There’s a perception that academics have their summers ‘off,’ which is sometimes true, if you aren’t scrambling desperately to pick up summer classes because your neoliberal university flat-out refuses to pay its adjuncts a fair wage the rest of the year, oops that went in a direction I didn’t intend but while I’m here, Kev and I are hosting the faculty union barbecue tomorrow, please come and we will talk about our bargaining goals for this coming year and feed you much food because the revolution requires deliciousness, the army marches on its stomachs……okay, resetting.
There’s a perception that academics have their summers ‘off,’ but that’s actually our main research & writing time. What that means in my case is that classes end in early May, then there’s finals, then grading for finals, then I collapse for a day in utter exhaustion (the semester is a sprint, but also a marathon), then there’s catching up on all the household stuff that has completely fallen apart in the last frantic weeks of the semester, then I go to WisCon which is basically a week solid between prep and time there and recovery, so today, today is actually the start of my summer.
Plan for summer weekdays:
– go to bed by 10 (not quite there yet, due to shifting back from WisCon up until 3, but getting there)
– up at 6, coffee and gardening and garden photos before it gets hot, FB and goofing off
– 7:30 – 9:30, writing (internet off at router). At 9:30, send Margaret accountability text with what I’ve done.
– 9:45 – 10:00 – drop kids at art camp
– 10 – 3: more writing if so motivated, but fine if not, lots of reading, drawing practice, go to gym, internet and SLF work, e-mails, thinking about writing (often more important than actual writing)
– 3 – 9: family time, craft time, gardening once it cools down, socializing, etc.
– 9-10: time with Kev
I’m going to try to protect the 7:30 – 3 slot, so if I don’t want to socialize or have meetings with you then, it’s me, not you!