December was a busy month, though not as productive as November (specially on the writing and research front). I think that AcWriMo really helped to motivate me to write every day, and that in turn helped me move on with various writing projects.
December was also the last month of my #5pmproject, and these are the pictures that I took this month (I missed one day). There is a healthy mixture of work, family moments, and Christmas-related pictures, I think.
I kick-started the #5pmproject in January 2015, to improve my daily awareness. I am really happy with this initiative, as not only it forced me to stop every day for a few seconds, to note what I was doing, where I was, with whom, etc… but also led to some interesting conversation. After all, when your alarm goes off, you grab your phone, and take a picture, people ask questions J I recommend this project – even if it is for a month, only, rather than the whole year. To celebrate the end of this project, and further improve my awareness about the year that has just finished, I prepared this short video.
In 2016, I am building on this increased awareness by focusing on connections. Connecting with ideas, connecting with places, and above all connecting with people, which will be a bit of a challenge as I am quite shy by nature. Maybe I will pick up the kids’ flags ’n’ faces project, which lost steam when the children went back to school. Would you like to be interviewed for that website?
Anyway, without further ado, here are my highlights from the last month of 2015.
Researching
I haven’t really done any progress on existing projects, apart from a bit of reading about algorithmic decision making, and about digital footprints. December was a clear fail on this front.
Writing
I worked on a paper I am co-authoring with various colleagues. We were planning to submit it before Christmas, but it slipped and will, now, be submitted in early January. I also made some revisions to a paper, which is now with one of the co-authors. And I made a start on the paper about algorithmic decision making though I made very little progress on this – certainly less than I needed.
I also had a paper published. It looked at the impact of credit screening practices during the last economic recession on consumer vulnerability. Work on this paper started in 2008. So, it was really rewarding to have it published, finally. The paper is available here, and I will write a blog post about it, soon.
More than wanting to produce specific outputs, however, what I really wanted for December was to continue writing every day, as I had done in November. And, that, I really did not do. So, another fail.
Teaching
I finished teaching on the CRM module, and I am now deep in marking. At the same time, I am organising the live consultancy projects for my MSc students to work on in semester 2, and preparing a new module for my undergraduate students.
On another front, there were meetings with my PhD students, and I read and commented on a dissertation.
Learning
Spending time with the kids, at home, without homework pressures, meant that I could pay more attention to their hobbies and interests. I am now fully informed about the world of YouTubers like Zoella, Joe Suggs, Alfie, Olly White, Stampy, and the like 😉
And, I learned how to add music to my videos, as in this one.
What were December’s highlights for you? Do you have a resolution, theme or project for 2016?
Ana Canhoto 