Looking back at my goals for November, I just kind of shake my head and laugh. It was one of those months during which for a variety of reasons - some good and some not-so-good - I did not make a lot of progress on any of my goals. Let's review shall we.
My Professional/Writing Goals were:
1. Revise and resubmit an article. Whenever I think about this goal and how little I did to accomplish it, I feel really ashamed. I can give lots of reasons for not having made sufficient progress. For example, I am still waiting for an interlibrary loan that I requested in October. I need to consult this work before I can finish revisions. But for the rest.... Well, I got behind on grading and then it was pretty much game over for this goal.
2. Continue to do research, take notes, and work on expanding a paper into an article draft. I did make some progress here, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. I did better with this goal during the first couple of weeks of November than I have over the last two weeks.
3. Draft the syllabus for the upper level course that I'm teaching in the spring. There are a few holes here and there, as I'm still playing with assignments, but this is mostly done.
My Fitness/Health Goals were:
1. Be present in the moment, be thankful, and express gratitude. I feel like I actually did a pretty good job of this. At times, I still catch myself multi-tasking, but I'm getting better about it. I've also been trying to remind myself to stay positive or to find positive attributes in the things that seem less pleasant, like running hills and grading papers.
2. Maintain my food journal. Ummm..... This was an epic fail this month. I think I fully kept my journal on fewer than 5 days during November. I'm not sure how I got so off track, but it happened early in the month, and I just never got back on the rails.
3. Run 50 miles. I only ran 39 miles in November, and I'm okay with that. My heel bothered me for a week so I cut my mileage down to make sure I didn't end up with a more problematic injury. I have felt strong on my last few runs, though, and I've been much more consistent with cross-training in November than I have been since the summer.
In retrospect what really derailed me was a glut of paper and exam grading. I realized yesterday that during the month of November I marked 120 papers and 47 blue book exams. Between al that grading, some applications that were due, and necessary class prep, I barely got through the month. In November, I also went to a workshop at another university, ran a bridal shower 5K, met up with Lisa of Lisa's Yarns, celebrated Thanksgiving, went bowling with the student organization that I advise, and found out that I was accepted into a paid writing workshop next month at my institution.
How was your November? Did you write a draft of a novel for NaNoWriMo? Did you finish a book chapter? PR in a race? Host your first Thanksgiving?
I love the way you go back over your list for last month. I think that even if you accomplished less than you wanted, you still accomplished things on your list, which is great! If you only cross off one thing each month, its still a WIN!
ReplyDeleteMy Nov goals included things like work on my Christmas cards and eat right and keep working out, which I did pretty well on, but I have had things like "organize, sort and giveaway items", "figure out what I am going to be when I grow up" and stuff like that that is important, that I still have not done. They keep moving onto the next month every month.
I don't want to say that November, as a whole, was bad, but it ended on a pretty bad note for me :-( So I think one of my goals for December will be to try to stay as positive as I can and keep my eyes on the prize (or star chart, as it were).
ReplyDeleteWill you be working on your articles next semester? Maybe we can be writing buddies for the next few months. My personal goal is to submit my paper by the end of February, so I plan to start writing in December to get the ball rolling.
You did a lot in November! I am glad that i got to be included in that list! Also, you can add that you found some awesome boots! ;)
ReplyDeleteNovember was a good month for me, as well. I didn't 'do' as much, and that is an accomplishment in itself because I way over-scheduled myself for Aug-Oct!! My biggest accomplishment was probably hosting my huge family!
Grading ruins everything! My November was uneventful. I turned 26, I started cooking a few days a week, and I collected some data.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely be working on writing projects next semester and I will definitely be your writing buddy!
ReplyDeleteThe boots will be included in my Thursday Threads post tomorrow. :)
ReplyDeleteI was doing really well with my writing... until November! I started a four week writing workshop with a visiting author at school (Steve Almond - swoon!) and having an addition 100 pages a week to read and critique pretty much killed any chance for productivity outside of classes. Oh, well. Grading is almost done and then it's winter break - onward we go!
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