It’s 2/3 of the way through the calendar year, so I guess I should check in on whatever my resolutions were…
Build a serious habit of deep work
I am surprised I phrased this one this way: I think I’ve done an okay job at the meta-goal of “be more remarkable” (I’ve taken on a second promising research project and submitted my first abstrast for potential publication, while also jumping through the hoops of coursework and comprehensive exams) but I don’t think I’ve made any daily habits to accomplish this. I’ve been coasting with the already-ingrained habit of “say yes to anything that I will want to have done; desperately power through the process of actually doing it so I don’t miss a deadline,” which is probably still going to get me pretty far as a student, but long-term I need to be able to focus intensely on my own projects.
I’ve set up a deep work goal again, with the start date pushed out until after my comprehensive exams, and a low rate to account for all the travel I have planned in September and October. I think I was putting off making this goal because I genuinely don’t want to be working on my own research this close to the exams, but I should embrace the habit of making goals that will start in the future whenever I am ready.
If it’s really not working, I suppose I can focus on finding lots of things to commit to that will force me to put deadlines on my own research; that may be why conferences exist in the first place.
Re-commit to resting
I think I mis-diagnosed this one a little bit: I hadn’t suddenly forgotten how to enjoy leisure activities; I was just overwhelmed by some problems with a major relationship in my life. As soon as I went home for the summer I felt like myself again. So, I’ve been using a complice goal to reflect on and work through these relationship problems. Cross your fingers for us to work it out, I guess.
I’m less than a month away from the Great Grad School Void: no coursework, and since I’m working as a research assistant, no teaching either; I will have exactly zero obligations that require me to be at a particular place at a particular time, for at least the next year (and I could dodge campus-based obligations for the next two or three years if I wanted). I’m glad I signed up for Plan Bee.