Weekly Update: 10/21 - 10/27
Relaxing on the couch after getting home from a birthday party. Ellie as a butterfly and mama as a fox
reflection
Putting my main tasks in writing each week is making me think a lot about how much I “should” be doing and what’s “enough” for a tenure track faculty member to be doing. Looking at my list for the week makes me uncomfortable. Between research and teaching I see four projects and think, “Is that all? Why am I not doing more?” Sure, I had other things going on this week, like a few meetings, plus a doctor’s appointment, plus returning from the beach, plus the little stuff like emails/logistics that don’t show up on this list because they’re too tedious to type… and there’s a large part of me that feels a lot of guilt about having a work schedule that feels good. A work schedule where I don’t crash at the end of the day because I’ve given everything I’ve got and I can’t give anymore. I keep running up against this idea that being busy and having a really long list of things to do each week means that I’m doing “enough.” Perhaps what I need is a re-frame… I did thoughtful work on three different research projects, plus I got my winter course pretty much ready to go for next term, and attended a few professional development workshops related to teaching. I laid out a plan for the year and the term that will get me to my goals, and so far I’m on track… no need to pile on more things.
Here are my goals for the past week…
research
Paper 2: Goal(s): identify and incorporate additional article limitations into introduction section. Goal(s) met? Yes… still needs to be edited, but it’s in there.
Systematic review: Goal(s): Have another review session and also start pulling articles for full review. Goal(s) met? Yup.
Funding application: Goal(s): Find specific funding announcement for NICHD, make a list of what’s needed, summarize and organize info from previously reviewed articles, reach out to collaborator for brainstorming session. Goal(s) met? Yes.
teaching
Online research methods course prep: Goal(s): Find resources to replace links/videos that are no longer working, review additional articles for critique assignment, decide whether or not to incorporate them, and update assignment if needed, create scripts for sampling videos (that rely on class list). Goal(s) met? Yes… all I need to do is one final read thru and it’s ready to go for the winter!
service + admin
Planning: Goal(s): Plan for the week. Goal(s) met? Yup.
PSLF stuff: Goal(s): Print/fill out PSLF form for this year. Goal(s) met? Yes.
meetings, appointments, + events
✓PT appt
✓teaching workshops (x2)
✓collaborator check in
✓beach (we came back on Monday)!
✓b-day party
personal
Toddler on the Tenure Track: Goal(s): write and post weekly update, finalize this month’s newsletter and next month’s post. Goal(s) met? Yes to the update, no to the newsletter or next month’s post. Still editing them.
plan(it)*: Goal(s): Film 4 videos and add additional testimonial to the site. Goal(s) met? Yes… I actually ended up getting all of them done except for 2 (10 total).
Meditation: Goal(s): 10 minutes of meditation every day. Goal(s) met? Yes!
Budget: Goal(s): Update budget for the week, create November’s budget, and move money around to pay off AES loan. Goal(s) met? Yup.