A to-do list

Things are starting to get out of control in my mind so a nice neat to-do list is in order. These are the work things I think I need to be sorting out pretty urgently just now:

1. Writing and research

Paper. Working on my half-finished review of supercooling (co-authored with Simon Cook) for Progress in Physical Geography

Book project. Thinking about the suggestion from Routledge that I edit a textbook about practical techniques in Physical Geography

Book project. Thinking about the suggestion from Blackwell that I work (with co-author Tony Parsons) on a new book about Geomorphology

Book project. Working on the plan that I have agreed with Pearson to co-edit with (3 colleagues) a book about Environmental Geography

Lab Research. Working with Debbie to carry forward our experiments in the Low Temperature Laboratory

2. Getting ready for the new term

Course revisions. Update, revise and complete new course and module handbooks, and other learning resources, and review/redesign modules for autumn semester based on discussions with colleagues about how we should update the teaching programme. (1) for Physical Geography Course as I am Course Director and (2)

Web resources. Produce new web pages for each of my modules in line with a reorganisation of the University's web system, and reorganise online materials on the Virtual Learning Environment (transferring sections between years, updating and rewriting, etc)

Induction administration. Organise induction materials and write to incoming students

Dissertations. Organise the administration of next year's Dissertation module: checking that students all have supervision in place and that all the procedures for 2007-8 are properly documented

3. Assorted other urgently pressing jobs

Marking. Marking the exams and coursework done by those few students who had to be reassessed during the summer vacation having failed modules earlier in the year.

More Marking. Reading and commenting on a PhD Thesis written by a former Keele student who is now a postgraduate at Birmingham.

TLHEP. I've agreed to give a workshop in next year's "Teaching and learning in higher education" course, and they need me to produce a brief summary of my session asap!

Having made out that list, it doesn't actually seem as overwhelming as I was starting to think it was: there's lots of work hidden in the detail of some of those things but the list looks manageable when you lump things together into little headings! The general idea is that, say, four weeks from now I'll be able to report that all of those jobs have been dealt with. Of course, dealing with them will just make new jobs, so then there will be a different list!