As my first quarter of the year draws to a close, I spent some time checking in with my goals — and now I want to help you check in with your goals. In this episode I share the philosophies behind my planning method, The Grounded Academic Leader, and guide you through the key elements of planning for a successful year. The secret? Benchmarks and discipline — which makes this sound so boring. But it’s not, I promise. You’ll reflect, dream big, get clear on the change(s) you want to make, and then work on your calendar so it tells the truth about your time, energy, and availability to others.

Three reasons to try The Grounded Academic Leader

>> [2:48] Reason #1: It’s a great alternative to otherwise sucky annual performance review conversations, and is much better at keeping you focused on the goals you set during the year

>> [6:03] Reason #2: It will clean up the post-pandemic, non-stop busy-ness of your current calendar and help you redesign your time around your energy, so that you’re working on things when you have the most energy — during the day, during the week, or even during the semester.

>> [6:59] Reason #3: It will help you identify the actual activities that you should spend your time on, using a design process you can use for all your projects — and which you might be familiar with from teaching: backward design.

Other Episode Highlights

>> If you worked through this with me in episode 30, now’s the time to use the second half of the workbook and focus on reviewing your last term and preparing for the next one.

Grab the workbook at the link below, and make sure to let me know if you’d like to join a group of us to review our goals together. 🧡

Readings & Resources

Grab your copy of The Grounded Academic Leader workbook.

Related Episodes

episode 30: The Grounded Academic Leader

episode 29: Building a Community of Care, with Julie Olson Rand and Alyssa Klenotich

episode 28: How to Take a Tiny Sabbatical, with Shelly Roder and Sarah Moore-Nokes

episode 26: In Community: Interracial Feminist CoMentoring, with Christina Holmgren & Jayne Sommers