Standing Day 1
This morning was the first time I tried working from a standing position. It will probably take a little adjustment, but I think that I will like it. To get everything at the right height, I bought three, two shelf closet organizers from Target. Two are 31inches long, and one is 24, and I left the top shelf off of one of each. It gave me just enough room to stack up some books to get the right height for the monitor and keyboard.
What I noticed working today was that having the ability to fidget just that little bit actually helped me to stay a little bit more focused than typically. There are two things I do not really like about this set up. First, I have to keep my laptop shut and tucked away on a shelf to make room for the keyboard and monitor. This means I lose the two monitor set up, I’d grown to really like. Second, I no longer have enough room to keep a document holder set up to easily see the papers I’m working with. I’m sure I’ll figure something out eventually, and if I keep this up for three months or more then I’ll spring to make a real set up with stuff from Ikea. When I do that I think I’ll get back some of the space that I’ve lost.
Here is a picture of the current set up. Ignore the rest of the mess.
New Year
I may have dropped off the grid a bit in November, but this year will eventually see more consistent posting from me. I am not sure when, but eventually.
Right now I’m trying out a standing desk hack. The way I have it right now will work for tomorrow morning, but I think I’ll need to make a couple of adjustments for long term use. When I have it really workable, I will post pictures.
Salvage
Once again, this is a weekend in which not enough will happen. Sure, it is quite early on a Sunday to making such a declaration, but enough chores need to be done that I know dissertation writing will fall by the wayside. Well, it will at least not get the full 15 hours of attention it needs to make up for the last week. However, instead of beating myself up about this, I’m trying to take some of the advice I’ve been dole-ling out to everyone else this week. I’m trying to give myself permission to do my chores and to NOT feel bad about the lack of writing.
In order to help myself in this process, I decided to salvage what I could of this train wreck of a process. Today, instead of the incessant whining about the dissertation, I give you some bullets of any good that had come from working on my dissertation.
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Never thought I’d be writing this …
Seriously, all in all you’d be hard pressed to find something I care less about. Admittedly, I read one Twilight book. In my defense, I bought it in a moment of homesickness, because really how often do you get to read about the Olympic Peninsula in a novel? At least I made it through that first book, then I read the second. Even after traumatic brain injury I could see how insipid that book was. The only thing that I am less excited about than the Twilight books, would be the Twilight movies, and any media story about those movies.
That said, I don’t live in a cave, so I do inadvertently know more about Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson than I care to. Funny, though, it is still not enough to ensure I’ve purposefully seen any movie they’ve been in. Before I knew who Kristen Stewart was, I watched “Speak” on Lifetime.
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On Developing Community
Of the work in my field what has been most influential to me most recently, are the calls to create communities of practice within our centers. As you might imagine, this idea resonates deeply with me. Drawing on the work of sociologists Etienne Wenger and Jean Lave, theorists have argued promoting communities of practice in the center encourages the consultants to learn from one another, and to develop knowledge together. I see this work as a natural foundation for the argument I make to use hospitality as a frame for the work of the center because building communities of practice in the center provides the consultant a space from which to welcome the writer.
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Slow and Steady
Well. I got up at 5 am this morning. I wrote 66 new words and revised 4 paragraphs.
Not exactly off to the races, but it is something. I’d do more tonight, but since I plan to write here more I thought I should give the place a little face lift. Plus, the DH is home, and I don’t often get to see him these days, so I figure I should take advantage of it — when I am done here.
An interesting thing is happening at work. There is a consultant who wants to work in the field. She has submitted to a local conference and been accepted, so now I am trying to mentor her through this process. What I am experiencing, is I guess what every new professor experiences, it’s just taken a little more on the job time for me to get there. Anyway, about that experience …
It is really weird to hear your own ideas spoken back to you. Well, it’s not exactly my ideas, she has her own views, but I can see the influence her training with my program has had on her ideas. Generally, I don’t think of myself as someone with a lot of influence, so it took me by surprise to have that realization during our meeting today.
Daily word total: 284
Digital Writing Month
I let Ouiser over at the Malarkey Bin talk me into this crazy 50,000 words in a month thing. Not exactly sure I will make it, but like Ouiser, I need the proverbial kick in the a$$ to get me writing again.
It’s not just the dissertation I need to be writing. I also need to be better about writing here, and starting some new writing projects for work. In general, I just need to find the joy in writing again.
As with most projects like this one, I’m certain I should be posting goals. I’m terrible at making goals. terrible. When I set goals for myself, I’m also spectacularly bad at meeting them. Perhaps, however, being a part of a group, and doing this semi-publicly will help me stick to my guns.
- Newest drafts to dissertation committee by November 16th. Full draft to Dr. Belle, Chapter 5 to Dr. Phoenix, and wherever his additions end up for Dr. Chat. (Either Chapter 1 or 3)
- Daily writing in the morning and evening. (I am a pro at 5 am. I suck at getting back to it after dinner.)
- Posts here once or twice a week. I won’t make any promises about topics related to the dissertation, because it is spectacularly boring, and I plan to use writing here as a reward for doing the work writing.)
I think that is enough for now. I do have some other goals in mind if I can make that first goal by 11/16, but I want to wait and make sure that happens.
Professionalization of a sort
Wednesday through Saturday of this week I was out of town at the big conference in my field. This particular conference happens every two years, and, coincidentally, the last one happened during my first year on the job. Although during the last conference I attended more sessions, I would say at this conference I accomplished more. At this conference, I felt much more a part of the profession, rather than a newcomer/grad student looking in.
The sense of, for lack of a better term, professionalization I felt at this conference highlighted the lack of that feeling in my department at home. Now, I will be the first to admit some of that feeling comes from me. I need to project more of the confidence and authority I felt at this conference within my own office. There is, however, a significant way that I think the current structure is set up to undermine those feelings.
Much of this is a part of my title. As the coordinator of a program, and not a director, there are barriers to my decision making process that inhibit my ability to really plan for change. Sure, I can make a plan, but so much of what I would need to put that plan in motion two or more steps removed from me that it is easy to feel like nothing can be done.
Some of this is how I am treated. Again, I think I have made some mistakes in setting myself up here that have led to some of it, but not all. Much of it has to do with the existing politics and administrative structure of the place. There is far too much “management,” particularly of me. There isn’t much I can do about this, but I am hoping that some of the recent changes and the new QEP will lead to some changes on this front.
What I can do right now is to work on myself. Locking myself down in a way, and only projecting the professional that this weekend taught me I am. There are definitely going to be people around there that won’t like it, but my only goals are to grow the service, and have solid foundation for the next person who holds this position.
Small things
At some point in the long dark time that was last winter, the DH told me his mantra for when he was feeling particularly unmotivated and depressed was “Puppies are soft and warm.” It worked best when mumbled while snuggling with our pups. I thought if it could work for him, then it would definitely work for me. And it pretty much does.
Today, the only thing keeping me in the chair with my fingers on the keyboard are the soft puppies surrounding me. Moses is tucked in behind me providing heated lumbar support and the Palestinian is on my lap with his head propped on typing arm.
The writing tasks for today are one blog post, and a draft of a conference paper. I did a lot of hand written work yesterday, so there is a good base to work from. Yesterday, I did plan to get more done than I did, but it was a special occasion. Through the miracle of crappy Skype connections between my computer and my little brother’s phone, I got to virtually attend my little sister’s wedding. It was fun.
The conference I have to attend this week is in my home time zone. It is silly, but true. I never feel truly at home unless I am operating on PST. I am ridiculously excited about being close to the Pacific again. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get to touch it, but just knowing it is there, and getting glimpses from the plane will make me happy. I’m not going home, but it will certainly be close enough for now.
D5 Creation