Dusting off the 'to-do' list of projects close to my heart

One year ago this month I began a brand new job as a Science Teaching and Learning Fellow in the biology department at the University of British Columbia. In a nutshell, I help faculty incorporate best teaching practices into their courses and conduct my own research to determine which methods lead to increased student learning – a job that’s both exciting and, I quickly learned, quite different from anything I’d done during the previous six years studying seaweed biodiversity!

While I love my job and my new life in Vancouver, I recently decided to scale-back at work to 60% of full-time from January to the end of April, 2013. My reason for doing this is to try and break out of the work habits I learned as a grad student: work all the time (not necessarily efficiently, but continually), feel guilty when not working, and feel obligated to say ‘yes’ to any task asked of you by the faculty. I’ve complained for years about my lack of time or energy for projects that really interest me and, frankly, I’m sick of my complaints. This time off, and this blog, are part of my plan to learn some new habits: to work hard at my job – but not let it consume my life – and to make time and find energy for other, different projects that I find satisfying and enriching.

I suppose that’s a roundabout way of saying I’m making time for hobbies.

In order to ensure I’m productive during this time, I’m going to use this blog to list my goals and track my progress. My current list of goals needs some refinement and will likely be added to as I go along, but I think it’s a good jumping-off point. In no particular order, I plan to:

1) Improve my knitting skills.

I will complete at least the following: a wearable sweater (my last effort is too ugly to look at), one toque using a mosaic knitting technique, and one pair of top-down socks with a German heel.

2) Read more books.

I will complete two books each month. This month’s books are Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne and Teaching What You Don’t Know by Therese Houston.

3) Spend more time outdoors.

Twice a month I will do something more adventurous than my day-to-day walking, jogging and cycling around Vancouver. Can be anything from hiking, snowshoeing, snowboarding, day-long cycling trip, etc.

4) Practice photography skills.

I have a Canon Rebel T2i that I use regularly, but nowhere near to its full potential. My favourite photography book is The Digital Photography Book Volume1 by Scott Kelby. I have listed 42 techniques from Kelby’s book that I want to improve on and will specifically practice.

5) Increase my professional and personal presence online.

I will create and post weekly to this blog as well as create a professional e-portfolio by the end of January (contains professional documents – CV, teaching statement, etc. – and is updated much less frequently than a blog). A colleague at UBC – Joanne Fox – has a fantastic e-portfolio that I aspire to create someday. 

6) Become more involved in my community through volunteering.

I will volunteer at least once for a cause related to science education outreach, a cause related to the environment, and a cause related to women’s rights. I have two of the three lined-up, more on this to come.

Progress so far? I'm happy to say I'm off to a good start, including getting this much done on my sweater since I began on Jan. 2nd. Here's hoping I can keep this pace up. Any tips or comments are much appreciated!