So Much To Do - So Little Time

Each day I have more I want to do than I have time for. First there are all of the little tasks that are involved in setting up a business and getting it off the ground. There are also all of those things that must be done to make sure I have a paying job in the meantime. And then there are those things I want to do or make simply because they are fun. Fortunately I have always been a multi-tasker.

Yesterday I revised my teaching statement. I also reworked my statement of teaching philosophy, completely rewrote my research statement, and revised my cover letter (I am still not happy with it but it is good enough for now). I also took another look at my statement of teaching excellence. It's a self-analysis of how well I exemplify the qualities of a "master teacher" with quantitative data from my evals and qualitative quotes from students. I identify ways I plan to improve where I need to. This statement of teaching excellence isn't something I send out with applications; it goes in my teaching portfolio - a useful file to have if and when I ever need to compile a file for T & P.. ha ha. I hadn't updated it for a while, and truthfully, I really need to update it even more. It's a low priority for now.

It was great to work on the documents and make some marked improvements. I'm also having them reviewed by a peer who has served on several search committees for the type of position I'm aiming for.

I still have my dissertation to cut in half and make each part more concise. I need to update the literature review and beef up some of the topical sections. Setting a firm deadline for it is absolutely necessary - and I have to stick to it. It's harder than it looks to set one because I need to make it achievable. I also need to decide which is more important. I am leaning toward reworking the empirical paper first and dealing with the review article second. At least I know where I am sending them to! That is half the battle.

This week I also made an important business purchase - packaging. It had to happen eventually so that I could branch out from etsy to start doing wholesale orders. My materials should arrive next week. That leaves enough time to assemble everything for my first "trunk show" which will happen the weekend after Thanksgiving. I am not expecting much more than exposure because I will essentially be piggy backing on to another artist who has a customer base coming just to see a particular thing. It will be fun to see how my work is received outside of the etsy community.

I have two blank boxes and some envelopes to create - projects sitting in front of me - plus application materials I need to print out tonight... dogs to walk, TV to watch (is Grey's Anatomy new tonight?), dinner to eat...