My goals for 2011: More time for reading
2010 was a year that saw me battle the popular perception that all I did was blogging and social media, when the truth is, I’m an academic. I am happy to say that I feel I have won the battle. For the most part, whenever I attend any event ‘in the circuit‘, like it happened at the opening of Q4 al Centro, people ask me about my academic activities.
Most often, particularly, my teaching at UBC, although some people do ask about what I do for research). While I really feel that I’ve been lucky to balance and juggle everything I do (mostly by waking up at the ungodly hour of 4:45 am), I completely realize that, as an academic, I can’t master a field if I don’t read the literature.
So my goal for 2011 is to make more time for reading. Right now I am cranking out publications like there’s no tomorrow (and grading final research papers that my students submitted recently), editing the syllabi of the two courses I’ll be teaching next term, and preparing to go on a writing retreat, but I have already established that in 2011, come hell or high water, I’ll be scheduling time to just do that, read. I do schedule one full day of research a week, where I don’t do any social media (or at least I try to), but this coming 2011 it will be just time to read.
I’m very lucky to speed-read and have a photographic memory, but I think I’ve depended too much and I’ve gotten people used to my speed. And that’s not healthy. Because as time goes by and I get older, I most likely won’t be able to keep up the work pace I have right now. So it’s better if I just schedule time to read, to master the literature, to find and identify the gaps I need to explore in my field. And of course, I hope people don’t think I’m planning to shut down this blog!
So that’s my first goal for 2011: More time for reading.
Related posts:
- Consistently achieving your goals: Be disciplined
- On slowing down, thinking hard and the wise management of time
- My goals for 2011: Improve my photography
- Catching up on reading while on holidays
- Reading is Sexy Calendar @EmmeRogers Launch Party on Dec 3rd
I’d like to read more in 2011 too. But I am thinking of ebooks and getting an ebook reader if its not too expensive. If I find one maybe n ebay in my budget then I’ll get it and download a lot of ebooks.