As a follow-up to our discussion about remote work, I want to say that the only reason I agreed to be department chair is because I wanted to write more. I knew I could write more but I needed somebody or something to tie me to a chair. Balzac reputedly asked to be tied to his armchair to be able to write as much as he did. I don’t know if this story is true but I knew it was what I needed.
And it worked. I’ve been mega productive because I’m obligated to stay in the office a certain number of hours each day including in the summer and there’s nothing to do except write. So I’ve been writing up a storm.
Things have now changed in that my husband started to work 100% from home, so I’ll be forced to come to the office even when I stop being chair. This way I’ll keep writing like a monkey on crack for the foreseeable future. But none of this – the barrage of articles, the Ukrainian book, the resulting awards and TV appearances, the new book, etc – would be possible if I hadn’t engineered for myself the obligation to be in the office. Yes, some people have the inner discipline to be as productive at home as in the office. But they are a tiny minority. I don’t belong to this minority, which is how I know that the struggle is real.
P.S. As I was writing this post, I received an email that the advisor who inspired this whole discussion resigned her position today. I’m guessing she realizes that this is no life and moved on to something that will be less depressing than sitting at home alone all day. I’m very happy for her.
Clarissa's Blog 
Re your work, have wanted to ask for some time about the play The Song of Israel. Have you finished translating it? Can it be read somewhare either in Ukrainian or in English?
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I’m about 30% done but I’ve been distracted from this project by a large number of writing obligations, unfortunately. Plus, I was teaching 4 courses this semester when I’m only supposed to teach 2. Thankfully, I’m sending in my last writing obligation this year tomorrow and also my last final exam is tomorrow. After that, I’ll be free as a bird to finish up the translation.
If you want the Ukrainian original, though, I can send it by email. Please write to me at work if you want it.
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\ If you want the Ukrainian original, though, I can send it by email.
I would love to. Thank you very much.
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on your last post on this topic you mentioned that your husband manages to be productive while working from home,would you mind sharing his strategies? Not sure I’d be able to adapt them but I’d give a lot for it to work – I am a professor at a school 2 hours from my house (moving is not an option) and while I go in two days a week the rest is just so… Blergh.
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Tibetan gymnastics and yoga for an hour every morning
Workouts outdoors every two hours
Low sodium, low sugar diet
Time-tracking app
Pomodoro
Learning Spanish for absolutely no reason, 30 minutes daily
Learning a new professional skill 1 hour on workdays and 3 hours on weekends
But I warn you, this is a very unsociable person who needs zero human contact outside of his immediate family
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two thumbs up.
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