The last few days have seen the implementation of the Mel's Off Duty Vest. It's a maroon polarfleece given to me by my grandmother about 7 years ago. When I'm wearing it, I'm not allowed to be Supermel. I'll either be relaxing or working on my own stuff, most often the latter. When I'm wearing it, I'll have to politely decline requests for academic help. I won't be wearing it often.

I'd love to be able to help everybody all the time, but sometimes I need my own space, and sometimes (er, often) I forget that and spiral into a chasm of unsustainability. Theoretically, I'll also be more productive with my own time, because the faster I finish my work, the faster I can take off the vest and be useful again! It also means that nobody will ever have to feel guilty about asking me for help any more, because if I'm not vestified, I'm essentially holding wandering office hours.

But mostly it's a reminder for me to buckle down on my own work more.