It’s the start of a new semester so I thought it was about time to update my ramblings about how I organize writing projects as an academic. One of the joys of a professor job is the “freedom” to work on projects you like when you like to work on them. But as we know that’s also a curse and means it’s easy to work all the time with no breaks. So today I’m talking about how I use organization to achieve a bit more work life balance. Here we go!
I love reading. I also feel incredibly lucky to be one of the few people that have not been ruined by graduate school in that the mere sight of another book doesn’t leave me in a panic. I typically read before bed because my insomnia is terrible, and it’s either read or stay up late into the night, remembering every embarrassing thing from childhood I’ve ever read. As a result, I’ve read a lot of great popular press books that aren’t academic but may appeal to academics–books about productivity, books to read before starting grad school, and books for aspiring researchers. Here it is: the first (possibly last? We’ll see how motivated I am…) post of Academic Book Club. I’ve included five extremely different types of books, depending on what you’re in the mood for.
It’s campus visit season–both academic job market campus visits, and grad school campus visits–and I am blissfully doing neither of those things. But I know many people who are, which is stirring up strong memories of the whole process. It’s so interesting to have a full 2 day job interview, isn’t it? Maybe interesting isn’t the right word when you’re in it. Nonetheless, now that I’ve had about a year to reflect on academic job talks, campus visits, and the interview process, here’s what I wish I had known to expect. Plus, some advice that works for grad students visiting potential programs, too!
I have survived the first two weeks of my new job! I think anyone in grad school has been told being a professor is different than being a grad student. But how? I certainly don’t have the big picture yet, but I do have the ability to ramble about how it’s felt so far. Featuring some week 1 and 2 outfit pictures, because, you know, blog theme.
Guest blogger alert! This post is by my friend Mackensie.
I’ve always enjoyed treating my body like a pseudo guinea pig, and I am obsessed with any hippy, weird, out there, productivity-lifehack type of thing. I rarely stick with these habits, but I never lose hope despite all evidence to the contrary. In the tradition of treating my existence like one long experiment, I asked Rebecca if I could write about trying a CEO morning routine for a week. She obliged and I got to work researching.
I’m sitting in a hotel room in right now, feeling like I should grade for my online summer class, but really just too distracted by my hopes that we will get the rental house we put in for yesterday. Moving is always a whirlwind and I never feel fully informed when making housing decisions, but here we go! While we wait, how about some mirror selfies?
I am by no means an expert on academic jobs just because I now (miraculously?) have one. But I have been told that I am organized, and, yes, that is because being an anxious person sometimes means having a system for everything. So before I totally bury all memories of the academic job market, I thought I would put together a timeline of some of the things I did to get ready to search for academic jobs…
My mom is the happiest person I know, and I was always aware of it growing up. It made me proud, for a while. Then I became a teenager, and I started rolling my eyes. A lot. It was easy to make fun of my mom for being so cheery. Then I went off to college and I started to really appreciate her again. But then, I realized that not only was my mom super happy, she was also really smart about being happy–she made choices to make herself happy everyday. She sings in the grocery store. She laughs super loud while watching tv. She gets excited about everything from running into friends to hearing her favorite songs. And you know what? All of that takes work.
I really started to understand the work of being happy and that appreciation has only grown since I got to grad school, where it’s clear that I can either find a way to enjoy this life, or I can let my potentially demanding job choice swallow me whole. I definitely don’t make the more difficult choice every day, but I do try! So this week, I asked some wise grad school friends why happiness can seem so hard in academia. Here’s what we came up with…
Oh, graduation is next week and I haven’t looked for any commencement dress ideas for graduate students. Which means…I don’t really have “the dress” for my own graduation. I am probably just going to wear an old favorite (which I was also supposed to take to get hemmed, oops), but if you’re on the hunt for a grad school appropriate graduation dress that you can get fast, here are some options…
