This week in Oxford we're having a heatwave. Now, by heatwave I don't mean to get you all excited (unless you live in the British Isles) because my idea of a heatwave and the idea held by people in most of the rest of the world... well... shall we just say that there's a difference? But still, it's hot by *my* standards, the sun is shining and the baby is quietly passed out upstairs.
So far as domesticity is concerned, it's 10am and I have stripped the bed and have the washing machine on, which I think is really rather virtuous, so I can sit down, guilt-free, with a cup of tea and write here for a few minutes before starting on a little work.
The danger with a PhD is that you can while away weeks on what *seems* like academic activity, but which actually boils down to nothing more than establishing that two or three books are of no use to your research. Having wasted some time like that, I sat down and wrote out a little schedule of targets and bit-sized topics of about 2,500 words each to meet every ten days or so and as this approach is working out quite succesfully, I am feeling quite good about that too.
So I'm feeling good about the weather, the baby, laundry, tea and work. Not bad for a Wednesday morning, is it?
Good for you for setting up a schedule and being productive on the home front as well! I totally know what you mean about thinking you're diligently working along and really having barely anything to show for it. I'm still struggling with that and with not feeling guilty about it. I have to get used to thinking that *that* counts as work too.
Posted by: S | Wednesday, 01 July 2009 at 11:50 PM