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Settling into the semester a few weeks late

By sciencewoman on September 8, 2009.

i-9dc84d4d9156dccb30d5f62466b4219a-swblocks.jpgThose following along on Twitter know that late August became my #weeksofdoom in which I triumphed over three major deadlines on top of the beginning of classes and starting Minnow in a new school. (Hence, the unexpectedly long bloggy absence).

Now that the weeks of doom* are over, I'm finally trying to settle into a productive but sane rhythm for the semester. It was such a blessing to have a long weekend to just hang out and play with Minnow (we tented in the backyard and baked an apple pie), and for the first time this semester, I feel mostly prepared for my new prep EDDA class tomorrow. This week, I'm starting to meet with each of my grad students individually and as a group. I also know I need to put in some solid time on yet another grant proposal, a co-authored manuscript, and a couple of reviews.

In the throes of the weeks of doom, my to-do list consisted only of the big things I was working on. Nothing else was anywhere near as urgent or important as those tasks and so everything else fell off the list completely. Now my list has expanded to its normal length, but it feels pleasantly full rather than daunting. I feel like I've proven my super-human abilities and now I can just use my normal human strength to enjoy checking smaller things off the longer list.

And now blogging is checked off my list for the day and I can go to bed. Good night, my lovely readers.

*I totally stole the "doom" moniker from Kate.

Tags
SciWo says...
what did they say about "balance," again?
Academia
semester
work-life balance
working mom

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Good job SW for getting a major milestone done! And for camping with Minnow. Glad you're back...

Congrats on getting through your week of doom! I originally stole my "doom" from GayProf's Neverending Project of Doom. So I only get partial credit ;).

i envy your muddy legs, your settled-in semester and your happy outlook. i'm afraid it's too late to go for a life like yours and possibly anything in science. the past month of my life i've spent in battle with an adjunct instructor at a vet tech school to keep from losing out on an entire summer's worth of work - just on a technicality because she didn't like me. if you have any 'difficult' students who are possibly shy or uncertain of themselves, please try to get them INTO the class, not out of it. and if you get a PhD please don't lord it over everyone and demand you be called Doctor. and IF you get a student who is older, remember these tough years of yours and think how they probably already went through similar things and still trying. have a great day.