As I move forward with the next phase of my data collection, I’ve been reflecting on areas where my planning and implementation need to become SMARTER.  Looking back over the last 9 months or so, I’ve identified 3 areas on which I need to focus moving forwards.

First of all I have not followed up conference and seminar activity as contemporaneously systematically as I might.  Last December, I had an excuse, because my conference follow- up was interrupted by the supervening last illness and death of my MIL .  But it took me until June to realise that going forwards, as soon as I book attendance at an event, I need to book out some time (preferably the day after, but if life and work don’t permit certainly within a week) to blog about what I heard and learned, send all the email that I meant to send, and follow up the contacts that I had made.  Simple, you’d think, wouldn’t you?  But unless I make the time to do it, it doesn’t happen because the vicissitudes of life and work intervene.

Secondly, I have not been as ruthless with my time as I need to be.  I have let the demands of the job and my life responsibilities permeate the tranches of time that I’d set aside for study, and not taken the time back.  As I was typing, I hesitated over the phrase “set-aside”, because what I really meant was “ear-marked”.  The indiscipline of the PT doctoral student (specifically me) is a subject for a separate post and another day.  Suffice to say for now, I need to get to the bottom of why I’ve been insufficiently ruthless in defending my research and study time, and set SMART targets to sort that out.

Thirdly, until very recently, I have not had (or perhaps had and not stuck to – the net result if the same, but the distinction is quite important) a plan to develop my academic identity.  Whilst this is related to study, and supervisions, and decisions; it’s a path that needs to run in parallel with research progress.  It’s not the same path.  So, I’ve included time for this as part of my EdD time on a weekly basis.  I’m going to review what I have done, what this has achieved and where it’s taken me.  I expect to be held to account for this, and challenged if I don’t make progress.  Please.