Not That Kind of Doctor - Summertime 2024

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04/25/2024 Added

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Summertime 2024 - Ph.D. discussions with Nicholas Husbye and Guy Trainin. Productivity Plan download: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1165Wh30OBEad-BrxnBdwh1jwcrGJTy9DOLtCZUUJtOA/copy www.youtube.com/@tltenotthatkindofdoctor and https://mediahub.unl.edu/channels/42980

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[00:00:00.000](upbeat music)
[00:00:08.950]♪ Hey ♪
[00:00:10.686]Alright. How are you doing?
[00:00:13.260]I mean, I'm quoting Billie Holiday.
[00:00:16.177]"It's summertime and the livin' is easy."
[00:00:18.720]Well, it's not summertime yet. Yeah.
[00:00:19.977]And I'm wearing my summer hat, by the way.
[00:00:22.380]I'm just wearing my always hat.
[00:00:23.537](Guy laughing)
[00:00:24.370]This is just... You've-
[00:00:25.203]I have devolved, if you look
[00:00:26.730]at the start of this season. Yeah, yeah.
[00:00:29.280]To the end,
[00:00:30.113]I have just devolved into a hoodie wearing lump.
[00:00:34.920]And that is what happens when your classes are all online.
[00:00:38.310]Yes. And you don't go
[00:00:39.143]to any conferences.
[00:00:39.990]And...
[00:00:42.441]Mm-hmm.
[00:00:43.274]I'm okay with it?
[00:00:44.700]Question mark.
[00:00:46.360]I hope you are. I think...
[00:00:47.613]I don't know, it will...
[00:00:50.250]We'll see how that works
[00:00:51.150]when I go back to having to teach in person,
[00:00:53.820]which I'm really looking forward to actually.
[00:00:55.350]Yeah. Like...
[00:00:56.183]It is fun.
[00:00:57.016]But I don't know that I remember how to dress.
[00:00:59.760]So as we're getting ready for summer,
[00:01:02.550]we're gonna talk today on Not That Kind of Doctor,
[00:01:07.140]about getting ready for summer and actually being planful.
[00:01:11.130]Planful, yes. I like planful.
[00:01:14.220]Yes. I'm Guy Trainin,
[00:01:15.360]I'm a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:01:18.690]I'm Nick Husbye,
[00:01:19.530]I am an expert at productive procrastination.
[00:01:22.230]So I enjoy anything that is planful.
[00:01:25.159]This whole episode is right up my alley.
[00:01:28.230]I'm also an associate professor of Elementary Literacy
[00:01:32.220]in Education K-6.
[00:01:34.299]Alright. So planful.
[00:01:36.843]What are you planning for the summer?
[00:01:38.580]How are you planning for summer?
[00:01:40.410]Because I can see
[00:01:41.340]that you have a plan. Oh, yeah,
[00:01:42.180]I've got stuff already.
[00:01:43.230]So I think before we get to that,
[00:01:46.710]Yeah. Let's talk some pragmatics,
[00:01:48.900]right? Alright.
[00:01:50.040]Because if you are an academic
[00:01:53.910]or if you are a grad student,
[00:01:56.520]depending on your contract or your course load
[00:02:00.030]or what have you,
[00:02:01.980]summer's really your time.
[00:02:03.330]Yes.
[00:02:04.163]Right? So unless you are teaching,
[00:02:06.000]I have a summer class this summer,
[00:02:07.950]so when I'm teaching,
[00:02:08.820]that's no longer my time.
[00:02:10.137]I'm getting compensated for that.
[00:02:11.610]So I need to treat that like work.
[00:02:15.750]I know you're on like 80 gazillion research grants.
[00:02:18.121]Yes. So like,
[00:02:18.954]I don't think you have any summer.
[00:02:20.700]No, not really. In my head.
[00:02:21.623]Yeah. I have maybe two weeks,
[00:02:23.360]yeah. Okay, yeah.
[00:02:24.240]Yeah. So you better plan
[00:02:25.680]for that two weeks and get all of it in.
[00:02:28.628]Yes.
[00:02:29.550]But- But that's a different plan.
[00:02:31.080]Right, but it is...
[00:02:32.363]But if you're a grad student
[00:02:34.260]and you don't have classes you don't...
[00:02:36.090]Like one of the important things to remind ourselves
[00:02:39.390]is that in order for us to do our best thinking,
[00:02:41.820]we have to have downtime.
[00:02:43.500]Yes, absolutely.
[00:02:44.460]Right? We have to have time to explore
[00:02:47.310]and play with ideas.
[00:02:48.870]And summer, based upon the academic calendar,
[00:02:50.910]is a really good time and space to do that.
[00:02:53.850]So just keeping that in mind
[00:02:57.180]that it is important to have unstructured time
[00:03:03.540]to play with ideas, to play with stuff.
[00:03:06.060]And that goes for grad students, that goes for faculty.
[00:03:09.360]Like this is essential
[00:03:14.160]as the kind of the work that we do
[00:03:15.810]and our ability to be thinking and reading different stuff
[00:03:19.590]that we're not familiar with.
[00:03:21.390]So keeping that in mind
[00:03:23.580]that like when we talk about summer,
[00:03:27.060]there's oftentimes in academia this like,
[00:03:29.833]"I'm gonna get so much done during the summer."
[00:03:32.583]Yes. I'm gonna get
[00:03:33.416]that bare minimum done during the summer.
[00:03:35.153](Guy laughing)
[00:03:35.986]Yes.
[00:03:36.819]I'm gonna get the bare minimum done during the summer.
[00:03:38.670]Why?
[00:03:39.503]Because I'm not on contract
[00:03:40.336]for a good portion of that summer.
[00:03:41.880]Mm-hmm.
[00:03:42.713]And two, I wanna give myself some time and space
[00:03:46.290]to think about some stuff
[00:03:49.170]where I don't have time constraints,
[00:03:51.720]where I don't have the pressure of everything else.
[00:03:56.160]And conversely, it has impact back on your academic year.
[00:04:01.920]Because if you are throughout your academic year saying,
[00:04:06.277]"I know I'm not getting anything written now,
[00:04:08.760]but in the summer I will get it all done."
[00:04:10.950]That's a recipe for disaster
[00:04:12.660]because you do need the downtime.
[00:04:14.700]It is impossible to write in concentration.
[00:04:16.920]You need to stretch that out. We talked about this.
[00:04:19.290]So partially,
[00:04:20.400]it is also about thinking about
[00:04:22.530]most of my work has to happen during the academic year
[00:04:25.080]and if it's not,
[00:04:26.340]then I'm not really apportioning my time correctly.
[00:04:29.820]Mm-hmm.
[00:04:30.653]And that's creating a problem.
[00:04:32.910]And so I need to think about
[00:04:34.500]how do I work throughout the academic year
[00:04:37.290]so I don't end up with this,
[00:04:39.060]all of this pressure of I need to do
[00:04:41.700]a full years of writing and research in the summer
[00:04:46.260]when I'm actually off contract
[00:04:48.030]and I need to also have downtime
[00:04:50.280]because those things do not mesh well.
[00:04:52.590]And it puts tremendous pressure that leads to...
[00:04:56.130]Burnout, stress. And also feeling unhappy
[00:05:01.560]when the new year starts.
[00:05:02.880]You're unhappy because you didn't reach your goals
[00:05:05.400]for the summer because you had unrealistic goals
[00:05:07.710]for the summer
[00:05:08.543]because you didn't apportion your time
[00:05:10.350]during the academic year.
[00:05:11.250]So it's all part of the package
[00:05:13.410]and you have to think about it that way.
[00:05:14.850]So even if you put...
[00:05:16.050]Because we're putting this out just before summer,
[00:05:18.390]if you put all of that pressure on you
[00:05:20.430]during the academic year,
[00:05:21.900]let go some of it
[00:05:23.370]and know that the summer- ♪ Let it go ♪
[00:05:24.780]Is not the solution for all of your problems.
[00:05:27.600]Yes. No, the summer's not a solution, right?
[00:05:30.060]And maybe in season three
[00:05:33.330]we can do an episode about apportionment
[00:05:35.460]and time management.
[00:05:36.600]Yeah, absolutely.
[00:05:37.433]Because we often talk about...
[00:05:38.400]When we talk about apportionment,
[00:05:39.390]we tend to talk about like, "Oh, 25%, 10%."
[00:05:44.520]None of it matters unless you attend to the denominator.
[00:05:47.855]Yeah. Yes.
[00:05:49.230]Yeah, that- How many hours a week
[00:05:50.370]do you expect? Yeah.
[00:05:51.610]Yeah, and that by the way, goes back to summer.
[00:05:54.150]How many hours- Oh, totally.
[00:05:55.050]Are you gonna work during the weeks you are off?
[00:05:58.890]Right.
[00:05:59.910]Because imagining
[00:06:02.070]that you're gonna work 60 hours a week when-
[00:06:04.600](Nick blows raspberry)
[00:06:05.837](Guy laughing)
[00:06:06.840]I'm sorry.
[00:06:07.726](both laughing)
[00:06:09.360]This is my life we're talking about,
[00:06:11.340]we are laughing about my life.
[00:06:12.750]But in the summer,
[00:06:13.740]it's not gonna happen. Summer's not grant.
[00:06:15.840]Yes.
[00:06:16.770]But in the summer...
[00:06:18.420]During the academic year,
[00:06:19.350]but definitely during the summer,
[00:06:21.090]your day is gonna look different
[00:06:22.830]and if you permit yourself
[00:06:25.080]to plan for a smaller number of hours,
[00:06:27.570]but then focus on those hours, Mm-hmm.
[00:06:29.550]You can get a lot done.
[00:06:31.170]But you've got to be...
[00:06:32.370]Again, that goes back to being planful
[00:06:34.380]and not just saying, "It's gonna be okay."
[00:06:36.330]And then...
[00:06:37.950]Yeah, 'cause it's...
[00:06:38.837]It's not going to... I mean, if you go into it
[00:06:40.650]just going, "Alright, it's gonna be fine."
[00:06:44.010]July 4th is going to hit.
[00:06:45.743]Yes. And you're gonna be like
[00:06:46.576]" Oh crud."
[00:06:49.170]Because by the time July 4th hits,
[00:06:51.300]you have to prep for your fall class or if you're me,
[00:06:55.110]Yeah. Who is teaching
[00:06:56.100]those last five weeks,
[00:06:57.137]Oh, wow. I have to prep
[00:06:57.970]for my fall class now. Yes. Yes.
[00:06:59.790]Or else I'm not gonna have it later,
[00:07:01.740]right? Yeah.
[00:07:02.573]Like, so any changes in that class
[00:07:04.650]I have to pay attention to now before summer even hits,
[00:07:09.120]because I have to use that first half of summer
[00:07:11.850]to revise for the second half of summer.
[00:07:14.650]Mm-hmm.
[00:07:15.483]So like, you have to do some of that planning
[00:07:19.110]if you have all these various bits and bobs going on.
[00:07:23.040]But also just recognizing that like in order to have...
[00:07:28.890]I mean, it would be easy for me to be like,
[00:07:30.247]"Oh, the first half of summer
[00:07:31.920]I'm just not gonna work at all."
[00:07:33.813]Yeah. But there are
[00:07:34.646]certain parts of my job that I find pleasurable.
[00:07:36.360]There are certain things that I actually want to engage in
[00:07:39.780]in my off time.
[00:07:41.760]Should that be expected?
[00:07:43.020]No, but I'm going to do it
[00:07:45.060]because it does bring me some happiness, right?
[00:07:49.170]So when we're thinking about being planful,
[00:07:53.880]talk me through how you're planful, Guy.
[00:07:56.160]Well, in my case. "Well," he says.
[00:07:59.650]Well, so our summers are very different.
[00:08:03.630]This is my 22nd year,
[00:08:05.970]and this is my 22nd summer.
[00:08:08.160]The only summer. So you started
[00:08:09.120]when you were 10?
[00:08:10.442](laughs) Yes, just about.
[00:08:11.730]Wow.
[00:08:12.930]And the only summer that I had a significant time off
[00:08:16.230]was the summer I graduated from...
[00:08:18.450]I left graduate school
[00:08:19.432]and moved here. Okay.
[00:08:21.690]I have always taught in the summers, this is...
[00:08:26.250]Yeah, I've always...
[00:08:27.240]I don't think I can remember a summer I never taught.
[00:08:30.270]But for example,
[00:08:31.500]I choose to teach only in the first summer session.
[00:08:34.230]So we have kind of three blocks through summer.
[00:08:36.420]We have a three week and then two, five weeks.
[00:08:39.330]I have always taught...
[00:08:41.100]Except one time I made the mistake
[00:08:43.020]of teaching the session you're doing.
[00:08:44.930]Mm-hmm.
[00:08:45.763]And that was not helpful
[00:08:46.620]because then I was teaching
[00:08:48.060]all the way to the beginning of the semester
[00:08:49.710]and then teaching again.
[00:08:50.730]And that felt just interminable.
[00:08:55.260]So I've always sequestered my teaching
[00:08:58.710]to the first summer session.
[00:08:59.910]So I have the three weeks between the end of the semester
[00:09:02.610]and the beginning of the...
[00:09:03.827]Of our first formal summer session.
[00:09:05.970]And I always take that time
[00:09:07.380]and I take some of that time actually off campus.
[00:09:09.840]And like I'm away from work, which is rare for me.
[00:09:14.610]And then the...
[00:09:16.230]I'd fit grant activities and other things
[00:09:18.480]around that time with some downtime.
[00:09:23.430]And especially the July into August part
[00:09:27.930]has a lot more time off.
[00:09:29.400]And I tend to work mornings,
[00:09:31.530]whether I'm here in Nebraska or I choose to go somewhere.
[00:09:35.190]I work in the morning
[00:09:36.060]and then the afternoons are mine, so...
[00:09:38.670]And I have check-ins with collaborators once a week.
[00:09:43.950]Mm-hmm. To see that there's progress
[00:09:45.360]being made.
[00:09:46.193]Because going back to the 4th of July kind of thing,
[00:09:48.390]this is my thinking as well,
[00:09:49.860]if I haven't started it or I'm not well on my way
[00:09:52.800]and I have a plan by the 4th of July,
[00:09:54.570]it's just not gonna happen this summer.
[00:09:56.640]Yeah. And so that...
[00:09:57.870]Those are the pieces that I have in place
[00:10:00.420]to make sure that summer is productive.
[00:10:04.590]I don't make myself any promises.
[00:10:06.390]I have three or four goals for the summer.
[00:10:08.520]I have a writing goal on a one or two manuscripts.
[00:10:12.690]There's a teaching and then there's reporting
[00:10:15.150]and the grant activities that I have
[00:10:16.800]that have to happen during the summer.
[00:10:18.780]But again, for me, this is structured paid time.
[00:10:20.813]Mm-hmm. This is not...
[00:10:22.650]If I was on time off, I would be...
[00:10:26.280]Most of that time would be off.
[00:10:28.740]Playing video games on Twitch?
[00:10:32.580]I think sitting down and not doing that.
[00:10:35.254](both laughing)
[00:10:36.087]Spending time with my dogs. I would like to see that.
[00:10:38.820]I've never not...
[00:10:39.653]I've never seen you not a ball of energy.
[00:10:42.510]And I have questions.
[00:10:43.343]Oh, okay.
[00:10:44.820]Puzzles or help common... Okay.
[00:10:46.920]Puzzles are a big thing
[00:10:48.120]during the summer. Okay, this is good to know.
[00:10:49.440]Winter break and summer, yeah.
[00:10:51.180]Huh.
[00:10:52.470]Yeah.
[00:10:53.970]It feels like I need a Richard Attenborough voiceover.
[00:10:57.369](Guy laughing)
[00:10:59.040]This is the Guy Trainin.
[00:11:01.410]Relaxing. Interest, yes.
[00:11:03.450]Well, there's a book- It's a very rare sight.
[00:11:05.310]I listen to a book and I do a puzzle and...
[00:11:08.550]Yeah. I can do that for quite a few hours.
[00:11:11.670]Okay. Yeah.
[00:11:12.780]The Churchill biography went that way,
[00:11:14.610]all 57 hours of it.
[00:11:16.408]Ooh.
[00:11:17.241](Guy laughing)
[00:11:18.099](sighs) I'm gonna read "The Power Broker" this summer
[00:11:20.430]and I'm not looking forward to it, but I am, but I'm not.
[00:11:24.840]Okay. It's like...
[00:11:26.820]It's a thick boy.
[00:11:27.870]Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:11:28.860]So it's gonna be fine.
[00:11:29.693]It's gonna be fine.
[00:11:30.810]Alright.
[00:11:32.040]I'm a little bit more structured.
[00:11:33.600]Yes. Nobody's surprised at this point.
[00:11:36.240]If they've seen even one more episode
[00:11:39.120]or listened to one more episode of this podcast,
[00:11:41.430]they know that you have a spreadsheet or a table.
[00:11:45.150]There's just- So here is the table.
[00:11:46.500]Yeah, so this has actually been really, really helpful
[00:11:51.060]for this particular summer
[00:11:52.560]because I was like, "Summer! I'm gonna have so much summer.
[00:11:55.467]'Sup summer?"
[00:11:56.700]So I laid out kind of my overarching goals.
[00:11:59.460]I can walk you through this.
[00:12:00.870]I'll have a link to a blank one in the episode description.
[00:12:05.550]I've laid out kind of my writing goals for the summer
[00:12:09.810]and kind of the amount of time that I'm willing to spend
[00:12:13.680]kind of on that in terms of like...
[00:12:15.567]And it says, write things- During the week.
[00:12:17.100]Five hours a week.
[00:12:18.270]Five hours a week.
[00:12:19.500]When I'm not on contract, five hours a week,
[00:12:22.200]which, you know. Mm-hmm.
[00:12:24.510]Is a fair amount of time.
[00:12:25.707]Yeah. That's like an hour a day.
[00:12:27.990]Yeah. You know, you wake up.
[00:12:29.070]Yeah.
[00:12:29.903]Have your cup of coffee,
[00:12:32.250]you work on a draft for a little while,
[00:12:34.350]and then you go like tender tomatoes.
[00:12:37.590]Or you'd go- Which are also
[00:12:38.700]written as a goal. Which is also a goal.
[00:12:41.160]So I've got reading as well, 5 hours a week.
[00:12:45.330]I want to do a deeper dive into...
[00:12:49.380]I did a waltz around knowledge work last summer,
[00:12:52.470]and I really want to focus specifically in
[00:12:54.420]on how we move knowledge from...
[00:12:58.410]Or information from reading into knowledge
[00:13:01.470]into long-term knowledge this summer.
[00:13:03.210]So I've been building up a list of things
[00:13:05.850]that I'm gonna tackle and read.
[00:13:08.766]Mm-hmm. And then I've just got
[00:13:09.630]some personal stuff that I wanna tackle.
[00:13:11.880]I want...
[00:13:12.750]I've got a quilt that I have been working on
[00:13:15.090]for like five years now that needs to be done this summer.
[00:13:17.550]Like, I need it to be done.
[00:13:19.260]I need...
[00:13:20.093]It's like a Mortal Kombat moment.
[00:13:21.030]I just need to finish it.
[00:13:23.160]And that's gonna happen this summer.
[00:13:25.620]Hold me to it, hold me to it.
[00:13:29.310]I've got some knitting projects that I want to finish.
[00:13:32.340]I've...
[00:13:33.840]My garden is up and running already.
[00:13:37.260]I want to be doing all the canning,
[00:13:39.180]all the growing, all the watering.
[00:13:42.810]This is my year of James Baldwin.
[00:13:44.280]So I'm gonna get three more books.
[00:13:46.020]Oh, wow.
[00:13:46.853]Out of...
[00:13:47.686]Yes, I'm gonna...
[00:13:48.519]That's fantastic. By the end of the year,
[00:13:49.860]I'll have read everything that James Baldwin has written.
[00:13:52.710]Which makes me...
[00:13:53.543]Or books that James Baldwin has written
[00:13:55.440]and that makes me very, very happy.
[00:13:57.030]So I'll get three of those done.
[00:14:00.390]I wanna continue running six days a week
[00:14:02.970]and weight training three days a week.
[00:14:04.980]So, I do wanna stop here
[00:14:07.470]and say that while I am not quite as planful as you,
[00:14:13.006](Nick laughing)
[00:14:16.020]I do think that the lesson that I've learned over time
[00:14:19.920]is if you do not plan this,
[00:14:24.420]it's likely not gonna happen.
[00:14:25.920]So if you do not write it down
[00:14:28.920]and say, "These are the things I wanna do."
[00:14:30.390]Now if you want to not get anything done,
[00:14:34.410]that's also achievable, right?
[00:14:36.481]Oh, yeah.
[00:14:37.314]But if you don't make a plan,
[00:14:39.750]if you have a goal, but you don't have a plan, right?
[00:14:42.990]It's not gonna work out.
[00:14:44.040]And summer is prime for that
[00:14:45.930]because nobody's going to the office.
[00:14:48.210]You have no classes
[00:14:49.800]unless you're on contract for part of it,
[00:14:51.690]but you have no classes that force you to show up
[00:14:54.300]or to do certain things.
[00:14:55.830]And then you find yourself like,
[00:14:58.627]"I would rather do other things."
[00:15:00.720]And that's fine if you didn't have a goal.
[00:15:03.244]And that's gonna make you feel guilty.
[00:15:07.890]You don't wanna finish the summer feeling guilty.
[00:15:10.020]So make reasonable goals and then have a plan for them.
[00:15:12.990]If not, just let go.
[00:15:14.670]And that's okay, too.
[00:15:15.690]Mm-hmm. You're not on contract.
[00:15:17.310]You can let go and everybody's gotta be okay with it.
[00:15:20.700]And here's what I find to be really helpful,
[00:15:23.520]or this was really helpful for me this year,
[00:15:26.160]is lay your stuff out week by week.
[00:15:29.130]Oh, wow. Yeah.
[00:15:30.300]So I've got my goals here.
[00:15:33.390]I've laid out week by week what I'm gonna try to get done
[00:15:37.650]in each of those weeks. Mm-hmm.
[00:15:38.700]In each of the amounts of time that I have.
[00:15:41.760]And this was particularly helpful
[00:15:43.530]because I realized that I've got a trip this summer.
[00:15:47.040]Mm-hmm.
[00:15:48.300]And that trip is gonna take about
[00:15:50.130]five-ish weeks out of play.
[00:15:51.300]Oh, wow. That's a chunk.
[00:15:53.130]It's a chunk. It's a chunk.
[00:15:54.810]And so in my head I was like,
[00:15:56.077]"Oh, I've got a trip." Do, do, do, do,
[00:15:58.050]do, do do, do, do. Yeah.
[00:15:59.310]But then when I looked
[00:16:00.360]at actually what- What's left.
[00:16:02.340]What got left after I took out that trip,
[00:16:06.990]like I really had to go back
[00:16:09.630]and rethink what I wanted to get done.
[00:16:11.670]Like this is whittle down. Yeah.
[00:16:13.140]Let's be realistic about
[00:16:14.550]the time we have, yeah. And then even what's here,
[00:16:17.310]you'll notice that there's some color coding.
[00:16:19.500]No one is surprised.
[00:16:20.483](Guy laughing)
[00:16:22.440]Where I've kind of determined some importance.
[00:16:23.940]Like, these are the things that I really wanna get done.
[00:16:26.010]Mm-hmm. Those are the red.
[00:16:27.750]Yeah.
[00:16:28.583]Yeah, am I right here?
[00:16:29.416]Red and yellow is medium importance.
[00:16:31.350]So if I like get those red things done
[00:16:32.940]then I can move on to the yellow
[00:16:34.200]and then I can move on
[00:16:35.091]to the blue. Yeah.
[00:16:37.313]And I'm a huge fan,
[00:16:38.970]especially when you're talking about your writing projects.
[00:16:41.460]You wanted to bring a few writing projects to fruition
[00:16:45.300]and not try to jump between seven different projects
[00:16:49.020]or whatever you have and never finishing anything.
[00:16:50.970]So this is an opportunity
[00:16:52.110]because you can concentrate some time.
[00:16:54.540]This is an opportunity to actually choose one and finish it,
[00:16:59.430]and then maybe go to the next one.
[00:17:00.900]instead of working on five,
[00:17:02.340]which took me a long time to understand.
[00:17:05.610]I do like...
[00:17:06.443]I mean, I'm looking at your table and I'm like,
[00:17:08.137]"Yeah, I need to do that" because I have...
[00:17:11.490]Guilt.
[00:17:12.323]Guilt. Yeah. No, not guilt.
[00:17:14.400]Just having enough brain space to think about it,
[00:17:17.070]because I've got two weeks I'm teaching.
[00:17:18.780]We've got morning to evening.
[00:17:20.130]Those two weeks are dead.
[00:17:21.270]Mm-hmm.
[00:17:22.103]I mean, I'm teaching,
[00:17:23.010]I'm spending a lot of time with a research team.
[00:17:26.970]But that's it.
[00:17:28.020]I've got a period where I have a review,
[00:17:30.360]I'm a guest editor, so we have to review some abstracts.
[00:17:33.420]I've gotta put some time my calendar for that.
[00:17:36.000]I've got two conferences I'm going to at the end of June
[00:17:39.120]and in July.
[00:17:40.680]So those dates are off the table.
[00:17:44.250]And that just leaves you with,
[00:17:45.817]"What do I need to prepare for next year?"
[00:17:47.647]"Where does it happen?"
[00:17:49.480]"What can I accommodate that?"
[00:17:51.660]And how do I...
[00:17:54.540]Because in my case,
[00:17:55.950]because I have a few grants,
[00:17:57.330]I have a few graduate students
[00:17:58.560]who are working on these grants,
[00:17:59.670]how can I make sure that I set them up for success
[00:18:02.100]without needing me all the time?
[00:18:03.605]Mm-hmm.
[00:18:04.438]So things can get done.
[00:18:05.340]I check in with them,
[00:18:07.500]but they are not constantly waiting for me
[00:18:10.890]to pick my head out of everything I'm doing
[00:18:13.620]or using vacation time to do that
[00:18:16.620]because I don't want to do that.
[00:18:18.480]And so I'm definitely going to lay out my weeks
[00:18:21.990]and start thinking through what needs to happen when.
[00:18:25.290]Yeah, and it's really helpful
[00:18:27.360]in terms of what can I actually get done.
[00:18:31.290]Yeah.
[00:18:32.123]And if...
[00:18:32.956]I mean things could- What's reasonable.
[00:18:34.200]Yeah. What's reasonable things
[00:18:35.100]could happen.
[00:18:36.150]And I've got...
[00:18:39.390]I've really got three different manuscripts
[00:18:42.660]that I'm working on here.
[00:18:44.280]Two of which are pieces that I've been working on
[00:18:48.990]for a while.
[00:18:49.823]I drop them for a while
[00:18:50.880]and this is the summer that I'm gonna pick them back up
[00:18:52.980]and actually get them in shipshape and send them out.
[00:18:56.220]So also thinking about...
[00:18:58.200]'Cause like, oh my gosh, three manuscripts,
[00:19:00.810]it's a lot in a summer.
[00:19:02.190]But keeping in mind that
[00:19:04.290]two of those manuscripts- They're in this trip.
[00:19:05.610]Are pretty much 80% done at this point.
[00:19:08.700]I'm gonna have to re-update the literature review,
[00:19:11.850]possibly do some re-analysis,
[00:19:14.910]but that's not as much as
[00:19:16.560]if I'm starting fully from scratch.
[00:19:19.560]Yeah. That's a different project altogether.
[00:19:21.720]Yeah. That's a totally different project altogether.
[00:19:23.940]So like, those are the kinds of things
[00:19:25.230]that I was thinking through and about
[00:19:27.720]when I was planning this.
[00:19:28.977]And this summer feels like
[00:19:30.510]because of how much time I have available to me
[00:19:35.220]feels like a good summer to engage in getting those...
[00:19:39.183]Out. Out.
[00:19:40.390]Yeah. And then if I have time,
[00:19:42.720]finish up or work on a chapter that I have to get written
[00:19:47.970]but doesn't have...
[00:19:48.900]That there's no real timeline set to it yet.
[00:19:51.810]Mm-hmm.
[00:19:52.643]And then start prepping some data
[00:19:55.200]to set myself up for analysis in the fall
[00:19:58.410]when that comes back.
[00:19:59.640]So it really just helps me think through
[00:20:06.870]what is it that I can be doing
[00:20:10.590]in these little chunks of time.
[00:20:12.910]Mm-hmm.
[00:20:13.743]That isn't gonna be completely overwhelming and annoying.
[00:20:18.960]Yeah. And also like with...
[00:20:21.390]Like I said, within the planning,
[00:20:22.920]I've kind of determined some importance.
[00:20:24.480]So if something doesn't get done, I just shift it around.
[00:20:29.190]And a few things that are small but important.
[00:20:35.250]So have a plan.
[00:20:36.450]The other thing is,
[00:20:37.590]if you're away or if you do not plan to do any work,
[00:20:41.520]please make sure that you have on your email,
[00:20:43.980]on your official email box,
[00:20:47.610]the auto response that says, "I'm away for the summer."
[00:20:50.515]Mm-hmm.
[00:20:51.348]Or "I'm away for this period from this date to this date."
[00:20:54.090]And, "Please contact me after if you need anything urgent,
[00:20:57.270]here's the email of our office,
[00:21:00.630]please reach out to them."
[00:21:01.890]Because graduate students may reach out
[00:21:04.500]to undergraduate students who are concerned about the grade
[00:21:06.960]or something else, or whatever, whoever it may be.
[00:21:09.330]You don't want them to feel like they didn't get a response.
[00:21:12.570]And so that auto response serves as,
[00:21:16.027]"I'm sorry, I'm not gonna get back to you."
[00:21:18.450]I'm in Europe until this...
[00:21:20.430]Mm-hmm. Oh, you don't have to say
[00:21:21.330]you're in Europe, but I'm away until this time.
[00:21:24.240]Again, this is...
[00:21:25.470]If you are off contract, you're off contract.
[00:21:27.990]You do not owe anybody anything.
[00:21:31.263]Mm-hmm.
[00:21:32.096]And so use that,
[00:21:33.840]but also communicate that clearly
[00:21:35.550]so people don't feel like
[00:21:37.110]they're expecting a response to you.
[00:21:38.610]For example, international students may not know
[00:21:42.780]that this is a nine month contract,
[00:21:44.280]but they also don't know when does school start and end.
[00:21:47.498]Mm-hmm. Because in much of Europe
[00:21:49.350]and in many other places in the world,
[00:21:51.630]the school calendar is very different.
[00:21:53.280]They start in October or September and go 'til June
[00:21:57.270]and don't necessarily have our calendar
[00:22:01.530]that seems to have shifted earlier and earlier
[00:22:03.420]where we started mid August,
[00:22:04.680]but also ending early May sometimes,
[00:22:08.040]you know, first week of May.
[00:22:09.720]Mm-hmm. So they still think
[00:22:11.190]everybody's here.
[00:22:12.150]Well, nobody's here.
[00:22:13.350]So that communication is really, really important.
[00:22:15.810]And if you work with graduate students,
[00:22:19.260]communicate very clearly what your expectations are
[00:22:21.540]for the summer and how will you communicate
[00:22:24.300]so they don't get frustrated.
[00:22:26.160]And so it's clear.
[00:22:27.960]And again, you know, if you're on contract,
[00:22:31.020]you can say contact me when I'm teaching
[00:22:32.880]because that's when I'm on contract.
[00:22:35.010]You can contact me,
[00:22:35.910]but outside those times I will not be available
[00:22:38.370]until mid August,
[00:22:39.360]then that's fine.
[00:22:40.560]Again, clarity.
[00:22:41.850]Right. In communication.
[00:22:42.720]Right, clarity. Boundaries are fine.
[00:22:45.210]Yes. Right?
[00:22:46.050]Boundaries are totally fine.
[00:22:48.600]What are you looking forward to this summer?
[00:22:50.280]Well, I'm gonna get a grandbaby.
[00:22:51.840]So I am focused on being a grandpa.
[00:22:57.570]That is really my primary goal for the start.
[00:23:00.720]Everything else, grants, teaching, all of that,
[00:23:04.500]that is not where I'm at.
[00:23:06.390]I am...
[00:23:07.560]We have a due date of June 10th,
[00:23:10.170]obviously it's plus minus whatever is going to happen.
[00:23:13.380]And that is the main event of the summer.
[00:23:16.590]Everything else can get canceled as far as I'm concerned.
[00:23:20.280]I'll be fine.
[00:23:21.135](Nick laughing)
[00:23:22.484]That's what you want. Yes.
[00:23:24.570]That is what I want. That is my future orientation.
[00:23:27.720]And every...
[00:23:28.680]Again, I mean, I have a potentially a busy summer,
[00:23:32.100]but that is secondary. Oh, yeah.
[00:23:33.960]Just you talking in general about your summer
[00:23:35.640]makes me tired. Yeah.
[00:23:37.230]I love summer. I have my best ideas in summer.
[00:23:40.290]I love teaching in summer
[00:23:41.340]because I do a workshop style
[00:23:42.690]where we stay with the students all day.
[00:23:44.700]Uh-huh.
[00:23:45.533]And so it's an opportunity.
[00:23:47.670]It's a thinking lab for me
[00:23:49.320]because I have a problem with focusing. (laughs)
[00:23:52.230]So it forces me to focus on the same thing. (laughs)
[00:23:56.190]We've known this,
[00:23:57.180]just let me know you plan everything
[00:23:59.070]we know I have a problem focusing.
[00:24:00.840]So it forces me to be focused.
[00:24:02.490]And I have some fantastic ideas
[00:24:04.320]when I spend a lot of time with people,
[00:24:06.750]just that idea generation.
[00:24:08.610]Mm-hmm.
[00:24:09.443]Where like...
[00:24:10.276]And I've had most of my best ideas happen over summers.
[00:24:14.340]My best research ideas,
[00:24:15.930]it doesn't mean I enact them in the summer.
[00:24:17.749]Mm-hmm.
[00:24:18.582]But I start sprouting ideas in the summer.
[00:24:21.570]And because people are there all day,
[00:24:23.460]we can have for repeat, in this summer for two weeks.
[00:24:27.450]But I've had five weeks, you know,
[00:24:29.490]in summer teaching where you can roll with the ideas
[00:24:34.410]with people a number of times
[00:24:36.060]until it comes to a nice little package, so...
[00:24:40.441]Nice.
[00:24:41.274]I do enjoy that very, very much.
[00:24:42.750]So it is busy but busy good.
[00:24:46.050]And very different than the academic year
[00:24:48.180]where we have chunks of time.
[00:24:49.283]Mm-hmm. So the summer for me,
[00:24:51.660]it still work mostly,
[00:24:52.860]but it's with blocks of time
[00:24:55.470]And that just functions differently.
[00:24:57.900]I love both.
[00:24:59.190]Right.
[00:25:00.023]But it just functions differently for me.
[00:25:01.560]And so I'm able to...
[00:25:04.410]For example, if I teach the same thing that I teach
[00:25:06.780]through an academic year,
[00:25:07.860]I can make much better curricular decisions for next time,
[00:25:12.150]even for an academic year calendar
[00:25:14.520]based on that concentrated time in the summer.
[00:25:16.530]Because then I'm thinking about that class every day.
[00:25:19.380]Mm-hmm.
[00:25:20.213]And instead of thinking about it,
[00:25:21.720]thinking about 17 other things,
[00:25:23.130]thinking about it-
[00:25:23.963]The continuity
[00:25:24.796]makes a difference. Yeah,
[00:25:25.629]and also the fact that, I mean, I'll be honest,
[00:25:27.540]there's very little service over the summer.
[00:25:29.400]Even if you are on contract, Mm-hmm.
[00:25:30.483]That contract is very clear.
[00:25:31.920]You're either doing research for a grant
[00:25:33.870]or you're doing teaching.
[00:25:37.290]So that service elements and the committees and all that,
[00:25:39.960]that's all gone.
[00:25:40.890]Mm-hmm.
[00:25:41.723]So you have more control over your time.
[00:25:43.920]I mean, you always have control over your time,
[00:25:46.260]but you're managing different expectations
[00:25:48.480]because part of our...
[00:25:49.950]At least at UNL, we're 20%,
[00:25:52.140]most of us are 20% service, which is fairly high.
[00:25:56.520]So then, because that comes to eight hours,
[00:25:59.640]eight hours a week.
[00:26:00.726]That is a lot of hours. Outside of your
[00:26:01.826]40-hour workweek.
[00:26:02.659]Yeah. Yeah.
[00:26:03.492]But those eight hours get...
[00:26:05.280]Dispersed and...
[00:26:06.600]Sucked up really easily. Yeah.
[00:26:08.373]Yes. Right? Like...
[00:26:09.206]Yes, definitely.
[00:26:10.221]That's the black hole category.
[00:26:11.730]But it also chunks your time into pieces
[00:26:16.410]because it's often like one hour meetings and all of that.
[00:26:19.320]Think about eight one hour meetings,
[00:26:21.270]suddenly it can eat your week.
[00:26:24.300]So it is about management.
[00:26:27.090]Yeah. Oh, it's totally about management.
[00:26:29.370]Totally about management.
[00:26:30.660]Alright. So, we are happy about summer though.
[00:26:33.690]Oh, we are very happy about-
[00:26:34.530]You are happy about tomatoes.
[00:26:35.700]I'm happy about grandbaby.
[00:26:36.780]You know, I am very excited about tomatoes.
[00:26:39.270]I'm very excited about...
[00:26:41.010]Before you start canning,
[00:26:42.210]I want some tomatoes just putting it out there.
[00:26:45.450]See, if I had known that,
[00:26:46.650]'cause last year I literally had all these tomatoes
[00:26:49.620]and then had some stupid service oriented report
[00:26:53.970]that got dropped on me at the last minute
[00:26:55.470]and did not have a chance to can anything,
[00:26:57.330]and had I known...
[00:26:59.250]Tomatoes, raw tomatoes, Israeli salad, salsa.
[00:27:06.600]Okay, see, now I know because...
[00:27:08.640]Tomato sauce.
[00:27:10.710]There's so many things to do
[00:27:12.150]and I love tomatoes, so...
[00:27:14.130]This is good to know
[00:27:14.963]because that is probably one of the things
[00:27:16.410]I am most looking forward to is...
[00:27:19.440]The tomatoes.
[00:27:20.850]My garden, my tomatoes. Yeah.
[00:27:22.350]Makes me feel close to my grandmother.
[00:27:23.730]My grandmother grew tomatoes all the time.
[00:27:27.690]But also excited to get away.
[00:27:32.730]Yeah, absolutely.
[00:27:34.110]And like- Five weeks.
[00:27:35.580]Well, and so it's...
[00:27:38.400]I'm gonna do a week in Michigan.
[00:27:40.260]Mm-hmm.
[00:27:41.093]Three weeks in Europe.
[00:27:43.320]I am single. I have no kids. I deserve nice things, too.
[00:27:45.660]Yes, yes you do.
[00:27:48.540]And then I'm gonna come back
[00:27:49.590]and do another week in Michigan.
[00:27:51.960]But I've got some new cities that I've never been to.
[00:27:54.450]So like Berlin. That's very nice.
[00:27:55.353]Ooh. Never been to Berlin.
[00:27:56.880]I'm excited about Berlin. I have not either, so...
[00:27:58.980]I'm gonna go to Chania on Crete.
[00:28:02.640]Ooh.
[00:28:03.473]For a conference.
[00:28:04.320]So there's some work. That's exciting.
[00:28:05.263]Yeah. Some work into it,
[00:28:06.900]then I'm gonna get back to London,
[00:28:08.550]which is like my favorite city in the world.
[00:28:10.230]So I'm excited about that.
[00:28:13.170]That's awesome.
[00:28:14.003]I'm just excited about a slower
[00:28:18.390]kind of process. Pace. Yeah.
[00:28:19.260]I'm also excited to read, I've got a couple of books,
[00:28:23.940]thick boys that I need a summer to work through
[00:28:28.050]'cause they require more time.
[00:28:30.750]So it's gonna be good.
[00:28:32.820]Alright. I think.
[00:28:33.960]Yeah.
[00:28:34.965]So hold us to it.
[00:28:36.960]And have a great summer.
[00:28:38.940]Have a planful summer, get stuff done.
[00:28:43.110]But also have fun.
[00:28:43.980]But also get stuff not done.
[00:28:47.346]Figure out what's most important for you
[00:28:49.830]and get the stuff that's most important done.
[00:28:51.510]Get the stuff that doesn't matter.
[00:28:52.940]♪ Boom ♪
[00:28:54.356]♪ Hey ♪
[00:28:55.189]I don't know what's happening.
[00:28:56.333](Guy laughing) (gentle upbeat music)
[00:29:01.074]♪ Boom ♪
[00:29:02.429]♪ Hey ♪

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Not That Kind of Doctor - Summertime 2024

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