Weekly Update: 4/22 - 4/28
Spring weather is here to stay (I hope), so naturally Ellie wanted to wear winter clothes this week…
reflection
I was able to do work on 4 different research projects (3 papers and 1 data collection project) this week, which feels like the most research related work I’ve done since the fall (has it really been that long?!). Honestly, I think it’s because my course prep feels under control and I’m not burning myself out with grading, so I have the mental energy to pick these projects back up. Plus, there aren’t any major advising related issues going on at the moment (knock on wood), which also helps. Granted, I spent a significant amount of time just trying to figure out where I left off/where everything was saved (despite pretty detailed notes) on one of the papers (#2)… there’s definitely a benefit to doing something, even if it’s just a few minutes, on all of your projects at least once a week so you don’t have to spend time figuring out where you left off. I was also struck by the amount of research related time I spent updating people through email. However, if we’re not having regular in person check in meetings, that makes sense to me, considering when I was in grad school the research groups I was a part of would have regular weekly or bi-weekly meetings. One thing I’d like to write/think more about is how I organize all the various projects I have a hand in. I don’t have a method that I love and have been trying to figure out how to make my current method more user friendly. I have both a spreadsheet as well as a list on my task list; however I don’t regularly check either of those things (I look at other things on my task list, just not this one!). I did have a list on my whiteboard (campus office) and that works well (but I don’t have it when I’m at home). I just need to rewrite it since it got erased during my office move. Anyway, at some point in the future I’m planning to write post about keeping track of projects, and also my thoughts on how much is too much!
Lately, Ellie has been getting up about 3 hours after she goes to sleep (usually around midnight) and wanting to be rocked more. Mike and I have been keeping later schedules lately, so it’s not interrupting our sleep too much, but we also don’t want this to become a thing. Not really sure how to break this habit. She’s pleasant when she gets up, she pokes her head into our room (we’re usually reading) and asks to be rocked. Mike has gone in to rock with her and is usually back in bed in about 20 minutes. When she was in the crib we could just ignore her and she’d eventually go back to sleep, but now that she can get up and out of bed (and she doesn’t like to sleep with the door closed) waiting it out becomes trickier. We’re hoping it’s just a short lived thing… although I guess we could use it as an opportunity to start night time potty training?! Not sure we’re up for that just yet!
Also… how is it almost May already?!
research
Paper 2: My goals for the week were to review where I left off (a long time ago), determine next steps, and organize the most recent draft I have. Goal met? Yes! Now that my 3rd year review is done, I want to get some papers off my plate that have been sitting for awhile. This paper is one of them, I’ve been working on it for over a year and I just need to be done with it. Every time I come back to it I think, this will be easy to submit, it’s really close… and then something else comes up that pushes this one to the back burner. I’m planning to just keep setting teeny tiny goals for myself each time I work on it that will end with a submission sometime this summer.
Paper 3: My goals for the week were to do some data management/quick analyses. Goal met? Yup… I have a few more things I’d like to do before the next check-in meeting but that can wait until next week. Also, I love data management/cleaning, there’s something about it that is so satisfying!
Paper 5: My goals for the week were to do a quick read through of a new potential paper, identify preliminary steps involved, and respond to a co-author. Goal met? Yes. At the conference I went to in January I saw my dissertation advisor/mentor who mentioned a potential paper opportunity. One of the co-authors on this paper reached out recently to see if I’d be interested in joining the writing team so I’m adding another one to my list, bringing me to 5 active papers right now.
Systematic review/interview project: My goals for the week were to finish up the updated searches and check-in with my collaborator and also research librarian. Goal met? Yes!
teaching
Course prep (condensed stats course): My goals for the week were to review course materials for the 2nd/3rd classes in order to compile content for our 3rd meeting and do a few administrative things (e.g., updating the grade book, sending emails, etc.). Goal met? Yes.
Course prep (online human dev course): My goals for the week were to create a structured outline for the final assignment as an example, post an announcement with course updates, post feedback for discussion posts, update grade book for 2nd discussion post, create week 6 videos, finalize week 6 content, and double check week 5 content before it goes live, review and provide draft feedback for 16 papers. Goal met? Yes!
Lead instructor: My goal for the week was to put together a tentative course outline (based on my current online class) for next fall and send to our program director. Goal met? Yes.
service + admin
Planning: My goal for the week was to have my weekly list ready to go on Friday with Monday’s tasks picked out. Goal met? Yes.
meetings, appointments, + events
✓office hours (x2)
✓grading check-in with TA
✓research group meeting
✓online office hours
✓zero weeks screening
✓preschool orientation meeting (Mike)
✓PD call
personal
Workouts: Two lifting sessions.
Toddler on the Tenure Track: Goal: Get 2 posts up on the blog. Goal met? Yup.
Meditation: Goal: 5 minutes every other day Goal met? No… I think I got one session in this week… oops!
Budget: ✓ there are 2 days left in April and our grocery bill is under $600… amazing!