Slowing Down

Earlier this week, a professor of mine wrote a wonderful blog post about slowing down.  This semester I made the classic mistake of biting off more than I can chew and as a result, I've been struggling.  The silver lining is that I am writing more now than ever before, and it is pretty decent quality.  The not-so-silver lining is that I feel like I cannot get caught up.  After reading the post about slowing down, I decided to give it a try.

My to-do list for this weekend says:

Finish statistics summative exam

review article for a journal

finish rough draft of statistics paper

begin drafting methods section of content analysis paper (visit it for 1 hour)

complete edits for VFM manuscript

grade lesson plans my students turned in

read chapters for classes

upload quizzes to course website

review proposals for conference

(Please excuse my random short-hand.)

It's 3:21pm on Saturday and what have I done this weekend?

Answer: 

Went to the OPAS show of The Phantoms of the Opera and had a girls night last night

Did my grocery shopping for the week

Cleaned my house

Walked my dog

Did laundry

Had a 45-minute phone conversation with my best friend

Spent 2 hours revamping my blogs

Did at least one of those items include writing?  Yes.  Do I feel accomplished?  Absolutely.  Am I happy with the outcome?  You better believe it. 

I slowed down this weekend, took care of myself and my well-being, and I feel refreshed and ready to tackle some of that to-do list.  :)