June recap & redefining productivity during summer
Repost from June 30, 2024
I can't be the only one who struggles with academic "productivity" during the summer. For the past four years, I've established a list of reading and writing goals for June, July, and August that inevitably get pushed back to the fall quarter. Fortunately, this month was slightly different from my usual pattern.
While I didn't read as many academic or fiction books, I did catch up on reading academic articles about aloha ʻāina, which is relevant for a work-in-progress on the value's potential significance for STEAM education. I also didn't make too much headway on a conceptual paper on familial socialization and internalized oppression in a Kanaka ʻŌiwi context, but I did submit revisions for a qualitative study on resistance among Kanaka ʻŌiwi youth, which I hope will be accepted and published by the end of the year.
The past 30 days have reminded me of the importance of setting achievable goals and being honest and realistic with myself about balancing productivity with time for family and friends. There were numerous events throughout the month that made it difficult to sit at my computer, including FestPac, loʻi work days, and graduation parties. While I'm disappointed that I didn't reach several of the soft deadlines that I set for myself at the beginning of June, I'm proud of what I did accomplish. Moreover, I'm not critiquing myself too harshly because the time spent with family and friends truly nourished my soul.
The 2023–2024 school year ended on a bittersweet note for me. I'm deeply disappointed at the way UCLA showed its true colors in the face of student and faculty resistance to genocide but happy to have seen so many friends and colleagues graduate with their master's and doctoral degrees from the institution. These mixed emotions left me somewhat unmotivated to jump into work during the second half of June, and I found myself prioritizing and engaging in aloha ʻāina and culture-based programming.
Through introspection, I've come to recognize an importance in redefining productivity during moments of internal conflict. While I'm aware that I'll always feel social pressure to conduct research and produce content, I'm satisfied with this notion of staying true to myself. I chose the ʻōlelo noʻeau "I hole ʻia no ka iʻe i ke kau o ka lā" for this month's Hawaiian proverb because I resonate with its unspoken interpretation that there is a time for work and a time for rest. I know that I write best after I've spent time immersed in ʻāina and wai. I know that I can go through slumps where I feel unmotivated and then spend days writing nonstop once I've found a groove. I know that reading and learning for an academic is never-ending.
As I look ahead to July and August, my goal is to be kind to myself and to approach productivity in a way that encourages flexibility and grace. While I don't want push deadlines back to the fall quarter — because that's always led to chaos in my experience — I also don't want to say "no" to things that may deepen my connections to people and place. Therefore, I'm committing myself to redefining productivity to include ways that I've developed familial relationships and friendships and served the Lāhui Hawaiʻi. Academic productivity doesn't have to refer only to concrete outputs aka book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, and conference presentations. It can also mean cross-cultural scholarly connections and service-learning with community. Moving forward, I hope this new definition of productivity will keep me motivated for the remaining summer months.
June roundup [the highs and lows]
5 busy days, 3 stressed days, 8 relaxed days, 14 fun days (hello summer!), 0 junk days
1 book read (Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates)
2 graduation celebrations, 2 birthday celebrations, 1 10-year high school reunion (!!), 2 loʻi work days, 4 work hālāwai, 1 advisor meet up (woo!)
Submissions
1 revised manuscript for peer review
2 manuscript proposals for special issues on multicultural education and doctoral student journeys to criticality
Notifications
1 invitation to peer review for an international journal in education
1 epistolary chapter accepted with revisions
2 rejection notices for an APA grant and a TA position
