Don't get snowed under
As we get back in the swing of the semester, it can be all too easy to find yourself feeling overwhelmed. After 'slow January,' it can feel like the pace is heating up, and as the wider world returns to more normal operations, work, personal, and family obligations may have you feeling buried. If your schedule is swamped, maybe time blocking could help. Overwhelmed by the news? Consider re-examining how you consume it. Overcome by email? Take some advice from a fellow academic at CUNY and change how you interact with your inbox. Maybe the three.sentenc.es model is too drastic for you, at least to start with, but consider reading & replying to email in batches, "at most a few times a day," so that you can focus on other things the rest of the time. Do you feel like there's just too much going on? In Immunity to Change, Harvard professors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey discuss the feeling of being "in over our heads" amidst the perceived increase of complexity associated with modern life and how most of us, faced with an ever-increasing workload, will put in longer hours rather than take time to prioritize and sustainably allocate our time. Our friends at the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) are big proponents of aligning your time with your priorities, and that's what their monthly Core Curriculum session, coming up later this week (see more detail below), focuses on. Finally, if you can't make changes and need to push through it all and get to the other side, remember to breathe. You've got this. Take a break to attend an Academic Leadership Academy open houseWe know you're out there, already leading, or ready to do so, and we want to help; the Academic Leadership Academy (ALA) was created to offer leadership development to full-time faculty and academic staff. By participating in the one-year program, ALA Fellows build on their emerging leadership skills by applying what they learn to their current roles and/or a leadership project of their choice, attending monthly learning/networking sessions, and engaging in several self-reflection activities. If you'd like to learn more, informal, virtual open house-style Q&A sessions with the ALA Steering Committee and ALA alums are scheduled for the following dates/times (click on the date to download an .ics file, and double-click the downloaded file to add it to your calendar):
You can also email our office, and we'll add you to the invite of your choice. These virtual sessions are informal, and you needn't feel pressured to stick around once your questions are answered, but you are welcome to stay, listen, and chat. Applications to next year's ALA cohort are open now through April 7. Coming upWe're working on planning sessions focusing on promotion and tenure, beginning in the coming months. We'll send out notices, but be sure to check our professional development session page for anything that's scheduled. Associate professors with tenure, if you've been following along with our Associate to Full workshop series, we are entering a quiet period to give you time to work on your narrative. Be on the lookout for a save-the-date email for a writing retreat day in early March, and get in touch with our office if you're still interested in participating but aren't already on our mailing list. Coming up at the NCFDD
Here's what's coming up at the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). Don't forget: our membership gives you access to all their regular programming. Faculty Success Program Preview Webinar: 5 Secrets to a Super-Productive Semester2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8 | Guest Webinar: Register for Faculty Success Program Preview Webinar The NCFDD's Faculty Success Program (FSP), or "boot camp," is a 12-week online program run every semester and over the summer, which helps non-tenure track, tenure-track, and tenured faculty with the skills necessary to increase research and writing productivity while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The preview webinar will give you a glimpse at what you can expect if you sign up for the FSP. SKILL #2: How to Align Your Time with Your Priorities2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9 | Core Curriculum: Register for SKILL #2: How to Align Your Time with Your Priorities Grab your strategic plan and learn the secret to making it work day-to-day and week-to-week! How to Align Your Time with Your Priorities is a step-by-step guide to holding a weekly planning meeting (aka The Weekly Meeting). This is a HANDS-ON webinar where you'll not only learn the technique but actually do it! Power Your Research: Academic Branding2 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Tue, Feb. 21 | Guest Webinar: Register for Power Your Research: Academic Branding Dr. Sheena C. Howard, Founder of the academic branding company Power Your Research, will walk educators and academics through tools to build a profitable personal academic brand. NCFDD 14-day writing challenge
Everyone we've spoken to who has previously taken part in one of these has enjoyed it and found it very beneficial. We can even help you keep track with our Writing Warriors Writing Accountability Group app. Check out the instructions (pdf) and join us in the app today! |
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Coming up at the end of the month, the