iteration at least off to co-authors and preferably submitted. These are Crunchier, Repeater, Neglected Student Paper and Very Late - the first two are the most likely to be done, but any of them will count!

* make rough drafts (as in, 1-2 pages plus figure list plus chores lists) of Effie the first (the one which was sort of a conference paper), Effie the second (the big ambitious one!) and Brilliant Undergrads Project papers

* submit 3-4 abstracts to Big Conference (due 8th January)

* have started a draft of a grant for the deadline in July

* have an orderly home and office environment

* have done some fun things, and be healthier and fitter!

kjhaxton

Work: 1 submitted paper, 1 submitted ethics form, 1 project plan,

Other: enter a photography competition, create 60 hand crafted items (40 of one kind for a specific event), sort out my wildlife garden.

What to do about BLQ and BRQ

We’re in the homestretch! Our final check in is next weekend.

TLQ is by nature a “slow and steady wins the race” strategy, and I know many of us have had TRQ “win the race with a final sprint” recently. This semester we’ve all endeavored to make progress in TLQ in the face of TRQ. But let’s take a minute to talk about the bottom quadrants. Are there things you spend time on that are not urgent and not important? Are there things that press on you, feeling urgent, but you know at heart they’re not important? (Remember that things like reading, playing, watching movies, etc. can be TLQ--important for balance and health.) How do you deal with those BQs? Do you have strategies for shutting up the urgency of the BRQ? Are there bottom quadrant items (right or left) that you need to cut loose from your schedule or your mental checklist?

Volunteer to host! As we’re approaching the end of our session, we can look forward to the next one. Make a note at the top of your comment below if you’d like to host or co-host the group for the next session. (New hosts can decide the dates, but it could be May-August give or take.) If you have questions about hosting or co-hosting, feel free to email me directly as academicamstr[at]gmail[dot]com.

Format:

Host volunteering (optional)

Topic

Last week’s goals

Next week’s goals

Goals for last week:

Allan Wilson:

complete new draft ms WHK that incorporates co-author additions, and send back out to co-authors.

Amstr:

1) exercise 3x

2) write 2x

Contingent Cassandra:

??

Daisy:

1) Poster for conference

2) Paper B done

3) Program review

4) Newsletter

Earnest English:

??

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell:

1) Deal with the paper landslide in my office for a half-hour three times.

2) Clean up my dossier folder on email.

3) Fix the next 20 footnotes in the dissertation.

Good Enough Woman:

1. Call Monday to reschedule the doc appointment.

2. Call to make one or two other doc appointments.

3. Go to the fancy club at least twice to swim or do yoga.

4. Start drafting the commencement speech (I have to give the faculty speech at commencement this year, which totally freaks me out, and which is only about six weeks away).

5. Read 20 pages related to thesis.

Humming42:

1 Finish old article and submit (really TRQ now, I am ashamed to say)

2 Again, catch up on grading

3 Again, take care of self exquisitely (not an indulgence, as JaneB wisely noted last week, but an obligation)

JaneB:

an hour of work minimum on each of five days on research writing, an hour somewhere on planning, and 30 minutes on each of five days on decluttering

Kjhaxton: (for 2 weeks)

2) plan the two articles that I will write

3) plan publication/presentation around small aspect of current teaching so that I can put an evaluation plan in place to get a good paper

4) make figures for the paper

Matilda:

1) Write the draft of the article, the deadline coming soon.

2) Reset myself. I want to start afresh - in some way.

Susan:

1. Make progress on grant application

2. Catalog a few of my offprints

3. Walk two mornings

Picking ourselves up

One of the things that those outside don’t realize about academic life is how much rejection is involved.   From job applications to article submissions to grant applications, all of us get rejected on a pretty regular basis.   It’s *hard*.   Depending on the rejection, we may feel a part of ourselves has been rejected.   And yet, we mostly continue.  What do you do to manage disappointment?   Chocolate? Whiskey? Wine?  A trashy novel?  Do you have a thick skin, or do you have friends who help you?    Do you have favorite kinds of self-talk?  Go for a run?  How do you keep on going!

Goals from last week

Allan Wilson: (goals for the fortnight; on holiday)

1) exercise twice (in addition to what I do on holiday)

2) finish draft article for non-academic source (2 weeks overdue)

3) meeting that was scheduled in the last week on FS, or progress on its analysis problem.

4) complete new draft ms WHK that incorporates co-author additions, and send back out to co-authors

Amstr:

Survive

Contingent Cassandra:

(1) self-care,

(2)some garden work,

(3) taxes!!!!

Daisy

1) Paper B - just do it dammit!!!
2) Come with experimental plan and timeline for summer and new project
3) Run

Elizabeth Ann Mitchell

1) Make doctor’s and dentist’s appointments.
2) File into paper files for a half hour three times.
3) Fix the first 20 footnotes in the dissertation.

Good Enough Woman:

To be set retrospectively

Humming42

1 Present finished, professional-sounding conference papers.
2 Catch up on grading.
3 Indulge in self-care.

JaneB

Complete feedback on and return all the project drafts I have from students (3 to go, plus three which may come in during the week - one legit extension (funeral of close kin), one semi-legit (multiple two-day graduate job selection panel events), one not legit (student had samples in October, began work on them in February, is somewhat behind)) and write a plan for Very Late, the paper I'm shifting my attention to (I should give it a more positive name, right?).

Kjhaxton: (from 2 weeks ago)

2) plan the two articles that I will write

3) plan publication/presentation around small aspect of current teaching so that I can put an evaluation plan in place to get a good paper

4) make figures for the paper

Matilda: (left over from last week)

1) Week 6-3 of Belcher's book. Construct a better structure.

2) Continue to read the important book.

3) Prepare for the classes.

4) Do short exercises between pomodoro chunks.

5) If I want to have some, have healthier snacks. Remember that I always have spots when I have chocolate.

Susan

1. Finish bill paying and financial organizing
2. Finish book review
3. Go back and re-examine one of the problem chapters and see if I can do some quick fixes.
4. Keep walking or exercising. (We may have rain tomorrow, which would hamper the walking, but I can exercise still.)