Summer Plans
Mainly, a DAILY blog here!
I think I've decompressed from the previous semester that ended a few weeks ago. Finally! That was a busy semester and I think I experienced a condition I've read about, called "ego depletion". I've felt like I just couldn't really bear to look at my work, even stuff I know I'm very interested in pursuing. Instead, I started going on longish walks (five miles), listening to audiobooks of mostly Neal Stephenson and Hannu Rajaniemi science fiction novels.
I'm feeling more like getting back to work now, but also like I've got to focus on the stuff that really interests me and pursue that. Possibly part of that feeling has come from also listening to David Graeber's book, Bullshit Jobs. It goes without saying that I think my own work (teaching, researching, and writing about history) is essential and NOT bullshit. But that's not to say that there aren't bullshit elements of being an Assistant Professor at a state university. So I'm going to begin trying to be a little less reactive and more proactive about not just saying "yes!" every time I'm asked to volunteer for anything.
I'm also thinking that I want to get a little more "serious" about the content I'm putting out in the public space. I've been pretty committed over the past few years to the idea of making learning content more accessible to learners. Over the last several semesters, I've written several OER textbooks for my courses which are available free with CC licenses in places like the Open Textbook Library. I've also considered making full-on courses available...someplace. When I met Martin Dougiamas at OE Global a couple of years ago, I thought I might be able to put them up on MoodleNet. That may still be a possibility. When I was hoping to develop a side-hustle to supplement my income at the university, I considered places like Udemy or SkillShare. I'm still considering several of these things. Also I'm considering which media actually work best for several of the things I'm working on. One of the things that strikes me is that despite podcast and video being "easier", I seem to get better engagement numbers on some blog posts that people actually have an opportunity to read. I'm not sure, of course, whether people are reading or watching my Substack posts when I include a video at the end.
I'm also going to try to avoid separating my output into such atomized, siloed structures that it becomes impossible for me to keep them all up. I've done this in the past, managing distinct domains and websites for each of my interests. This was less than ideal. So I think I'll try to have a "one-stop-shop" type of thing where I put everything, maybe in some individual sub-buckets. I DO very much believe there are synergies between the things I'm working on, and I think readers will appreciate seeing these.
So I think what I'm thinking of is a blog I'll get in the habit of working on daily, that summarizes what I'm doing and points to more in-depth output. As I'm thinking about this, it strikes me that this seems to be similar to what people are doing on Substack, giving folks a taste of their work on the free reader and then inviting them to subscribe for more in-depth coverage.
I've also noticed that there are a bunch of people doing history on Substack now, so maybe I'll get more involved in that ecosystem. I've been aware that my former advisor Heather Cox Richardson is HUGE on Substack and I've been avoiding really looking at what she's doing there and getting involved myself because it seems like she is posting DAILY. Now that I'm thinking of getting in the habit of daily posting, I've decided to consider it. So I guess I'll create a paid subscription option, so that people who want to support my work will be able to begin doing so. It will probably be a couple of weeks before I begin to figure out what will be "member content" and how that even works.
This will continue to be called MakingHistory, because that's the top-level thing I want to be doing, so it's a good reminder. I'll probably continue looking at and reporting on my own research and writing, course content I make for my students, thoughts about teaching and learning, and maybe the occasional comment on how history relates to the present. And also, behind the scenes on my work processes as I develop them and learn more about apps and technology, and my thoughts about the things I'm reading and listening to in more detail than maybe casual readers will always want. But sometimes, maybe you will.