Brain Energy

Posted on February 20, 2009 | Leave a comment

A balanced diet is key to maintaining good physical and mental health.  Keeping blood sugar levels even throughout the day keeps us cognitively sharp.

Here’s one of my favorite recipes for snack food–basically a homemade Clif Bar. It’s perfect for dissertating because it contains a good mix of sugar, protein, and fat. It will fill you up and give you a little sugar boost right away. The recipe calls for raisins, but I think it would also work with dark chocolate chips. I’ve also switched out the peanut butter and the peanuts for different kinds of nut butters and nuts just for fun. Though I make energy bars for snacks, they also work for breakfast.

Peanut Energy Bars

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Posted in Health, Strategy

9 Ways to Save Money in 2009

Posted on February 18, 2009 | Leave a comment

I recently read some magazine articles about saving money that struck me as stupid. One advised subscribing to several newsletters that keep readers updated on all the latest clothing sales.

But I bet you can guess what’s cheaper than getting clothes on sale. That’s right! Not buying clothes at all.

Here are some of my strategies for saving money:

    1. Avoid the mall. If you need to buy a specific item, get it on-line or go to a specialty store. If you must go to a superstore like Target, carry a list and don’t let yourself wander around. The more you see, the more you want.
    2. Limit your advertisement consumption. Mute commercials, recycle catalogs un-perused, and block pop-ups on your computer.
    3. Carry snacks and drinks with you. A reusable water bottle and tupperware that doesn’t leak are good investments. Snacks are overpriced in vending machines and convenience stores. I find that having a small bag with peanuts and dark chocolate chips in my backpack keeps me from many desperate candy bar purchases.
    4. Rather than get a gym membership, exercise outdoors by walking, running, swimming, or biking. Avoid fancy sports equipment unless it protects against injury (you don’t really need brand-name biking shorts–you can actually bike in almost any outfit). Build strength by doing good old fashioned sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups at home. You can also find free exercise videos on-line–everything from aerobics to yoga.
    5. Use your school’s library for pleasure reading (and watching movies and listening to music).
    6. Use your school’s library for work-related reading. I have a file cabinet with folders arranged alphabetically by author. I keep my notes and photocopies relating to that author there. I am a big believer in writing down a lot of long quotes when taking notes. That way, I may never need the actual book again.
    7. I don’t have a TV. Instead of paying cable bills, I watch TV and movies on-line at places like hulu.com and Netflix. If you watch TV and movies on DVDs regularly, Netflix is much cheaper than going to a video store. Needless to say, don’t buy DVDs. The technology will be outdated soon, anyway.
    8. Live close to campus (or your spouse’s workplace, or you kid’s school) so that you can walk, bike, or bus instead of drive.
    9. Don’t buy something cheap that will just break before you got your money’s worth. Example: my husband and I didn’t have living room furniture to speak of for two years. Yes, it sucked, but we saved the money we could have used on Ikea sh** to put towards furniture that was built to last.

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    Posted in Money

    The Archival Wheel

    Posted on February 16, 2009 | 2 comments

    As I was revising Chapter One yesterday, I stumbled up some notes I had made during a Dissertation Support Group meeting. The (then Future) Doctor Gale told me about a process for figuring out a thesis that she heard about at a conference. The process was called the Archival Wheel.

    Unfortunately, I can’t tell you the exact author of this concept. I’d be happy to cite it if anybody out there knows who made it up.

    You can create your own archival wheel by clearing out some floor space. Then, stand in the middle of your space, at the hub of the wheel, and pile your different kinds of evidence in “spokes” around you. (You can also draw this on paper, which is how I did it.)

    Then stand in the middle of your wheel and ask “What is all this evidence about?”

    The Archival Wheel is a good start to a free-write and a good exercise for times when you have some really interesting stuff to work with, but you’re not sure what your project is ultimately about. It’s also allows you to think in a more tactile way, which can spark ideas if you’ve been in front of a computer screen too long.

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    Posted in Dissertation Drafts, Free-writes, Process

    What Will You Do With Your Life?

    Posted on February 13, 2009 | Leave a comment

    Did you think that going to grad school would solve the problem you had about what to be when you grew up?

    Sorry.

    I delayed answering this question in 2001 when I decided to apply to graduate school. And for eight years, I have been (mostly) in ignorant bliss–the future life of Doctor Jones was much too far away to worry about.

    I have certainly worked on opening doors for Doctor Jones, doing internships, assistant directorships, teaching, going to conferences, etc. But all my experience, the dissertation, and the degree are simply not enough to guarantee that I’ll be employed as an English professor.

    I haven’t felt this way since college. And I sincerely believed then that going to college was answering this question for good. But I have grown up. And unfortunately, growing up doesn’t mean that I have all the answers. I do have some experience grappling for solutions. And that’s about it.

    I’m not bringing this up to scare you. I’m bringing this up because my friend Rebecca, who has been busting her butt for three years to get a cello performance degree, said upon graduating that she wished someone would have told her that she’d be transported right back into the confusing decision making process of age twenty-one.

    So, I’m telling you. I hope that if you expect it, it won’t be quite as scary when it happens. And take some comfort in knowing that what you do with your life is not something you “should” have figured out at your age.

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    Posted in Fear, Jobs, Process

    The Hard Questions

    Posted on February 11, 2009 | 1 comment

    I recently gave my introduction to my supervisor, hoping he’d allow me to graduate in May. He seemed positive in the e-mail he wrote to set up our meeting, so I was feeling good when I showed up to his office.

    He proceeded to ask me some very hard questions–questions that magnified some of my biggest insecurities about my dissertation. I answered the questions hesitatingly, if at all.

    So imagine my surprise when he wrapped up the meeting by telling me that the introduction was basically done–he didn’t want me to make any major revisions.

    Another committee member told me today that hard questions are a sign that a dissertation defense is going well. She said that when there’s a sense that the dissertation is weak, people are very tentative, and don’t want to press the student too much. But when people are engaged by the work, they dive straight into hard questions that get right to core of the issues at stake.

    Today, if you’re stumped, take it as a sign that you’ve got complex, interesting ideas–and don’t be scared.

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    Posted in Advisors, Defense, Process

    the FEAR

    Posted on February 9, 2009 | 3 comments

    As I approach graduation, I’m finding that my emotions are unusually roller coaster-y. The FEAR (of not graduating, of producing inferior work, of not being able to schedule a defense time, of not having a good dissertation topic) looms large much of the time. Yet every time something happens to let me know that graduating in May could really happen, I feel an almost paralyzing giddiness. (Today, one of my committee members said that she thought my introduction and conclusion drafts are defensible now.)

    I recently talked with my friend Doctor Gale, who said that she was surprised at how quickly her self-confidence diminished after defending her dissertaton. She said that she still asks herself questions about her intelligence that have been bugging her since before she came to graduate school.

    The academic environment can be a huge confidence-evaporator. People identify with their work, and then any small setback becomes a big problem. My feelings are super easily hurt, especially by my committee members, and I know many of my colleagues have the same issue.

    I don’t know how to silence the FEAR.

    I do know that degrees are not a measure of intelligence, and neither are the number of books written. If you’re far enough along to graduate, you know too many smart people who either decided graduate school wasn’t for them or who never applied in the first place.

    The best way I know to pause the roller coaster is to remind myself that the FEAR is normal, and that transitions are hard for humans (and most organisms, for that matter). The FEAR comes to plenty of really smart people who do great  work, so the FEAR’s presence does not guarantee my inadequacy.

    3 Comments

    Posted in Fear, Process

    No Excuse

    Posted on January 14, 2009 | 2 comments

    We all know the type: the grad student (or non-grad student), who, when asked whether they have seen a certain movie, read a recent book, gone to a museum exhibit, or tried the new restaurant across the street, invariably responds:

    I don’t have time.

    Maybe some graduate students replace that excuse with “I don’t have money.”

    As graduate students, we do not have the monopoly on limited time and money.  Having a constant pity party in our own honor for seven years is certainly not the way to happiness or professional success.

    My mother said about relationships that one should start as they mean to go on. In other words, if you do the dishes for your spouse the first few months of marriage, it’s quite likely you’ll keep doing them until one of you dies.

    I would suggest to you all, as we enter a new year and a new semester, to start our relationship with academia as we mean to go on. If we love movies, eating out, rock climbing, or reading our kids bedtime stories, then we should never use grad school as an excuse not to do those things.

    Our priorities in life should include relationships, hobbies, and work. Maybe not every relationship, every fun activity can be given equal time. But we own these choices.

    2 Comments

    Posted in Fun, Strategy

    List Makers

    Posted on January 5, 2009 | Leave a comment

    I use Ta-Da lists. I really like keeping lists on-line because I can update them from any computer or my iPhone.  What’s great about Ta-Da is that you can keep many, many lists. I’ve got 25 at the moment.You can also share lists with other users. I find it very useful to share the grocery list with my husband, for example.

    Some my dissertation lists:

    • the “my dissertation argues . . .” list. When I have a big idea about the purpose of my project, this is where it goes.
    • the “freewrite” list. When I get stuck writing, I can refer back to that list for topics that need some more exploration.
    • the “reasons why I’m writing a dissertation” list. This one is handy in moments of doubt.
    • my “professional” list. This keeps track of things like paying dues to professional organizations and other tasks related to getting a job.
    • the “anecdote” list. When things happen in my daily life related to my dissertation topic, I write them down for later use as paper/talk anecdotes.

    If you have a habit of forgetting to write things down, you might try Jott. You can call their 800 number and leave yourself messages that are transcribed to your desktop application and available on-line. Edit: Jott’s services are no longer free as of February 2009.

    Real Simple had two cute paper list makers in their January issue. One was a small notepad that said “I will do one thing today.” It could be perfect for the overwhelmed. One thing is so much better than no things.

    The other one I liked was the List ME . . . Doodle ME pad from Broadway Paper. As Real Simple suggests, “Doodle to get those creative juices flowing; cross off items to stay on task.”

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    Posted in Process, Strategy

    The Future of the Field

    Posted on December 16, 2008 | Leave a comment

    I just finished reading Education in the Balance, a somewhat disturbing study about jobs in English.

    The report mentioned a phenomenon common in many fields: the division of academic departments into research faculty (who teach mostly graduate students if they teach at all) and teaching faculty (who teach lower-division classes and have little pressure to publish).

    It makes me sad, because in my first semester at Boston University I had awesome teachers who were tenure-track. I wish more college students had the opportunities I had there. I was so stimulated by my classes.

    On a more practical level, though, it’s important as a graduate student to know where one’s allegiance lies. When I first started, I believed that teaching was the most important thing to me, and research was just a hoop to jump through on the way to that goal. Somewhere along the line (shortly after teaching my first class as the instructor of record) I became passionate about my research and a bit skittish about teaching. Seven years in, I’m not sure where I stand.

    These are hard questions, and none of us knows what opportunitites the future may bring. Still, it’s good to imagine what we want. Part-time work teaching composition (at a salary less than I’m making now as a graduate student) is not the only option. Some of us may even have to leave academia to find jobs where we are highly valued. I think that’s something we should all be ready for, because it’s certainly true that not all professor jobs are created equal.

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    Posted in College / University News, Jobs

    Piles

    Posted on December 12, 2008 | Leave a comment

    Long ago, I stopped piling books I ought to read on my desk. The stack of books, looming always in my peripheral vision, was vaguely depressing.

    In fact, I have a beautiful wall of books. The Future Mister Doctor Jones and I built 70 feet of bookshelves. We paid about $250 for materials and spent several days working on it. I would not have known how to do this on my own. However, now that I have it, I know it is worth that much money and a lot more.

    I remember the books I ought to read by consulting a spreadsheet on my computer. I rate each text from 1 to 5—5 being the most exciting and pertinent to my research. I forced myself to make each numbered group about the same size. Working your way through ten urgent texts is not as overwhelming as trying to pick out your next book from a list of 300.

    Tonight, I cleaned up my computer desktop, too. For some reason I thought it was okay to save all the .pdfs I want to read in a line, to glare out at me every time I’m on my computer (which I use for work and pleasure). I double-checked that all the articles were on my spreadsheet, and then I put them into a sub-folder in my dissertation folder.

    Writing a note to yourself, or placing an object in a prominent place, works well as a reminder only if you’re going to act on it within a day or two. And you’re not going to read ten books in a day or two, I promise you.

    It takes work to set up an organizational scheme for research materials—my reading list takes me a couple of days to re-work every year or so. But once you have a place to put these items, it only takes five minutes to put them away after things get crazy. It’s very much worth it to improve your focus while writing.

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    Posted in Guilt, Strategy