New (academic) year resolutions

#1
TAKE A DAY OFF FROM WORK. EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.

Believe it or not, this one will be tough for me. And I haven’t committed to this goal over the summer. While I was on vacation and had spotty wifi, I felt really anxious. I like feeling productive, I like accomplishing tasks, I like going to bed without feeling like anything is hanging over my head. A little bit of productivity each day of vacation helped me enjoy vacation more. 

So I may find that I change this resolution. I’ll pay attention and see how it goes, and if I end up deciding that I like to work every day, I’ll simply limit my work to 1-3 hours on two days of the week.

#2
Continue journaling, at least 4 days a week.

I began journaling on July 29 after reading a sermon my friend Jill Wetzel wrote about her experience adopting habits described in The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. I loved Jill’s sermon and her take on the advice (even though I tend to dislike self-help books and my quick sampling of Elrod’s book proved that this one was no exception…a topic for another post). 

My journaling is a way of paying attention to what my priorities are, what my goals are, and what I’m doing with my time.

The other inspiration for my journaling comes from a study I participated in. I completed a time log for a week, noting my time spent on activities for every waking hour (and regularly smaller increments of time as my attention shifted from one activity to another). The study was run by Dr. Christine Tulley for a book project on writing habits of academics who are moms, and it really made me pay attention to all the tasks I accomplish that don’t get “counted” (by me or by others).

I’ve journaled every day for a month, and here are some of the specific habits that I’d like to continue:

• Plan a reasonable number of tasks. My tendency is to plan more than I can accomplish. That became noticeable as soon as I started journaling, and I’ve been more careful to set myself up to succeed rather than overwhelm a day with more than it can bear (or more than I can do—more accurate phrasing!). I also notice more when something like “clean up paperwork in office” takes about ten times longer than I initially believe. Now I know. Because I’m paying attention and adjusting my expectations accordingly.
• Write what you’ve accomplished each day. I put check marks and stars and smiley faces and words like “YAY!!!” next to the items I’ve accomplished, depending on how excited I am about them. I know people write about adding items to their list of things to do in order to cross items off, and it feels like cheating. My version is inspired by that time log idea—give myself credit for what I’ve done, whether it aligns with my initial plans or not.
•  Include time spent responding to emails on list of tasks and/or daily accomplishments. This kind of communication is what often becomes invisible, to me and to others. I accomplish an unbelievable amount through email, and I need to start giving myself credit for that work.
• Include personal tasks with my daily goals. Time for exercise is way more likely to happen if I plan when it will happen. And time for exercise, reading, watching TV, hanging out with family members, buying groceries, and so forth—well, it all becomes more of a priority if I plan on spending my time in those ways and, even if not planned, I give myself credit for time well-spent when listing my daily accomplishments. If I find that I make time for everything except watching TV, it’s a sign that I’m so wrapped up in the needs of others that I’m not taking care of myself. I know that sounds ridiculous to anyone who watches too much TV, and maybe one day that will be my problem. But right now my problem is that I feel guilt when I know of needs that I’m not trying to meet. I need to start feeling guilt when I’m not good enough to myself. Vegging out in front of a TV screen twice a week, watching what I want to watch rather than something a family member has chosen…well, that’s a good habit for me to cultivate.
• Continue to notice times of anxiety and stress. Maybe at this point you don’t even need to solve anything. Maybe just noticing for awhile is enough. <– It’s so funny that I just shifted into second person there. I’m talking to myself! Journaling has helped me notice patterns already, and I haven’t really figured things out fully, but I like the idea of letting the anxiety/stress happen, allowing myself to experience those feelings, and writing down what I notice. (Credit to my colleague Jane Collins for helping me think about my tendency to want to just get rid of anxiety, which may lead to me distracting myself so I don’t notice it as much.)

#3
Achieve a zero-inbox across both personal and professional email accounts at least once each day. 

I think I’m going to aim for 3:00pm, but I may adjust this time. We’ll see. This habit is inspired by the book Bit Literacy, and I use Trello (an electronic way to organize information recommended by my colleague Rob Mundy) to keep track of ongoing to-do lists. That way I can archive emails rather than use any part of my email account as a “to-do” list.

I’ve done this off and on with my work email, but I never extended it to my personal email until a few weeks ago. I’m all over it now. This one is a life changer.

#4
When I have spent 8 hours or more working on a single day, I’m allowed to take time off, even if more work is pending.

I tend to think of work in terms of what needs to be done instead of time spent working. Since there is always more to be done, it’s difficult to shut off. This resolution is a way of giving myself permission.

The reality is that some times I will work far more than 8 hours in a single day because sometimes work is more intensive—at the start of the semester, at advising time, at the end of the semester, when grading piles up, and when I have projects due. That sounds like all semester, doesn’t it? Lol. But it really isn’t. I often have several days at a time during the semester that are less intensive. I’ll try to notice the peaks and valleys of work as I journal.

The corollary is that it is okay to work fewer than 8 hours some days. That doesn’t mean I’m a slacker. It means I’m keeping myself healthy so that I can cope better during times of working very long days, which often happens for weeks at a time.

At any rate: I would tell any of my colleagues that it is okay to stop working after 8 hours. I deserve the same courtesy.

What is bizarre is how uncomfortable I feel with this way of thinking. I guess this anxiety is something to keep an eye on. It seems related to my vacation revelation that I’m happier and more relaxed when feeling like I’ve accomplished things. I guess I need to keep shifting “taking care of mental and emotional health” to the list of things to be accomplished! I crack myself up. This all seems so silly as I write it.

***

Four resolutions. I like them. They seem concrete enough and manageable enough. And if they don’t work out, I’ll think about why and shift my habits or shift the resolutions accordingly.

This was an excellent use of my Wednesday morning. First day of school is a week from today. I’m now looking forward to it even more than I already was!