on returning to posting

It is probably relatively easy for anyone to guess how my first year as an assistant professor went once they see how many blog posts I have here.  Apparently, it has been more than a year since I have been able to put some ideas up on my blog.  The take-home message about how it went can really be summarized in one word: BUSY.  As I was reacquainting myself with the setup I have going on here, I discovered that I had a draft blog post lying in wait that I was never able to finish last fall:

Getting my act together this semester has been harder than I thought it would be.  Take this blog for instance.  I had a goal to post every Friday around noon-ish from my first official week of work on.  That has not happened, and now I am hoping to be able to keep this up every week from now on.

Clearly that did not go as planned either.  All in all, as I sit here during the third week of my second fall semester, I consider my first year an overall success.  The summer was not very productive, as I was traveling a lot for conferences and such, but over the course of the whole year I did get two courses under my belt, two papers accepted, three conference presentations, and a grant funded with some collaborators.

As for this year, right now I am teaching two classes (the same preps I had last year) and a new course faces me this spring.  And, as always, I am trying to get out some papers that have been on my desk for way too long.  None of this will come as any surprise to any one familiar with my profession.  Upon reflection, I think the real lack of blog posts over the past year has been a lack of anything truly interesting to say.  (Perhaps that is why I update Twitter so frequently?)  The day-to-day life is much the same as one would expect, and the hardest thing to do has been to manage my time wisely.  In the coming posts, perhaps I will offer up a few things that I learned…

Striking ahead, though, I am going to resolve to be better about updating my blog.  My graduate students recently reminded me that although much of my life as a professor is the same day-to-day, I might be able to offer some minimal advice to others who want to be professors, too.  Or, at the very least, I can commiserate.  The take-home message for today?  If it’s your first year as an assistant professor, know when being good about time management means not updating your blog weekly.

on settling in…it’s harder than it looks

It is not easy to overestimate the amount of time it takes to settle in after a move.  If you are a university faculty member, anticipating moving your research program on top of everything else can be enough to cause more than a few sleepless nights.  And, if, like me, you are preparing to start your first tenure-track job, well, that can be nothing less than panic inducing.

I have had a busy year to date…  In the last 8 months, I went on the job market and applied to 20 positions, interviewed for 7 of those positions, got married, went on a honeymoon to Greece, accepted my first tenure-track faculty position, made at least 4 extended trips for work, bought a house, moved, adopted a dog and a cat, and lived through my husband defending his dissertation.  I can’t say as I would recommend having quite so many milestones in a year, but it has been a great one so far, and I am extremely fortunate to have had a banner year when things have been hard for everyone and faculty positions have been so scarce for us academics.

As another job searching season descends upon us universtity-types, I thought I would dedicate my first blog post to some thoughts about the moving process.  My take-home message is to move as early as possible.  Three weeks before classes start sound like enough time to get everything sorted?  Add two weeks and save yourself a few gray hairs in the process.  My official first week on campus started August 10th, but I had been in town for almost 5 full weeks by then.  It sounds like a long time, but I am really happy that I didn’t move two weeks ago, as originally planned.  As a first-time home-buyer, I greatly underestimated the amount of time it would take to get settled in.  And, even though I know the process of “on boarding” at a new university, it is easy to forget how long that process takes.  Clearly, you don’t need a month to get ready for your new phase of life, but it sure makes things easier.  (Plus, if you have agreed to review a few extra papers and a book as favors during your “downtime,” you need that extra cushion!)

A few lessons I learned:

(1) Move as early as possible.  Add two weeks to whatever seems reasonable the first time you think about the move.

(2) Does moving early mean you are going to have to go a month or two without a paycheck?  If you can afford to, do it.  Start saving now and make your life more enjoyable later.

(3) Trying to decide between giving yourself more time at your current institution or your new institution?  Give it to your new institution.  Huge amounts of stress before you go are a vast improvement over huge amounts of stress right before classes start.

(4) Say “no” to anything anyone wants you to do between your end date at your old institution and your start date at your new institution.  Even if you think it won’t be that hard to do an article review or two while you are unpacking and applying for your new driver’s license, it will be.

(5) Make a list.  A big long list.  Include any little thing that flashes through your mind as something you do during your day at work.  You are going to need to figure out how to do that at your new institution.  Starting the list early gives you plenty of time to think of random things you usually don’t notice, and helps decrease the amount of time you spend running around your new campus.  Plus, it helps ensure you only have to bug HR and the computer techs once with all of your questions.

(6) Try not to feel too guilty about all of your research and other work you are letting slide while you are moving.  Everyone understands.

For those of you on the job market right now, here is a bonus that I learned while on the job market last fall:

Keep it in perspective.  Yes, it’s stressful.  But, don’t let it dominate your life.  You are smart.  Really smart.  There are lots of jobs that you could be good at and that you might enjoy.  It is a difficult process to control, so try to go with the flow and trust your instincts.  Being on the job market can be a ton of fun, if you let yourself enjoy it — you get to travel and see lots of different universities (if you are going that route), meet lots of interesting people who do all kinds of interesting things, and talk about yourself and your work for two whole days!  What could be better?