I appreciate this post! And I have a suggestion for acquiring evidence of the time required for various activities, although it takes a while to accumulate that evidence. A few years ago, I bought an inexpensive time tracker app (I use Tyme2). I was curious to know how much time I was spending on certain kinds of activities and how many hours per week I was actually working. It was easy to set up and it's in my menu bar for easy access. I simply click to start the timer whenever I begin a new activity; each activity has its own category/label so that I can differentiate the time spent on each one. The app notices 15 minutes of inactivity and asks if I meant to stop the timer or not so I don't have to worry about walking away from the computer without ending a task. It's now habit for me to use the timer and I now have three years of evidence of the time I've spent on various activities. After a hard week, it's very satisfying to look back on all that I did. When I feel guilty about taking a day off, I simply look at all the hours I've put in over the weeks -- including on weekends -- and then I don't feel so guilty. And when I'm asked to take on a new task, I have hard evidence of the time it has taken me to do similar tasks in the past. Tracking time like this obviously requires some consistency and commitment but it works for my A-type OCD personality (which I think I may share with many colleagues -- just a hunch). It is super quick and easy once it becomes a habit!
The book Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD is unavailable. :( Also, the stats of Illinois no longer has a contract with Amazon. Is this title available anywhere else?
Thank you for this post, I feel so seen! It's only recently that I've started paying attention to my gross underestimates of how long something will take.
I love how you've also provided the low-effort option, I will definitely use it before (if ever) upgrading to the proper activity tracking 😁
Thank you so much, I have the same tendency of optimistically underestimating the time (and energy) a task will take. Your approach is super valuable and I will make sure to use it heading into my PhD fellowship!
On social media, a number of people have asked about how to reduce lecture prep time. A lot of what I learned on this front was from the National Centre for Diversity and Development course “Teaching in No Time.” If your institution is a member, be sure to check it out! They also have individual membership options. I am not affiliated with them - just appreciative of what I learned. https://www.facultydiversity.org/tenure-track
I LOVED Arlington Road. I never thought it got enough attention.
I really enjoyed the movie myself!
I appreciate this post! And I have a suggestion for acquiring evidence of the time required for various activities, although it takes a while to accumulate that evidence. A few years ago, I bought an inexpensive time tracker app (I use Tyme2). I was curious to know how much time I was spending on certain kinds of activities and how many hours per week I was actually working. It was easy to set up and it's in my menu bar for easy access. I simply click to start the timer whenever I begin a new activity; each activity has its own category/label so that I can differentiate the time spent on each one. The app notices 15 minutes of inactivity and asks if I meant to stop the timer or not so I don't have to worry about walking away from the computer without ending a task. It's now habit for me to use the timer and I now have three years of evidence of the time I've spent on various activities. After a hard week, it's very satisfying to look back on all that I did. When I feel guilty about taking a day off, I simply look at all the hours I've put in over the weeks -- including on weekends -- and then I don't feel so guilty. And when I'm asked to take on a new task, I have hard evidence of the time it has taken me to do similar tasks in the past. Tracking time like this obviously requires some consistency and commitment but it works for my A-type OCD personality (which I think I may share with many colleagues -- just a hunch). It is super quick and easy once it becomes a habit!
What a great idea - thanks for sharing this, Heather!
The book Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD is unavailable. :( Also, the stats of Illinois no longer has a contract with Amazon. Is this title available anywhere else?
Thanks for asking, Wendy! It can be purchased directly from the publisher, University of Toronto Press: https://utorontopress.com/9781487594299/work-your-career/
Wow, this is the topic for me.
Thank you for this post, I feel so seen! It's only recently that I've started paying attention to my gross underestimates of how long something will take.
I love how you've also provided the low-effort option, I will definitely use it before (if ever) upgrading to the proper activity tracking 😁
I am so glad you found it helpful, Milena!
Thank you so much, I have the same tendency of optimistically underestimating the time (and energy) a task will take. Your approach is super valuable and I will make sure to use it heading into my PhD fellowship!
I am so happy you found it useful!
On social media, a number of people have asked about how to reduce lecture prep time. A lot of what I learned on this front was from the National Centre for Diversity and Development course “Teaching in No Time.” If your institution is a member, be sure to check it out! They also have individual membership options. I am not affiliated with them - just appreciative of what I learned. https://www.facultydiversity.org/tenure-track