I have been working on a number of longer posts, but I find I have to draft them and let them sit for a couple of days and come back to them. In a conversation with a friend a couple of weeks ago, we were discussing how awesome the (somewhat) flexibility of our positions as professors afford us. My schedule and office time has become more and more standard over the years especially as a director, but lots of my time is still flexible. I can answer student emails and queries from potential graduate students at 9:30 PM or 5:30 AM. I work better with a routine, and so each semester, I try to vary things up a bit to take advantage of the flexibility.  I’ve never added up the number of hours I spend each week at or on work mostly because I love what I do, and does reading a great new book or article by a smart scholar really count as work?

I was lamenting to my friend how it’s REALLY hard to explain to people outside higher education (my partner, Shane, has been so patient in learning this) or who haven’t done administrative work where the time in the day goes. I tell anyone in my family (except my brother, Michael Eble, who is also a professor) that I teach one course a semester 3x a week for 50 minutes, and they wonder what the heck I am doing with all the rest of the time.

Now, let me be clear, this is not a post about how busy I am #allthetime; it’s actually the opposite. I am grateful for a career and position where every day is a little different, and there’s almost no way to plan or expect the types of conversations I will get to have or the issues and problems I will need get to solve.

So today, I spent the morning meeting with several graduate students. I needed to meet with three of them so I could give them a list of things to do for their assistantships and set their hours, but then I had the opportunity to talk with them about their classes and projects. Then I met with two others to discuss their MA final projects and answer questions related to graduation, potential PhD programs, etc. I talked with two other MA students briefly about their bake sale, and I donated money and my cupcake to someone else. It was a great, rewarding morning and reminded me why I love my job.

By now, it was 1:30…I warmed my lunch and consulted with another director on two issues and then walked across campus to a graduate program directors’ meeting. There I added 5 due dates to my calendar for assessment data, reports, and proposals due to the graduate school…all before February 15. And then I reminded myself how much I love what I do even if I don’t love every minute of every day. I left there @ 4:00, walked back to my office, checked on the graduate students in the writing studio, and sent emails (wrote to my co-editor about a project, confirmed graduate student hours, confirmed with co-presenter for  lunch and learns at Vidant Medical Center, consulted with my assistant, checked on the submission of another edited collection proposal, and requested money for the graduate students), until 5:45 before coming home. This doesn’t include the texting and facebooking sprinkled throughout with friends.

And now I’m reading for the class I teach in the morning, which hardly seems like work. I genuinely love watching the students grow and learn, and I enjoy learning from them as well. They seem genuinely surprised when I tell them that I learn from them.

What surprised me today was how out of sorts it made me to change gears after such a lovely morning with students. But it might have been the first time, I was still enough to be mindful of it. I decided to just embrace it and remind myself that I probably wouldn’t change a thing. I mean, maybe less meetings, but for someone as extroverted as me, some meetings are ok. (Ha!)

Lately, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the cognitive load required to shift my attention, focus, and energy throughout the day. From teaching and consulting with students to crisis prevention or problem-solving some issue not to mention the questions I need to answer not to mention the reading, writing, communicating, and grading. Lots of folks have made suggestions. Don’t look at email. Look at email only once. Close the door. Make priorities. Make appointments. Stay focused. Complete one task before you begin another. Yada. Yada.

What I’ve decided is to embrace the chaos, dig in, and get stuff done. It’s the only way to remain sane and calm in a hectic environment where reaction is the norm. I’m working on being proactive, and I think pro-action takes calmness and stillness if only for 5 seconds or so to think and have my brain catch up with my words or my words catch up with my brain. I recognize that calm and still are not words often used to describe me (if ever), but I wonder if that’s not a word that might be used to describe me as I turn 40.

As for lagniappe in my day in the life, I have the privilege of working with some amazing friends/colleagues and students. It’s doesn’t get any better.

Thanks for reading!