Blog — Toddler on the Tenure Track

Weekly Update: 12/24 - 12/30

I graduated from my PhD program ~2.5 years ago and am still reveling in the fact that breaks actually mean I take some sort of break (even if it’s not for the entire break), instead of using breaks to play catch up or try to get “more” done. If there’s anything I’ve learned from grad school and also as an assistant professor it’s that working all the time does not lead to better results, personally or professionally (at least not for me!). All that to say, taking this week off from work has been wonderful!

Tenure and Life UpdatesJillDecember 30, 2018weekly update, working out, meditation, goals, reflection, winter break, breaks, budget, loansComment

Planning Series: How I Plan my Quarter

During my yearly planning process I outline when I’d like to achieve each of the goals that I set for the year. This gives me a rough timeline for the term, which makes planning pretty straightforward. My university is on the quarter system, so I have fall, winter, spring, and summer to plan for. I usually create my fall term plan a week or so before the term starts. Then, I’ll create my winter and spring plans during winter break. Because we don’t have a ton of time between winter and spring terms, it ends up being easier to plan everything right before winter term starts. Because I’m technically off contract during the summer, I make my plan once summer has started and I’ve given myself a little bit of a breather from the end of the school year.

The Christmas Wish List of a 2.5 Year Old

Merry Christmas!

Just for FunJillDecember 24, 2018holidays, christmasComment

Weekly Update: 12/17 - 12/23

This week felt like a heavy lift (hence the picture). I worked from home all week, which was lovely, but it also felt like a race against the clock, trying to get ev-er-y thing done by the end of Friday so I could take the following week to relax. By Friday evening I was at a point where I felt like I could take the week off and actually relax (instead of taking time off and stressing about all the things left undone). It took some readjusting and lowering of my expectations, but I feel good about it.

Planning Series: Yearly Goal Setting

Once I have my intention set for the year, I move on to goal setting, which gets a lot more specific. As I mentioned in the intention setting post, I typically do this exercise at the end of the summer or the very beginning of fall term, but this could easily be done at the end of the calendar year (or whenever you want!). If I’ve planned far enough in advance, I might devote a luxurious full day to dreaming up all the things I want to do in the coming year and what that might look like, a little personal retreat, if you will. I find that it’s a nice way to start the school year and gets me excited for what’s to come.

Planning and ProductivityJillDecember 22, 2018goals, goal setting, yearly goals, planning Comments

13 Tips For a Smooth(er) Morning

Before I pick back up with the planning series, I thought I’d share a few quick tips that we use during our morning routine to make things go a little more smoothly!

If there’s anything I dislike more than rushing around in the morning, it’s rushing around with a toddler in the morning! Although there are only a handful of days when I absolutely need to be out the door by a certain time, we still inevitably find ourselves scrambling to do that one last thing before we head out. [Side note: If you haven’t read my other posts, Mike stays home with Ellie and we’re a one car family, so we have some flexibility in terms of time, but I do rely on Mike to drop me off at the train station.] Today I’m sharing some of the things that help us get out of the house in one piece in the morning.

Academic LifeJillDecember 18, 2018morning routine, mornings, scheduling, tips, getting dressedComment

Weekly Update: 12/10 - 12/16

This week was one of those weeks where I greatly underestimated the time it would take to get something done. I had a revise and resubmit due on Thursday. When I planned for the week, I blocked off all of Tuesday with smaller chunks of time on Wed/Thurs (~1.5 hour) to finish up. In reality, I took all of Tuesday (and then some), ~3 hours on Wednesday, and all of Thursday (with some advising/emails mixed in). Which meant the things that I had originally planned to do on Wed/Thurs (mainly course prep) got pushed to the side, and my work days were longer than I’d like them to be.

Tenure and Life UpdatesJillDecember 16, 2018weekly update, R&R, course prep, working out, meditation, systematic review, goals, reflection, yayComment

Planning Series: Start with an Intention for the Year

I think any conversation about planning should begin with setting an intention for the year. Just so we’re on the same page, here’s what I’m thinking when I use the word intention: “a determination to act in a certain way.” How do you want your year to go? How do you want it to feel? What do you want to focus on? What do you want it to do for you?

8 Tips For Going on the Academic Job Market While Pregnant

If you haven’t had a chance to read (or skim!) my experiences on the academic job market while pregnant, you can find that post here. I did about 6 first round interviews when I was between 2 and 6 months pregnant. I then went on 1 campus interview when I was 7 months pregnant. I’ve put together a summary of my main takeaways from these experiences for those of you who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant and also navigating the academic job market.

Academic LifeJillDecember 9, 2018job search, pregnancy, top postComment

Weekly Update: 12/3 - 12/9

Second installment of my weekly update, whoop whoop! Keeping things a little shorter on this one, no need to explain everything twice!

Tenure and Life UpdatesJillDecember 9, 2018weekly update, R&R, course prep, working out, meditation, systematic review, goals, reflectionComment