How to set goals that aren’t completely delusional

Plus a weather forecast that will make you grateful for where you live, unless we live in the same weather system.

Hello and welcome to Academia Made Easier. I am so glad that you are here. 

Are you ready to CRUSH IT this year? 

Yeah, me neither. 

I used to start each year with a big planning session. I would write down all of the things I could reasonably get done in a year, plus stuff I could get done if I managed to bend the space-time continuum, and then add in a few additional items that were completely outside my control. I would map all of these to particular deadlines across the year. 

As you might imagine, pens of multiple colours were involved.

In the months ahead, I would watch deadlines slip by. “I will get it all done in the summer,” I would tell myself, adjusting timelines accordingly. At the end of the year, I would berate myself for wasting time. “Next year,” I would say.

So. Much. Fun.

2020 killed much of that for me and 2021 finished off whatever over-ambitious spirit might have remained. Planning for a full year when there is so much uncertainty and so much is outside my control is a guessing game. 

Will I finally be able to travel this year to conduct the in-person focus groups my research grant outlines, and if so, will anyone actually want to attend? Will the time and energy I anticipate being available for analysis and writing be consumed by another wave of pandemic-related “pivots”? Will the people on whom my work depends - coauthors, editors, colleagues, reviewers- have the bandwidth to move projects along?

Excuse me for a moment while I breathe into this paper bag here.

This year, I am still setting goals and making plans. But, in an act of self-kindness, my past “reach for the stars” aspirations and delusional timelines have been replaced by what I think will be a more humane approach.

This approach is today’s small thing to try immediately. 

One Small Thing to Try Immediately: Make Goals EASY

Realistic goals for my current reality and attention span need to meet four criteria:

• Energizing. There are plenty of energy-sucking items on my to-do list already. I don’t need to add my own goals to that pile. 

• Agency. I am in control of my attitude, my priorities, how I use (some of) my time, and my self-care. The rest is pretty unknown.

• Small. I have no idea at all what the world will be like in a few months, much less in a few seasons. For me, three months is about as far as I feel comfortable planning. 

• Yours. In my experience, goals are either internally driven (“yours”) or externally driven (“theirs”). I find the internally driven goals much more satisfying. 

Here is the model in table form, as everything is better in a table:

Setting an EASY goal is (wait for it) easy. Just write a draft goal (or take an existing goal) and then ask yourself: Am I energized when I think about working toward this goal? Do I have full agency to achieve the goal? Is the goal small enough for me to achieve in three months in light of my other responsibilities? Is the goal yours or is it something that you feel you should want? 

Some examples, also in table form (have I mentioned I love tables?):

If you give this model a try, I would love to hear what you think of it. Please hit comment and let me know!

Chipping Away: What I Have Been Up To

A quick update on some of my own activities since my last newsletter, since I have your attention:

• In my December Skills Agenda column, I write about the potential for new writing technologies to assist instructors in teaching students writing skills. I also discuss why universities need to establish academic integrity guidelines for students using writing technology. If you have ever wished it were easier to teach students how to improve their writing, please give the column a look.

• I was delighted to learn that my article “The Persistence of Western Alienation” was one of the Institute for Research on Public Policy’s top ten most-read research publications for 2021. When I saw the tweet announcing this, I immediately thought “but I wrote that years ago.” Nope: 2021 just made it feel that way.

• Over the holiday break, Saskatchewan was cold. As in: COLD. We had a long string of days with highs of -37C (windchills making temperatures “feel like” -50C). My family did the only reasonable thing: we subscribed for a month of Apple TV and then proceeded to watch a month’s worth of television in a two-week period. Ted Lasso ⚽️, Central Park 🎶, For All Mankind 🚀, 1971 🎤 … we hit the wall with The Morning Show 💩.  Fortunately, things are warming up this week:

Until next time…

Writing this newsletter is an EASY goal for me, as I greatly enjoy the opportunity to connect with new colleagues both across Canada and around the world. Our working contexts (and weather forecasts!) may differ greatly but I believe we share a commitment to finding ways to thrive within academia while embracing kindness, compassion, and a sense of humour. If you are new to Academia Made Easier, welcome and thank you for subscribing. And to my more seasoned readers, thanks for your continuing attention. 

Okay, let’s CRUSH IT this year, people! (Just kidding.) 

Stay well, my colleagues. 

P.S. I made it all the way to the end without mentioning my cats! Let’s fix that. Here is a photo of Bandit, motivating me to sit still for almost two hours as I hate to wake a sleeping cat. Following it is a photo of Storm, motivating me to get off my butt.

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Loleen Berdahl, Ph.D.: I am a twin mother, wife, runner, cat lover, and chocolate enthusiast. I spend far too much time on Twitter and binge-watching television, and my house could be a lot cleaner. During the work hours, I am the Executive Director of the  Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. I am the author of the University Affairs Skills Agenda column and my most recent books are Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD and Explorations: Conducting Empirical Research in Canadian Political Science.