Thursday, October 2, 2014

Goals for Keeping Sane This Quarter

So I'm doing Top Left Quadrant this term because I do so much better with constant reflection and planning and accountability.

I just spent the last month pretty jazzed about my renewed engagement with Secondary Field, my original field that I love.  I need to blog about that actually. This is a huge priority for me, though I find it difficult to find time during the day for it.  (But I proved to myself that I really can manage to do a lot at night or even in the morning if motivated.)

So here are the big goals, most of which feel impossible at the moment (but I didn't get enough sleep either):

-Keep up Secondary Field momentum.  How best to do this is something of a question.  (Just do it.  Any old way, some part of me begs.)

-Schedule and be firm about making enough time to properly prep and grade for the intensive classes I have this quarter.  (My family is very home-based, and I plan to be at home more this quarter, but this means doing work at home, which is sometimes very difficult for me to do.  I just need to be firm about it -- not angry and panicked because I'm already too far behind.  This really is my problem rather than the family's problem.)  Next step:  figuring out times when I can regularly schedule work time.

-Stay engaged with my child's homeschooling (though my partner is definitely going to have to pick up on that).  To make that concrete, I'd say that I should make sure to do at least two sessions with him a week or take two classes together per week (which are already on our scheduled actually, though as the weather turns, I imagine we'll want to stay home more).  This should be okay, but since I've never balanced work and homeschooling before, I'm nervous about it.
 
-Maintain gardening, composting (order that composter!), and holidays/family traditions through the term. 

-Take care of myself:  get enough sleep; eat good vegan food as often as possible (and no going to work with no food!); take supplements; exercise at least twice a week; try to catch up with the doctors, especially the eye doctor -- also find new doctors since the move; consider meditation or use writing as meditation; let loose sometimes (go out for drinks with Mentor).  Take that yoga class already?

-Keep up minimal research in my Primary field enough to not have to go insane right before a conference.  This means getting some reading and some notes done.  Next step:  schedule??  I really only need an hour or so per week for this.  (I want to focus my attention on Secondary Field for a while, which I get to do because I've already turned in my tenure dossier.)

-If possible, write some notes about intensive classes I'm teaching.

This is already really helpful as I think about how to make these ideas and goals concrete.

With the rest of this week?

-Prep for Monday.
-Exercise once between now and Sat.
-Do at least one more homeschooling session between now and Sat.
-Take care of self re: food, etc.
-Do 1/2 hr at least two days between now and Sat.
-Order composter.

And now I have to get up and get myself to work.  But this is good.  After working until midnight last night, I feel much more calm and centered going into my day.  I really want to avoid panic as much as possible this term.

2 comments:

What Now? said...

I'm glad that you're feeling the freedom that comes with having turned in your tenure dossier. Now you get to start asking, What do I want to do? I hope this is liberating!

Earnest English said...

WN, you're such a sweetie. Just sayin'. I hope you're struggling through Yom Kippur okay. (I'm not fasting. I love my family too much for that. Plus we're all sick and achy.)

It IS freeing having turned in my tenure dossier. I worked myself too hard so that for the last month I've said no to everything. Probably too many things, including visible things.

But yes! I'm working on Secondary Field, which was my first beloved field! I can. I just hope I can do that and balance the intensive classes I'm teaching. gulp!