By Julia Pomerenk, AACRAO Vice President for Records and Academic Services
I walked into the rhythm of an academic calendar when I stepped into my kindergarten classroom at Hazel Dell Elementary School in 1965, and I’ve never walked away. We who work in higher education enjoy the good fortune of an extra re-start with every academic year (if not every term). We don’t need to wait for New Year’s Eve.
With intention, we can celebrate each of our days and re-set every morning, whatever calendar we use. Imagine celebrating the start of 2023, with happy reflections on the things you’ve accomplished, the ways you’ve acted, and the words you’ve lived by, between now and then. I’ll toast to that on New Year’s Eve.
Set Intentions with Three Lists
Give yourself this homework assignment: Make three lists to set your intentions. Go “old school” with the physical elements of creating actual lists, to commemorate your aspirational start this autumn. Go ahead. Find a favorite writing instrument and paper that pleases you. I used a free AACRAO pen and pages in my current Leuchtturm journal, for my three lists.
What Do You Intend to Do?
Because we’re doers, go ahead and list first what you want to do, between now and December 31st. As our composition instructors taught us, use active verbs: Implement, Complete, Encourage, Delegate, Stop. What big projects, medium tasks, and small acts will make the most difference? Over these past summer months, restoring order to my overgrown backyard was my big project, flattening and recycling the cardboard boxes in my garage was a medium task, and covering the cost of the ice cream treats for strangers in the van behind me in the Dairy Queen drive-thru line was my sweetest small act. Remember to include what you want to do for fun.
How Do You Intend to Do It?
Because we can choose how we do things, please make another list, to describe how you want to take these actions. This isn’t a “how-to” list of techniques, tools, or technology you will use to streamline petition processing. This is a “how” list. How will you move through life these next months? Try using adverbs, the part of speech we can undervalue in the same way we can undervalue the importance of how we show up. Describe how you aspire to act. I want to walk through life graciously, authentically, and mindfully. Sometimes I want to insert some whimsy.
What Words Support Your Intentions?
Because we gather inspiration to support our best actions and intentions, create one more list that collects wise words that hold meaning for you. Recall those truths that you would stitch onto a pillow or carve into wood, if only you had the talent and time. Think of the sayings that you hold in your head. Take the time to write them down. Hum along, if you’re noting song lyrics. Picture your grandmother, if you’re remembering her advice. My grandmother taught me that I can’t hold what I don’t have in my hands. My colleague, Kaira, echoes her wisdom when she reminds me that my reach and my embrace only stretch so far.
Be ready to write down more wisdom, as it comes to you. The cover on my coffee cup this morning stated one of my life intentions, simply: “I am here to help.” Yesterday, my colleague, Cindy, suggested that we contemplate being “good enough” and bringing “good enough” change to our worlds. Beginning with ourselves, we can re-orient ourselves to look for contributions over competitions, as Erin, another colleague, proposed earlier this week. I read a set of procedures recently in the Mary Oliver poem, Sometimes: “Instructions for living a life:/Pay attention./Be astonished./Tell about it.”
Re-Set Time Expectations
I picture Mary Oliver spending her days in forested glens, with an expanse of time to notice how water falls over rocks, then sitting under a tree and sharing her thoughts in poems. Looking at my work calendar, it’s harder for me to picture such attention and reflection. My weekday and weekend schedules can feel (over)full, with little time for deep attention and reflection.
Yet time is the true coin of our lives. I want to spend it as a good steward. I want to use positive words to talk about my time. My colleague, Andrea, challenges me to replace “I’m busy” as my standard (and true) response with “I’m richly scheduled.” I encourage us to consider re-setting our expectations about how overflowingly we fill our calendars. If we are always attending meetings, then when do we attend to our three lists of intentions?
Paying attention, I see that there are five possible responses to Outlook meeting invitations: accept, tentative, decline, propose a new time, and respond. My default response does not always need to be to accept if the time is free. Time is never truly free. How I spend it comes with costs. This fall, I’ve claimed calendar time for myself and my (non-meeting) work. Paying attention, I see that I initiate many of the meetings on my calendar. For this fall, I reduced by half the routine meetings with those who report to me.
I need to reset my work meter, as well as my calendar. What we all accomplished during the pandemic was amazing. Thanks to the continuous, extraordinary effort, we persevered to support student success in an extraordinary time. Let’s declare a return to ordinary time. Most mask mandates have expired. Let’s reset to a normal time before we expire. The Incident Management Team at my institution stood down, after more than a year of activation. We can stand down, too, and step forward into the ongoing, good work we intend to do.