After my terribly depressing post earlier this week, I thought I'd do a follow up.
In the 48 hours following me posting that mess, I had three different people mention that all that matters is doing things good enough. Get things 80% of the way there. My 80% is more than other people's 100%. And OF COURSE THEY ARE RIGHT.
Yesterday I sat down at my desk and, using the Pomodoro Method, knocked SO MANY THINGS off of my to-do list. Is the entire to-do list empty? Heck no. But I got a good chunk of things completed, and that's good enough.
I finally got to Inbox Zero at work yesterday. I had to lose some emails that were sent months ago, but with a new semester starting I think that's perfectly alright. I've had lots of issues with our work email system, including one afternoon last week where I sat with my inbox open, receiving no new emails there or on my phone, left work, came in the next morning, and had 30 unread emails from the previous afternoon.
I was talking with one of the faculty yesterday afternoon and she mentioned how frustrated she still is (after years of teaching) about student evaluations complaining about the work she expects from them. I mentioned how it constantly feels like students (and let's be real, the administration) don't appreciate us doing extra - they want to do the bare minimum in their classes. I really struggle with this, since the classes I teach aren't huge, they aren't part of a particular subject area, and historically they were "easy A" classes. On the first day I tell everyone that I expect for them to get an A in the class, but they'll have to pull their own weight. Last semester I had more non-A grades than I have had in the entire time I've been teaching. The other faculty member asked if I thought any other faculty worried about not giving A's to students, and I realized... no. They don't. If a student doesn't do the work, they don't get the grade.
I think a lot of the feeling inadequate at work comes from the fact that:
In the 48 hours following me posting that mess, I had three different people mention that all that matters is doing things good enough. Get things 80% of the way there. My 80% is more than other people's 100%. And OF COURSE THEY ARE RIGHT.
Yesterday I sat down at my desk and, using the Pomodoro Method, knocked SO MANY THINGS off of my to-do list. Is the entire to-do list empty? Heck no. But I got a good chunk of things completed, and that's good enough.
I finally got to Inbox Zero at work yesterday. I had to lose some emails that were sent months ago, but with a new semester starting I think that's perfectly alright. I've had lots of issues with our work email system, including one afternoon last week where I sat with my inbox open, receiving no new emails there or on my phone, left work, came in the next morning, and had 30 unread emails from the previous afternoon.
I was talking with one of the faculty yesterday afternoon and she mentioned how frustrated she still is (after years of teaching) about student evaluations complaining about the work she expects from them. I mentioned how it constantly feels like students (and let's be real, the administration) don't appreciate us doing extra - they want to do the bare minimum in their classes. I really struggle with this, since the classes I teach aren't huge, they aren't part of a particular subject area, and historically they were "easy A" classes. On the first day I tell everyone that I expect for them to get an A in the class, but they'll have to pull their own weight. Last semester I had more non-A grades than I have had in the entire time I've been teaching. The other faculty member asked if I thought any other faculty worried about not giving A's to students, and I realized... no. They don't. If a student doesn't do the work, they don't get the grade.
I think a lot of the feeling inadequate at work comes from the fact that:
1. I'm not officially faculty - I'm an "adjunct lecturer" in addition to my real, more student affairs-y job.
2. I don't have a terminal degree, and thus (right or wrong) don't get as much respect from students or faculty. and
3. I am the only one any of this applies to. The only person on campus with this kind of responsibility. And it makes me feel alone, but it also makes me feel like I should/could constantly be doing more.
I don't really have a solution, but I'm going to sit down with my Pomodoro Timer (of course I use the free one I haven't fundamentally changed as a person lol) and try to crank out some to-do list items this morning before all of my student meetings.
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