Good Habits Start Early

Today's blog is inspired by a recent post by Jodi McDavid, who suggested that academics should Stop Working and Go Knit (visit her blog, show her some love).

This blog hit home for me. I have many different interests and a long list of hobbies (cake decorating, baking, cooking, crafting, swimming, playing board games, participating in a seasonal book club...). Sometimes it can be a challenge to find time for leisurely pursuits while juggling academic projects, looming deadlines, and CV-building activities. More and more, though, I am prioritizing them.

I remember chatting with a professor during my doctoral studies about things I like to do outside of academic pursuits. She replied, "I only read fiction when I'm on a plane." Whether she intended it or not, it came across as if it were some badge of honour to deny oneself the pleasure of fiction in all other contexts. I interpreted it as a commentary on the place of hobbies and other pleasure pursuits in the life of an academic, as well as the workload expected. I'm not saying that she believes that academic pursuits should expand to fill your entire life, but I think it's often taken for granted that they will -- and many don't question that (which is a little ironic, since we're trained to question everything, no?).

I remember promising myself that day that I wouldn't lose myself to my career. And I remember saying to a senior ethnomusicologist who has become a mentor and friend, that I couldn't be that person who "only [reads] fiction when [she's] on a plane." He supports me completely -- he knows as an academic administrator that such work-life balance is critically important for a sustainable career.

So, I make time to do things I enjoy. And I prioritize socializing with friends (even if it means I end up working late into the night to meet a deadline after having some fun).

It's a delicate balance. But good habits start early. So, as you push forward on your thesis, don't lose sight of your mental health and the things you enjoy. You'll need them to sustain you through your career.

Back Up Your Files

It's January!

It's a chance to start over. If you're like most people, you're feeling positive. You may even have made some New Year's resolutions related to your thesis or dissertation. You're on fire! And so, instead of a motivational post today (I'll save that for about 6 weeks from now when you'll be needing a pep talk), I'm going to give you some solid advice: this year, commit to backing up your files.

This is something we all know we should do, but usually don't think about until we're in a dire situation and it may already be too late. Hard drive failure is a real thing and it can happen without notice. The last thing you need is for your hard work to be in jeopardy. Even the most skilled tech can't always recover data -- it's the nature of the beast.

Chances are that Boxing Day sales, which seem to now last for weeks, are still going on in your city. Take the opportunity to purchase an external hard drive and back up all of your data. While you're at it, consider a jump drive for your active files. Whatever you pay, it will be money well spent. Then be sure that you back up all of your data regularly (at least once a month) and your active files daily. Yes, you can use the "cloud" for storage and backup -- DropBox is an incredibly convenient solution for moving between workstations -- but it shouldn't be your only document storage location.

I'm also a big believer in making a backup of your backup...

Overkill? You may think so, but let me share a personal experience from my own doctoral studies.

I was visiting my sister on Labour Day weekend during the last year of my PhD program. I remember being strangely ill-at-ease the entire weekend and I ended up driving back to St. John's early because of it, even though we had an adventure planned in New-Wes-Valley. Once home, I called a friend and asked if she wanted to go for a coffee that evening. Around 6:30pm, I left my apartment and made it all the way to my car before I realized I didn't have my jump drive with the most recent backup of my dissertation on it. For a moment I considered going on without it -- what could be the harm? But then I turned around and went back to my apartment to get it, all the while telling myself I was crazy and obsessed.

I had a lovely coffee with my friend and when I returned to my apartment that night at 9pm, it was pretty well destroyed. A hot water tank in the apartment above me had exploded without the elderly couple who lived there realizing it (they were napping after supper). Water poured through my ceiling for two hours -- enough that it also went through my floor and the ceiling of the apartment below me. Many of my belongings were damaged. It took a month for the apartment to be repaired (new ceiling, new flooring). I was displaced. (And I am forever thankful for the friend and his family who took me in during this time.)

Lucky for me, none of my electronics were damaged in the great flood of 2007. It's hard to believe, but around my desk was the only place that didn't have water. But if they had been damaged, I wouldn't have lost the most recent version of my research and dissertation, because I was carrying them on a jump drive in my purse.

So that's why I say to you this January: back up your files!

And stay tuned for more practical tips from Dr. Squirrel to help you crack the thesis nut in 2016!

Happy Holidays!

Dr. Squirrel is on hiatus. Check back in the new year for more thesis advice!

Happy Holidays!

Don't Fill Your Suitcase with Books

When I was a graduate student, I often filled my suitcase with books and articles I was going to read over the Christmas holiday. There were times when I'm sure I brought home as many as 14 books. It limited what I could fit in my suitcase and it nearly broke my back. And, if I'm honest, the books and articles rarely (if ever) actually came out of the suitcase.

Don't get me wrong -- holidays can be a great time to get work done. I've written a book chapter on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day before. I've written an article during my summer vacation. I've spent Thanksgiving editing. You may recall that last month I penned a blog post titled Holidays Are For Writing, encouraging you to use the unscheduled time productively -- and holidays can be a great time to get some reading and writing done. But the operative word is "some."

The reality is that you also need a break between terms. If you're going back to school in January, you need to be fresh and rested to start the year right. If you work through all of the holiday season, that won't happen. I give you permission to marathon your favourite show. Stay in your PJs all day, curled up on the sofa, and enjoy some brain candy. You've earned it. And hopefully your mother will agree and maybe bring you a cup of tea and some cookies!

You need to take time to be with family and friends. It's important for your mental health. It's important for work-life balance. So make sure you do all of the festive things that you enjoy doing -- whether it's baking cookies, volunteering at your chosen charity, visiting family, or filling stockings for the less fortunate. Now is the time to make yourself a priority. Sure, you're in an intense relationship with your thesis now, but eventually you'll move on. You'll see other projects. One day, that thesis will just be a memory. You can't break up with yourself however! So treat yourself well.

And if you are feeling inspired to be productive in an academic way this holiday season, be realistic. Choose one book instead of 14. Bring home two articles instead of a binder full. Choose something reasonable to accomplish so that you can feel good about what you've done instead of setting yourself up for failure and letting that suitcase of books become thesis baggage (which quickly leads to self-loathing).

Happy holidays!

Just Open the Document!

Finding it hard to get motivated to write or edit? Checking Facebook again or organizing your boards on Pinterest will undoubtedly be more appealing. Perhaps you're avoiding your work because you don't know how to deal with it. You might be struggling to figure out what to say next or how to "fix" what you've done thus far. My advice: just open the document.

I've had a few non-urgent writing tasks hanging over me for several weeks now. (Ok. Two months, if I'm totally honest with you.) More urgent and impactful items have been prioritized ahead of them -- and that makes perfect sense when you think about your goals. But now that there's nothing more urgent or important to focus on, I knew it would be better to just get them done instead of having them weighing on my mind. Unfinished projects are a special kind of stress -- they expand to take up more mental space than they deserve.

Even though I knew I should complete them this week to clear the docket, so to speak, each morning I found myself doing other things, like filing. Why? Because one of the unfinished projects was a report that needed to be submitted to the funder and, despite my best efforts, I still wasn't happy with the wording. I initially put it aside so that I could think about the right approach, but then I never got back to it. If I didn't take action, I'd be a very productive procrastinator this week.

This morning, sitting at my desk, looking for "things to do," I said to myself, "Just open the document!" (Ok, maybe I yelled it inside my head, tagging an emphatic "Already!" at the end.)

Just open the document. It really was that simple. I opened it up and glanced at a few comments left in the margins, and before I knew it, I was done the editing task that had been causing me so much angst. I worked at it one section at a time, one comment at a time. It wasn't nearly as painful as I'd anticipated. Why? Because it wasn't nearly as big a task as it had grown to in my head.

So next time you find yourself avoiding your work -- whether it's writing or editing -- just open the document and see what happens. You might surprise yourself.

Try a New Location

Got writer's block? Just can't get motivated? Try working in a new location.

Generally, throughout university, I was able to write my papers and study from home, sometimes at a desk and sometimes at my kitchen table. There were times, however, when nothing I did could actually get me going in that environment. On these days, I joked that I needed to "institutionalize" myself by going to the library. The change of surroundings was often enough to help me get writing again or begin committing to memory the historical details of musical compositions.

Today, things haven't changed much. I still often write from home (following my writing ritual), but if I have a looming deadline or there's a hint of procrastination brewing, I'll go to my office to work on my personal research projects. I try to make it as enjoyable as possible, bringing along a French Vanilla from Tim Hortons or going out for lunch to break up the day. Being in a dedicated work environment helps me to be productive, eliminates any distractions that may exist (like laundry or other housekeeping tasks), and allows me to enjoy my free time when I return home after a productive writing session.

So, if you're having trouble powering through in your usual location, why not try something new? A new coffee shop, the local library, a friend's office, the cafe of your local museum -- there are lots of options!

Where's your favourite place to get work done?

Power Through

Are you avoiding reading or writing? Has procrastination taken over? Try a power hour.

I first heard about the "power hour" as a time management strategy and procrastination buster about a year ago. As I recall, it was described to me as a way of completing tasks that you really don't like. You commit to working on a particular task for one hour and at the end of the hour, you can choose whether you continue or not. And if you decide that you're done like dinner, it's a guilt free ending because you were hyper-productive for an hour. I thought this was a great approach for my most hated cleaning tasks (aka all of them).

I really hate cleaning – washing dishes, vacuuming, dusting. Consequently, I avoid it like the plague. The result of this procrastination is that I just end up with a bigger job to tackle – more dishes, more dust, more recyclables to struggle with. Then it becomes overwhelming, which makes it even more difficult for me to get started and I start feeling bad about the situation. To break the cycle, I commit to a power hour. I’ll clean as much as I can in a one hour period and when the hour is up, I’ll do other things I enjoy doing without feeling any guilt. But sometimes I find that I end up cleaning for several hours because once I start and see improvements, I become more motivated to continue. 

Of course, the power hour can be applied to other types of work, including your writing project. Here's one description of how it works.

You could do a power hour of reading, a power hour of planning (preparing an outline), a power hour of writing, a power hour of editing, a power hour of typing your bibliography in the appropriate citation style... you get the picture. You can do a power hour of anything. And then go about the rest of your day guilt-free.

So, if you're overwhelmed by your project or feeling guilty about your lack of progress, why not try committing to one power hour each day? You'll get something done that moves you closer to your goal and for the other 23 hours of the day, you can enjoy life without having to beat yourself up.

Have you done a power hour?