I just signed a petition calling for Norwegian universities to use research expertise on AI when deciding how to implement it, rather than having decisions be made mostly administratively. , If you are a researcher in Norway, please read it and sign it if you agree – and share with anyone else who might be interested. The petition was written by three researchers at UiT: Maria Danielsen (a philosopher who completed her PhD in 2025 on AI and ethics, including discussions of art and working life), Knut Ørke (Norwegian as a second language), and Holger Pötzsch (a professor of media studies with many years of research on digital media, video games, disruption, and working life, among other topics). This is not about preventing researchers from exploring AI methods in their research. It is about not uncritically accepting the hype that everyone must use AI everywhere without critical reflection. It is about not introducing Copilot as the default option in word processors, or training PhD candidates to believe they will fall behind if they do not use AI when writing articles, without proper academic discussion. Changes like these should be knowledge-based and discussed academically, not merely decided administratively, because they alter the epistemological foundations of research. Maria wrote to me a couple of months ago because she had read my opinion piece in Aftenposten in which I called for a strong brake on the use of language models in knowledge work. She was part of a committee tasked with developing UiT’s AI strategy and was concerned because there was so much hype and so few members of the committee with actual expertise in AI. I fully support the petition. There are probably some good uses for AI in research, but the uncritical, hype-driven insistence that we must simply adopt it everywhere is highly risky. There are many researchers in Norway with strong expertise in AI, language, ethics, working life, and culture. We must make use of this expertise. This is also partly about respect for research in the humanities, social sciences, psychology, and law. Introducing AI at universities and university colleges is not merely a technical issue, and perhaps not even primarily a technical one. It concerns much more: philosophy of science, methodological reflection, epistemology, writing, publishing, the working environment, and more. […]
Lars
You might also want to make a list of things you are not
going to get done this week. Keeps them from seeping into your to-do-list in
over-optimistic moments.
Jill
Oh, what a wonderful idea! A not-to-do list! Yes!
tormodh
I need to learn from this post.
1) Easy. 2) Impossible? 3) Developers (at least) call this Timeboxing (not using more time than planned on a thing, no matter how good/badly/fast/slow/interesting it is/is going. 4) I probably would’ve broken down and done both, plus lunch. :/ 5) Estimate… always multiply by PI, I’ve been told. And with PI again if you are unsure how to do it. 6) 🙂 7) Asking for help is important, but hard. Just remember – if you like to help others, they probably will like to help you, too. Just ask. No harm in that.
Good luck on this week.
GZombie
Maybe you should put things from outside your work life on your priorities list, too. Time with family; time to garden; time to cook, eat.
Matthew
Learning about peopleís very different ways of handling the pressure of work and the stress of being behind has been very interesting. I think the list will work, except number 4 (Only check email once a day), to which is say “ha ñ good luck”. Iíve tried that, many times. I donít know what it is about email that makes us check it all the time, itís like a force. On a busy day I try to check it twice a day, when I get home and late in the evening (but not too late in case I have to take care of something). But on a normal day…well, you know, “Iím just going to…”.
Recently I tried a new approach to organizing all the things that I have to do. In stead of walking around remembering (or trying to remember) everything or making a never-ending list on a piece of paper, I write things down on post-its (those little yellow notes) and stick them on my desk. It feels so good to throw one away when I’m done, it gives a certain closure to whatever I was doing and it really feels like one less thing to do.
The concept of “youíre not behind, thatís just how it is” is an interesting one. We always have a long to-do list to look forward to, but is it really just the way it is? Is it a matter of finding the strength to accept it?
Francois Lachance
How about aiming for being a surviving martyr? “Martyr” is derived from the Latin for “witness”. So the kit bag for a martyr who wants to survive should contain not only the to do list but also the following effects: a timepiece and a schedule. I have been know to pull out a little timer for meetings — helps keep people on track. In a more muted moment, I will unstrap a watch and lay it out on the table and will replace it on my wrist two minutes or so before the end of the meeting. Are your meeting rooms equiped with clocks? A printout of the schedule is also useful to have. It offers a visual reminder of how a day may be blocked out. Very effective to post on the wall beside one’s office. And yes there is a gender dimension to encroachment.
I am suggesting that the feeling may not disappear with the best of time management. It has a greater chance of disappearing if people approach you as if they value your time. Friday may roll around and you will still be prepping for Monday but feel better because some of the prep was begun Thursday and by the end of the semester the chuncks will fall into place and Fridays will be glorious. Wallow in the martyrdom a little. Just book some time (a tiny weeny block) to do it! *grin*
Good luck.
Organizational Euphoria » Realistic plans, and actually getting them done.
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[…] In other news, I finally said no to a project today. I had wanted to submit a proposal to the Feminist Rhetoric Conference, but after thinking it over a bit more, I decided to focus on more pressing matters. It’s not critical that I submit a proposal this year, or even next year. I have time. I can put this on my “not to-do list” for now. (via Donna —– […]