My Summer 2020 Plans
Summer 2020 chalk creations: volcanoes eating marshmallows
Just a quick note before you head into the blog post. Are you an academic who is trying to figure out your long term planning processes? My planning course, plan(it)*, can help support you as you figure that out. Check out the link for more info.
Last year I wrote a post all about summertime in academia, when there are unspoken (and spoken!) expectations that you'll be working even though you're "off." I feel really resistant to unpaid summer work and at the same time I don't know that I could feasibly remain on track for the next year without it. Like most things in life, there's no easy answer. In last year's post I shared what my summers, up to that point, had looked like, as well as the strategies I was planning to use to set boundaries around work.
Since I'm officially off contract I thought I'd revisit that topic and delve into what my plans are for this summer. I've got a little bit of funding (about half a month's salary) to work on a book chapter with a collaborator. Other than that, I'm trying to pull back as much as possible on any work for my faculty role. Plus I 1000% need a break.
I've been meeting, via Zoom, with a few colleagues once a week for a co-working session and am planning to use that day as my "work" day, spending about 4 hours on various (research) projects. Here's what I've got going on.
Research
During the second half of June I spent most of my time focused on submitting an LOI. It was definitely one of the last things I felt like doing at that moment in time and it was also a good fit for my work. It's done. I do need to revamp the analysis plan though (in case it gets selected for a full review). I'm pulling in a colleague for this so I'll have some support.
I have a first authored paper that I would like to get out the door before I submit my materials for the 5th year review in the fall (last one before tenure submission). I'm planning to work on the paper once a week (for about an hour) until it's done. It's close and has been close for quite some time.
I'm also planning to spend about an hour a week on the systematic review I've been working on this past year. I'm currently in the process of summarizing main findings.
I'll be re-thinking a data collection project that was supposed to kickoff right when the US started shutting down. The topic of the project was related to maternal self-care during the later postpartum period. Given all of the changes to daily life that have happened since March, we definitely need to re-think the overall purpose of the project.
The last thing I'll be working on is the book chapter I mentioned earlier.
Teaching
I'm planning to take a week in August for course prep. I tend to do better with course prep when I can do it all at once, rather than breaking it into small chunks.
Field seminar: this is a new class for me. I don't think there will be a ton of prep involved; however, I definitely want to spend a little time getting organized before jumping in. Thankfully it will be with students that I taught this past year so there shouldn't be many new faces. This is the only class I'm teaching in the fall so it's at the top of my list for making sure I feel prepped.
Human development course: I'm not teaching this course until spring, but we do have people teaching it during fall, which means if I have updates (and I do), they need to be ready for fall. I'll be making adjustments during my week of prep.
Research methods: I've taught this class a bunch of times before and it doesn't start until winter so my prep will be minimal during summer. I do have some things I know I want to shift so I'll focus on the big stuff and do the rest during fall term.
Stats: Similar to research methods, I've taught this course many times before. It doesn't start until spring so I have lots of time to prep. There are some adjustments I want to make to the flow of the class so I'll be planning those out in August.
Service
This is tied to the human development course above. I'll be doing some revamping and also checking in with fall instructors once we get closer to the start of the school year.
Tenure
My 5th year annual review is due in early October which means I'll need to have everything organized and almost ready to go by the time I'm back on contract in September.
My goal with these projects is to keep research and tenure prep to 1 day a week. For teaching (and service since it's tied to my teaching), I want to keep everything contained to one week in August.
I'm borrowing a lot of the strategies I used last summer to help set boundaries around work like...
setting an away message on my work email
continuing my weekly planning process, focusing heavily on personal stuff first
setting constraints around when I'm doing work related stuff
Personally, I know that lifting, meditation, and nutrition will play a big role in my summer routine. Other than that, I'm purposefully slowing down this summer and giving myself a lot of open space during the remainder of the week to just be present.
How about you? What are your plans for the summer?