WIR-001

WIR-001: [09-07-25.09-13-25]

As a graduate student, much of your time is spent without adult supervision. You work alone: reading, writing, grading, etc. It can be easy to deceive yourself, therefore, that you use your time pretty well. That at the end of a busy day, you achieved as much as was physically possible; there was no room for improvement. But, we are often poor judges of our own performance. Especially given the inherent difficult of decoupling one’s emotional experience from objective reality.

External feedback, public accountability, and strong commitments are all powerful behavioral motivators. We work harder when others are watching. This blog post will be the first in a weekly series designed as a grounding activity. It will use a simple format: I will simply list what work I got done this week, and conclude with some short analysis. I doubt this will make for exciting reading. For me, however, this forum is critical for doing my best work.

WIR

Tags
[RSR] – Research
[TA]  – TA Responsibilities
[ACA] – Academics/Schoolwork
[LOG] – Logistics/Chores

[09-07-25]

• Work Completed
  • [RSR] 1. Setup WoFSCast repo
  • [RSR] 2. Watched/annotated NOAA-AI-related videos
  • [LOG] 3. Renewed parking permit

[09-08-25]

• Classes
  • 2.5 hrs
• Meetings
  • 1.0 hrs
• Work Completed
  • [ACA] 1. Prepared for in-class presentation
  • [LOG] 2. Emails: requesting/rescheduling meetings etc

[09-09-25]

• Classes
  • 2.5 hrs
• Meetings
  • 1.0 hrs
• Work Completed
  • [RSR] 1. Read: Kirstetter et al (2015) paper
  • [LOG] 2. Emails: requesting/rescheduling meetings, etc.

[09-10-25]

• Classes
  • 2.5 hrs
• Work Completed
  • [ACA] 1. (1x) short homework assignment
  • [RSR] 2. Read: Kirstetter et al (2015) paper

[09-11-25]

• Classes
  • 2.5 hrs
• Meetings
  • 0.7 hrs
• Work Completed
  • [LOG] 1. Researched PhD candidate programs
  • [LOG] 2. Emails: requesting/rescheduling meetings, etc.
  • [LOG] 3. Updated calendar

[09-12-25]

• Office hours
  • 4.0 hrs
• Meetings
  • 1.0 hrs
• Work Completed
  • [RSR] 1. Read: Kirstetter et al (2015) paper
  • [LOG] 2. Emails: requesting/rescheduling meetings, etc.

[09-13-25]

• Work Completed
  • [TA] 1. Graded all assignments
  • [RSR] 2. Read: Kirstetter et al (2015) paper
  • [LOG] 3. Write: CSSA weekly newsletter

Concluding Remarks

We have room for improvement! This week, it looks like I completed two class assignments, reviewed most of a single paper, and sent out some emails/updated my calendar. One conclusion we might draw from this week is that without concrete deadlines, I tend to perform routine/administrative tasks to keep busy. Going forward I would like to make a few commitments: action items to be completed prior to next Sunday.

• Action Items
  • 1. Review (2x) papers related to current research; post notes & analysis to website
  • 2. Finalize: table of PhD programs/PIs I plan to apply for/work with including reasoning; post to website

Until next week 👋