Weekly Update: 9/30 - 10/6

having a little family jam session before bed

reflection

Week 1 of the term is done. Even though I’m not teaching this term I still felt that nervous excitement (or is it apprehension 😄) about the beginning of the year. I’m also still in disbelief that it’s October already. Time just keeps on going. Although this week felt pretty light in terms of the number of things I was doing, I did have some big wins (quality, not quantity, right?!). I submitted my fourth year review, finished the initial round of reviewing article titles for a systematic review project with a collaborator, finalized a poster presentation for a conference in November, and am 99% done my prep for winter term! If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen my post this past week about my 4th year review dream… I was at my childhood home and putting together the finishing touches on my review materials, but instead of written documents it was a video montage (on VHS) that had Coolio’s C U When U Get There as the soundtrack 😂. No idea where that came from, but I’m impressed with my brain for coming up with it. My tenure goal is now going to be figuring out how to work Coolio into my materials, ha! In home life, both Mike and Ellie had mild colds this week. I thought I dodged it, but I’m pretty sure it’s hitting me now. Fingers crossed that the mild congestion I have right now is the worst of it.

Thinking back on what worked well this week, here are a few of my biggest takeaways. 1. Incorporating buffer time around meetings (and general project blocks) to account for any needed follow up, going over time, and just giving my brain time to switch over to the next activity. While this isn’t always possible, when I can incorporate it, it makes the day feel less frantic. 2. Leaving open space on my calendar to account for last minute requests. I had a couple things come up this week that I hadn’t planned for and having some unplanned time on my calendar allowed me to do them and not feel stressed. Last minute requests are 100% going to happen, so I’d rather plan some time for them instead of being grumpy about having to shift around my plan. Of course, this isn’t always possible, but when I’m able to work it in, I will! 3. Every second doesn’t have to be filled with work. There were a number of times this week where I finished up whatever I was working on early… or like when I went to get my flu shot and it took all of ~10 minutes, and I’d blocked off 30 (got there right before the line tripled in size). Instead of moving on the the next thing or trying to get more done I used those spare 15-20ish minutes to take a walk or a break.

Here are my goals for the past week…

research

Paper 2: Goal(s): 30 minutes/day editing intro and tables. Goal(s) met? Yup.

Poster presentation: Goal(s): Finalize poster presentation. Goal(s) met? Yes, and then some. Sent it off for printing too, so this is done!

Systematic review: Goal(s): Go through article titles for inclusion in the review with collaborator. Didn’t set a specific # goal, but just that we’d make some progress on this. Goal(s) met? Yes, we got through our initial review of titles! Now… onto abstracts.

teaching

Online research methods course prep: Goal(s): Create videos for all assignments and update assignment documents for winter 2020 dates. Goal(s) met? Yes.

Lead instructor: Provided some support for human dev instructors during their first week of teaching.

Tenure

4th year review: Goal(s): Finalize and submit my 4th year review. Goal(s) met? Yes!

service + admin

Planning: Goal(s): Plan for the week. Goal(s) met? Yup.

Other: Goal(s): Sign up for benefits. Goal(s) met? Yes.

meetings, appointments, + events

✓flu shot
✓collaborator check in
✓dentist
✗preschool fundraising dine-out (Mike went and got a gift card to participate, but we didn’t actually go out to eat)
✓acupuncture

personal

Toddler on the Tenure Track: Goal(s): Weekly update post, send out monthly newsletter, write/schedule budget post. Goal(s) met? Yes

plan(it)*: Goal(s): Update info page with testimonials, create a plan for December updates and start implementing . Goal(s) met? Yes.

Meditation: Goal(s): 10 minutes of meditation every day. Goal(s) met? Yes!

Budget: Goal(s): Update budget for the week, pay credit card bill. Goal(s) met? Yup.