It's been a long, long time . . .

Hello, mom and Auntie Lynn (my two dedicated blog readers!) and maybe Kate (?)!

As you know, I started a different blog project at the beginning of 2013 in order to explore a creative non-academic endeavor, but I haven't lost complete interest in this blog.  To be honest, part of my motivation for establishing this blog was to keep myself accountable and force my hand to do my necessary research regularly.  And I can say with confidence that I have established a regular research routine.  Most weekdays (M–F only--I take most weekends off from research) I spend a solid uninterrupted 60 minutes or more on my research.  I am still keeping a daily log, but I don't feel the need to post it since I have formed the habit.

I thought I would make a few updates to show what I have been able to accomplish, and what I hope to accomplish in the next few months:

• I was invited to give a talk at an international conference earlier this month in Asheville, North Carolina.  It was stressful getting prepared in time, but it all worked out well, and now I have a nice written draft of new research I hope to eventually develop into another publishable article.
• One essay I wrote was accepted for publication in Indiana Theory Review (it should be out in print this year).  Yay!
• Another essay was accepted pending revisions in another major refereed (top-tier) journal--which I am super excited about.  I don't want to jinx the process by naming the journal on the blog just yet.  I want to make sure my revisions are accepted and the publication is finalized, and then I'll announce it!  I really needed this publication for my self-confidence and in order to keep my academic job--it will help strengthen my case for tenure, whenever I end up going up for tenure (I have some flexibility built into my tenure clock at my job).  My goal by April 30 is to have finished the necessary revisions and send it back off to the editor.
• I have an old manuscript laying around, which has been the bain of my professional existence.  I can't seem to find a reputable refereed journal to publish it, but I still believe in the essay and my ideas SO . . . my goal for the month of May will be to revise the paper (I've already solicited feedback from two preeminent scholars in the field, which I will incorporate in my revisions) and then resubmit it somewhere else for possible publication.  If I were able to get this essay published, I would feel almost 100% confident that I wouldn't have trouble getting tenure.  For me, it would be my "slam dunk."  Now I just have to make it happen.
• I just found out that I will be presenting at an international conference on analyzing popular music in July in Liverpool, England (super cool!).  My topic will build off of the conference talk I just gave in Asheville, but the audience will be completely different and so will my approach . . .  Writing this conference paper (or reworking the draft) will be my goal for the month of June.

I won't be going up for tenure this year (and although at first I felt disappointed, I now see it may be a blessing to have some more time).  I will be taking a sabbatical leave for research this fall (that means I won't be teaching and I'll be able to spend the next eight months entirely devoted to research, minus a week here or there for the occasional trip).  I'm looking forward to developing a research routine and further goals for the fall once classes end.  I hope to use this blog to do just that.

Alright, that's it for now.  I hope to post again soon. . .  Thanks for reading.

168 Hours

Obviously, I haven't posted for awhile.  But that doesn't mean I haven't been working.  I have been keeping a daily log of my work-related activities, always striving for at least 15 minutes a day on research/writing.  I think I have developed a solid habit of engaging my research Mon.–Fri., and I am pleased with that.  So I may not post all of my daily totals, week-by-week or month-by-month anymore, on this blog, now that the habit is set.  I am not sure of the direction I want this blog to take, but I am not ready to let go of it yet so I will continue to post things that relate to work productivity with the hope they may be helpful to others.

I have been reading this book by author Laura Vanderkam called 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think.  It encourages the reader to take a serious look at how she uses her time--on a week by week basis.  In one of the earliest chapters, the author prompts the reader to keep a log of all activities and time spent on each one for an entire week.  I did this exercise and found I spent my 168 hours in the following ways:

I learned A LOT by doing this exercise, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in a reality check to see where your time actually goes.  Vanderkam makes the argument that most people severely overestimate the time that they work and underestimate the amount of time they spend engaged in leisure activities.  I will say it felt a little cumbersome to always be writing down what I was doing in any given part of my day, but overall the exercise was worthwhile.  So here is what I learned:

I spent 11 hours pretty much goofing off.  My "goofing off" category includes 4 hours and 45 minutes of watching TV and a whopping 6 hours and 18 minutes on my ipad at home--checking email, catching up on my favorite blogs, and playing word games.  This is the area I would like to restrict further.  I generally think of myself as not watching that much TV, and I certainly don't think I benefit from it at all.  Even if I cut this entire "goofing off" area in half, I will create over 5 and a half hours of time I could spend on things that matter more to me, such as playing and writing music, for example.

I was pleased to see that I spend a lot of time in other areas that are important to me, such as quality time with Kate and exercise.  

More relevant to this blog . . . Of the 42 hours I spent working, here's what I did:

I was surprised to learn that although I am scheduled to teach for 9 hours each week, I spend 11 hours and 45 minutes in my classroom.  This accounts for time spent getting the room ready before class begins, ten minutes in between back-to-back sections I teach, and time spent lingering with students after class is over.  Still, I end up spending 2 hours and 45 minutes more in my classroom than what I thought!

I was happy to see that I spent over 9 hours and 41 minutes on research.  This may or may not have been a typical week (slice out of my normal life), but that seems to me a pretty hefty research load while teaching full time.  I was also happy to see that I didn't spend ridiculous amounts of time on menial tasks that don't directly relate to my success--like scanning scores or tidying my office.  I spent over three hours of my week on work emails alone, but I don't think I can reduce this amount of time at all.  I already limit myself to checking email just a few times a day, and then responding to work emails only when I devote small chunks of time for this sole purpose so as not to let it take over my work day.

Finally, this entire exercise got me thinking more broadly about how I want to spend my time and what activities/goals/dreams I should be prioritizing over others.  For example, I spent 2 hours and 14 minutes walk/running with my dog.  Okay, yes, she (and I) both needed the exercise, BUT isn't it odd that I spent 2 hours and 14 minutes walk/running and ONLY 45 minutes composing music?  Do I want to spend more time running than writing music?  I don't think so.  I would rather devote more time to developing my musical craft and honing a talent I actually possess.  (I am not a talented runner; in fact, I am very slow.  On the contrary, I actually have degrees in music and have committed my life [ostensibly] to music, so what gives?)  After having had a few weeks to ponder questions like these, I think the solution is not necessarily cutting out running from my life (I actually had to do that for two and half months while recovering from a nasty stress fracture, so no thank you, I'll just keep running), but rather reallocate time I spend "goofing off" toward more meaningful activities, such as writing music.

I'll post more on this topic again soon.  Thanks for reading.

Out with August, in with September . . .

First, here is a summary of the last two weeks of August:

Mon. 8/20
research revising/writing: 45 min.
practiced piano: 47 min.

Tues. 8/21

research revising/writing: 34 min.
practiced piano: 60 min.


Wed. 8/22

composed: 60 min.
research revising/writing: 32 min.
practiced piano: 40 min.


Thurs. 8/23
research revising/writing: 39 min.

Fri. 8/24
research revising/writing: 21 min.

Mon. 8/27

research revising/writing: 54 min.
practiced piano: 90 min.


Tues. 8/28

research revising/writing: 111 min.
practiced piano: 60 min.


Wed. 8/29

research revising/writing: 39 min.
research gathering sources: 130 min.
practiced piano: 60 min.


Thurs. 8/30

research revising/writing: 20 min.
research reading: 32 min.
research gathering sources: 38 min.
research song analysis: 58 min.
practiced piano: 60 min.


Fri. 8/31

research revising/writing: 26 min.
practiced piano: 60 min.

Sat. 9/1
practiced piano: 60 min.

Totals for the last fortnight:

• Time spent writing/revising: 421 min.
• Time spent engaging research (not writing/revising): 258 min.
• Time spent composing: 60 min.
• Time spent practicing: 537 min.

Alright, so August wasn't my best month professionally (a rejection here, a lack of motivation there . . .) but I have a new frame of mind for September.  Here are my goals for the month:

• Continue revisions on paper #1
• Prepare 50 min. talk on the topic of paper #1 for a presentation on Oct. 1
• Song analysis and continued reading for paper #2
• Continue practicing A LOT for the upcoming concert on Sept. 22
• If time, start gathering sources for a new project, let's call it paper #3 for now, for an invited talk I will be giving at a conference in April

weekly log

Here goes:

Sun 8/12: 
practiced piano: 60+ min.

Mon. 8/13:
practiced piano: 70 min.
composing: 40 min.; sketched new ideas/chord progression
research (writing/revising): 49 min.; fixed two examples

Tues. 8/14:
practiced piano: 45 min.
composing: 80 min.; wrote 11 measures for a new piece
research (writing/revising): 41 min.; revised 7 pages; cut 216 words

Wed. 8/15:
practiced piano: 24 min.
composing: 31 min.
research (writing/revising): 27 min.; cut 39 words

Thurs. 8/16: played hooky. needed a sanity day. got my hair cut instead.

Fri. 8/17:
practiced piano: 35 min.
research (writing/revising): 61 min.; revised 4 pages
[also read and typed notes on a reading . . . I am going to need to start doing more of this to beef up my paper before I can even think about sending it off somewhere]

Weekly totals:
I spent 234+ minutes practicing piano.
I spent 178 minutes writing and revising my research paper.
I spent 151 minutes composing.

It wasn't the most productive week, but it is better than nothing.

Since January 23 . . .

Out of curiosity, I went back through my logs and found that since January 23, I have spent:

6255 minutes writing or revising my research, and
828 minutes composing or revising new music.

That's 104 hours and fifteen minutes on research, and 13 hours and 48 minutes composing.

I saw my productivity spike in two places--(1) after I started the Tara Gray 15-minutes-per-day writing technique, and (2) after classes ended for the summer.

I think keeping a record is a very good thing.  

Hello, August . . . I'm back!

After a delightful vacation to South Africa, I have resumed my regular summer work schedule.  My activities now include: 

• my regular research/writing/revising sessions; 
• reading relevant literature (the goal is one article per day, but I haven't been as productive on that front);
• preparing my courses for the fall semester;
• composing, when I'm so moved (I need to pick a new project because right now I am just doodling on my staff paper); and
• practicing piano!*

*NB The highlighted items are what I am logging on this blog, to keep myself accountable. 

Before I left for South Africa, I finished writing a piece for solo piano, which I am going to perform at my department's Faculty Gala Concert on September 22 to celebrate the opening of our new beautiful building, the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center.  So my daily tasks now include practicing so that I will be ready to perform in six weeks.  To keep myself accountable, I have been logging the time spent practicing each day.

So here is the summary of my work this week:

Monday 8/6
RESEARCH: 35 minutes; cut 217 words; revised 2.5 pages
COMPOSING: 150 minutes; revised two movements; set one movement in Finale

Tuesday 8/7
RESEARCH: 62 minutes; wrote 2.5 pages
PRACTICED: 74 minutes

Wednesday 8/8
RESEARCH: 48 minutes; revised 3 pages . . . but my revision added 149 words.  Pity.)
PRACTICED: 42 minutes
COMPOSING: didn't keep track, but it was well over 120 minutes; finished setting the final movement in Finale

Thursday 8/9
COMPOSING: 28 minutes; tried to write something new--about 4 measures of not-my-best music
RESEARCH: 57 minutes; revised 13 pages; cut 247 words
PRACTICED: 100 minutes

Friday 8/10
RESEARCH: 43 minutes; cut 869 words
PRACTICED: 72 minutes

And just for the record, this week:
Minutes spent writing or revising my research: 245
Number of pages revised or written: 21 
Minutes spent working on my composition: 298+
Minutes spent practicing piano: 288

Last log for July

This has been a very good week.  Inspired by my new office at the newly renovated Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, I was especially productive yesterday and today.  Here are the details:


Sun. 7/15
COMPOSING: 20 min., wrote 5 measures


Mon. 7/16 
COMPOSING: 47 min., wrote 11 measures
RESEARCH: 88 min., revised 23.5 pages



Tues. 7/17 
COMPOSING: 24 min., wrote 8 measures
RESEARCH: 73 min., cut 6 pages, rewrote 3 paragraphs & other revisions



Wed. 7/18 
COMPOSING: 14 min., no new measures, but created a large-scale plan for my piece
RESEARCH: none (moved into my new office and unpacked my boxes)



Thurs. 7/19 
COMPOSING: 43 min., wrote 14 measures
RESEARCH: 80 min., cut 249 words


Fri. 7/20
COMPOSING: 22 minutes, wrote 2 measures + 50 minutes on Finale, putting one of my three movements into musical notation
RESEARCH: 144 min., includes 9 minutes of revisions and the rest of the time reading three additional sources and taking notes.  Found some great stuff!!!


If you look carefully, you will see that I wrote music six days in a row, which is very good for me.  I am forming a routine, which makes me happy.  And I finished the three-movement piano piece I was writing!


My primary focus at this stage of my research project is cutting words and making what I have more succinct.  Currently my document is at 13,427 words and I need to get it down to a maximum of 10,000 if I want to to submit for possible publication in a scholarly journal.  At this stage, I am also reengaging with relevant literature and sources now that I have a clearer idea of which arguments need more support or development.  So I'll most likely be spending more time reading and note taking than writing for the next month or so.  We shall see.


I will not be working or blogging about what I have done (because I won't be doing anything creative or academic) for the next two weeks.  I am going on a technology-free vacation far away and really looking forward to it.

log for the past week

I am not feeling particularly creative or academic lately, but that's okay.  Here were my endeavors this week:


Mon. 7/9: RESEARCH 30 min., wrote 1.5 pages by hand


Tues. 7/10: RESEARCH 33 min., wrote 3ish pages by hand


Wed. 7/11: 
COMPOSED 48 min., wrote about 44 seconds of very slow music
RESEARCH 49 min., typed 1.5 pages (405 words)


Thurs. 7/12: RESEARCH 66 min., revised 1.5 pages (405 into 388 better words to make an abstract for a book chapter proposal on a new research topic) + light revision of 40ish pages of my other project


Fri. 7/13: nada, zip, zilch, pretty much played hooky all day


Sat. 7/14: 
COMPOSED 60 min., wrote four really fast bars of music (that I happen to like . . . that's the problem sometimes is that I spend all this time writing something it turns out I don't really like at all . . .) after a period of non-productivity
RESEARCH 44 min., revised 10 pages


SUMMARY:
Minutes spent engaged in my research projects: 222
New pages written: 6
Pages revised: 51.5
Abstracts submitted for hopeful publication opportunity: 1
Minutes spent composing: 108

Log for the week

It has been a good week.  I took Wednesday off for Independence Day, but otherwise engaged my research project every day.  I also managed to work on my musical composition two of the four work days.  Here's the rundown:


Mon. 7/2
RESEARCH/WRITING: 49 minutes, created two phrasing charts and wrote 2 pages of prose by hand


Tues. 7/3
RESEARCH/WRITING: 71 minutes, typed 2 paragraphs of prose and created a kick-ass figure


Thurs. 7/4
COMPOSING: 56 minutes, 11 measures (or about 17 seconds of music)
RESEARCH/WRITING: 29 minutes, typed 1 new paragraph of prose, created 1 new figure, and revised a bit + 35 minutes working on sources and bibliography


Fri. 7/5 
COMPOSING: 22 minutes, finished the little movement I was working on . . . which is good, but . . . (not sure if I like it; it is quite dissonant and I am just not sure; oh well)
RESEARCH/WRITING: 40 minutes, revised 20 pages


This week's total productivity:
Minutes spent engaged in my research project: 224
Pages written: 4.5
Figures created: 2
Minutes spent writing music: 78
Compositions completed: 1

Past week's log

It has been a good week, work-wise, because I engaged my research project every day, which is my goal.  I also started writing music again, after a longer-than-I'd-like-to-admit hiatus.  Here are the details:


Mon. 6/25
RESEARCH PROJECT: 60 minutes, revised 3.5 pages


Tues. 6/26
RESEARCH PROJECT: 16 minutes, revised 6 pages


Wed. 6/27
COMPOSING: 73 minutes, wrote about 24 seconds of music
RESEARCH PROJECT: 30 minutes, revised first 3.5 pages again (they are rough!)


Thurs. 6/28
RESEARCH PROJECT: 25 minutes, revised/added to 2 pages


Fri. 6/29
COMPOSING: 74 minutes, wrote about 18 seconds of music
RESEARCH PROJECT: 33 minutes, revised/added to 2 pages


TOTALS:
164 minutes spent revising 17 pages of prose
174 minutes spent composing 42 seconds of music

The past fortnight's activity

Well, well.  I guess when I said I would stop posting so often, I meant it.  I never posted last week either because my schedule was too full.  I spent a week in downtown Cincinnati grading AP music theory exams, which was a blast but also very taxing!  Then I flew back to NH just to spend two long days driving west back home to St. Paul.  We got back last night, and today was my first "normal" day back into something resembling a regular routine.  I missed writing four of the past ten working days (M-F), which is too bad, but since I was traveling, I cut myself a break.  Here's the rundown:


Mon. 6/11: 47 minutes, 2.5 handwritten pages
Tues. 6/12: 22 minutes, 2 handwritten pages
Wed. 6/13: 24 minutes, 2.5 handwritten pages
Thurs. 6/14: 18 minutes, 2 handwritten pages
Fri–Sun 6/15–6/17: nothing


Mon. 6/18: 21 minutes, 2 handwritten pages
Tues. 6/19–Thurs. 6/21: nothing
Fri. 6/22: 73 minutes total (24 freewriting, 2 handwritten pages + 49 minutes revising)


I hope that next week will be more productive and regular.  I am looking forward to Monday because I will meet with my writing circle to review a few pages of each other's writing.  

Summary for this week

So I am moving toward weekly posts instead of posting daily.  My weeks will run Saturday to Friday, with weekly posts on Friday.  Here's the rundown:


Sat. 6/2: 197 minutes, 6 pages
Sun 6/3: day off, no writing
Mon. 6/4: 156 minutes, 6 pages
Tues. 6/5: 88 minutes, 4 pages
Wed. 6/6: 67 minutes, 4 pages
Thurs. 6/7: 35 minutes, 2 paragraphs (about 1.5 pages)
Fri. 6/8: 40 minutes, 3 paragraphs (about 1.5 pages)


TOTAL minutes spent writing new prose: 583 (that's nine solid hours and 43 minutes)
TOTAL number of pages written: 23


These are pretty good numbers and encouraging to me.  Plus, my first draft for my current project is finished!  Up next week will be the arduous process of revising and developing my ideas further.  Through writing the first draft, I have discovered a lot of gaps in my thinking and ideas I simply need to think more about and develop further.


I will be grading AP music theory exams next week so my writing/revising time will be quite limited, but my goal is to write/revise for a minimum of 15 minutes a day.

Log for today

4:32 pm, opened document
5:50 pm, stopped


Totals: 88 minutes, typed 4 new pages of prose


I am thinking about publishing posts less frequently since I have a "writing circle" that I email my progress to daily.  Perhaps a weekly summary/reflection on what I have done each week. . . . Not sure, we shall see.

Log for today

I've been working hard today.  I am bummed that we have had so much cold, rainy weather here in New Hampshire, especially when I am supposed to be on vacation, but it has been good for my academic productivity.  Here are the details:


Total number of minutes spent writing: 156 
Total number of new pages written: 6


That will be all for today.

Log for today

I know it is the weekend, and I usually try to take the weekend "off" from my creative academic pursuits, but it has been raining hard ALL DAY in New Hampshire, and I figured I would make the most of the time indoors.  Here are my totals for today:


197 minutes
6 pages of new prose and figures


That's a little over a half hour per page, which seems slow to me, but I am writing my analysis now, which includes a lot of technical details and figures that are time consuming.  Plus, I am working out my thoughts on a few aspects, too, since this is a work in progress.  Sometimes I will start to write something that I think is true, and then I listen again to the music I am writing about and question my original idea.  Anyhow, writing about music can be tedious, but it is also fun.  In what other line of work, besides DJing like my brother does, would I get to listen to such awesome pop songs all the time and have it count as work?!

Log for yesterday and today

Just because I didn't create a post yesterday doesn't mean I didn't write.  Here are the details:


5/31, 1:13 pm opened .doc
2:57 pm stopped
total: 104 minutes; 4.5 pages of new prose


6/1, 2:27 pm opened .doc
3:56 pm stopped
total: 89 minutes; 4 new pages of examples and prose


Not too shabby.

Log for today

I worked in the evening today even though I didn't want to work at all.  Here are the details:


8:04 pm opened document
8:45 pm finished some reformatting revisions (really mindless stuff) for my journal article submission from yesterday (I received an email response from the journal asking for some changes before they circulate it to the editorial board)


= 41 minutes

Log for today

Thank goodness for a rainy day and sore legs.  I saw both as being signs that I should spend several solid hours on my revising/writing/research.


Total time spent revising today: 164 minutes


End result: I finished the revisions to the paper I had been working on and submitted it to a different journal for review!


It is nice to be done with this thing, for now at least.  I hope this attempt is successful.


And starting tomorrow, I can get back to my other project, which is continuing to write a first draft of my most recent research.  I am looking forward to this!

Log for today

9:00 pm opened doc
9:16 pm finished a few revisions


= 16 minutes of revisions/writing


I almost didn't remember to write today (talk about being in a happy vacation mode!), but I can thank my Macalester colleagues with whom I will be participating in a "writing circle" for helping me remember by sending out there number of minutes spent writing today by email.  Our goal this summer is to meet once a week (which I won't be able to do to until the end of June when I return to St. Paul) and email each other every day stating the progress we have made.

Settling into NH

We drove across the country and are now settled into the New Hampshire house.  I'll be here for the next three weeks, and I found the perfect spot to set up my research/writing area:

The space is located in the apartment above the garage at the New Hampshire house, and it is quiet, delightful, and absent of all distractions!  I haven't had such a place to work since I lived in Ohio.  There is plenty of natural light and windows, and I couldn't be happier.


I was going to resume my writing/revising/research sessions tomorrow, but I had time and thought I would work for just 15 minutes.  Fifteen minutes turned into 68!  Nice.  I'll actually be working a lot more than 15–30 minutes a day since I have no other responsibilities while I am here (unlike when classes are in session and I am teaching).  My plan is to work for four hours in the mornings and then play in the afternoons.  And I need to make sure at least 15 minutes of the entire time is spent revising or writing (again following Tara Gray's plan for publishing and flourishing) as opposed to non-writing activities (research, transcription, listening, reading, etc.).


And another little bit of news: I discovered today that one of my articles was cited extensively on a blog by Ethan Hein.  You can view the blog entry here: http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2012/looping-and-stasis-in-medulla/.  After my recent publication rejection, it was reassuring to see that someone was interested enough to read something I had written and reference it.