Where the Time Goes (Version 2)
This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.
Last November, I wrote a post about where my time was going. A lot has changed since then, including my workload, so here's an update:
| Hours | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 12.0 | Instructor training | Averages 1.5 days/week (but is bursty). |
| 8.0 | Bookkeeping | Currently high because we're putting data into Amy and getting our books in order. |
| 6.0 | Discussions with partners (current and potential) | Some live, some by email. |
| 6.0 | Developing Amy | Some is coding/reviewing, most is discussing what it should do. |
| 4.0 | Coordinating workshops | The admins handle most of it, but there are always things left over. |
| 4.0 | Board discussions and tasks | Varies week to week. |
| 4.0 | Other email. | Miscellaneous questions that need answers. |
| 4.0 | Maintaining the web site | Includes writing blog posts, generating badges for new instructors, etc. |
| 2.0 | Technical support | Git issues, mailing list issues, web site issues, etc. |
That's 50 hours in a week when I'm not traveling or teaching workshops, down from 57.5 hours/week seven months ago, and we have accomplished a tremendous amount since the Steering Committee was elected in January:
the workshop template is much easier to use;
our lessons (mostly) conform to the new template and have almost been published;
we're holding regular debriefing sessions in which instructors from recent workshop can share their experiences;
we've trained a bunch of new instructors, and run some very promising experiments with accelerated online instructor training;
we're using Amy on a daily basis; and
more than a dozen organizations have signed up as partners or affiliates, and more are in the pipeline.
The list still doesn't include things that are vital to Software Carpentry's long-term health, like writing up instructor training or creating new lessons, but the foundation that will allow us to focus on that is almost in place.