The End of Summer
It is officially the end of summer today. This means a change in schedules, new activities, and for me, a chance to rethink what I will be writing about in the coming months. Over the summer I had a writing target to meet which I was able to accomplish in good time. The project kept me entertained over the summer months while my administrative position quiets down due to a smaller number of events that take place. Now with the newly approaching academic year, it is time for me to begin a new project.
Without the structure of teaching to keep me on track this semester, I find myself in a brand new situation - plenty of time for reading and writing. My biggest fear is that I will waste the semester away so today I am sitting down and working through my own goals for this three month period of self proclaimed sabbatical. My administrative duties will continue. But it is what I will be doing on my research days and spare moments that will determine whether this will be a successful period of work. In order to ensure that I have the pleasure of seeing my own progress, I am devising for myself a detailed work plan which will help guide me as well as motivate my own work.
One thing you learn as a doctoral student is to keep your own time and research motivated through your own efforts. As I have transitioned into a working life, I have had to learn new ways to work, balancing normal every day activities with intensive study time. The freedom and leisurely hours to work through a problem are not at my finger tips any more but I have also learned through a process of trial and error during my student years that this does not hinder me from still being productive.
I keep Fridays as a designated research day for myself. This semester, I will make a list of things to do every Friday at the beginning, planning out articles to read and writing goals I want to reach. I have friends who have kept a study leave journal
Without the structure of teaching to keep me on track this semester, I find myself in a brand new situation - plenty of time for reading and writing. My biggest fear is that I will waste the semester away so today I am sitting down and working through my own goals for this three month period of self proclaimed sabbatical. My administrative duties will continue. But it is what I will be doing on my research days and spare moments that will determine whether this will be a successful period of work. In order to ensure that I have the pleasure of seeing my own progress, I am devising for myself a detailed work plan which will help guide me as well as motivate my own work.
One thing you learn as a doctoral student is to keep your own time and research motivated through your own efforts. As I have transitioned into a working life, I have had to learn new ways to work, balancing normal every day activities with intensive study time. The freedom and leisurely hours to work through a problem are not at my finger tips any more but I have also learned through a process of trial and error during my student years that this does not hinder me from still being productive.
I keep Fridays as a designated research day for myself. This semester, I will make a list of things to do every Friday at the beginning, planning out articles to read and writing goals I want to reach. I have friends who have kept a study leave journal