Going into Week 4 of Term
The long weekend helped people be calmer last week, so here's hoping it'll carry through into this one. Right now I have the heaviest teaching load and have been remembering what it's like to be in rooms with people and saying things. Our unit bought accessibility masks to wear when teaching, with clear plastic windows over the mouth so people can read lips. In reality the window fogs up with condensation pretty quickly, although apparently from the sides you can see lips moving and that may or may not be helpful.
I keep thinking I have never been this exhausted at the beginning of a term before, and then remembering I've never been a year and a half into a pandemic before.
I'm a bit overwhelmed, or maybe on the edge of it: I have a laundry list of things to do and feel like I'm struggling with them. I sort of feel mentally stuck. For instance this is the first time in over a decade where I have an utter blank for something to submit for my favorite conference next year. Well perhaps not an utter blank, just a bit of an idea that feels incomplete, and like writing a paragraph would be hard. (I'm also collaborating with a junior colleague on a project, and that feels hard too. And I am working hard to sound upbeat when I don't feel it at all.)
I keep thinking I have never been this exhausted at the beginning of a term before, and then remembering I've never been a year and a half into a pandemic before.
I'm a bit overwhelmed, or maybe on the edge of it: I have a laundry list of things to do and feel like I'm struggling with them. I sort of feel mentally stuck. For instance this is the first time in over a decade where I have an utter blank for something to submit for my favorite conference next year. Well perhaps not an utter blank, just a bit of an idea that feels incomplete, and like writing a paragraph would be hard. (I'm also collaborating with a junior colleague on a project, and that feels hard too. And I am working hard to sound upbeat when I don't feel it at all.)