‘Joy-first’: A counterintuitive guide to the academic summer
Think of all those projects we’ll get done! Finally some uninterrupted time to write, research and think. This is what we’ve been waiting for! For many of us, the end of May marks the point at which it’s possible to see ‘Summer’ cresting into view. That point on a long car journey when you first see a road sign for your destination. Teaching is coming to an end and once marking is out of the way, we’ll be into the glorious plains of the summer months which stretch out for miles to the distant horizon of Autumn Term. Except the academic summer is usually a mirage. It shimmers with beauty and promise, but once you get close it disappears.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Even if you think you’re terrible at planning.
In this post I am going to show you can slow this vanishing act down by getting real about the time you have, scheduling rest, and prioritising fun writing projects that bring you joy. Only then do you use what time is left for all the ‘shoulds and oughts’.
“Oh yeah, right” you might be thinking. “It’s alright for you, but I’ve got X paper and Y review to get out of the way before I can even think about doing what’s fun and brings me joy” and that’s a very typical reaction, but bear with me because I hope to change your mind on that, or at least get to you to try ‘joy-first’ planning as an experiment.
The first step is to take a realistic look at how many weeks you actually have before you need to be back at the grindstone of induction week and the onset of the new term. Here’s how to do this:
First schedule some holiday time in your diary. No, not time on the beach when you’ll catch up on reading for that paper – I mean a real break. Protected with the fierceness of a Mama Bear guarding her cubs.
Next, add the unavoidable commitments. Supervision of postgraduate students, attending conferences, admissions tutor work are just some of the things I usually forget to allow for. Note: this does not include things you think you should do. Only include what you absolutely have to do.
Now see what’s left. That’s the time you have available for all your projects.
Assuming you’re in the UK, starting from the first week of July, take only 2 weeks holiday, and have 2 weeks’ worth of admissions/ clearing/ conferences, you will only have about 6 or 7 weeks left until the middle of September – and there will probably be teaching preparation and new student admin to do during that time as well. This might feel a bit depressing, but it's the truth.
So how do you want to use your few short weeks? How do you want to feel when the ‘Students this way’ signs go up around campus, and its back to the grindstone?
Time is an elastic concept, largely dependent on our perception of what we are doing. When we are doing things we love, we feel we have used that time in a fulfilling way, even though the days might still pass quickly. Doing things that align with what we consider to be our purpose, and that feeds our soul impacts a whole range of other bodily systems (known as ‘logical levels theory’). So if we do something fulfilling, then our motivation for the tasks we aren’t so excited about improves – this is known as the ‘broaden and build’ theory of positive emotions. In the UK at least, academic work during term time has become something of a slog, in increasingly precarious conditions, so these few short weeks when teaching is paused and the load is usually a little light become extra important ‘refuelling’ time to carry us into the new academic year. But sure, I get it, there are still Important and Urgent things to be done – but read on to find out how you can balance it.
Now comes the fun part.
What’s that project that gives you butterflies when you think about it? Which piece of writing tingles in your butt but you never feel allowed to working on because there’s always something else more important? Choose that.
Think about when you are at your brightest. Are you an early morning scribe, or a late night scribbler?
Schedule a short block of time in your ‘bright window’ as often as you can – ideally every single day – to work on that project. Put it in your diary as an appointment so no-one (including you) can steal that hour, or even half an hour.
Don't tell anyone you’re doing this. Let it be your little secret. Like an illicit affair, you are sneaking time out of your day for joy, for you (thanks to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic for this)
Keep a progress log of how much you’ve achieved in those few short, regular minutes and look back at it when autumn term starts – if you’ve followed this recipe I guarantee you’ll be amazed.
And that’s it! You still have a good five or six hours left over every day to work on those Important and Urgent ‘shoulds and oughts’ but you’ve put yourself and what matters to you first for a change.
Go on, give it a go. I dare you. Then let me know what happened!
Love,
Sam xx