Deadlines

I am frustrated.

I am way, way behind on completing my 2nd signature article and submitting it. I keep pushing the deadline back...realistically, at this rate, it won't get out the door until the end of the semester.

What's my problem?

Everything else is deadline driven, which is my problem. I am co-writing a book on k-8 reasoning (writing to deadlines). I am co-writing a book on 9-12 proof (writing to deadlines). I am co-writing a chapter on inductive and deductive reasoning in adolescents (writing to deadlines). I am teaching and grading (highly deadline driven). I am advising 10 students (not really deadline driven, so much, but time consuming in terms of meetings and reading their work). I have eighteen (18!!) grants to review by Nov. 3 (why, oh why, oh why did I say yes to that?). Oh, and I forgot that I am also co-writing an article with a couple of authors for a particular journal (less deadline driven than the others, but with the pressure that comes with not wanting to screw over your co-authors). So of course my solo-authored article ends up at the bottom of the heap every week as I scramble to make all of these deadlines.

Which is dumb, because the thing that is the most important ends up getting pushed to the bottom.

In my old life, how I would deal with this would be to just work through. Stay at work late, work through the weekend, and slowly triage everything and get through the pile. I cannot do this sort of thing when kids need to be picked up at a certain hour and a family needs me there for at least part of the weekend. I work every evening after the kids are asleep, but by then I'm mentally tired enough that the only work I know I'll do well is sort of (comparatively) mindless stuff like grading or course prep, so that's what I do. My plan is to review grants every evening as well now, hopefully 1 per night if I'm diligent.

And then our house is a disaster because I moved my office down to the basement, which is to say there is a disconnected desk and printer and papers and boxes and light and chair and random stuff strewn about the basement waiting to be organized, and Jake's saying "we have a lot of work to do in the basement this weekend" and I'm thinking, uh, the basement can wait because I have 800 actual work things to do.

My problem is that I've got 80 hours worth of stuff to get done every week, but considerably less than 80 hours to do it in.

I just want to get signature article #2 out the door. I will feel better once it's out the door. Anyway, the kids are in bed now, so time to get started on reviewing those grants...