Full summer days

I knew going into my summer that it would be heavily front-loaded. I assumed I was mentally ready for a front-loaded summer. Now it’s the end of June and I’m wondering: where the heck did the month go?!

My research students started working the day after finals ended, and they finish up within the next couple of weeks. They did research with me for credit in the spring, so they hit the ground running — and run they have! They’re doing really strong work and really pushing our research forward, looking at a problem that’s been on my to-do list for a while. It’s exciting to see the progress they’re making, and how much they’re learning in the process.

I’ve been able to spend a few sustained hours here and there working on my research as well, but it’s been more piecemeal than the long stretches of deep thinking I’d hoped would materialize. Other than meetings here and there that bisect my day, I’ve been working with colleagues to implement a curricular change (we received an internal grant to do so), and that’s taken up a good amount of my time this month. It’s fun work, and I get to learn a new-to-me language in the process which is exercising my brain in all sorts of good ways (and reminds me of all the ways our students struggle when learning new programming languages, which is a good reminder). But it’s still time away from research, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a bit of underlying anxiety around that.

I have some similar small projects next month that will bisect my days and my attention, and so I’m already thinking through ways to spend my July work time thoughtfully and intentionally. I really want to take an extended break in the late July / August timeframe. To do so, I might need to adjust my expectations of what I can reasonably get done, and what “done” means in each project’s context, before that break.

Work’s not the only context in which I’m feeling that the summer’s gone by too fast. We’ve received a TON of rain this month, and as a result I haven’t been out on my bike as much as I’d like. I haven’t gotten out on my kayak either, nor have I done any open water swimming! To be fair, weekends have either been rainy or full of scheduled things (or both), so discretionary time is at a premium. July looks a lot more open, so I should have more time to get out on the bike / kayak / water. (Present Me is thanking Past Me for not signing up for any aquabike races and thus not having to find time to train.) In particular, next week there’s no Masters swimming, so I should be able to get out for at least one open water swim.

TL;DR: while my front-loaded summer is filled with good and useful activities, I wish I had more time and space for the things I assumed I’d be able to fit in (including blogging here!). Knowing that these full days are a temporary state helps a bit, but I’ll still be looking for ways to make sure I can fit those other things into my life, without burning myself out in the process.