Week 166: Moving the needle

In this episode, I talk about how at this point in my college semester as a professor, I am always super overwhelmed and behind on many things. My plan for when I am at this point is to just move the needle on a few important projects to make myself feel better, and then to sort of reward myself/take a moment to appreciate what I've done! Moving the needle just means moving a project forward even a little bit, however long that means (5 minutes, an hour and a half, whatever will work for you for each project - it's going to differ by person, project, etc.). I also suggest tricking yourself into getting started by dividing a project up into smaller parts (I will only grade 2 papers today instead of "finish grading"), leaving yourself breadcrumbs (stop in the middle of a sentence, leave yourself notes for next time you get started so that you know what documents to open and where to begin tomorrow or next week, etc.), and rewarding yourself with a treat (a walk around the block, call a friend, make a nice dinner or go out to dinner instead of cooking if you can, etc.). Action item: find 1-3 things this week to just move the needle on a bit and take a few minutes to reward yourself in any way that helps you!