An additional guideline?

I am not sure that this should count as a rule or a desideratum, but my main pleasure reading during my "summer off" will be from my growing list of year of the gimmick memoirs, below.

Ground Rules

I am going to try to take the summer off. At least “off” by academic standards. I will hang out with my kids, exercise daily, undertake long-postponed home-improvement efforts, and possibly take an actual vacation.

Not summer 2013. Oh no, it is far too late to plan to make that happen. Summer 2014.

What are the ground rules?

The ground rules are:

1. I will refuse all research, teaching, and service projects for the months between the spring and fall semesters.
2. I am permitted to work on ongoing projects and serve students that I have already committed to.
3.  I will spend time on my kids, myself, and my home.
4.  I will blog about my “off” activities. Writing this blog does not count as being “on.”
5. On the blog, I will log time spent on work email and ongoing projects that I cannot avoid.

I have been too busy working on my existing projects to follow up on my intent of explaining my plan for summer 2014: to take the summer off.

Here is an interesting discussion by faculty members of their work habits and compensation in the summer.